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

We look to the Doctor of the Church, Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, to contemplate Our Lady’s Sorrows this month.  Saint Alphonsus is one of the prime theologians on the Seven Sorrows of Mary.  He was born in the month of September, 1696, in the city of Marianella, Italy.  He became a bishop and founded the Redemptorists.  He lived a long life and died not far from the place of his birth, in 1787.

One of the best-known works of Saint Alphonsus is The Glories of Mary.  This is a collection of 5 books in one, one of which is “Of the Dolours of Mary.”  In this part, Alphonsus meditates on all Seven Sorrows and provides a prayer for each.  Following is an excerpt from the First Sorrow, “The Prophecy of Simeon.”  This Sorrow deals with Our Lady’s knowledge and anguish at the future sufferings of her Son. 

Today, for those paying attention, we are all in anticipation of how the crises in the world will play out.  Let us learn peace and acceptance from Our Lady of Sorrows.  Not complacency, but inner peace in the midst of these concerns.  We know God will always be with His children.

St. Alphonsus de Liguori’s Meditations on the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Saint Alphonsus begins with this sentiment:

“Mary was the Queen of Martyrs, for her martyrdom was longer and greater than that of all the Martyrs.”

In this valley of tears every man is born to weep, and all must suffer, by enduring the evils which are of daily occurrence. But how much greater would the misery of life be, did we also know the future evils which await us! “Unfortunate, indeed, would his lot be,” says Seneca, “who, knowing the future, would have to suffer all by anticipation.”

Our Lord shows us this mercy. He conceals the trials which await us, that, whatever they may be, we may endure them but once. He did not show Mary this compassion; for she, whom God willed to be the Queen of Sorrows, and in all things like His Son, had to see always before her eyes and continually to suffer all the torments that awaited her; and these were the sufferings of the Passion and death of her beloved Jesus; for in the temple Saint Simeon, having received the Divine Child in his arms, foretold to her that that Son would be a mark for all the persecutions and oppositions of men.

“Behold, this Child is set . . . for a sign which shall be contradicted.”

And therefore, that a sword of sorrow should pierce her soul:

“And thy own soul a sword shall pierce.”

…Since, then, Jesus, our King, and His most holy Mother, did not refuse, for love of us, to suffer such cruel pains throughout their lives, it is reasonable that we, at least, should not complain if we have to suffer something. Jesus, crucified, once appeared to Sister Magdalen Orsini, a Dominicaness, who had been long suffering under a great trial, and encouraged her to remain, by means of that affliction, with Him on the cross. Sister Magdalen complainingly answered: “O Lord, Thou wast tortured on the cross only for three hours, and I have endured my pain for many years.” The Redeemer then replied: “Ah, ignorant soul, what dost thou say? From the first moment of My conception I suffered in heart all that I afterwards endured dying on the cross.” If, then, we also suffer and complain, let us imagine Jesus, and His Mother Mary, addressing the same words to ourselves.

Prayer

Ah, my Blessed Mother, it is not one sword only with which I have pierced thy heart, but I have done so with as many as are the sins which I have committed. Ah, Lady, it is not to thee, who art innocent, that sufferings are due, but to me, who am guilty of so many crimes. But since thou hast been pleased to suffer so much for me, ah, by thy merits, obtain me great sorrow for my sins, and patience under the trials of this life, which will always be light in comparison with my demerits, for I have often deserved Hell.

Amen.

September 12th is the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary.  From the Collect of the Tridentine Mass:

“Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that Thy faithful, happy under the invocation and protection of the most holy Virgin Mary, may, by her dear intercession, be delivered from all evils on earth and be worthy to attain unto eternal joys in Heaven.”

And again from Saint Alphonsus:

“Oh, my sweet Lady and Mother, I love thee much, and because I love thee, I love also thy holy name.  I purpose and hope with thy aid always to invoke it in life and death.”

Notable feasts for the rest of the month:

14th-Exaltation of the Holy Cross

15th-SEVEN SORROWS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY / OUR LADY OF SORROWS

17th-Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi / Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church

21st-Saint Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist

23rd-Saint Pio of Pietrelcina / Ember Wednesday of September or Autumn

24th-OUR LADY OF RANSOM

25th-Ember Friday

26th-Ember Saturday

29th-Saints Michael, Gabriel & Raphael, the Archangels

30th-Saint Jerome, Doctor of the Church

****** Prepper Challenge for september ******

What is My Contribution?  What is My Special Gift?

Your community and the Church are going to need you in the coming days.  What will you specialize in that will be a significant contribution?  Every prepper tends to develop a skill or two that is specialized.  What interests you?  What is a “sustainable” skill that will have value even in a grid-down (no electricity) situation?  Do you already have a skill?  Can you improve it?  Can you learn a new one?  Think and pray about it!

Noah was the Original Prepper ~ Build Your Ark!

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

Due to traveling and other disruptions, I am running late on this post. Keep in mind, September 8th is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the 3rd, we honor Saint Gregory the Great and Saint Pius X, both Popes. Saint Gregory, Doctor of the Church, is considered instrumental (no pun intended) in the development of Gregorian Chant. Stay tuned for the completion of this post…keep prepping…what is your special skill or skill you would like to learn?

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation is celebrated September 1st.  In keeping with this theme, we also celebrate Saint Hildegard of Bingen and the Stigmata of Saint Francis on the same day:  Sept 17th.  Both saints are invoked for nature, as they contributed greatly to theology referencing God’s creation.  We also have the Ember Days of Autumn on the 24th, 26th and 27th, in which we perform prayer and penance for the upcoming season.  Reading the Mass missal for the Ember Days is a wonderful way to celebrate them.  In addition, traditionally, meat was eaten at only one meal on Ember Wednesday and Saturday.  If you missed praying for the earth on the 1st, these feasts would be a great time to do so. 

There are countless devotions to Our Lady of Sorrows, the Seven Sorrows and the Sorrowful Heart of Our Lady.  We honor our Sorrowful Mother on the 15th, which gives us our theme of this month (there are 4 more Marian feasts, see below in bold).  Let us show our love and empathy for her by choosing one of these devotions to perform.  We at Nomen Christi Apostolate also contemplate the Marian Triad of the Months during these 3 months in honor of the Mother of God.  Next month is Our Lady of the Rosary, when we also honor the sanctity of life.  For this month, we may meditate on how the Immaculate Heart we celebrated last month, intertwines with the Sorrowful Heart.  They are often invoked together. 

Other notable feasts of September in both the trad and post-con calendars… 

6th-First Saturday of the Immaculate Heart

8th-Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

12th-Holy Name of Mary

14th-EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS

21st-Saint Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist

24th-Our Lady of Ransom

26th-North American Martyrs

27th-Saint Vincent de Paul

29th-Saints Michael, Gabriel & Raphael, Archangels/Dedication of Saint Michael 

Homeschool Activities for September 

1)       List the 7 Sorrows of Our Lady.  Can you find where they are in Holy Scripture?

2)      Make an Autumn craft for the Ember Days, incorporating a spiritual theme.

3)      Draw a picture of the 3 archangels.

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

Concluding prayers from the 3 litanies of Our Lady of Sorrows:

We beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, let Thy Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow at the hour of Thy Passion, implore Thy mercy for us, both now and at the hour of our death, Who livest and reignest, world without end.

Imprint, O Lady, thy wounds upon my heart, that I may read therein sorrow and love, sorrow to endure every sorrow for thee, love to despise every love for thee.

O Lord Jesus Christ, God and Man, grant, we beseech Thee, that Thy dear Mother Mary, whose soul the sword pierced in the hour of Thy Passion, may intercede for us, now, and in the hour of our death, through Thine own merits, O Saviour of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, God, world without end.

Amen.

This is the second month of Nomen Christi Apostolate’s “Marian Triad of the Months,” when we are contemplating the Mariology of her Immaculate Heart, her 7 Sorrows and the Holy Rosary.  How can we honor her sorrows this month?  We can pray the litanies mentioned above, the 7 Sorrows Chaplet and also celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on the 15th.  This feast is in both the trad and new calendars.  In terms of meditation, we may ask ourselves the following questions:  “How do our Heavenly Mother’s sorrows relate to our own times?”  “How can we appeal to her during these times?”  “Why did God allow her to suffer?”  “How can we derive consolation from her own Passion, inextricably linked to Our Lord’s?” 

We also honor the Mother of God’s nativity on the 8th, her holy name on the 12th  and Our Lady of Ransom the 24th.  The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is on the 14th.  The Ember Days of Autumn always proceed the following week on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (Wed and Sat meat at one meal and of course, the usual Friday penance).  See “Ember Days” topic to the right>>>  Other notable feasts this month:

Saint Gregory the Great/Saint Pius X-3rd

Saint Teresa of Calcutta-5th

Saint Matthew, Apostle-21st

Saint Pio-23rd

Saint Vincent de Paul-27th

The Three Archangels, Michael, Gabriel & Raphael-29th

Our Lady of Sorrows Prayers from the Tridentine Mass with PDF

September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows.....

This month, we contemplate and honor the many sufferings of the Mother of God while she lived on earth.  September 15th is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows in the new calendar....however, in the old, it is the feast of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady.  There is a beautiful chaplet of the Seven Sorrows, which we would do well to pray frequently this month.  May we unite our own sorrows to those of our Heavenly Mother, making them more bearable and bringing us closer to her.  Please see the prayer from the Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows, on our Home page.

We celebrate three more Marian feasts this month....the joyful Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Most Holy Name of Mary and Our Lady of Ransom, dating back to the 13th century (how wonderful our Catholic heritage is, giving us such a connectedness with the Body of Christ through the centuries!).   We honor Christ as well this month, in the Exaltation of the Holy Cross....which precedes.....the Ember Days of September, when we exercise penance for a fruitful harvest.  Also, we celebrate two 20th century saints, both named Pius....how important these recent saints are, to remind us that sainthood is never too far away or unreachable-it is the destiny we are all called to fulfill!

Here are some of the interesting and notable feasts of this month....let us more fully practice our great Roman Catholic Faith by celebrating these feasts with our families in prayer, spiritual reading and whatever other ways the Holy Ghost inspires us with......

9/1-Saint Anna, the Prophetess (non-standard)

9/3-Saint Gregory the Great, Pope & Doctor-patron of teachers and church music/Saint Pius X, Pope of the 20th Century

9/8-Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary

9/10-Saint Pulcheria, Virgin & Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire (non-standard)

9/12-Most Holy Name of Mary, "Nomen Mariae"

9/14-Exaltation of the Holy Cross

9/15-Our Lady of Sorrows (new)/Seven Sorrows of Our Lady (trad)

9/17-Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin, Abbess, Doctor/Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi

9/18-Saint Joseph of Cupertino, Priest-patron of air travel

9/20-Saint Eustace & Companions, Martyrs-invoked against fire

9/21-Saint Matthew, Apostle-patron of bankers and accountants/Ember Wednesday in September (trad meat at one meal)

9/23-Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest, Stigmatist-20th century saint/Saint Thecla, Virgin & Martyr-patron of the dying/Ember Friday in September

9/24-Our Lady of Ransom/Ember Saturday in September (trad meat at one meal)

9/27-Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest & Founder-patron of charitable societies

9/29-Saints Michael, Gabriel & Raphael, Archangels

9/30-Saint Jerome, Priest & Doctor-translated Latin Vulgate Bible

(this blog provides both old and new feasts)