Opening Prayer
O Mother of Sorrows, as we stand before the stone that seals the tomb of your Divine Son, grant us the grace to pass from worldly vanity to that spirit of profound humility exemplified by Saint Jerome and Saint Francis Borgia. Help us to see that all academic prestige and earthly glory are but dust when compared to the love of Christ. May we learn to bury our self-will within the tomb of Jesus, seeking only the hidden life of grace.
Venerable Mother, we ask for the grace of unshakable faith as we stand before the “closed tombs” of our own lives—those trials where God seems hidden and all hope seems lost. Teach us to wait in the silence of the Seventh Sorrow, trusting that the stone will be rolled away and that our present desolation is but the prelude to eternal joy.
Amen.
John 19:41–42
41Now there was in the place where he was crucified, a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. 42There, therefore, because of the parasceve of the Jews, they laid Jesus, because the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
Saint Jerome
The great translator of the Vulgate, his life was a proximity to the “Word” in Scripture that mirrors Mary’s proximity to the “Word Made Flesh” in the tomb. Jerome labored to reveal the Word to the world, while Mary, in the Seventh Sorrow, participated in the Word’s temporary “hiding” from the eyes of men.
Saint Alphonsus Liguori, the great doctor of the Church, taught that during the Passion, “two hung upon one Cross.” This spiritual union did not dissolve at the death of Christ but continued into the burial. Mary’s heart was interred with Jesus; she lived during those three days only by a miracle of Divine Grace, her existence entirely hidden with Him in God.
“Hail Mary, full of sorrows, the Crucified is with thee; thou art pitiable amongst women, and pitiable is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of the Crucified, implore for us, the crucifiers of thy Son, tears of contrition, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
— The “Sorrowful Hail Mary,” composed by Pope Pius IX
Mary and the Magisterium
The Church, primarily through the Servite Order, has long fostered this devotion as a Magisterial tool for conversion. Mary promised seven specific graces to those who meditate daily on her tears and dolors:
- I will grant peace to their families.
- They will be enlightened about the divine Mysteries.
- I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.
- 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.
- I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.
- I will visibly help them at the moment of their death.
- Those who propagate this devotion will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness.
- Following the example of Saint Francis Borgia, what "worldly joy" is currently occupying the space in my heart that should be reserved for the "purity and humility" of Christ?
- How can I "remain firmly closed to temptations" this week, mirroring the stone rolled in front of the tomb, to protect the life of grace within me?
Closing Prayer
O Lord Jesus Christ, we beseech Thee, let the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow, obtain for us a spirit of profound humility.
Amen.
