The Promises to Devotees of the Sorrowful Mother

The Benedictine Convent Of Clyde, Missouri

The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration are a monastic community called to a ministry of prayer, with a tradition of unceasing adoration of Christ in the Eucharist. They unite the monastic charism with an orientation to the Eucharist in the service of the Church and strive to witness to God’s presence in the world through their community life and by offering a welcoming space for silence, prayer and spiritual hospitality in a shared environment of monastic peace.

Discover the favors and graces promised to those who practice devotion to the Sorrowful Mother!

The Four Favors

The graces which Our Lord promises to those who are devoted to the sorrows of His Blessed Mother are very great. St. Alphonsus, in his discourse on the dolors of Mary, states: It was revealed to St. Elizabeth [of Hungary] that some years after the Blessed Virgin was assumed into Heaven, St. John, the beloved disciple, was seized with an ardent desire to see her again. This favor was granted him. His dear Mother appeared to him in company with our Divine Lord. Then St. John heard Mary asking of her Son some special graces for those who were devoted to her dolors. Our Lord promised the four following graces:

Those who invoke the Heavenly Mother through her sorrows will obtain true sorrow for their sins before death.
Our Saviour will protect them in their tribulations, especially at the hour of death.
He will impress upon them the memory of His Passion, and will reward them for it in Heaven.
He will commit such devout servants to the hands of Mary, that she may dispose of them according to her pleasure, and obtain for them all the graces she desires.

Spiritual Strengths

Besides these great graces, Father Faber enumerates others which are obtained through devotion to Mary’s sorrows:

This devotion has a remarkable connection with great interior holiness.
It reveals the emptiness of worldly joys. Worldliness finds no soul harder to attack than one entrenched in the sorrows of our Blessed Lady. The world can graft itself upon nothing in this devotion.
It gives us a permanent share in the sorrow for sin which Jesus and Mary felt.
It keeps our thoughts close to Jesus Christ, and to Him Crucified.
It communicates to our souls the spirit of the Cross and gives us strength to endure our own sufferings with resignation to the holy Will of God.
This devotion is wholly covered with the Precious Blood of Jesus and leads us directly into the depths of the Heart of our Saviour.
Anyone who during his lifetime has cherished compassion for this afflicted Mother may consider this as a most assured sign of predestination.

Seven Graces

According to St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373), the Blessed Virgin grants seven graces to the souls who honor her daily by saying seven Hail Marys while meditating 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—they will see the face of their mother.”
“I have obtained this grace from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son will be their eternal consolation and joy.”

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This article is taken from a chapter in Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother by The Benedictine Convent of Clyde which is available from TAN Books.