'And You Yourself a Sword Will Pierce'

 

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.
- Stabat Mater



Blessings to all who chose Sept. 15, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, as the day they entrust their lives to her. Congratulations on your consecration to Jesus through Mary!

One of the most powerful conversion stories I've ever read is that told by science fiction author John C. Wright. He was an atheist until reason and fairness forced him to pray the atheist's prayer: Wright asked God, if He really existed, to show Himself. According to Wright, God answered him quite thoroughly. Wright said:

I met the three persons of the Trinity, one after another. And Mary. I spoke with her. I wish I could tell you of her kindness, her simple, unaffected goodness of heart. She is more celebrated now than any queen, and lives where joy lives forever, and bright spirits like votive candles surround her, but I wish I could do something, anything to undo the sorrows she knew in life. Poor woman. Poor, poor woman. If this was all hallucination, if this was all madness, I tell you truthfully that I would believe it nonetheless, just on the smallest chance I might see her again in heaven, and hold her hand again. Hers was the callused hand of a working woman.

May we all have such great love for Our Lady!

Mary has passed beyond her earthly sorrows, it is true, but in a certain sense, her sorrows shall be with her forever. Just as Jesus still bears the marks of His crucifixion even in glory in heaven, so too does Mary's heart still bear the marks of the wound predicted by Simeon when she presented Jesus in the Temple. "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (Lk 2:34-35).

Was Mary ever physically pierced by a sword? No, not according to Scripture. But her heart most certainly was pierced by sorrow again and again throughout her life, culminating in her great compassion when she witnessed the terrible suffering and death of her beloved Son. We commemorate those sorrows of Mary by praying the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, an ancient devotion requested again by Mary during her apparitions to the Rwandan schoolgirls in Kibeho during the 1980s, or by walking the Stations of the Cross, meditating on what Jesus endured and Mary witnessed. By pondering these events from the lives of Jesus and Mary in our hearts, we follow the example of Mary (Lk 2:19). We have compassion on Mary and her Son, sharing their memories, their sorrows, their life and love, which led through the cross and tomb to life everlasting.

If we share in the sorrows of Mary, we shall also share in her joys. Out of love for Our Lady, have compassion on her. Thank her for the gift of her Son, for the gift of her "yes" to God, even when it meant she had to suffer sorrow and woe. Remember the sufferings of Jesus and the sorrows of His mother, through which our salvation has come.

If you consecrated to Jesus through Mary, we'd love to hear your story. Please take a moment and share your journey below. If you have pictures, we'd love to see them, too. Just email them to HAPP@Marian.org!

Father, as your Son was raised on the cross, His Mother Mary stood by Him, sharing His sufferings. May your Church be united with Christ in His suffering and death and so come to share in His rising to new life. - Mass for the Feast Day of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

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