Opening Prayer
O Most Sorrowful Mother, we reflect upon the bitterness of thy leave-taking, the moment when thou didst bid farewell to thy Divine Son as He went forth to His Passion. We ask for thy presence at our own final parting, when our souls shall depart from our bodies.
In that hour of dread and helplessness, when the enemy seeks to discourage us, be thou our defense and our light. Through the tears thou didst shed on Maundy Thursday, obtain for us the grace of perfect resignation to the Divine Will, that we may meet death not with terror, but with the confidence of a child being led home by its Mother.
Amen.
John 19:25-27
25Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. 26When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. 27After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.
Blessed Virgin Mary
It is essential to distinguish the “Seven Dolors of Mary at the Death of Jesus” from the classic Seven Sorrows. This specific devotion focuses with microscopic intensity on the events surrounding the immediate Passion, beginning with the “First Dolor“: the leave-taking on Maundy Thursday. This was not a common farewell; it was a sword that transfixed her soul, a martyrdom of the spirit anticipated before the Cross was raised. This Maundy Thursday resignation stands as the supreme model for the Christian soul. Honoring the “three endless hours of dreadful helplessness” Mary experienced serves as a specific preparation for a happy death by honoring the service she rendered to Jesus in His final hours.
St. Gabriel Possenti, known as “Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows,” achieved religious perfection in a remarkably short time by concentrating his meditations within Mary’s pierced heart. He provided an intellectual defense of this devotion, asserting that “no one who had practiced devotion to Mary Sorrowful had yet been lost,” as the evil spirits are commanded by God not to assail such souls in their final hour.
“O MOST sorrowful Mother Mary, I remind thee of the intense pain which pierced thy soul when thy beloved Son took leave of thee on Maundy Thursday. Remember how the sword of pain pierced through thy soul, and what burning tears thou didst then shed. I pray thee, O Mary, befriend me when I take leave of my friends, and my soul is about to part from my body in the bitterness of death.”
— Prayer for the First Dolor at the Death of Jesus
Mary and the Magisterium
This specific devotion to the Dolors at the Death of Jesus provides a “defense” and a guarantee of “victory” at the Judgment Day. As the Stabat Mater petitions, “Be Thy Mother my defense, Be Thy Cross my victory.” By meditating on the parting of Mother and Son, the faithful are equipped to face the leave-taking of this life with heroic fortitude. Mary serves as the ultimate model of resignation to the Divine Will, teaching us that even the most bitter parting can be an act of redemptive love.
- How am I spiritually preparing for the inevitable "leave-taking" of my own life, and is Mary a part of that preparation?
- In what areas of my life am I struggling to say "Thy Will be done," and how can Mary's Maundy Thursday resignation help me?
Closing Prayer
Befriend my soul at its departure, O Mother of Sorrows, through the bitterness of thy Maundy Thursday farewell.
Amen.
