Our Lady of Sorrows (Latin: Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (Latin: Mater Dolorosa), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are named by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referred to in relation to sorrows in life. As Mater Dolorosa, it is also a key subject for Marian art in the Catholic Church.
The Virgin Mary is portrayed as sorrowful and in tears in Christian imagery and arts. With one or seven swords piercing her heart, iconography is based on the prophecy of Simeon in Luke 2:34–35. The Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows, the Seven Principal Dolors of the Blessed Virgin, the Novena in Honor of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, and the Via Matris were the pius practices in reference to this title.
The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is liturgically celebrated every 15 September, while a feast, the Friday of Sorrows is observed in some Catholic countries.
Seven Sorrows of Mary
The Seven Sorrows (or Dolors) are events in the life of Mary that are a popular devotion and are frequently depicted in art.
These Seven Sorrows should not be confused with the five Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
Traditionally, the Seven Sorrows are:
1. The Prophecy of Simeon in Luke 2;
2. The Flight into Egypt in Matthew 2;
3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, also in Luke 2;
4. Mary’s meeting Jesus on the Via Dolorosa, the Fourth station of the Cross not found in the Bible;
5. The Crucifixion of Jesus on Mount Calvary in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and especially John 19;
6. Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19;
7. The Burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea also in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19;
Earlier, in 1232, seven youths in Tuscany founded the Servite Order (also known as the “Servite Friars”, or the “Order of the Servants of Mary”). Five years later, they took up the sorrows of Mary, standing under the Cross, as the principal devotion of their order.
Over the centuries several devotions, and even orders, arose around meditation on Mary’s Sorrows in particular. The Servites developed the three most common devotions to Our Lady’s Sorrows, namely the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, the Black Scapular of the Seven Dolours of Mary and the Novena to Our Sorrowful Mother. The rosary consists of a chaplet of seven septets of beads (upon which is said an Ave), separated by one bead (on which is prayed a Pater Noster. Meditations for each dolor were composed by Pope Pius VII in 1818.
It depicts Mary at the moment that Simeon the Righteous says, “Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also….” (Luke 2:35). She stands with her hands upraised in prayer, and seven swords pierce her heart, indicative of the seven sorrows. Our Lady of Compassion
The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows grew in popularity in the 12th century. Some writings would place their roots in the eleventh century, especially among the Benedictine monks.
The formal feast of the Our Lady of Sorrows was originated by a provincial synod of Cologne in 1423. It was designated for the Friday after the third Sunday after Easter and had the title: Commemoratio angustiae et doloris B. Mariae V. Its object was the sorrow of Mary during the Crucifixion and Death of Christ. Before the sixteenth century, this feast was limited to the dioceses of North Germany, Scandinavia, and Scotland.
According to Fr. William Saunders, “… in 1482, the feast was officially placed in the Roman Missal under the title of Our Lady of Compassion, highlighting the great love our Blessed Mother displayed in suffering with her Son. The word compassion derives from the Latin roots cum and patior which means “to suffer with”.
After 1600 it became popular in France and was set for the Friday before Palm Sunday. By a Decree of 22 April 1727, Pope Benedict XIII extended it to the entire Latin Church, under the title “Septem dolorum B.M.V.” In 1954, it still held the rank of major double (slightly lower than the rank of the September feast) in the General Roman Calendar. Pope John XXIII’s 1960 Code of Rubrics reduced it to the level of a commemoration.
In 1668, a separate feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, celebrated on the third Sunday in September, was granted to the Servites. Pope Innocent XII renamed it the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Pope Pius VII introduced it into the General Roman Calendar in 1814. In 1913, Pope Pius X, in view of his reform giving precedence to Sundays over ordinary feasts, moved this feast to September 15, the day after the Feast of the Cross.