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Our Lady of Sorrows

Memorial

Feast Day
September 15

The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, kept the day after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, contemplates the Mother of God in her share of the Passion of her Son. The feast originates in the medieval devotion to the Compassio Mariae and was approved for the Servite Order, founded in 1233 in Florence, in 1668. Pope Pius VII extended it to the universal Church in 1814, and Pope Pius X fixed the date as 15 September in 1913.

The seven sorrows of Mary, traditionally enumerated since the Middle Ages, are the prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35), the flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-21), the loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-50), the meeting with Jesus on the way to Calvary, the Crucifixion (John 19:25-30), the Deposition from the Cross, and the Burial of Jesus.

The day's liturgy uses the medieval sequence Stabat Mater (Stood the Mother), attributed in tradition to Jacopone da Todi, in which the Church meditates on Mary standing at the foot of the Cross. The Gospel proper is Luke 2:33-35 (the prophecy of Simeon) or John 19:25-27 (Behold your mother).

Our Lady of Sorrows is the supreme Christian icon of consenting love in the face of suffering. The Catechism teaches that Mary's compassion at the foot of the Cross uniquely cooperates with the saving work of her Son. The faithful are invited to a share in this compassion, learning from Mary how to stand fast in love beside Christ in his suffering members.

Patronages

the suffering · Slovakia · the Mater Dolorosa

From Our Lady of Sorrows

"Stabat Mater dolorosa iuxta crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius. (At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last.)"
— Stabat Mater, attributed to Jacopone da Todi (13th century)

Catholic Churches Named After Our Lady of Sorrows

20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Our Lady of Sorrows's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:

Sources