'From this valley of tears, turn your gaze continually to God, ever awaiting the moment when you will be united to Him in heaven. Often contemplate heaven, and fervently exclaim: What a beautiful abode there is above! It is destined for us! Sigh longingly after its possession. Sometimes say, while your eyes are moist with tears: Nothing in this world pleases me; I no longer care for anything but my God. Yes, I hope, yes, I wish to possess Him, and I hope this of the mercy of God, through the merits of my Saviour's Passion and the dolors of my good Mother Mary.'

St. Paul of the Cross

'I place you in the sacred wounds of Jesus, under the protection of Our Lady of Sorrows; yes, I place you there. I implore the holy Virgin to bathe your heart in her sorrowful tears, that she may impress on it a continual remembrance of the dolorous Passion of her Son, and of her own dolors. I implore her to obtain for you perseverance in divine love, and strength and resignation in suffering. Take, then, for your glorious protectress, Our Lady of Sorrows, and never cease to meditate on the Passion of Christ. May God, in His mercy, bless you! Ask Him to bless me also. Deo Gratias et Maria semper Virgini!'

St. Paul of the Cross

'The soul is a seed which God sows in the field of the Church; to produce fruits, it must die under the strokes of pains, sorrows, contradictions, and persecutions.'

St. Paul of the Cross

'Cultivate a tender devotion to the dolors of Mary, to her Immaculate Conception, to your guardian angel, to your patron saints, and the holy apostles.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Prayers in Honor of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
approved by Pope Pius VII

V. O God, come to my assistance.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.

V. Glory be to the Father. . .
R. As it was in the beginning. . .

I. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the affliction of your tender heart at the prophecy of the holy and aged Simeon. Dear Mother, by your heart so afflicted, obtain for me the virtue of humility and the gift of the holy fear of God.

Hail Mary. . .

II. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the anguish of your most affectionate heart during the flight into Egypt and your sojourn there. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of generosity, especially toward the poor, and the gift of piety.

Hail Mary. . .

III. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in those anxieties which tried your troubled heart at the loss of your dear Jesus. Dear Mother, by your heart so full of anguish, obtain for me the virtue of chastity and the gift of knowledge.

Hail Mary. . .

IV. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the consternation of your heart at meeting Jesus as He carried His Cross. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of patience and the gift of fortitude.

Hail Mary. . .

V. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the martyrdom which your generous heart endured in standing near Jesus in His agony. Dear Mother, by your afflicted heart obtain for me the virtue of temperance and the gift of counsel.

Hail Mary. . .

VI. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the wounding of your compassionate heart, when the side of Jesus was struck by the lance before His Body was removed from the Cross. Dear Mother, by your heart thus transfixed, obtain for me the virtue of fraternal charity and the gift of understanding.

Hail Mary. . .

VII. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, for the pangs that wrenched your most loving heart at the burial of Jesus. Dear Mother, by your heart sunk in the bitterness of desolation, obtain for me the virtue of diligence and the gift of wisdom.

Hail Mary. . .

Let us pray

Let intercession be made for us, we beseech You, O Lord Jesus Christ, now and at the hour of our death, before the throne of Your mercy, by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the hour of Your bitter Passion. Through You, O Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever.


Consecration to Our Lady of Sorrows

Most holy Virgin and Queen of Martyrs, Mary, would that I could be in Heaven, there to contemplate the honors rendered to thee by the Most Holy Trinity and by the whole Heavenly Court! But since I am still a pilgrim in this vale of tears, receive from me, thy unworthy servant and a poor sinner, the most sincere homage and the most perfect act of vassalage a human creature can offer thee. In thy Immaculate Heart, pierced with so many swords of sorrow, I place today my poor soul forever; receive me as a partaker in thy dolors, and never suffer that I should depart from that Cross on which thy only begotten Son expired for me. With thee, O Mary, I will endure all the sufferings, contradictions, infirmities, with which it will please thy Divine Son to visit me in this life. All of them I offer to thee, in memory of the Dolors which thou didst suffer during thy life, that every thought of my mind, every beating of my heart may henceforward be an act of compassion to thy Sorrows, and of complacency for the glory thou now enjoyest in Heaven. Since then, O Dear Mother, I now compassionate thy Dolors, and rejoice in seeing thee glorified, do thou also have compassion on me, and reconcile me to thy Son Jesus, that I may become thy true and loyal son (daughter); come on my last day and assist me in my last agony, even as thou wert present at the Agony of thy Divine Son Jesus, that from this painful exile I may go to Heaven, there to be made partaker of thy glory. Amen.

The Seven Dolors of Mary

The dolors of Mary have often been honored under the title of the Seven Dolors, these particular seven occasions of great sorrow are:

I. The circuмcision of Our Lord, when she saw His blood shed for the first time and heard the Prophecy of Simeon.

Could someone help me understand the this version of the first dolor of The Blessed Mother?  Our Lord's circuмcision would have taken place eight days after His birth, but I thought that the Presentation of Our Lord took place forty days after His birth.  I thought that according to the old law, Mary wouldn't have been allowed in the temple until forty days after having given birth had passed. So in a nutshell, did not the Presentation of Our Lord and Purification of The Blessed Mother take place on the same day?  I always believed that the first dolor was Simeon's prophecy at the Presentation.
Please keep in mind I'm getting older now, so anything I get wrong that get's stuck in my head is awfully hard to get unstuck.  So please, someone who knows, set me straight, so if I've got it wrong I can get started on getting my mistake unstuck! :stare:

I am thinking the circuмcision dolor may be from the Black Scapular, and the Prophecy of Simeon from the chaplet devotions and they are separate events it seems.

Two slightly different 'Seven Sorrows' devotions?

What do people think?

Beautiful.