September 2025 (4-6 September)
September is the month dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. This devotion began on Calvary, where Our Blessed Mother stood for three long hours in agony as she watched her Beloved Son and Lord bleed to death in anguish amidst the most terrifying torments. There is a verse in the book of Proverbs that refers to the fact that we must not forget the birth pangs of our mother. In the context, it is an admonition to look after your mother when she gets old and needs your care. She suffered in giving us birth and in nursing and educating us, so it is normal that we give back a little something of that when she can no longer help herself. Forget not the birth pangs of your mother.
Applied to Mary, it reminds us that Our Lady gave birth to us on Calvary, amidst the most awful sufferings of mind, heart and body. Even though she did not suffer in giving birth to Jesus, as His birth was virginal (He left her womb miraculously), the birth of the Church took place amidst sufferings we can only try to imagine and feel compassion for. This is precisely in what the devotion consists. We turn our attention to how much Mother Mary went through in Our Lord’s passion, from the moment of His being taken prisoner and tried, through the scourging and mock trial, then the meeting on the way to Calvary (fourth station of the way of the cross), then the three our agony on the Cross. We reflect that she suffered all this so that we could be born to grace. In this way she truly gave birth to us in sorrow.
The sequence Stabat Mater that is said at Mass on her feast day (15 September) is a loving meditation on her heroic presence there, and it tenderly reminds us of the affection we must nourish for her. Any good child suffers when considering the sufferings of his/her mother. Not being moved by your mother’s pain is not at all a sign of virtue. On the contrary. So let us do make every effort to keep Our Lady company in prayer and in generously offering up sacrifices to atone for our sins and those of the whole world. If we do so, we are at the very heart of the meaning of these triduums of prayer and fasting.
