The Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

Sept. 7, 2025

It is hard to believe that it is already September, and autumn is shortly upon us. While the cooler temperatures bring some relief from the heat of the summer, there is a tinge of sadness in knowing that the season of sun and warmth is slowly fading into the background. As with every month of our calendar year, the Church offers up a particular devotion to center on for that period of time, each month involving sone important aspect of our Catholic Faith and a healthy relationship with the Lord and His saints. September is the month dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.

That particular devotion to Mary is fairly old and really starts to grow in 12th century thanks to St. Anselm and St. Bernard. It was St. Bernard and his Cistercians in particular who popularized the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows and it grew until a feast of Our Lady of Sorrows was instituted in the 15th century and it was celebrated at certain churches until Pope Benedict XIII in 1727 instituted the feast onto the general Roman calendar, and then it was to be celebrated by all churches throughout the world.

The reason that September became the month of Our Lady of Sorrows is due to the fact that the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows falls on September 15th and there are other Marian feast days this month as well – the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin and the Most Holy Name of Mary among them.

The hymn Stabat Mater (At the Cross Her Station Keeping) is a sequence that was composed in the 13th century as a devotion to the 7 sorrows of Mary and shows how much the popularity and renown of the feast had spread. It was later added as part of the liturgy for the feast.

The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, also called the Feast if the Seven Dolors or 7 Sorrows of Mary calls to mind 7 key moments in the life of the Blessed Virgin in her relationship with her son Jesus. The seven sorrows are:

• Simeon’s Prophesy

• The Flight into Egypt

• The Loss of Jesus in the Temple

• The Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross

• The Crucifixion

• Mary Receives the Body of Jesus taken down from the Cross

• The Burial of Jesus

Special graces are promised to those who call to mind and meditate on the sorrows of Mary, so maybe during this month of September we try to find a few extra moments to do that.

God love you, Fr. Anthony