September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows-Part 2

In Part 1, the image from The Divine Mercy website states: 

“The Key to Peace:  Emulate Mary’s Surrender.”

Why did Our Blessed Lord give us His Mother (through Saint John), from the Holy Cross, as He suffered so terribly?  Why has Holy Church given her the title “Our Lady of Sorrows?”  It is to honor her, of course, and her grievous pain.  It is also for the purpose of ministering to us, the Body of Christ.  Suffering is part of life.  During these unprecedented times, the trials of humanity are unique in history.  We know not what the future holds, but we do know it will be greatly challenging, and in fact, already is.  Our Blessed Mother teaches us the way to suffer in peace.  It seems a contradiction, but all is possible with God’s grace.  Even through the worst of Our Lord’s Passion, she never despaired, trusting in God’s plan for salvation.  We can do the same.  Emulate her surrender.

On the above link, there is an article by the late Stephen LaChance.   He brings out a great insight on the “Pieta” sculpture…

Michelangelo has carved into his Pieta an element as profound as it is subtle. Off to one side, almost hidden behind the lifeless body of Christ, Mary's left hand lies open in a sign of surrender to God. This gesture symbolizes her entire life.

In the Scriptures, starting with the words of her fiat, "Be it done unto me according to your word," to her patient waiting for the descent of the Holy Spirit, we see Mary living in complete acceptance of the will of God.  Tradition has developed this surrender as epitomized in seven of Mary's sorrows:

The Prophesy of Simeon, The Exile in Egypt, The Loss of Jesus in the Temple, The Way of the Cross, The Crucifixion, The Descent from the Cross, The Burial of Jesus

He goes on to discuss the feast of the Triumph (Exaltation) of the Holy Cross…

Standing by the cross of her Son, she offers all these pains for our benefit.  Standing with her, we see the solution to the problem of evil. We look at the all-powerful, all-good God and see Him suffer and die, in the Person of Christ.

This seeming contradiction has led the Church to celebrate a feast called the Triumph of the Holy Cross (Sept. 14). This triumph is the paradox of the cross, which St. Paul calls "a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

This feast is celebrated the day before the Sorrows of Mary. It makes sense that these two feasts are so connected, but it is surprising that the Triumph comes before the Sorrows. Where else in the world does triumph come before sorrow, or when does victory come before the battle?  Yet the inspired wisdom of the Church does not fail us in this regard. For it is only in light of the Triumph of the Cross that the Sorrows of Mary and our sorrows have any meaning.

Take a look at The Divine Mercy site for the full article and much more.  Their shrine is in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  It is a beautiful place.  I will be there with my family in 2 weeks!

Our Lady of Sorrows, or the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, is celebrated September 15th.  We will post the prayers from the Tridentine Mass on that day.  Though this month has a sad cast to it, remember we also honored Mary’s joyful nativity on the 8th and will honor the Most Holy Name of Mary on the 12th.

Some other feasts of note are:  The Ember Days of Autumn (prayer and penance for the coming season), starting on the 20th, Saint Matthew on the 21st, Saint Padre Pio on the 23rd and the Archangels on the 29th.  For the full traditional calendar, please see:  calefactory.org

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows-Part 1

Let us honor the 7 Sorrows of Our Lady this month. She teaches us how to suffer. Last month, we celebrated her Immaculate Heart and now we see the great suffering which results from great love. Next month, we contemplate the Holy Rosary, the gift to humanity out of this motherly love.

There are many devotions to Our Lady of Sorrows. Think about choosing one (the chaplet is wonderful) and praying it with your family or church group.

Come back next week and we will discuss this topic a bit further, along with the notable feasts of the month. Don’t forget Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s feast on the 5th and Our Lady’s nativity on the 8th!

our lady of sorrows, pray for us!

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

Standing Mother

At the Foot of the Cross

O all you who walk by on the road

Attend and see

If there be any sorrow

Like my sorrow

+ + +

These tragic words are part of a prayer. Bouguereau’s dramatic painting “Pieta,” from 1876, is the perfect companion to these words. Receiving her son’s body into her arms, was the 6th of Our Lady’s 7 Sorrows, the swords which pierced her Immaculate Heart. We pay respect to these sorrows on the 15th of the month, exactly one month after the feast of the Assumption.

As if this was not enough, her heart continues to be grieved by our many sins and the 5 offenses represented by the 5 First Saturdays Devotion, given by Our Lady of Fatima. This devotion helps secure reparation to her Immaculate Heart.

We are celebrating 3 months in a row dedicated to Our Blessed Mother Mary. August honored the Immaculate Heart, we now honor her Sorrowful Heart and next month, we renew our devotion to her Holy Rosary, given to Saint Dominic. We can meditate on how these 3 months are linked together and in fact, inseparable. Let us take the next week to pray on and contemplate this (feel free to email me with any thoughts).

Here are the traditional Roman Catholic feasts of September: calefactory.org

Image from Cathy Weisbecker at Pinterest, colors have been muted.

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

In this month of Our Lady of Sorrows, if you are not familiar with the “Seven Sorrows Chaplet,” here is where you can purchase one. Mine is shown above, depicting Our Lady with seven swords piercing her Immaculate Heart, the month of which we have just celebrated. It has been such a blessing to pray this chaplet over the years, as a family. In addition to the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, we honor Our Blessed Mother in 4 other major feasts this month.

We celebrate 5 Doctors of the Church in September. As I stated last month, I am now indicating a major work authored by each Doctor. Please consider reading some of these wonderful works of Holy Church’s antiquity. Obtaining good quality hard-cover books is a great idea from a “prepper” point of view. How long before these classics are considered “unessential items?” We have several 20th Century saints this month and also the Ember Days in September, traditional days of penance and prayer for the coming season. Ember Days are wonderful to celebrate with children, incorporating crafts and giving them a love for the Catholic Faith and her traditions.

Let us remember the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001. Let us offer prayers for those departed, along with their loved ones…for those who continue to suffer with physical and mental disability…and for those responsible. Lord have mercy.

Here is a sampling of feasts for this month:

9/3-First Friday / Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church, author Pastoral Care / Pope St. Pius X, 20th Century Saint

9/4-First Saturday

9/5-St. Teresa of Calcutta, Founder of the Missionaries of Charity, 20th Century Saint

9/8-BIRTH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

9/12-MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY

9/13-St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, author On the Priesthood

9/14-Exaltation of the Holy Cross

9/15-OUR LADY OF SORROWS (new) / SEVEN SORROWS OF OUR LADY (trad)

9/17-St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, author The Controversies / St. Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church, author Scivias (Know the Ways of the Lord) / Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi

9/19-OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE

9/21-St. Matthew, Apostle, Evangelist of Gospel, Martyr

9/22-Ember Wednesday in September (trad meat at one meal)

9/23-St. Pio of Pietralcina, 20th Century Saint

9/24-OUR LADY OF RANSOM / Ember Friday in September

9/25-Ember Saturday in September (trad meat at one meal)

9/27-St. Vincent de Paul, Founder of the Vincentians

9/29-Sts. Michael, Gabriel & Raphael / Michaelmas Day

9/30-St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church, author Latin Vulgate Bible

September: Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

This month, we honor the sorrows of our Heavenly Mother. A wonderful devotion is the Chaplet of Our Lady of Sorrows, in which one meditates on the 7 Sorrows with a specially designed chaplet. You can buy one for a good price at Direct From Lourdes (get some Lourdes water while you’re at it!). The feast is September 15th.

Our dear Mother must look upon her children right now with great sorrow. Humanity is being separated and torn apart at the most fundamental levels. The Church has lost much attendance and the House of God has been turned into something looking more like a makeshift military hospital. Let us resolve to console her this month as she grieves over the world. Who knows what will transpire in the next several months? But there is reason for concern. Prayer and prepping are going to be critical, starting immediately. As it says on our Home page, “Pray & Prep!” This has never been more important in our lifetimes than it is RIGHT NOW.

Here is a selection of some of the interesting feasts this month:

3-St. Gregory the Great, Doctor, ”The Greatest of the Great”

4-First Friday

5-First Saturday / St. Teresa of Calcutta

8-BIRTH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

12-MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY

13-St. John Chrysostom, Doctor, “The Golden-Mouthed,” “Doctor of the Eucharist” / Anniversary of Fifth Apparition at Fatima (Don’t forget our Holy Hour!)

14-Exaltation of the Holy Cross

15-OUR LADY OF SORROWS (new) / SEVEN SORROWS OF OUR LADY (trad)

16-Ember Wednesday (prayer and penance-trad meat at one meal)

17-St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor, “Prince of Apologists,” “Gentle Doctor of The Controversies” / St. Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor, “The Teutonic Prophetess,” “Sibyl of the Rhine”

18-Ember Friday (prayer and penance)

19-Ember Saturday (prayer and penance-trad meat at one meal) / OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE (hist)

21-St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist

23-St. Pio of Pietralcina

24-OUR LADY OF RANSOM

29-Sts. Michael, Gabriel & Raphael, Archangels (new) / “Michaelmas Day” (trad)

30-St. Jerome, Doctor, “Father of Biblical Science”

This blog gives old and new feasts. The titles of the Doctors of the Church are taken from The 35 Doctors of the Church,TAN Books.

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

Prophecy of Simeon + Flight into Egypt + Loss of the Child Jesus + Way of the Cross + The Crucifixion + Descent of the Body of Christ + Burial of the Body of Christ

We honor Our Lady's sorrows this month-she suffered so much to bring us Our Savior!  Let us find ways this month to show our thanks and love for her.  There is a chaplet of her Seven Sorrows, which can be purchased, or you can even pray it on regular rosary beads.  What a wonderful devotion to pray with your family this month!

What are some other features of the liturgical month of September?  As the season of Autumn begins, we celebrate the Ember Days of September, for a fruitful harvest.  This is a great traditional Catholic time to do creative seasonal crafts with kids or anything else you can think of which would be in keeping with the spirit of the Ember Days.  We celebrate 5 Doctors of the Church, including St. Hildegard, one of the few women Doctors-a great lover of nature, which resonates with the mission of Nomen Christi Apostolate.  We also honor 3 20th-century saints, including St. Teresa of Calcutta, who was canonized one year ago! 

Wishes for a blessed month of September-may we all grow closer to Christ in the next 30 days....AND DON'T FORGET OUR FATIMA FAMILY HOLY HOUR ON THE 13TH!

9/1-First Friday

9/2-First Saturday-what a great year to perform the First Saturday Devotion!

9/3-Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church, 604/Pope St. Pius X, 1914

9/5-St. Teresa of Calcutta, 1997

9/8-Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

9/11-Let us never forget that terrible day 16 years ago!  We pray for the souls of the departed and all those affected by this crime against humanity!

9/12-Most Holy Name of Mary

9/13-Centennial of the Fifth Apparition at Fatima, Portugal/St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, 407

9/14-Exaltation of the Holy Cross

9/15-Our Lady of Sorrows/Seven Sorrows of Our Lady

9/17-St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, 1621/St. Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church, 1179/Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, 1224

9/19-Our Lady of La Salette/St. Januarius & Companions, Martyrs, 304-St. Januarius is the saint whose blood liquefies in Italy several times per year-when it fails to liquefy, it signals a upcoming local disaster

9/20-Ember Wednesday in September-day of prayer and penance, trad meat at one meal

9/21-St. Matthew, Apostle, Evangelist

9/22-Ember Friday in September

9/23-Ember Saturday in September-trad meat at one meal/St. Pio of Pietralcina, 1968

9/24-Our Lady of Ransom

9/27-St. Vincent de Paul, 1660

9/29-Archangels Michael, Gabriel & Raphael

9/30-St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church, 420