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The Chaplet of Our Lady of Sorrows
(Also known as The Seven Sorrows Rosary or the Servite Rosary)

The Seven Sorrows of Mary Image





History

Devotion to the Mother of Sorrows dates back to the beginning of the Church. The first example we have is St. John at the foot of the Cross. This devotion was ensured in Church history by the gospel narrative of St. John: “Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus, His Mother...” (Jn. 19:25). Though the devotion has always been part of Catholic piety, it was not until the 13th Century that the devotion of meditating on the sorrows of Our Lady began to flourish much more.

In Florence, Italy seven holy men of noble birth left the city seeking solitude on Mount Senario and togetherformed a community dedicating their lives to prayer and penance. The seven holy men all had a strong devotion to Our Lady. On Good Friday in 1239, while meditating on Our Lord’s Passion and Our Lady’s sufferings, Our Lady appeared to the 7 holy men and revealed to them Her wish for them to form an Order dedicated to practicing and promoting the devotion to Her Sorrows. These men became the founders of the religious Order of the Servants of Mary (or Servites) and are all canonized saints today. At Our Lady’s request, the seven founders made the object of their Order meditation on the pains suffered by Our Lady in the Life, Passion and Death of Her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and undertook promoting this devotion of meditating on the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady to all Catholics, introducing the Chaplet (or Little Rosary) of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Later, in the 1980s in Rwanda, Africa, it gained new popularity following the Marian apparitions in Kibeho, which have been approved by the Catholic Church. During Mary's apparitions to Marie-Claire Mukangango, she assigned the young visionary a mission to reintroduce this special rosary to the world. Before her untimely death, Marie Claire did just that, traveling widely to teach it to thousands of people, who then taught it to thousands of others. (Marie-Claire was killed in the genocide of over a million people in Rwanda, a tragedy that was foretold through visions of rivers of blood that the young people in Kibeho received several years before the killings.)

Father Leszek Czelusniak, MIC, who is in charge of the Marian mission in Rwanda, interviewed Nathalie, another one of the visionaries of Kibeho, and asked her to summarize the messages of Mary. Here was Nathalie's response:

"The Holy Virgin insisted on the need for prayer. She said that the world is bad. It is necessary to pray, to pray, to pray a lot for this world that is bad, to pray for sinners, to pray for their conversion. She insisted a lot on the need for conversion: Convert to God! Convert to God! Convert to God! While saying that people don't respect God's commands, that people have a hard heart, she also asked us to meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary and to recite it every day. She also taught us the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows. She asked us to pray it every Tuesday and Friday. She asked us to obey the Church, to love God in truth, and to love our neighbor in humility and simplicity. She spoke of the need for mortification, a spirit of penitence and sacrifice. She also spoke of the need for suffering, to bear our sufferings every day. She said that no one enters heaven without suffering. She also told us that acts of charity for the poor make us beautiful flowers that God likes. She wanted a chapel to be constructed here in Kibeho, so everyone would remember her visit and pray for the Church and religious. Holy Mary spoke to us in Kinyarwanda [the language of Rwanda] with her very soft voice."

Promises of the Chaplet


There are seven promises that are attached to the practice of daily praying seven Hail Mary's while meditating on Our Lady's Tears and Sorrows. They were revealed to St. Bridget of Sweden by The Most Blessed Virgin Mary:

  1. I will grant peace to their families.
  2. They will be enlightened about the Divine Mysteries.
  3. I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.
  4. 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.
  5. I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal Enemy [Satan] and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.
  6. I will visibly help them at the moment of their death - They shall see the face of their Mother.
  7. 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 Chaplet


The following is a description of this amazing Rosary as the Virgin Mother herself taught it to Marie-Claire in Kibeho. It may be prayed aloud or contemplated in silence, alone or with others; the key is for the prayers, reflections, and meditations to always come from the depths of our hearts...It is important that, when we reach each of the Seven Sorrows, we take a moment to meditate on the magnitude of Mary's sufferings...and the strength of Our Mother's love.
Instructions for the Chaplet

Click on the number to go to that mystery:

Day1 Day2 Day3 Day4 Day5 Day6 Day7

Sign of the Cross: In the name of The Father, and The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Amen.

Introductory Prayer: My God, I offer You this Rosary for Your glory, so I can honor your Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin, so I can share and meditate upon her suffering. I humbly beg you to give me true repentance for all my sins. Give me wisdom and humility, so that I may receive all the indulgences contained in this prayer.

Act of Contrition: O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend You, my God, You Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

(Pray 3 Hail Mary's)

Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the Sorrows of your Son, Jesus.

1) The First Sword of Sorrow: The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:22-35)



Reading

"And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"). There, the old priest Simeon held the baby Jesus in his hands, and the Holy Spirit filled his heart. Simeon recognized Jesus as the promised Savior and held the Child high toward heaven, thanking God for granting his wish that he would live long enough to behold the Messiah.

"Now Your servant may depart this life in peace, my Lord," he said… Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.”

The Blessed Virgin knew that she had given birth to the Savior of humankind, so she immediately understood and accepted Simeon’s prophecy. Although her Heart was deeply touched by this favor of bearing the Baby Jesus, her Heart remained heavy and troubled, for she knew what had been written about the ordeals and subsequent death of the Savior. Whenever she saw her Son, she was constantly reminded of the suffering He would be subject to, and His suffering became her own.



Prayer: Beloved Mother Mary, whose Heart suffered beyond bearing because of us, teach us to suffer with you and with love, and to accept all the suffering God deems it necessary to send our way. Let us suffer, and may our suffering be known to God only, like yours and that of Jesus. Do not let us show our suffering to the world, so it will matter more and be used to atone for the sins of the world. You, Mother, who suffered with the Savior of the world, we offer you our suffering, and the suffering of the world, because we are your children. Join those sorrows to your own and to those of the Lord Jesus Christ, then offer them to God the Father. You are a Mother greater than all.

(Pray 1 Our Father and 7 Hail Mary's)

Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the Sorrows of your Son, Jesus.

2) The Second Sword of Sorrow: The Flight Into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)



Reading

"When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Mary’s Heart broke and her mind was greatly troubled when Joseph revealed to her the words of the angel: they were to wake up quickly and flee to Egypt because Herod wanted to kill Jesus. The Blessed Virgin hardly had time to decide what to take or leave behind; she took her Child and left everything else, rushing outside before Joseph so that they could hurry as God wished. Then she said, "Even though God has power over everything, He wants us to flee with Jesus, His Son. God will show us the way, and we shall arrive without being caught by the enemy."

Because the Blessed Virgin was the Mother of Jesus, she loved Him more than anyone else. Her heart was deeply troubled at the sight of her Infant Son’s discomfort, and she suffered greatly because He was cold and shivering. While she and her husband were tired, sleepy, and hungry during this long travel, Mary’s only thought was about the safety and comfort of her Child. She feared coming face to face with the soldiers who had been ordered to kill Jesus because she was aware that the enemy was still in Bethlehem. Her heart remained constantly anguished during this flight. She also knew that where they were going, there would be no friendly faces to greet them.

Prayer: Beloved Mother, who has suffered so much, give to us your courageous heart. Please pray for us to have strength so that we can be brave like you and accept with love the suffering God sends our way. Help us to also accept all the suffering we inflict upon ourselves and the suffering inflicted upon us by others. Heavenly Mother, you, in union with Jesus, purify our suffering so that we may give glory to God and save our souls.

(Pray 1 Our Father and 7 Hail Mary’s)

Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the Sorrows of your Son, Jesus.

3) The Third Sword of Sorrow: The Loss of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52)



Reading

"Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When He was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while His parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking He was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for Him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for Him. After three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard Him was amazed at His understanding and His answers. When His parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to Him, 'Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.' 'Why were you searching for me?' He asked. 'Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?' But they did not understand what He was saying to them. Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."

So Jesus had already some acquaintances in the city when, in His twelfth year, with their friends and their sons, He accompanied His parents to Jerusalem. His parents were accustomed to walk with the people from their own part of the country, and they knew that Jesus, who now made the journey for the fifth time, always went with the other youths from Nazareth. But this time Jesus had, on the return journey not far from the Mount of Olives, separated from His companions, who all thought that He had joined His parents who were following. Jesus had, however, gone to that side of Jerusalem nearest to Bethlehem, to the inn at which the Holy Family before Marys Purification had put up. Mary and Joseph thought Him on ahead with the other Nazarenes, while these latter thought that He was following with His parents. When at last they all met at Gophna, the anxiety of Mary and Joseph at His absence was very great. They returned at once to Jerusalem, making inquiries after Him on the way and everywhere in the city itself. But they could not find Him, since He had not been where they usually stayed. Jesus had slept at the inn before the Bethlehem gate, where the people knew Him and His parents. There He had joined several youths and gone with them to two schools of the city, the first day to one, the second to another. On the morning of the third day, He had gone to a third school at the Temple, and in the afternoon into the Temple itself where His parents found Him. These schools were all different, and not all exactly schools of the Law. Other branches were taught in them.

Jesus by His questions and answers so astonished and embarrassed the doctors and rabbis of all these schools that they resolved, on the afternoon of the third day, in the public lecture hall of the Temple and in presence of the rabbis most deeply versed in the various sciences "to humble the Boy Jesus." The scribes and doctors had concerted the plan together; for, although pleased at first, they had in the end become vexed at him. Jesus had been teaching two hours, when Joseph and Mary entered the Temple. They inquired after their Child of the Levites whom they knew, and received for answer that He was with the doctors in the lecture hall. But as they were not at liberty to enter that hall, they sent one of the Levites in to call Jesus. Jesus sent them word that He must first finish what He was then about. Mary was very much troubled at His not obeying at once, for this was the first time He had given His parents to understand that He had other commands than theirs to fulfill. He continued to teach for another hour, and then He left the hall and joined His parents in the porch of Israel, the womens porch, leaving His hearers confounded, confused, and enraged. Joseph was quite awed and astonished, but he kept a humble silence. Mary, however, drawing near to Jesus, said, "Child, why hast Thou done this to us? Behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing!" But Jesus answered gravely, "Why have you sought Me? Do you not know that I must be about My Fathers business?" But they did not understand. They at once began with Him their journey home. The bystanders gazed at them in astonishment, and I was in dread lest they should lay hands upon the Boy, for I saw that some of them were full of rage.
- From Volume I of The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Visions of St. Catherine Emmerich

Prayer: Beloved Mother, teach us to accept all our sufferings because of our sins and to atone for the sins of the whole world.

(Pray 1 Our Father and 7 Hail Mary's)

Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the Sorrows of your Son, Jesus.

4) The Fourth Sword of Sorrow: Mary Meets Jesus On The Way To Calvary (Luke 23:27-31)



Reading

"A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, 'Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!’ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

The Blessed Mother of Jesus, who shared every suffering of her Son, had about an hour previously-when the unjust sentence was pronounced upon Him-left the forum with John and the holy women to venerate the places consecrated by His cruel Passion. But now when the running crowd, the sounding trumpets, and the approach of the soldiers and Pilates cavalcade announced the commencement of the bitter Way of the Cross, Mary could no longer remain at a distance. She must behold her Divine Son in His sufferings, and she begged John to take her to some place that Jesus would pass. They left, in consequence, the vicinity of Zion, passed the judgment seat, and went through gates and shady walks which were open just now to the people streaming here and there, to the western side of a palace which had an arched gateway on the street into which the procession turned after Jesus first fall. John obtained from the compassionate porter the privilege of passing through and of opening the opposite gate.

I was terrified when I saw the Blessed Virgin so pale, her eyes red with weeping, wrapped from head to foot in a bluish-green mantle, trembling and shuddering, going through this house with the holy women, John, and one of the nephews of Joseph of Arimathea. They could already distinguish the tumult and uproar of the approaching multitude only some houses off, the sound of the trumpet and the proclamation at the corners that a criminal was being led to execution. When the servant opened the gate, the noise became more distinct and alarming. Mary was in prayer. She said to John: "Shall I stay to behold it, or shall I hurry away? Oh, how shall I be able to endure it?" John replied: "If you do not remain, it will always be to you a cruel regret." They stepped out under the gateway and looked to the right down the street, which was here somewhat rising, but which became level again at the spot upon which Mary was standing. The procession at this moment may not have been more than eighty paces distant from them. And now came on the executioners servants, insolent and triumphant, with their instruments of torture, at sight of which the Blessed Mother trembled, sobbed, and wrung her hands. One of the men said to the bystanders: "Who is that woman in such distress?" And someone answered: "She is the Mother of the Galilean." When the miscreants heard this, they jeered at the sorrowing Mother in words of scorn, pointed at her with their fingers; and one of the base wretches, snatching up the nails intended for the crucifixion, held them up mockingly before her face. Wringing her hands, she gazed upon Jesus and, in her anguish, leaned for support against one of the pillars of the gate. She was pale as a corpse, her lips livid.

The Pharisees came riding forward, then came the boy with the inscription - and oh! A couple of steps behind him, the Son of God, her own Son, the Holy One, the Redeemer! Tottering, bowed down, His thorn-crowned Head painfully bent over to one shoulder on account of the heavy cross He was carrying, Jesus staggered on. The executioners pulled Him forward with the ropes. His face was pale, wounded, and blood- stained, His beard pointed and matted with blood. From His sunken eyes full of blood He cast, from under the tangled and twisted thorns of His crown, frightful to behold, a look full of earnest tenderness upon His afflicted Mother, and for the second time tottered under the weight of the cross and sank on His hands and knees to the ground. The most sorrowful Mother, in vehemence of her love and anguish, saw neither soldiers nor executioners - she saw only her beloved, suffering, maltreated Son. Wringing her hands, she sprang over the couple of steps between the gateway and the executioners in advance, and rushing to Jesus, fell on her knees with her arms around Him. I heard, but I know not whether spoken with the lips or in spirit, the words: "My Son!" - "My Mother!" The executioners insulted and mocked. One of them said: "Woman, what do you want here? If you had raised Him better, He would not now be in our hands." I perceived, however, that some of the soldiers were touched. They obliged the Blessed Virgin to retire, but not one of them laid a finger on her. John and the women led her away, and she sank, like one paralyzed in the knees by pain, on one of the cornerstones that supported the wall near the gateway. Her back was turned toward the procession, and her hands came in contact with the obliquely projecting stone upon which she sank.
- From Volume IV of The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Visions of St. Catherine Emmerich

Prayer: Beloved Mother, so stricken with grief, help us to bear our own suffering with courage and love so that we may relieve your Sorrowful Heart and that of Jesus. In doing so, may we give glory to God Who gave you and Jesus to humanity. As you suffered, teach us to suffer silently and patiently. Grant unto us the grace of loving God in everything. O Mother of Sorrows, most afflicted of all mothers, have mercy on the sinners of the whole world.

(Pray 1 Our Father and 7 Hail Mary’s)

Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the Sorrows of your Son, Jesus.

5) The Fifth Sword of Sorrow: Mary Stands At The Foot Of The Cross (John 19:25-27)



Reading

"Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to her, 'Woman, behold your son,' and to the disciple, 'Behold your mother.' From that time on, this disciple took her into his home."

The Mother of Jesus, Mary Cleophas, Mary Magdalen, and John were standing around Jesus' cross, between it and those of the thieves, and looking up at the Lord. The Blessed Virgin, overcome by maternal love, was in her heart fervently imploring Jesus to let her die with Him. At that moment, the Lord cast an earnest and compassionate glance down upon His Mother and, turning His eyes toward John, said to her: "Woman, behold, this is thy son! He will be thy son more truly than if thou hadst given him birth." Then He praised John, and said: "He has always been innocent and full of simple faith. He was never scandalized, excepting when his mother wanted to have him elevated to a high position." To John, He said: "Behold, this is thy Mother!" and John reverently and like a filial son embraced beneath the cross of the dying Redeemer Jesus Mother, who had now become his Mother also. After this solemn bequest of her dying Son, the Blessed Virgin was so deeply affected by her own sorrow and the gravity of the scene that the holy women, supporting her in their arms, seated her for a few moments on the earthen rampart opposite the cross, and then took her away from the circle to the rest of the holy women. I felt that the purest, the humblest, the most obedient of creatures, she who said to the angel: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord! Be it done to me according to Thy word!"-she who had become the Mother of the Eternal Word Incarnate, now that she understood from her dying Son that she was to be the spiritual Mother of another son, in the midst of her grief at parting and still humbly obedient, again pronounced, though in her heart, the words: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord! Be it done to me according to Thy word!" I felt that she took at that moment for her own children all the children of God, all the brethren of Jesus…

The hour of the Lord was now come. He was struggling with death, and a cold sweat burst out on every limb. John was standing by the cross and wiping Jesus feet with his handkerchief. Magdalen, utterly crushed with grief, was leaning at the back of the cross. The Blessed Virgin, supported in the arms of Mary Cleophas and Salome, was standing between Jesus and the cross of the good thief, her gaze fixed upon her dying Son. Jesus spoke: "It is finished!" and raising His head He cried with a loud voice: "Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit!" The sweet, loud cry rang through Heaven and earth. Then He bowed His head and gave up the spirit. I saw His soul like a luminous phantom descending through the earth near the cross down to the sphere of Limbo. John and the holy women sank, face downward, prostrate on the earth…

When Jesus hands became stiff, His Mothers eyes grew dim, the paleness of death overspread her countenance, her feet tottered, and she sank to the earth. Magdalen, John, and the others, yielding to their grief, fell also with veiled faces. When that most loving, that most afflicted Mother arose from the ground, she beheld the Sacred Body of her Son, whom she had conceived by the Holy Ghost, the flesh of her flesh, the bone of her bone, the heart of her heart, the holy vessel formed by the divine overshadowing in her own blessed womb, now deprived of all its beauty and comeliness and even of its most holy soul, given up to the laws of that nature which He had Himself created and which man had by sin abused and disfigured. She beheld that beloved Son crushed, maltreated, disfigured, and put to death by the hands of those whom He had come in the flesh to restore to grace and life. Ah! She beheld that Sacred Body thrust from among men, despised, derided, emptied, as it were, of all that was beautiful, truthful, and lovely, hanging like a leper, mangled on the cross between two murderers! Who can conceive the sorrow of the Mother of Jesus, of the Queen of Martyrs!
- From Volume IV of The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Visions of St. Catherine Emmerich

Prayer: Beloved Mother, Queen of the Martyrs, give us the courage you had in all your sufferings so that we may unite our sufferings with yours and give glory to God. Help us follow all His commandments and those of the Church so that Our Lord’s sacrifice will not be in vain, and all sinners in the world will be saved.

(Pray 1 Our Father and 7 Hail Mary’s)

Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the Sorrows of your Son, Jesus.

6) The Sixth Sword of Sorrow: Mary Receives The Dead Body Of Jesus In Her Arms (John 19:38-40)



Reading

"Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.

As soon as the Sacred Body was taken down, the men wrapped it in linen from the knees to the waist, and laid it on a sheet in His Mothers arms which, in anguish of heart and ardent longing, were stretched out to receive it. The Blessed Virgin was seated upon a large cover spread upon the ground, her right knee raised a little, and her back supported by a kind of cushion made, perhaps, of mantles rolled together. There sat the poor Mother, exhausted by grief and fatigue, in the position best suited for rendering loves last, sad duties to the remains of her murdered Son. The men laid the Sacred Body on a sheet spread upon the Mothers lap. The adorable head of Jesus rested upon her slightly raised knee, and His body lay outstretched upon the sheet. Love and grief in equal degrees struggled in the breast of the Blessed Mother. She held in her arms the body of her beloved Son, whose long martyrdom she had been able to soothe by no loving ministrations; and at the same time she beheld the frightful maltreatment exercised upon it, she gazed upon its wounds now close under her eyes. She pressed her lips to His blood-stained cheeks, while Magdalen knelt with her face bowed upon His feet. The Blessed Virgins courage and fortitude, in the midst of her inexpressible anguish, were unshaken.

(As Sister Emmerich, in her yearly contemplation of the Passion, was toward evening contemplating the Descent from the Cross, Good Friday, March 31, 1820, she suddenly fell in presence of the writer into a deathlike faint. On returning to consciousness, though still in great suffering, she related what follows: "When I gazed on the body of Jesus in the lap of the Blessed Virgin, I thought: "See, how courageous she is! She has not fainted even once! My guide instantly rebuked me for this thought-in which there was more of admiration than compassion-and said: "Suffer then what she endured! and on the instant, sharp anguish like a sword cut through my soul. I became like one in death agony, and I still feel the pain of it." She did indeed suffer that pain for a long time, and it brought on an illness that well-nigh ended in death.) Her sorrow was not such as could cause her to permit the marks of outrage and torture to remain upon the Sacred Body, and so she immediately began earnestly and carefully to wash and purify it from every trace of illusage.

The Sacred Body still lay in Marys lap, bluish white, glistening like flesh drained of blood, with here and there brown stains of coagulated blood that looked like red moles, and red places where the skin had been torn off. The Blessed Virgin covered the parts as they were washed, and began to embalm the wounds, commencing with those of the head. When the Blessed Virgin had anointed all the wounds, she bound up the sacred head in linen, but the covering for the face, attached to that of the head, she did not as yet draw down. With a gentle pressure, she closed the half-broken eyes of Jesus, and kept her hand upon them for a little while. Then she closed the mouth, embraced the Sacred Body of her Son, and weeping bitter tears, allowed her face to rest upon His. Once more Mary closely embraced Jesus, and in touching words took leave of Him. The men raised the Most Sacred Body in the sheet upon which it was resting in the lap of His Mother, and carried it down to the place where the burial preparations were to be made. Marys grief, which had been somewhat assuaged by her loving ministrations to Jesus, now burst forth anew, and, quite overcome, she rested with covered head in the arms of the women.
- From Volume IV of The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Visions of St. Catherine Emmerich

Prayer: We thank you, Beloved Mother, for your courage as you stood beneath your dying Child to comfort Him on the Cross. As our Savior drew His last breath, you became a wonderful Mother to all of us; you became the Blessed Mother of the world. We know that you love us more than our own earthly parents do. We implore you to be our advocate before the Throne of Mercy and Grace so that we can truly become your children. We thank you for Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, and we thank Jesus for giving you to us. Please pray for us, Mother.

(Pray 1 Our Father and 7 Hail Mary’s)

Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the Sorrows of your Son, Jesus.

7) The Seventh Sword of Sorrow: The Body Of Jesus Is Placed In The Tomb (John 19:41-42)



Reading

"At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there."

John once more conducted the Blessed Virgin and the other holy women to the sacred remains of Jesus. Mary knelt down by Jesus head, took a fine linen scarf that hung around her neck under her mantle and which she had received from Claudia Procla, Pilates wife, and laid it under the head of her Son. While all were kneeling around the Lords body, taking leave of it with many tears, a touching miracle was exhibited before their eyes: the entire form of Jesus Sacred Body with all its wounds appeared, as if drawn in brown and reddish colors, on the cloth that covered it. It was as if He wished gratefully to reward their loving care of Him, gratefully to acknowledge their sorrow, and leave to them an image of Himself imprinted through all the coverings that enveloped Him. Weeping and lamenting, they embraced the Sacred Body, and reverently kissed the miraculous portrait. Their astonishment was so great that they opened the outside wrapping, and it became still greater when they found all the linen bands around the Sacred Body white as before and only the uppermost cloth marked with the Lords figure. The cloth on the side upon which the body lay received the imprint of the whole back of the Lord; the ends that covered it were marked with the front likeness. The parts of this latter, to produce the perfect form, had to be laid together, because the corners of the cloth were all crossed over the body in front. The picture was not a mere impression formed by bleeding wounds, for the whole body had been tightly wrapped in spices and numerous linen bands. It was a miraculous picture, a witness to the creative Godhead in the body of Jesus.

The men now laid the Sacred Body on the leathern litter, placed over it a brown cover, and ran two poles along the sides. I thought right away of the Ark of the Covenant. The holy women sat down upon a seat opposite the entrance of the grotto. The four men carried the Lords body down into it, set it down, strewed the stone couch with sweet spices, spread over it a linen cloth, and deposited the sacred remains upon it. The cloth hung down over the couch. Then, having with tears and embraces given expression to their love for Jesus, they left the cave. The Blessed Virgin now went in, and I saw her sitting on the head of the tomb, which was about two feet from the ground. She was bending low over the corpse of her Child and weeping after she left, the men raised the cloth that was hanging over the side of the tomb, folded it around the Sacred Body, and then threw the brown cover over the whole. Lastly, they closed the brown doors. The great stone, intended for securing the doors and which was still lying outside the cave, was in shape almost like a tomb, and was large enough for a man to lie at full length upon it. It was very heavy. By means of the poles brought from the garden entrance, the men rolled it into place before the closed doors of the tomb.
- From Volume IV of The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Visions of St. Catherine Emmerich

Prayer: Most Beloved Mother, whose beauty surpasses that of all mothers, Mother of Mercy, Mother of Jesus, and Mother to us all, we are your children and we place all our trust in you. Teach us to see God in all things and all situations, even our sufferings. Help us to understand the importance of suffering, and also to know the purpose of our suffering as God had intended it.

You yourself were conceived and born without sin, were preserved from sin, yet you suffered more than anybody else. You accepted suffering and pain with love and with unsurpassed courage. You stood by your Son from the time He was arrested until He died. You suffered along with Him, felt His every pain and torment. You accomplished the Will of God the Father; and according to His will, you have become our Mother. We beg you, dear Mother, to teach us to do as Jesus did. Teach us to accept our cross courageously. We trust you, most Merciful Mother, so teach us to sacrifice for all the sinners in the world. Help us to follow in your Son’s footsteps, and even to be willing to lay down our lives for others.

(Pray 1 Our Father and 7 Hail Mary’s)

Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the Sorrows of your Son, Jesus.

Concluding Prayer: Queen of Martyrs, your heart suffered so much. I beg you, by the merits of the tears you shed in these terrible and sorrowful times, to obtain for me and all the sinners of the world the grace of complete sincerity and repentance. Amen.

Three times, say: Mary, who was conceived without sin and who suffered for us, pray for us.

Sign of the Cross: In the name of The Father, and The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Amen.



The Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows

This Litany of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady found at the end of this booklet was composed by Pope Pius VII (1740-1823) while held in captivity during the Napoleonic Wars.



V. Lord, have mercy on us.
R. Christ, have mercy on us.
V. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
R. Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, most Sorrowful Virgin,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.


Let us pray,


O God, in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, a sword of grief pierced through the most sweet soul of Thy glorious Blessed Virgin Mother Mary: grant that we, who celebrate the memory of her Seven Sorrows, may obtain the happy effect of Your Passion, Who lives and reigns world without end. Amen.



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