Catholic Prayer and Meditation: A Meditation on the Seven Sorrows

KAC's Catholic Meditations ^ | 3/3/07 | Knitting a Conundrum

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Theotokos, Mother of God,
You who knew the blessedness of living with Him,
He our Light, our Peace, our Salvation,
Theotokos, O Mother of Sorrows,
You who knew the darkness of watching Him die
Scorned, abused, in pain and misery,
Theotokos,  O Mother of Tears,
thank you for saying yes
when Simeon told you
how the sword would pierce your heart,
Theotokos, O Mother of our Hope,
thank you for saying yes
when it was time to flee to Egypt,
Theotokos, O Mother most faithful,
for saying yes, and knowing how it feels
to lose the light of your Son,
as you searched for Him, three days, finding Him in the temple.
Theotokos, O Mother acquainted with grief,
for saying yes
when seeing your son
burdened, falling, beaten, bleeding, on the way to Golgotha.
Theotokos, O Mother of Martyrs,
for saying yes
as you waited with him at the foot of the cross,
Theotokos, O Mother most bereft,
thank you for saying yes
when you held his cold and bloodstained body,
Theotokos, O Mother whose heart felt the full length of the sword,
thank you for saying yes
as you left the tomb as its stone rolled into place.

Theotokos, Mother Most Afflicted,
O Mother of my Lord, who knows the depths of sorrow,
Help me, by remembering your grief,
your Yes,
to come closer to your Son, each and every day.

O Mater Dolorosa,
Pray for us now, and the hour of our deaths, Amen.

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Today is both the second Saturday in Lent and First Saturday. Please join me, if you will, in remembering the sorrows of Mary and the passion of our Lord.

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Catholic Meditation Ping!

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Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows
By St. Bridget

O Blessed Virgin Mary, Immaculate Mother of God, who didst endure a martyrdom of love and grief, beholding the sufferings and sorrows of Jesus! Thou didst co-operate in the benefit of my redemption by thy innumerable afflictions and by offering to the Eternal Father His only-begotten Son as a holocaust and victim of propitiation for my sins. I thank thee for the unspeakable love which led thee to deprive thyself of the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus, true God and true Man, to save me, a sinner. Oh! make use of the unfailing intercession of thy sorrows with the Father and the Son. that I may steadfastly amend my life and never again crucify my loving Redeemer by new sins; arid that, persevering till death in His grace, I may obtain eternal life through the merits of His Cross and Passion. Amen.

Mother of love, of sorrow, and of mercy, pray for us.

Prayer to Christ

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose most holy soul was transfixed with the sword of sorrow in the hour of Thy Own Passion, may intercede for us before the throne of Mercy, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Imprint, O Lady, thy wounds upon my heart, that I may read therein sorrow and love; sorrow, to endure every sorrow for thee; love, to despise every love for thee. Amen.

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The hours pass too slowly
while you stand and watch , O Lady of Tears,
The pain and agony of death
His misery, the struggle for breath,
Giving up so slowly the death that nears
This moment so painful, so holy.

The hours pass too fast
while you stand and watch, O Lady of Tears,
Seeing the child you bore soon to be gone
Leaving you behind to live on with John
Ahead the long stretch of years
Until you breathe your last.

So much to give, O Mother of Tears,
So deep your heart, with its hopes and fears
Centered on giving God your all.
When I stumble, when I fall,
Remind me of that long hard day.
When my heart begins to stray,
Pray that I hear my Savior's call.

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Sea of Sorrow

Oh! on what a sea of sorrow
Was the Virgin-Mother cast,
When her eyes with tears o'erflowing
Gazed upon her Son aghast,
From the bloodstained gibbet taken,
Dying in her arms at last.

In her bitter desolation,
His sweet mouth, His bosom too,
Then His riven side beloved,
Then each hand, both wounded through,
Then His feet, with blood encrimsoned,
Her maternal tears bedew.

She, a hundred times and over,
Strains Him closely to her breast
Heart to Heart, arms arms enfolding,
Are His wounds on her impressed:
Thus, in sorrow's very kisses,
Melts her anguished soul to rest.

Oh, dear Mother! we beseech thee,
By the tears thine eyes have shed,
By the cruel death of Jesus
And His wounds' right royal red,
Make our hearts o'erflow with sorrow
From thy heart's deep fountainhead.

To the Father, Son, and Spirit,
Now we bend on equal knee:
Glory, sempiternal glory,
To the Most High Trinity;
Yea! perpetual praise and honor
Now and through all ages be.

ASCRIBED TO THE SERVITE, CALUSTO PALUMBELLA

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O Blessed Mother,
O Lady of Consolation,
be with us
when the moments seem so dark,
and the anger builds
and we want to do
what we cannot do.
O Mary,
You too know what it is like,
to see your beloved
tortured,
beaten,
murdered
without being able to do more
than wait,
pray,
and give it all to the Father.
When our heart breaks,
intercede for us
that we too
will have the patience to wait for the Lord's time,
the grace to bear the load we are given,
and the ability to give him our resounding YES.

Amen.

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O Lady Mary, thy bright crown
Is no mere crown of majesty;
For with the reflex of His own
Resplendent thorns Christ circled thee.

The red rose of this passion-tide
Doth take a deeper hue from Thee,
In the five Wounds of Jesus dyed,
And in thy bleeding thoughts, Mary.

The soldier struck a triple stroke
That smote thy Jesus on the tree:
He broke the Heart of hearts, and broke
The Saint's and Mother's hearts in thee.

Thy Son went up the angel's ways.
His Passion ended; but, ah me!
Thou found'st the road of further days
A longer Way of Calvary.

On the hard cross of hope deferred,
Thou hungst in loving agony,
Until the mortal-dreaded word
Which chills our mirth, spake mirth to thee.

The angel Death, from this cold tomb
Of life, did roll the stone away;
And He thou bearest in thy womb
Caught thee at last into the day-
Before the living throne of whom
The lights of heaven burning pray.

O thou who dwellest in the day,
Behold, I pace amidst the gloom;
Darkness is ever, round my way
With little space for sunbeam-room.



Yet Christian sadness is divine,
Even as thy patient sadness was:
The salt tears in our life's dark wine
Fell in it from the saving Cross.

Bitter the bread of our repast;
Yet doth a sweet bitter leaven:
Our sorrow is the shadow cast
Around it by the light of heaven!
O Light in light, shine down from heaven!

Francis Thompson Robert, Cyril. Mary Immaculate:
God's Mother and Mine.
Poughkeepsie, New York: Marist Press, 1946.

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Ave, Mater Dolorosa

Mother, hail, immersed in woes,
Thou the Martyrs' earliest rose,
Hear my cry, to thee I pray:

Grant that in death's agony,
Putting all my trust in thee,
I may win the just soul's peace.

By that sorrow, like a sword,
At the holy Simeon's word,
Piercing through thy heart and soul:
Grant that in death's agony, etc.

By that sorrow, whelming thee,
When to Egypt thou dost flee,
So to save thy holy Child:
Grant that in death's agony, etc.

By that sorrow, when in tears,
Seeking Jesus midst His peers,
Thou dost find Him once again:
Grant that in death's agony, etc.

By that sorrow, racking thee,
When thy Son's Cross thou dost see
Bowing Him beneath its weight:
Grant that in death's agony, etc.

By that sorrow, fixed in thee,
Whilst He hangs upon the tree,
Thou thyself a victim too:
Grant that in death's agony, etc.

By that sorrow, when thy breast
Now enfolds that body blest
Taken down from off the Cross:
Grant that in death's agony, etc.

By that sorrow, when the tomb
Takes Him from thee to its gloom,
Loving Mother, Virgin blest:
Grant that in death's agony, etc.

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
Be Thy Mother my defense,
Be Thy Cross my victory. Amen.

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O Mother Mary,
as Pilate tried your son,
were you in the courtyard
to hear those hateful voices
tear at your heart -
Kill Him!
Crucify Him!
This was your child
they were focusing all their hate on,
your child,
the child of promise
who you had watched grow,
saw bloom into the gift of God
to an undeserving mankind,
the healer,
the teacher,
the sign to be contradicted.

O Mother Mary,
did you see what they had done to him
as they led him out,
beaten and bloody,
crowned with a mockery of a crown,
almost unrecognisable
from the blood and from the bruising.
This was your child,
the child angels announced,
the child who loved his Father so much
he tarried behind at the temple
and almost broke your heart in fear,
the child who healed the wounded
now wounded in so many ways.

O Mother Mary,
did you at that moment pray,
like your son had, the night before,
"O my God, not my will, but yours?"

[Mercat]

A dear dear friend in in the hospital, terminal after a stroke and a "deep bleed" whatever that is. This morning I sat at her bedside and said a rosary, out loud and she reacted. I feel so blessed. I feel like I touched the face of the divine.

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Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us now, and at the hour of our deaths. Amen.

Prayers for her, and for all who love her.

[Ciexyz]

Faith-sharing bump.

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Can you put me on your ping list.

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Be glad to!

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Thanks..

I found the meditations on accident and I'm very glad I did.

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Trying to do Friday and Saturday throughout Lent.