The devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows — a longtime part of the Church’s piety — is nowadays often forgotten.
Our Lady of Sorrows as depicted in
the Shrine of Our Lady of Kibeho
It is enshrined in Church history in the Gospel of St. John, where the evangelist writes, “Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus, His Mother” (John 19:25).
Still others see it in the prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35) when he prophesized at Jesus’ presentation in the temple that a sword of sorrow shall piece Our Lady’s heart.
Some even see prophesy of Our Lady’s suffering in the Old Testament. For example, it is denoted in the phrase “till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth” Micah (5:2-3).
But this ancient and often-neglected devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows received renewed attention just 40 years ago when Our Lady appeared to three young women in the town of Kibeho, Rwanda, during the 1980s.
Our Lady of Kibeho
From March to September 1982, Our Lady gave to 21-year-old Marie-Claire Mukangango — one of the three — the mission of spreading throughout the Church the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary.
Our Lady said, “If I am now turning to the parish at Kibeho, it does not mean that I am concerned only for Kibeho … or for Rwanda, or for the whole of Africa. I am concerned with the whole world.”
The message that Mary delivered to the visionaries in Kibeho, as she did in Fatima, was an urgent appeal to the world for repentance and conversion. It was a call for the rejection of sin, particularly idolatry, materialism, hypocrisy and sexual immorality. Mary warned of the serious consequences if people did not change their sinful ways.
On Oct. 15, 1982, the women beheld frightful, hellish visions of blood and war and killing and dead bodies left unburied. Indeed, their visions proved prophetic as just over 10 years later, a bloody war broke out in Rwanda between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. Within a few months, the genocide reportedly claimed 800,000 lives, among them three bishops and hundreds of religious.
Marie-Claire, the visionary who received Our Lady’s mandate to spread the devotion of her sorrows, was killed during the massacre.
Now in Kibeho there is a famous shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
Our Lady of Monte Senario
Centuries before Mary’s apparitions in Rwanda, she appeared to seven holy men in medieval Italy. Seven holy men left the city of Florence and the merchant trade to seek solitude on Monte Senario. The men, all of whom had a devotion to the Blessed Mother, wanted to live as hermits, dedicating their lives to fasting and prayer.
On Good Friday in 1239, Our Lady appeared to them as they were praying and meditating on Our Lord’s Passion and her sufferings. She revealed her desire for them to form a religious order dedicated to practicing and promoting a devotion to her sorrows.
She presented the Seven Holy Founders, as they came to be known, with the habit of their new order. Our Lady said to the men, “You will found a new order, and you will be my witnesses throughout the world. This is your name: Servants of Mary. This is your rule: that of St. Augustine. And here is your distinctive sign: the black scapular, in memory of my sufferings.”
These men became the founders of the religious also known as Servites.
Our Lady of Kibeho
In his great, yet forgotten, book The Glories of Mary, St. Alphonsus Liguori explains that when Our Lady appeared to these seven men, she told them that if they wished to please her, they should often meditate upon her sorrows. He listed the following seven sorrows with reflections, quoting various saints on their understandings of Mary’s sorrows.
The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35)
The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-21)
The loss of Jesus for three days in the temple (Luke 2:41-50)
Meeting Jesus on his way to Calvary (John 19:17)
Jesus’ Crucifixion and death (John 19:18-30)
Jesus taken down from the Cross (John 19:39-40)
Jesus laid in the tomb (John 19:40–42)
Revelations to St. Bridget of Sweden
In the 1300s, Our Lady appeared to St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373), again declaring the spiritual benefits of meditating on the depths of her suffering as the Mother of Jesus — the man — and as the Mother of Jesus, our God.
“The Holy Trinity between the Lady of Sorrows and Saint Giles,”
by Hans Baldung Grein, c. 1513-16
She told St. Bridget:
I look around at all who are on earth, to see if by chance there are any who pity me, and meditate upon my sorrows; and I find that there are very few. Therefore, my daughter, though I am forgotten by many, at least do you not forget me; consider my anguish, and imitate, as far as you can, my grief.
The Blessed Mother also revealed seven promises to St. Bridget for those who meditate on Her sufferings and sorrows while daily reciting seven Hail Marys:
I will grant peace to their families
They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries
I will console them in their pains, and I will accompany them in their work
I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls
I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy, and I will protect them at every instant of their lives
I will visibly help them at the moment of their death. They will see the face of their Mother, and
I have obtained this grace from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and sorrows will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son will be their eternal consolation and joy.
The Prophecies and Revelations of St. Bridget is considered one of the most important and influential works of Swedish medieval literature. According to many sources, the saint received revelations in the form of visions, beginning in the 1340s and continuing until the time of her death. They reveal a soul wholly committed to God, Our Lady, the saints and spiritual life — so at odds with our own time
St. Bridget and her writings would no doubt be better known today were it not for the damage done by Martin Luther, who called her “crazy,” and Henry VIII, who supervised the destruction of all the major religious houses of St. Bridget in England.
Preserving the Devotion
Our Lady of Sorrows has inspired some of the most impressive works of Marian art in history.
“Madonna della Pietà,” also known simply as “La Pietà,”
by Michelangelo, 1498-1499. The marble sculpture
is in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City
These great works include Hans Baldung Grien’s painting “The Holy Trinity between the Lady of Sorrows and Saint Giles” (c.1513-16), Titian’s painting “Madonna in Sorrow” (1554), El Greco’s painting “Mater Dolorosa” (c. 1590), and Michelangelo’s sculpture “La Madonna della Pietà” (1637).
Devotion to Our Lady has also been preserved in the Chaplet of Our Lady of Sorrows, a powerful go-to prayer. Reflecting on Mary’s sorrows can be a daily discipline all year with special attention on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on the Friday before Good Friday (this year on March 22) and every year on Sept. 15.
Often an Act of Contrition often begins the chaplet to recognize the role our sins have played in Our Lady’s sufferings. The prayer then proceeds with one Our Father and then seven Hail Marys. This repeats seven times, allowing for meditation on each of the seven sorrows. The prayer concludes with three Hail Marys in honor of Our Lady’s tears.
Order a Seven Sorrows Chaplet from the Church Militant store.
