Our Lady of Sorrows
Feast day: September 15
The memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated on Sept. 15 and commemorates the seven great sorrows of Mary, Mother of Jesus. The biblically-based sorrows are: the prophecy of Simeon; the flight into Egypt; the Child Jesus being lost for three days; Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary; crucifixion and death of Jesus; the body of Jesus being taken from the cross; and the burial of Jesus. Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows became popular in the monastic Cistercian and mendicant Servite orders in the 12th century. The memorial was first celebrated by the Servites; then Pope Pius VII added it to the Roman calendar in 1814. Pope St. Pius X moved the memorial to Sept. 15 in 1913.
Collect
O God, who willed
that, when your Son was lifted high on the Cross,
his Mother should stand close by and share his suffering,
grant that your Church,
participating with the Virgin Mary in the Passion of Christ,
may merit a share in his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
