Nicely put, and I couldn't agree more!
"I cannot begin to imagine the suffering she underwent, seeing all of the good her Son did and watching the religious institution slowly kill Him right before her eyes. "A sword shall also pierce your heart" was certainly a prophesy pointing to this pain."
When I was a kid, it was the practice to cover the Crucifix and all the statues with a silken, purple cloth. I can't remember if that occurred one or two weeks before Easter Sunday, but it had a very powerful effect on me.
As Lent drew to a close and we began to concentrate more on the narratives of His Passion, an enormous desire to punish the Romans who had so abused Him, welled up inside of me in a very intense and vivid way. I never had to be coaxed, in any way, in to loving Christ. He was my Protector and my insuperable Hero from the very beginning. You'll have to forgive the quality of my reflections, should they seem jejune to you. My love for Christ was formed in this way.
Jo kus, when I was 20 years old, I lost my youngest brother. His name was Patrick, he was 7 years old, and he was hit and killed by his school bus about 25 yards or so from our house. He was born on March 23, 1969, so he would have turned 37 years old, a few weeks past, had he lived.
His little friends came running up the driveway, yelling 'Patrick's been hit by the bus', and when my Mom and I ran to him, she dropped to her knees to attend to him, and felt the life draining from his little arms. I'm often reminded of Our Lord's Blessed Mother, when that scene replays itself in my thoughts. He was a sweet boy who was wounded easily, and loved his sister a lot and wasn't shy about showing it.
I tell you this, not to gain your empathy, but to remember him, and all who have passed from this world, especially at this moment, because Easter Sunday draws nigh.
Yes, we still do that, the 5th week of Lent, which would be last Sunday. When we are aware of all of these symbols, they help us so much in experiencing our Lord and Savior. Christ is not just an intellectual notion, but a God who we experience. Symbols most strongly brings to mind and heart that experience.
He was a sweet boy who was wounded easily, and loved his sister a lot and wasn't shy about showing it. I tell you this, not to gain your empathy, but to remember him, and all who have passed from this world, especially at this moment, because Easter Sunday draws nigh.
Thank you for sharing that very difficult experience with me. It helps me to understand why you have a certain empathy towards Mary and her own sufferings of seeing her Son die. I can't imagine seeing someone close to me die in that matter. It is something one must experience, no doubt. Perhaps that might be why my devotion to her is not very strong - I haven't experienced anything like she did, so it is harder for me to appreciate that awful suffering and agony of seeing her beloved Son die. Yours is certainly a strong experience of God's love in the midst of pain and suffering.
Regards
My father died on Good Friday, much too young.
We will see them again one day.