Behold, Your Mother

Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” 

And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. 

JOHN 19: 27

How has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? (Lk 1:43)

Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved? Beneath the apple tree I awakened you; There your mother was in labor with you, There she was in labor and gave you birth (Sg 8:5). Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the waters; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant waters (Ez 19:10). 

Listen to me, O islands, and pay attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me.(Isa 49:1).

The Lord said, "Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the LORD your God" (Lev 19:3).

Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you (Ex 20:12, Dt 5:16).

A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother (Prv 10:1). Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you (Prv 23:25). Observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother (Prv 6:20). Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old (Prv 23:22).

He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. (Nu 6:7)

My trust is in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God”. In your hands is my destiny. (Ps 31:15-16) Into Your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O Lord, O faithful God. (Ps 31:6)

Our Lady of Sorrows (Memorial)

Today we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. This is not meant to lead us into despair because of the suffering caused by our sin, but to remind us that when we embrace suffering in our lives it can become redemptive. Let us never allow despair to enter our hearts. It is imperative that we remain positive in our suffering as Mary does. (Kerygma 2014)
 
Mary is a model of contemplation, pondering the truths of her life in her heart and standing beneath the cross of her Son as He dies for our sins. Let us take a cue from Mary’s life in this regard and never forget to reflect on the meaning of the various experiences of faith we have had and so grow in our faith and trust in God.  (Kerygma 2012)

I sometimes wonder what went through the heart and mind of Mary as she stood at the foot of the cross and gazed upon her Son. We know she did not despair. Did she realize that the cross of her Son was the means of redemption for the world? (Kerygma 2014)

think:

The memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows reminds us that when we embrace suffering in our lives, it can become redemptive.  Let us reflect on the meaning of the various experiences of faith we have had and so grow in our faith and trust in God just like Mary. (Kerygma)

Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary; without dying you won the martyr’s crown beneath the Cross of the Lord.


A SORROWFUL — BUT NOT DEPRESSED — MOTHER
Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

Parents suffer from anything that could harm or hurt their children. Since Mary surely was a perfect mother, she must have suffered much in bringing up her beloved Son. We can assume that her suffering was even more intense than that of any parent because of her spiritual closeness to her Son. That God had entrusted to her His Son might have even intensified her suffering because of the profound responsibility she had for this great treasure. Mary also might have suffered much from what her Son went through because of her sinless nature, which made her more compassionate and sensitive to other people’s sufferings.

Christian pious tradition identified and reflected on the seven great sorrows in Mary’s life — such as the flight to Egypt, the loss of her 12-yearold boy in Jerusalem, and meeting Jesus carrying the crossbeam towards the place of His execution, among others.

One spiritual writer noticed that today’s feast celebrates the sorrowful Mother of Jesus, not the depressed Mother of Jesus. An interesting thought! John tells us in his Gospel that Mary was standing near the Cross of her Son. Although her suffering must have been close to unbearable, her faith gave her the courage and strength to bear this suffering without breaking down. Here, Mary becomes a great model to look up to when God allows crosses to burden and weigh us down.

And so this feast is not just another memorial of Mary but it invites us to look up to her when sorrows and sufferings become too much to bear.

With her example and her motherly intercession, we can and will be able to follow her footsteps and not break down but remain “standing” even in the darkest moments that may come. These moments then will not crush us but, with Mary’s help, become moments of passage into the light that waits beyond every cross.


OUR LADY OF SORROWS
Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

Today’s Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows follows the Feast of the Triumph (or Exaltation) of the Cross. I do not believe that this is an accident or coincidence. The Church has deliberately chosen to illustrate one of the aspects in which we are all, not just Our Lady, called to meditate upon and embrace the Cross of Jesus in our lives.

None of us can avoid suffering in life. If Jesus suffered, and He was without sin and not in need of redemption, then how do we think we could avoid suffering? The prosperity gospel — every possible version of it — is a lie. In fact, it is more than lie — it is disrespectful to the passion of Jesus. There is nothing wrong with legitimate avoidance of suffering by making wise and prudent choices, but I am sure that it is obvious to us that a lot of suffering that people endure has nothing to do with the personal choices of the sufferer but a result of the unjust and sinful choices of others. This is the reality of sin and while we may be able to minimize the sin in our own lives, we have very little power to do so in the lives of others. That is their responsibility.

Mary is presented to us as Our Lady of Sorrows because she has embraced the truth that living involves suffering. This is not necessarily an evil thing as long as we approach it with faith in God. The suffering of Jesus on the cross gives God the right to be able to say to us, “Everything will be all right in the end if we place our trust in Him.” Jesus underwent suffering to show us the way to faith in God and to make sense of the cross by giving it redemptive value.

Suffering would be totally evil if there is no redemptive value to it. It adds nothing to human character and experience apart from the Cross of Jesus. This may be a matter of faith, or at least a truth that is strongly enlightened by faith. We must pray for the grace to understand it as such and to act upon it.

Our Lady of Sorrows

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Our Lady of Sorrows (Latin: Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), 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 names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life. As Mater Dolorosa, it is also a key subject for Marian art in the Catholic Church.

The Seven Sorrows of Mary are a popular Roman Catholic devotion. In common religious Catholic imagery, the Blessed Virgin Mary is portrayed in a sorrowful and lacrimating affect, with seven daggers piercing her heart, often bleeding. Devotional prayers which consist of meditation began to elaborate on her Seven Sorrows based on the prophecy of the Rabbi Simeon. Common examples of piety under this title are Servite rosary, or the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady and the Seven Joys of Mary and more recently, "Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary".

Within the Santero culture prevalent among Gay Catholics in Spain and the Philippines, the Blessed Virgin Mary under this title is widely popular. Many homosexual patrons often petition the Blessed Virgin Mary under this title often associated with grief and sorrow. Under the same Marian title, Mary is also popularly invoked as a cultural patroness among abused wives and heartbroken individuals.

The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is liturgically celebrated each 15 of September, while a feast of Friday of Sorrows was also commemorated before the changes of the Second Vatican Council.

Seven Sorrows
Mary, surrounded by the Seven Sorrows

The Seven Sorrows (or Dolors) are events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary which are a popular devotion and are frequently depicted in art. It is a common devotion for Catholics to say daily one Our Father and seven Hail Marys for each. These Seven Sorrows should not be confused with the five Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.

1    The Prophecy of Simeon. (Luke 2:34–35) or the Circumcision of Christ
2   The Flight into Egypt. (Matthew 2:13)
3    The loss of the child Jesus in the Temple. (Luke 2:43–45)
4    Mary meets Jesus on the way to Calvary.
5    Jesus dies on the cross. (John 19:25)
6    The piercing of the side of Jesus, and Mary's receiving the body of Jesus in her arms. (Matthew 27:57–59)
7    The body of Jesus is placed in the tomb. (John 19:40–42)

The feast of the Our Lady of Sorrows was originated by a provincial synod of Cologne in 1423 as a response to the iconoclast Hussites. It was designated for the Friday after the third Sunday after Easter. It had the title: Commemoratio angustiae et doloris B. Mariae V.. Before the 16th century, the feast was celebrated only in parts of northern Europe. Earlier, in 1233, 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 two most common devotions to Our Lady's Sorrows, namely the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows and the Black Scapular of the Seven Dolours of Mary. The Black Scapular is a symbol of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Sorrows, which is associated with the Servite Order. Most devotional scapulars have requirements regarding ornamentation or design. The devotion of the Black Scapular requires only that it be made of black woollen cloth.

On February 2, the same day as the Great Feast of the Meeting of the Lord, Orthodox Christians and Eastern Catholics commemorate a wonder-working icon of the Theotokos (Mother of God) known as "the Softening of Evil Hearts" or "Simeon's Prophecy". It depicts the Virgin 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. This is one of the few Orthodox icons of the Theotokos which do not depict the infant Jesus. The refrain "Rejoice, much-sorrowing Mother of God, turn our sorrows into joy and soften the hearts of evil men!" is also used.

By inserting the feast into the General Roman Calendar in 1814, Pope Pius VII extended the celebration to the whole of the Latin Church. It was assigned to the third Sunday in September. In 1913, Pope Pius X moved the feast to September 15, the day after the Feast of the Cross. It is still observed on that date. Another feast, originating in Germany in the 15th century, spread to several other countries, and was extended to the whole of the Latin Church in 1727 by Pope Benedict XIII, who assigned it the Friday in Passion Week, one week before Good Friday. 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 1969 the celebration was removed from the General Roman Calendar as a duplicate of the feast on 15 September. Each of the two celebrations had been called a feast of "The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (Latin: Septem Dolorum Beatae Mariae Virginis) and included recitation of the Stabat Mater as a sequence. Since then, the 15 September feast that combines and continues both is known as the Feast of "Our Lady of Sorrows" (Latin: Beatae Mariae Virginis Perdolentis), and recitation of the Stabat Mater is optional.

Observance of the calendar as it stood in 1962 is still permitted as an extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, and even where the calendar as revised in 1969 is in use, some countries, such as Malta, have kept it in their national calendars. In every country, the 2002 edition of the Roman Missal provides an alternative collect for this Friday.

Published:

September 15, 2014, 10:30 AM

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, 

and they shall name Him Immanuel, 

which means “God is with us.” 

MATTHEW 1 : 23

Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, and the rest of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel. (Micah 5:2)


Today’s passage from Micah is a prophecy of the coming Messiah. When Mary gave birth to Jesus, this prophecy was fulfilled. By celebrating Mary’s birthday today, the Church reminds us that the Son of God is born of a woman—a woman conceived and born free from all sin. Our celebration of Mary’s birthday shows our faith in the Word who became flesh, fully human, for our sake. (Kerygma 2023)

Mary walked with Jesus through His ministry. 

Today we celebrate the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let us take a moment to reflect on Mary as a model for our discipleship. She is humble and obedient to God’s call, and so should we. She is our mother and the Mother of the Church. Let us ask for her powerful intercession.

Mary’s role in the work of salvation is more than just being the Mother of God. Just as Mary walked with Jesus through His ministry, so should we walk with one another and support each other in our journeys. Solidarity in ministry is important — ministry can be a soul-destroying reality when people seem to ignore the Gospel rather than embrace it. Let us persevere and pray that the seeds of faith we have planted will one day sprout and grow into faith. (Kerygma 2015)

Never rule out the possibility that God has an important plan for your life. 

The birthday of Mary is a great time to thank God for the gift she is to us as the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church, and our mother. Hopefully we are able to draw strength and inspiration from the holiness of her life. She was a very simple person, but this did not stop her from having the most significant role in the work of salvation. We should never rule out the possibility that God has an important plan for our lives as well.

Expect the Spirit to be at work in your life every time you respond to God’s will for you. 

We do not have any writings concerning the birth of Mary but we do have the birth of Jesus in the Gospels. It is important to note the role of the Holy Spirit, which gives us an indication that we can expect the Spirit to be at work in our lives every time we respond to God’s will for us. Hopefully we can remember this as it is helpful to know the Spirit is around, especially when following God’s will becomes difficult.  (Kerygma-2014)

Remember that Mary desires to help us through her intercession to grow closer to Jesus and serve the Gospel more fully.

We celebrate the birthday of Mary because of the central role she plays in the mystery of our faith. We do not know a lot about her, but what we do know is enough to inspire us by her example. As we honor her today on her birthday, let us remember that Mary desires to help us through her intercession to grow closer to Jesus and serve the Gospel more fully. (Kerygma-2012)


Lord, thank You for giving us Your Mother Mary as our Mother, too. May she become more and more my inspiration and model. 


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOTHER MARY!

Nobody knows when and where the Virgin Mary was born. No birth certificates were issued in her time. Was she born in Nazareth or in nearby Sepphoris, where a church honors her parents Joachim and Anne who are said to have lived there? We don’t know.

September 8 was chosen because in the fifth century, a church in Jerusalem was dedicated on this day, which was said to have been built above the place where Mary was born. Nazareth, Sepphoris, Jerusalem? Nobody knows. And we don’t need to know.

The Church presents us today with the genealogy of Jesus. Matthew mentions four women in this genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. Tamar disguised herself as a temple prostitute to have intercourse with her father-in-law and produced a son. Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho, Ruth was a Moabite, an archenemy of the Israelites, and Bathsheba committed adultery with King David. In these four sinful women, the curse of Eve’s sin becomes visible. Sin begets sin, an endless, ever escalating curse. And then Matthew mentions a fifth woman: Mary. With her, the ancient curse of sin is finally broken and transformed into a chain of blessings. With her sinlessness and obedience to God’s plans, salvation dawns. The Second Vatican Council states that Mary “is inseparably linked with her Son’s saving work.”

Every human birth is a call for joy and new hope. Loving parents have shown hope in a world filled with sorrow, suffering, wars and hopelessness. The newborn child has the potential to become a channel of God’s love in this often dark world. This was especially true when Mary was born. She foreshadows God’s love for mankind that was manifested in her Son Jesus.

On this joyful day, let us try to bring some joy and hope into our world by making somebody happy — somebody who suffers or is lonely, who is weighed down by failure and rejection. Yes, bring “joy to the world” as Mary’s birth did. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD


REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Who is Mary for you? Do you have just a sentimental attitude towards her, or do you try to imitate her humility and faith?

Nativity of Mary

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nativity of Mary, or Birth of the Virgin Mary refers to the traditional birthday of Saint Mary.

The modern canon of scripture does not record Mary's birth. The earliest known account of Mary's birth is found in the Protoevangelium of James (5:2), an apocryphal text from the late second century, with her parents known as Saint Anne and Saint Joachim.

In the case of saints, the Church commemorates their dies natalis or date of death, with Saint John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary as the few whose birth dates are commemorated. The reason for this is found in the singular mission each had in salvation history, but traditionally also because these alone (besides the prophet Jeremiah, Jer 1:5) were holy in their very birth (for Mary, see Immaculate Conception; John was sanctified in Saint Elizabeth's womb according to the traditional interpretation of Lk 1:15).

The “Protoevangelium of James,” which was probably put into its final written form in the early second century, describes Mary's father Joachim as a wealthy member of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. He and his wife Anne were deeply grieved by their childlessness.

Tradition celebrates the event as a liturgical feast in the General Roman Calendar and in most Anglican liturgical calendars on 8 September, nine months after the solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on 8 December. The Eastern Orthodox likewise celebrate the Nativity of the Theotokos on 8 September.

This feast, like that of the Assumption of Mary, originated in Jerusalem. It began in the fifth century as the feast of the Basilica Sanctae Mariae ubi nata est, now called the Basilica of Saint Anne. The original church built, in the fifth century, was a Marian basilica erected on the spot known as the shepherd's field and thought to have been the home of Mary's parents. In the seventh century, the feast was celebrated by the Byzantines as the feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The feast is also celebrated by Syrian Christians on 8 September and by Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians on 9 May (1 Bashans, EC 1 Ginbot). At Rome the Feast began to be kept toward the end of the 7th century, brought there by Eastern monks. The feast is also included in the Tridentine Calendar for 8 September.

The winegrowers in France called this feast "Our Lady of the Grape Harvest". The best grapes are brought to the local church to be blessed and then some bunches are attached to hands of the statue of Mary. A festive meal which includes the new grapes is part of this day.

The scene was frequently depicted in art, as part of cycles of the Life of the Virgin. Late medieval depictions are often valuable records of domestic interiors and their fittings - at this period the setting was often in a wealthy household.


Published:

September 08, 2015, 7:40 AM
September 08, 2014, 7:23AM