Ampleforth Abbey

 We have reached almost the end of our Holy Week meditations. We are on the cusp between Holy Saturday and the celebration of Easter. It is a strange time – too soon to rejoice in the resurrection and yet we are leaving the sadness of the Passion behind.

In our meditation this afternoon I would like to look through the eyes of Mary the Mother of Jesus as a witness of the Passion of the Lord and an example for us of the faithful disciple of Jesus.

It became the practice to follow Mary’s journey of faith with her Son in seven stages, or seven sorrows, like the 14 Stations of the Cross. Our Lady is honoured with the title of Our Lady of Sorrows or Our Lady of Dolours.

There grew up among members of the Servite order (or to give its proper name: The Friars Servants of Mary) the practice of reciting the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows. Our Lady of Sorrows was their patron; they preached the Gospel of Christ’s sufferings and resurrection using our Lady as an icon of the true disciple.

Just like the traditional ( Dominican) Rosary, one recites the prayers and reflect on Mary’s pilgrimage of Faith and contemplates her cooperation in the redemptive work of Christ her Son, the “man of sorrows.” (Is. 53:3). As a further development of the Stations of the Cross, Servites prayed and reflected on the Seven Sorrows of the Via Dolorosa.

Just like the Dominican Rosary, the prayer of the Seven Sorrows is a Biblical prayer. The events of sorrow and salvation it contemplates are taken from the Gospels themselves or from the Church’s interpretation of a scriptural text. The Our Father and the Hail Mary forming the basis of the prayer are both taken from the Gospels. Unlike the Dominican Rosary the Glory Be is not prayed. And between each Our Father, seven Hail Marys are -rather than ten – are prayed.

That’s the technical bit – the important part is how the prayer helps us to meditate on Christ and how the prayer can help us on our faith journey.

The sorrowful events in the lives of Christ and Mary that we have been reflecting on in our Triduum liturgies are the consummation of the sorrow that has weighed down humanity ever since the mysterious break between God and mankind that we read of in Genesis, and all those repeated acts of infidelity to God’s Covenant which are recorded in the Old Testament. We witness those effects in our own lives and in the world around us.

Christ is the suffering Servant who bore our infirmities and endured our sufferings (Is 53:4 and Mt 8:17). Because of his incarnation and his role as head of all humankind, Christ participates in the suffering of every person, past, present and future. In a similar way Mary his Mother is the “woman of sorrow” according to the tradition of the Church.

Mary is seen as the fulfilment of certain prophetic images announcing a woman’s salvific mission accomplished through suffering and struggle.

Mary is the Mother of the Church, model of what the Church should be: faithful to Christ and attentive in faith to the needs of others. We also call Mary the “New Eve,” who together with Christ the new Adam, struggles against the ancient serpent. She is also the faithful Daughter of Sion and personification of Israel, God’s beloved people, so often oppressed and overcome by fear, who places her hope in the Lord.

The Seven Sorrows (like the Dolour Rosary) developed as a devotion to the Sorrowful Mother, to pray for her intercession and to be inspired by her example to Christians. Reflection on the mysteries leads us deeper into the mystery of Christ’s suffering and helps us to give meaning to our own experience of suffering, of being part of humanity damaged by sin and yet loved and healed by our loving Father.

The sorrows of Mary, as they are described in the Gospels, are not simply private experiences; they are part of the history of salvation. As one document from the Servite Order states: “There is no episode relating to Mary in the Gospels which cannot be read in terms of the mystery of Christ and of the Church.” (Do Whatever He Tells You 1983 n.36).

Mary is the exiled mother of a persecuted infant and the intrepid mother of a Son misunderstood by his religious leaders and finally crucified between two criminals. Because of this she has become the strong and faithful woman from whom the Church must constantly draw inspiration in its hour of trial whenever it sees the person and word of its Lord reviled, its children persecuted and its mission impeded.

The Blessed Virgin at the foot of the Cross, the mother who received the dead body of her Son into her arms, has become the symbol of the compassion of the Church called by God to stand with all who suffer and to embrace the pain and affliction of all mankind.

So now let us reflect for a time on Mary as she follows her Son on his Way of Sorrows:

The First Sorrow: Mary accepts in faith the Prophecy of Simeon.

In Luke’s Gospel we read:

“When the day came for them to be purified, as laid down by the Law of Moses, (Joseph and Mary) took (Jesus) up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord… As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his Mother, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and the rise of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that id rejected – and a sword shall pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.” (Luke 2: 22, 33-35)

It is this prophecy which inspired the devotion to the sorrows of our Lady. Typically an image of Our Lady of Sorrows has a sword (sometimes seven!) through her heart to represent her cooperation in the mission of Christ her Son.

We recognise that just as Christ himself fulfilled the mission of his father to drink from the cup of suffering, so did Mary and so must we – but we do not do it alone: our faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit sustain us and give us courage to accept our cross and so come to glory.

So, the sword is an image of suffering and pain. It is also the symbol of the Word of God (the “two edged sword” that pierces our inmost being.) It is the  word of Jesus piercing our inmost thoughts and feelings, challenging our motivations, prompting our conscience.  It can be uncomfortable, painful even, but ultimately the word of Jesus, the word of God is life-giving. Mary, like each one of us, had to journey in faith without fully knowing the outcome – her faith was real.

We, too, as we commit ourselves to following the Lord, attentive to his Word, we, too, know that his word must pierce our hearts also, but like Mary we ask that we may be steadfast.

The Second Sorrow: Mary Flees to Egypt with Jesus and Josep

In Matthew we read: “The Angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream with the command: ‘Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you otherwise. Herod is searching for the child to destroy him.’ Joseph got up and took the child and his mother and left for Egypt.” (Mat 2: 13-14)

All that Mary experienced before the birth of Jesus: the vision of the Angel, the uncertainty of how God’s plan would unfold, the long and difficult journey to Bethlehem, the lack of shelter – all comes to a head as the Holy Family have to flee and live like refugees. The images that we see so often in the media of “displaced persons”  was the reality for Mary and for Jesus. They knew what it meant to be without a home and have to trust in the providence of God and to rely on those around them for help.

Even for us who are not refugees, who have a home to go to, we are all, in a sense, pilgrims on the earth, never fully settled, never fully complete. The incomprehension and hostility that pursued Jesus and Mary to Egypt, we will have to face also if we are to be true to our faith.

We have the feeling that, wherever we go, we don’t quite fit in, there is something missing. “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you,” said St Augustine. Nevertheless in our moments of prayer, of solitude, we can experience the presence of God to sustain us.

The Third Sorrow: Mary Seeks Jesus Lost in Jerusalem.

In Luke we read, “At the end of the feast (of Passover), the child Jesus remained behind unknown to his parents, Thinking he was in the party, they continued their journey for a day, looking for him among their relatives and friends. Not finding him they returned to Jerusalem in search of him. Three days later they found him in the temple sitting among the doctors of the Law, listening to them and asking questions… (His parents) were overcome when they saw him and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have you done this to us ? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’” (Luke 2: 43 – 48)

Which parent has not had that moment of feeling sick in your stomach when your child is suddenly gone from view? Lost in a busy street or market? Which of us does not suffer a similar pang with the loss of a loved one – who is ill, who has to make a long journey, who has died? Our human relationships are so important to us,  and yet can be so delicate and fragile. The feelings of loss and abandonment last throughout life. The emptiness that follows can take time to get used to and never really goes away. Mary shows us that despite our anxieties we can rely on our God in the end.

We see how Mary had to make her own journey of faith – she had no perfect knowledge of her son’s mission – her fear and anxiety for Jesus was real (like any mother’s). She had to come to terms with the will of the Father and the mission of Jesus, to face the dark night of the soul. The three days lost in the Temple were a sign of things to come. As Mary pondered these things in her heart she trusted – so must we, we must trust that God holds us in the palm of his hands.

The Fourth Sorrow: Mary Meet Jesus on the Way to Calvary

In Luke’s Gospel we read, “As they led (Jesus) away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the fields. They put a cross beam on Simon’s shoulders for him to carry along behind Jesus. A great crowd of people followed him, including women who beat their breasts and lamented over him.”  (Lk. 23: 26-27)

Mary is not mentioned here by name, but since we know she was at the foot of the cross, she must have followed him along the route from the city to Golgotha with the other disciples.

This moment was captured very well in Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ, when at the moment of seeing her son fall under the weight of the cross, Mary has a flashback to when Jesus was a young child, falling, as all children do and she rushes to pick him up and comfort him – the pain of having to stand by and watch him suffer now as an adult and not be able to help is indescribable. Her sorrow is deeply felt, in solidarity with all those who suffer unjustly in the world, with all those who have to watch their children suffer.

She knows that Jesus must go through all this, and she is there with him in his sufferings, com-passionate (suffering with him). We turn to Mary in our moments of darkness and incomprehension, when faced with our suffering world, believing, like her, that God will bring good out of evil, will ultimately bring life where there is death. 

The Fifth Sorrow: Mary Stands near the Cross of her Son

In John’s Gospel we read, “Near the cross of Jesus there stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. Seeing his mother there with the disciple whom he loved, Jesus said to his mother, ‘woman, there is your son.’ In turn he said to the disciple, ‘there is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home.” (Jn. 19: 25-27) 

Apart from the image of the sword piercing Mary’s heart, this is the second powerful image associated with Mary the Mother of Sorrows: Our Lady at the Foot of the Cross, faithful disciple of her son alongside St John. Together they form the beginnings of the Christian Community. Mary becomes Mother not only to John but Mother of the Church, represented by the disciple whom Jesus loved. This is not a sweet “plaster image” of the Virgin Mary – this is a woman strong in faith, who has been tested to the extent of seeing her Son die, yet believing in Him; a woman who is courageous enough to face the mocking crowds and hostile Jewish leaders.

The mother of Jesus present at Golgotha is a model of the faithful disciple who follows the Lord even to the foot of the cross; and the cross is still an obstacle for us; “a scandal for the Jews – folly for the pagans.” (as St Paul says). When faced with injustice or violence how quickly we resort to revenge on those who have hurt us, to humiliate those who have made mistakes and broken the law.

That was not the way of Jesus, and Mary recognises that the cross is the way of the Messiah, the way of salvation. Those who are true disciples also recognise it. Think of Oscar Romero, the murdered archbishop of El Salvador in 1980 – the nun who accompanied him in the ambulance before he died testified that his last words had been to forgive his killers. John Paul II, after he had been shot asked us to pray for the “brother” who has wounded me!

Forgiveness in the face of death; forgiveness when we have been wronged; forgiveness when WE are in the right – an impossible virtue?  “Nothing is impossible for God” the angel had said to Mary – and Mary believed!

The Sixth Sorrow: Mary Receives the Body of Jesus taken Down From The Cross.

In Mark we read, “As it grew dark (it was Preparation Day, that is, the eve of the Sabbath), Joseph from Arimathea arrived – a distinguished member of the Sanhedrin. He was bold enough to seek an audience with Pilate and urgently requested the body of Jesus. Pilate released the corpse to Joseph. Then having brought a linen shroud, Joseph took Jesus down from the cross and wrapped him in the shroud.”

This moment has been the inspiration for many images of the Pietà such as that of Michelangelo, where the sorrowful mother holds the body of her dead son in her arms before he is finally buried.

The suffering is finally over. Jesus is at peace. “It is accomplished,” he had said. And Mary holds Jesus in her arms as she had first done all those years ago in Bethlehem. At what price is “it” accomplished? There was not even time to prepare the body properly for burial – it would have still been covered in dirt and blood.

When we contemplate this image, when we pray to Mary in our moments of anxiety or fear, in our times of suffering, we pray to one who was and is intimately close to Jesus. Even in death she remained faithful – now in the new life of the Resurrection she leads us always to Christ her Son, leads us along our journey of life, through this valley of tears, to everlasting joy.

The Seventh Sorrow: Mary Places the Body of Jesus in the Tomb, Awaiting the Resurrection

In John’s Gospel we read, “They took Jesus’ body, and in accordance with the Jewish burial customs, they bound it up in wrappings of cloth with perfumed oils. In the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. Because of the Jewish Preparation Day they buried Jesus there, for the tomb was close at hand.” (Jn. 19: 40-42).

In these few remaining moments before we celebrate with joy the Easter Mystery, in this last part of Holy Saturday, let us pause to pray in solidarity with those in the world who, at this moment are still “in the shadow of death” for whom the Light of Easter is still only a distant hope.... people we know personally, those in the world where there is violence and injustice, those suffering from natural disasters or disease...

We have reached the end of the Via Dolorosa, the way of sorrows. Again we find ourselves before the tomb of Jesus. Typically, after praying the Rosary of our Lady of Sorrows, the Stabat Mater would be sung or recited:

At the cross, her station keeping,

stood the mournful mother weeping,

close to Jesus at the last..            

Holy Mother, pierce me though.

In my heart each wound renew

of my Saviour crucified.

There is nothing left for the faithful band of disciples now but to leave. All must be indoors for the feast. So, Mary, John and the rest all depart and leave the tomb… and so must we…