Homily: Our Lady of Sorrows

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows on the Church Calendar. I shared the above video with you a year ago because I love the hymn, which I described as follows:

This hymn is called the "Stabat Mater doloroso," which means "The Sorrowful Mother Stood" in Latin. The hymn was written in the 13th century and is chanted or sung often during tomorrow's memorial on the Church calendar: The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. On this day, we think of Mary at the foot of the cross. After you listen to it, click here to learn more about the hymn.

This year, as a transitional deacon at the seminary, I have been asked to preach the homily for our Mass on this solemn memorial. I feel honored to praise Our Lady of Sorrows with a homily. The following is based on these readings.

When I arrived at Kenrick a few years ago, Our Blessed Mother was something of a stranger to me. I knew she was there, somehow important, but I did not understand her role in the Church. But as time passed, I’ve come to adore her as my Blessed Mother. This was something that happened, by God’s providence, through the liturgies we enjoy in this chapel.

It was on this feast day, years ago, as I was attending Mass that I was surprised by the unexpected appearance of the Stabat Mater, chanted from the choir loft above. It was a song I did not know, but its sad melody drew me deeply into the words of the hymn. Soon, I was moved to tears. Oh, how I suddenly appreciated the beautiful sorrow of Mary!

I realized with new clarity what seems obvious to most of us here: that every moment in Mary’s life was a preparation for that climactic moment in which she stood at the foot of the cross.

At the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, and the finding of Jesus in the Temple, she progressively came to understand that her life was to play an important role, that her Son was, in fact, the Messiah-a thought that no doubt brought the woman “full of grace” great joy!

Yet with the joy of being the "handmaid of the Lord," she also knew suffering early on. Even in her own childhood, by the grace of her Immaculate Conception and her perfect sanctity, I imagine she was pained at every offense she witnessed being committed by others against her Beloved Lord.

And long before the Cross, when Jesus was a mere infant, the Holy Family encountered Simeon in the Temple, as narrated in today’s Gospel. All were “amazed” at what was said about Jesus, and Mary was told that Christ would be a sign, which she no doubt already knew, but also that he would be contradicted, be rejected. And that she herself would be “pierced by a sword.” How foreboding! For 33 years, she knew yet deeper suffering was somehow a part of God’s plan. These and many other things she kept in her heart, pondering them as each new threat to the life of her Son became evident.

And then, he was arrested. Crucified. And she was there, witnessing it all. It was there that the enormous evil of sin weighed most heavily on her, as it did on her Son. She suffered bitter grief as she beheld the consequences of the sins of all humanity, of us, torturing and murdering the Son whom she loved so deeply.

Yet, she does not become angry. She does not despise humanity for our sins, for the death of her son. Despite the fact that she, completely lacking sin, knows to the full extent, and better than any other creature, how terribly we offend God, she still loves us. She still intercedes for us. Truly, she says with her Son, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!”

And that, I have learned, is her role in the Church. As John Paul II put it, “From Jesus on the cross she has the specific mission only and always to love us in order to save us.”

As we now join our Lady of Sorrows at the Sacrifice of the Cross, made present on the altar, I urge us all to meditate on the moving words of the Stabat Mater which brought me closer to Our Lady years ago:

“At the cross her station keeping, Stood the mournful mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last.”

“Through her heart, his sorrow sharing, all his bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword has passed.”

“Christ, when you shall call me hence, be your Mother my defense, Be your cross my victory.”

Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows ... pray for us!

-Rev. Mr. Jason