Seven Sorrows Part 2

As promised here are the last three of the "Seven Sorrows" 
 The Fifth Sorrow: Standing at the Foot of the Cross Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home” (Jn 19:25–27).Finally they reach the hill of execution. The cruel soldiers stretch Jesus’ battered body upon the cross and, with heavy hammer blows, drive the sharp spikes into his hands and feet. Mary’s head pounds with each cruel blow. No one hears the silent scream that shatters her broken heart, and echoes in the heart of God. What now takes place is all according to God’s plan. Her son, the Son of God, has to suffer and die. John, the beloved disciple, puts his arm around Mary, steadying her. “My precious child,” she weeps, “heralded at Bethlehem, now suffering an ignominious and painful death!” And then, through swollen, bruised lips, Jesus speaks. Mary strains to hear his words. He looks tenderly upon his mother and, with great effort, says, “He is your son.” He looks at the disciple and emphasizes, “She is your mother.” John represents the whole Catholic Church at this time, and Mary is made the mother of us all, but this magnificent gesture at the height of Christ’s agony.
   The Sixth Sorrow: The Crucifixion and Descent from the Cross" After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body” (Jn 19:38).Saying, “It is finished,” Jesus bows his head and dies. Mary remembers his words at the Passover meal: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you” (Lk 22:20). The dreaded time is now: the precious blood of her son is poured out for all mankind. The _covenant is sealed. Jesus, her son, the Son of God, is dead. In her heart, Mary dies with him. Two broken hearts—one pierced with a spear, one pierced with sorrow—become one: Jesus and Mary, forever united for the whole human family. Mary’s sorrow is all the greater because of the greatness of her love. Jesus’ body is taken down from the cross and placed in her arms. Mary embraces her son with a love beyond words, beyond grief itself. For now, it is the grief of a consummate sorrow. She, who had given birth to Divinity, now presses the bloodied and battered remains of his humanity close to her sorrowful and shattered heart. “Let it be done according to thy will, Lord,” she prays. 
   The Seventh Sorrow: Assisting at the Burial of Christ“The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils“ (Lk 23:55‚ 56).The holy women quietly prepare the spices and ointments, and gather the winding sheet and the grave cloth, according to Jewish custom. Mary, the faithful disciple, insists on helping and returns to the tomb with the women. They go about their task of washing the body with great reverence and wrap it in long strips of linen, taking great care to pack the fragrant spices (including the myrrh and aloes Nicodemus had brought) between the cloth and the body, in order to reduce the stench of death. Mary hesitates before placing the grave napkin over Jesus’ face. Tenderly, she kisses him one last  time. John steps forward to take her hand and lead her to his home. Behind them, they hear the heavy round stone rolled forward to seal the cave. Mary’s pierced heart remains united to the stilled heart of the One they had pierced—the most Sacred Heart that was formed in her immaculate womb. With one languishing wail, but one even now, suffused with hope  she proclaims what others are just now beginning to believe, what she already knew: “My Lord and my God!”
   May these 7 Sorrows, and these brief descriptions, assist you in your own prayers and meditation during this month of “the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook, KHS