The Comforter of the Afflicted

"Through her martyrdom, Mary has become in a special way the comforter of the afflicted. It was by her own experience of sorrow that she was taught the sympathy which enables her to comfort her children in all their afflictions. God have her a mighty and sympathetic heart for this great task."

"For all God's children, the way to Heaven leads across the mount of Calvary - the way of trail and suffering. In the company of our Sorrowful Mother, we walk more easily, fight more courageously, and suffer more patiently, perseveringly and joyfully; for she holds up before us not only the example of the sufferings and death of her Divine Son, but also the victory, the joy and the glory which He has won through His sufferings."

"How ofter do we grow impatient, faint-hearted, despondent and inconstant in suffering...how often without endurance, without resignation, full of complaints and murmurings! Oh, let us deeply engrave in our hearts the sorrows of Mary! May she, our Sorrowful Mother, ever be our model in suffering, in the patient endurance of trials, and in the humble acceptance of sorrows and afflictions. When the hand of god lays a heavy cross upon our shoulders, let us turn to Mary Sorrowing, and we shall obtain consolation and strength to carry the cross patiently and meritoriously."

Let us strive always to go the Mary for is the surest, quickest, safest route to Jesus. She has suffered much, she will do all she can to help us in the sufferings of this earthly exile. Amen+
(Source: Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother by TAN Books, Imprimatur 1958)

Queen of Martyrs VI

Mary's Easter

As we know, after Jesus' death on Good Friday comes His glorious resurrection on Easter. Although not specifically spoken of in sacred scripture, it is a pious tradition that Jesus appeared to His mother first. Yes, the apostles heard first from Mary Magdalene that Jesus had appeared to her, but that does not mean definitively that He did not appear first to His Mother. Anyway, I came across a beautiful story of Mary's Easter which follows. The Lord rewards those who compassionate His Passion with a generosity we cannot fathom, this is certainly true of His Blessed Mother. (And I realize the above picture is St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, but its the best I could do :) If you know of an image of the Virgin Mary with her Risen Son, please kindly leave a link in the comment box!)

"Now, Lord, you have glorified that holy flesh which suffered on the cross. But remember that your flesh is the flesh of your Mother and that she also suffered in seeing you suffer on the cross. She was crucified with you and therefore, it is just that she should rise with you. It is the statement of your apostle, Paul, that those who were your companions in suffering should also be your companions in glory. And since this Lady was your faithful companion in all your sufferings from the crib to the cross, it is fitting that now she should share your joys and glory.

Brighten that darkened sky, reveal that eclipsed moon, disperse that clouds of sorrow from her sorrowful soul, dry the tears of her virginal eyes, and command that the flowers of summer return after the winter of so many rains. Perhaps at that time the Blessed Mother was at prayer in her oratory, waiting for this new light to break forth. She cried forth in the interior of her soul and addressed herself to her beloved Son, now in the third day of his death: "Arise, my glory; return, Victor, to the world. Gather your flock together, Good Shepherd. Hear, my Son, the cries of your afflicted Mother and since these sighs made you come from heaven to earth, let them now raise you from hell to earth."

In the midst of these prayers and petitions her poor little house was suddenly illumined with the light of heaven and the resurrected Son presented himself to the eyes of his Mother. No brighter light had ever risen in the morning and the sun at midday was never so resplendent to the eyes of Mary as that face filled with grace. She sees the body of her risen Son, its former beauty restored and increased. The openings of the wounds, which were swords of sorrow to her, have now become fountains of love. He whom she had seen between two thieves, she sees accompanied by angels and saints. He who had recommended her to his disciple from the cross, now extends his arms to her and imprints the kiss of peace upon her brow. He whom she held dead in her arms, she sees risen before her eyes. She holds him and will not let him go. She embraces him lovingly and asks him never again to depart. When she was overwhelmed with sorrow, she could not speak a word; now she cannot speak for the excess of her joy." ~Venerable Louis of Granada (+1588) was a Spanish Dominican priest and a good friend of St. Charles Borromeo, one of my patron saints!

Quote

I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken men up to the heights of heaven: I am the Christ. Alleluia! ~Melito of Sardis

In the battle between death and life, Christ is the victor! And the victory is ours! Alleluia!

Queen of Martyrs V

"Why O Lady, did you go to sacrifice yourself on Calvary? Was it not enough for God to be crucified in order to redeem us? Did you, his mother, also have to go to be crucified with him?" ~St. Bonaventure.

The death of Jesus was more than enough to redeem Mankind, but due to her unfathomable love for her Divine Son, Mary wished to assist in the cause of our salvation. She accompanied Our Lord to Calvary to help in our salvation through the merits she offered for us there. "As we are under great obligation to Jesus for what he suffered for our sake, so also are we under great obligation to Mary for the martyrdom she voluntarily suffered for our salvation in the death of her son." Indeed she did volunteer for this martyrdom, since St. Agnes revealed to St. Bridget of Sweden, "our merciful and compassionate mother was willing to endure any torment to save the souls of men." We can hope our mother's suffering was in some way relieved by this knowledge.

Such love shown us on Mary's part deserves a huge amount of gratitude from us. We can show our gratitude by compassionating her sorrows. However the Blessed Virgin Mary has revealed that very few people do sympathize with her sacrifices on their behalf. Mary revealed to St. Bridget of Sweden, "I look around me at all who are on earth to see if there are any who pity me and who meditate on my sorrows, and I find that there are very few. Therefore, my daughter, while I may be forgotten by most people, at least you do not forget me. Meditate on my sorrows and share in my grief, as far as you can."

Jesus revealed to Bl. Veronica of Binasco that He is in fact more pleased by compassion shown to His mother and her sufferings than to Himself: "My daughter, I certainly appreciate the tears shed for my Passion. However, because I loved my mother so intensely, meditation on the torments she suffered at my death is even more agreeable to me."

Knowing this, we can better understand the reason God has made, through His Mother, such extrodinary promises to those who practice a lively devotion to His mother's sorrows. These have been stated in previous posts available in the archives, and are restated here in brief:

1. “I will grant peace to their families.”
2. “They will be enlightened about the divine Mysteries.”
3. “I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.”
4. “I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of My divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.”
5. “I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.”
6. “I will visibly help them at the moment of their death - they will see the face of their Mother.” 7. “I have obtained this grace from My divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to My tears and sorrows will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all their sins will be forgiven and My Son will be their eternal consolation and joy.”

We can show our Sorrowful Mother our gratitude by praying one Hail Mary for each sorrow while meditating upon it. We can also pray the Rosary of Our Lady's Sorrows available for purchase here, or the Chaplet of Our Lady's Tears available here. All of these devotions have the approval of Holy Mother Church and are richly indulgenced. I urge all of you to be devoted, mindful and grateful to our Heavenly Mother for all she has done for us.

Prayer

Be on hand, O advocate of sinners, to aid my afflicted soul in the combat it will have to engage in as it passes into eternity. Since at that hour I will probably be unable to speak and unable to call upon your name and that of Jesus, who are my only hope, I do so now. I call upon your son and you to come to my help during my last moments. And to you, O Jesus and Mary, I commend my soul. Amen+

(Source: The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus de Ligouri)

Queen of Martyrs IV

"O Lady, tell me, where were you on Calvary? Near the cross? No, I would rather say that you were actually on the cross, being crucified with your Son." ~St. Bonaventure.

The Blessed Virgin Mary suffered more by seeing her Divine Son suffer than if she had endured His Passion herself. What parent would not without hesitation volunteer for any martyrdom in order to save their child? Why is this? It is due to love, and also would it not be a greater suffering to see them suffer than to suffer for them? Mary loved the life of her Son many times more than she loved her own. Nothing could have caused our Blessed Mother's suffering more than witnessing The Passion. Saint Bernard states it thus: "The soul is where it loves, rather than where it lives." Our Lord speaks the same sentiment: "Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be (Lk 12:34).

St. Alphonsus Liguori boldly states that Mary experienced absolutely no relief whatsoever during her Son's torture and death. By contrast, martyrs were consoled in their sufferings by the love of Jesus - as related by those who experienced this firsthand. St. Vincent in his martyrdom suffered the rack, tearing with pincers, burning with red hot plates, all while speaking to his tormenters with "such energy...it seemed as if there were one who spoke and one who suffered." Saint Boniface had his body raked with hooks, reeds jammed between his fingernails and flesh, melted lead poured into his mouth, all the while uttering without respite "I give you thanks, O Lord Jesus Christ." Saints Mark and Marcellinus were tied to a post, their hands and feet run through with nails, when their torturer said to them "Wretches, see what a miserable condition you are reduced to; save yourself from these torments, " they replied; "What pains? What torments do you mean? We have never felt better than we feel at the present moment, now that we are suffering joyfully for the love of Jesus Christ." St. Lawrence as he was being slowly roasted to death over fire said to his tormentor, "If you want to feed on my flesh, part of it is now roasted; turn it and eat." In this St. Augustine comments, "Intoxicated by the wine of divine love, he felt neither torments nor death."

The stronger the martyrs experience love for Jesus, the less they felt their tortures. They were strongly consoled by mingling their sufferings with those of Christ. But was Mary likewise consoled at the sight of His Passion? No, for Jesus' suffering was the real cause of her suffering. Her love for Him was veritibly her own executioner. Mary's martyrdom consisted in seeing and compassionating her innocent Son's torturous death - the more she loved Him, the more she suffered - Great as the sea is your destruction; who shall heal you? (Lam 2:13) Jeremiah asks "who shall heal you?" For there was no one to sooth your grief. "Thine own Son is the cause of thy suffering, and your love of Him was what constituted your martrydom. Other martyrs are all represented with the instruments of their sufferings - St. Paul with his sword, St. Andrew with his cross, St. Lawrence with his gridiron - but Mary is represented with her dead son in her arms. Jesus himself, and he alone, was the instrument of her martyrdom, because of the love she had for him."

For other marytrs the greatness of their love consoled them, but for Our Lord's Mother, the greatness of her love caused an even more excruciating suffering.

"O all you that pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow." (Lam 1:12) Let us picture ourselves at the foot of the cross beside Mary. Picture her there and hear her say "O all you who pass by the way, see if any sorrow on earth is like mine. O you who spend your lives on earth and do not pity me, do not give my pain or sacrifice any thought. See me here as my Son dies and tell me if any anguish on earth is like my anguish. Have you ever seen such sorrow as mine?"

(Source: The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus de Ligouri)

Prayer

No, O suffering mother, Queen of all Martyrs there is not a sea more bitter than yours. No anguish greater than thine. I have failed to compassionate your tears nor appreciate your pain as through your soul the sword did pass - all for my sins and the sins of my fellow humans. I offer you my little prayers, sacrifices and sufferings in atonement for the neglect Mankind shows you. I beg you, cover my pathetic offering with the blood of your Son and offer them to the Father in atonement for my sins and those of the whole world. Amen+

Queen of Martyrs III

Mary's was the Most Intense of all Martyrdoms

To what shall I compare you? Or to what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem?...for great as the sea is your destruction; who shall heal you? (Lam 2:13)

No one can measure the intensity of Our Mother's sorrows. Cardinal Hugo tries to with these words: "O Blessed Virgin Mary, as the sea is more bitter than anything else, so is your sorrow more bitter than any other sorrow." St. Anselm adds: "If God had not by a special miracle preserved the life of Mary at each moment of her life, her sorrow would have been such as to cause her death." Saint Bernardine goes a step further: "The grief of Mary was so great that, if it were divided among all men, it would be sufficient to cause their death immediately." Our Sorrowful Mother testifies to this herself in her church approved apparition at La Salette: "No matter how well you pray in the future, no matter how well you act, you will never be able to make up to me what I have endured for your sake."

Sober indeed are these words of Our Lady and the saints who testify on her behalf. We, as sinners who are hardened by our worldliness and concupiscience, can never even begin to understand the suffering and sorrow that took place in Mary's Immaculate Heart. Remember, she was for all time preserved by a special grace from all stain of sin - therefore her suffering is more intense for this, not less as if often wrongly assumed.

So why was Mary's martyrdom more intense than that of all others? Mary's martyrdom was spiritual rather than physical, as St. Simeon prophesied: "And your own soul a sword shall pierce (Lk 2:35). St. Alphonsus de Ligouri expounds on this passage thus: "O most Blessed Virgin, the bodies of other martyrs will be torn with hooks of iron, but you will be transfixed and martyred not in body but in soul by the Passion of your Son." Jesus, speaking on His holy mother's suffering to St. Catherine of Siena: "There is no comparison between the sufferings of the soul and those of the body." Therefore it is well accepted by Holy Mother Church that spiritual martyrdom is worse, more severe and longer in length than physical martyrdom.

Other marytrs suffered by sacrificing thier lives, the Virgin Mary suffered by sacrificing her son's life, a life dearer than her own. She endured in spirit all that her Son suffered in body. It is generally well known that when children suffer thier mothers suffer even more - how much more is this true for Mary and Jesus? More than we can imagine. Saint Lawrence Giustiniani says: "The heart of Mary became, as it were, a mirror of the Passion of her Son, in which one could see, faithfully reflected, the thorns, the blows, the wounds, and all that Jesus suffered."

More on the intensity of Mary's martyrdom in the next post...

(Source: The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus de Ligouri)

Prayer

O sorrowful Mother! You wept bitterly over your son who died for my salvation; but what good will all those tears do me if I am lost? By the merits of your sorrows, obtain for me true contrition for my sins and a genuine amendment of my life, together with a constant and tender compassion for the sufferings of Jesus and your own sorrows. Since Jesus and you, innocent as you both are, have suffered so much for love of me, help me, who am deserving of hell, to suffer something for love of you. Amen+

Queen of Martyrs II

"He will crown you with a crown of tribulation"

~Isa 22:18

Jesus is the King of all martyrs, as during His life He suffered more than all the martyrs. Mary indeed suffered the most cruel martyrdom after that of her Son. St. Alphonsus de Ligouri boldly states that Mary suffered more than all the martyrs put together.

Spiritual martyrdom is accepted to be "suffering sufficient to cause death, even though death may not result from it." Thus St. John the Evangelist is called a martyr even though being boiled in oil did not cause his death. He suffered greatly, although it states in the breviary that "he came out more vigorous than he went in." According to St. Thomas Aquinas: "To have the glory of martyrdom it is sufficient to exercize obedience in the highest degree, that is, to be obedient unto death."

Therefore, Mary was a martyr; "not by the sword of the executioner, but by the bitter sorrow of her heart." (St. Bernard) Although not injured in body, her heart was viciously pierced with grief at the suffering and death of her Son. St. Bernard goes much further with his teachings regarding Mary's martyrdom stating, "..it can be said that her whole life was a protracted death. The Passion of Jesus began with his birth."

This flows from the reality that Jesus suffered throughout his whole life. As He was with the Father in Heaven, perfectly happy, perfectly joyful - He emptied Himself, took on our flesh, our weakness. Think dear reader what a suffering this must have been! You are the Great I Am, Ruler and Creator of the Universe, all powerful, all knowing...then Zap! You're a weak, tiny, helpless human being. What a suffering! We cannot even begin to know what this was like. Most assuredly Jesus and Mary also knew great joys in thier earthly lives, but doubless these existed side by side with unfathomable sorrows.

The very meaning of the name Mary is "bitter", or "bitter sea." The words of Jeremiah have been applied to the martyrdom of Our Lady, "Great as the sea is your destruction" (Lam 2:13) The following verses from the Old Testament are likewise applied to Mary: "My life is spent with grief and my years with sighing (Ps 30:11), My grief is with me always (Ps 37:18). The Blessed Virgin Mary related to St. Bridget of Sweden that she knew even before the Incarnation that the Savior was to suffer for mankind. Also after the Ascension of Jesus that in everything she did, working, eating, praying...the memory of the Passion was "as deeply impressed on her mind as if it had just begun." Therefore it would appear she spent her whole life in continual sorrow.

This posting focuses primarily on the duration of Our Mother's suffering, next we shall consider its intensity.

Prayer

O my Mother, by the grief you experienced in seeing your Son bow down his head and expire on the cross in the midst of so many torments, I beseech you to obtain for me a good death. Amen+

(Source: The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus de Ligouri. Ligouri Publications, Ligouri MO. 2000)