September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

Concluding prayers from the 3 litanies of Our Lady of Sorrows:

We beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, let Thy Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow at the hour of Thy Passion, implore Thy mercy for us, both now and at the hour of our death, Who livest and reignest, world without end.

Imprint, O Lady, thy wounds upon my heart, that I may read therein sorrow and love, sorrow to endure every sorrow for thee, love to despise every love for thee.

O Lord Jesus Christ, God and Man, grant, we beseech Thee, that Thy dear Mother Mary, whose soul the sword pierced in the hour of Thy Passion, may intercede for us, now, and in the hour of our death, through Thine own merits, O Saviour of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, God, world without end.

Amen.

This is the second month of Nomen Christi Apostolate’s “Marian Triad of the Months,” when we are contemplating the Mariology of her Immaculate Heart, her 7 Sorrows and the Holy Rosary.  How can we honor her sorrows this month?  We can pray the litanies mentioned above, the 7 Sorrows Chaplet and also celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on the 15th.  This feast is in both the trad and new calendars.  In terms of meditation, we may ask ourselves the following questions:  “How do our Heavenly Mother’s sorrows relate to our own times?”  “How can we appeal to her during these times?”  “Why did God allow her to suffer?”  “How can we derive consolation from her own Passion, inextricably linked to Our Lord’s?” 

We also honor the Mother of God’s nativity on the 8th, her holy name on the 12th  and Our Lady of Ransom the 24th.  The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is on the 14th.  The Ember Days of Autumn always proceed the following week on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (Wed and Sat meat at one meal and of course, the usual Friday penance).  See “Ember Days” topic to the right>>>  Other notable feasts this month:

Saint Gregory the Great/Saint Pius X-3rd

Saint Teresa of Calcutta-5th

Saint Matthew, Apostle-21st

Saint Pio-23rd

Saint Vincent de Paul-27th

The Three Archangels, Michael, Gabriel & Raphael-29th

Our Lady of Sorrows Prayers from the Tridentine Mass with PDF

Luke 7:11 and Our Lady of Sorrows

“And it came to pass afterwards, that he went into a city that is called Naim; and there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude.  And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow: and a great multitude of the city was with her.  Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her: Weep not.  And he came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it, stood still. And he said: Young man, I say to thee, arise.  And he that was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all: and they glorified God, saying: A great prophet is risen up among us: and, God hath visited his people.  And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the country round about.”

Luke 7:11

Above is the Gospel passage for today, the 2nd Sunday in this month of Our Lady of Sorrows.  Do you notice anything?  This account of one of Our Lord’s miracles of raising the dead, foreshadows the Passion and the Resurrection.  Mary was a widow at the foot of the Cross, which is why Jesus gave her to Saint John, to be cared for by him.  Her Son was crucified, but raised after 3 days!  She never lost hope, trusting that this was part of God’s great plan for the redemption of the human race. 

Our celebrant at the Tridentine Mass in Glen Cove, New York, brought light to this scripture.  He mentioned that the crowd would have been astonished by Our Lord touching a dead body, as this was considered unclean.  He drew the parallel to us when we are in a state of sin.  Christ reaches out to us in our misery, to lead us to the sacrament of Penance and the great peace that follows.  It is a bathing of the soul.  We are all that young man, given back to our Holy Mother Church, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

Another point Fr. Daniel made, was that once you are forgiven, it is time to become a witness.  As soon as the boy was raised, he spoke.   How important this is in our own time, as the world has forgotten all that is good and Godly.  Let us courageously speak of the love and mercy of the Most Holy Trinity to all the world and transform the face of the earth!