Our Lent series continues here with the second of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.
Read our Lent 2018 Series
Introduction- The Promises of the Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Part 1- Lent Series: The First Sorrow of Mary and Her Role in the Salvation of Mankind
The Second Sorrow of Mary is the Flight into Egypt. The Holy Family journeys to Egypt to flee from Herod and save the holy Child from evil persecution.
13 And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him.
– Matthew 2:13
Biblical Account of the Flight into Egypt:
1. The Gospel of Matthew recounts how Herod, the Roman-appointed king of Jews, heard of the birth of the long-awaited Messiah and feared that his kingdom would be taken away from him. He asked the Three Magi to set off and find out where the Child was born. But as instructed by an Angel, the Wise Men never returned to him. Realizing that the Magi outwitted him, he ordered to have all the infants in Bethlehem and the towns surrounding it in the direction of the Dead Sea, including Jerusalem and Hebron, killed.
2. An Angel, appeared to Saint Joseph in a dream, warned him that Herod wanted to kill the infant, and told him to rise, take the Mother and Child to Egypt, and stay there until the Angel commanded him. Obedient and prompt as Joseph was, he immediately did as he was told in the middle of the night.
A Mystic’s Visions of the Second Sorrow of Mary:
The whole story of the Flight into Egypt is not as simple as it might have sounded.
Read through the following to have a profound appreciation of the Second Sorrow of Mary and the pains and sufferings she bore together with St. Joseph, her most devoted spouse, and her most beloved Son Jesus.
Growing up, I never heard of a more detailed description of the Holy Family’s Flight into Egypt. When I read about it in articles or watch movies on the life of Jesus, it seemed that Saint Joseph simply woke up, brought the whole family, loaded their bags on a short and rounded donkey, and basically walked straight to Egypt, smooth and easy. Oh the imagination of the child I was! I even recall picturing their journey much like a traverse through a long road similar to North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) here in the Philippines, which spans from Manila to the northern places like Baguio City.
How did I think of such a thing? Well, I asked my Dad how long it would take to travel from our place to Baguio City by car. He said, “About 300 kilometers, and a 7-hour drive.” Somehow, his answer stuck with me as I grew up. And when a teacher in class asked about that distance, the funny younger version of myself confidently related the answer. [These numbers were before the construction of new super highways, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), which shortened the travel to about 250 kilometers and a 3-4 hour drive.]
Anyway, last year, I found out from the book “The Glories of Mary” by Saint Alphonsus di Liguori, that the distance from Manila to Baguio is quite near to that of Nazareth to Egypt: 300 miles = 482.803 kilometers. Well, not quite, as the Flight to Egypt is 183 kilometers more! So now we can imagine how hard it must be for the Holy Family, how much sorrow it was for Mary- fleeing with her Child to Egypt, Saint Joseph walking all day long by their side, and travelling not by car on a highway, not even a horse-drawn carriage, but by a ride on a little donkey on the dusty road! And definitely not a 7-hour road trip, but months of walking!
These excerpts from the visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich give us a vivid picture of the life of the Holy Family in their Flight to Egypt. Though their hearts were filled with love, patience and faith in God, daily living was of labor, hardship, distress – and all those sufferings wounded Mary’s heart and brought her much sorrow:
1. The Holy Family left almost all their things in their home in Nazareth.
“Mary did not take nearly so much with her as she had brought from Bethlehem. They packed up nothing but a moderate-sized bundle and a few blankets, which were taken out to Joseph to be loaded on the donkey. Everything was done quietly and very quickly, as was proper for a journey undertaken secretly after a warning at dead of night. When Mary fetched her Child, she was in such haste that I did not even see her wrap Him in fresh swaddling clothes.”
2. Both Mary and Joseph had to leave their families behind.
“They embraced the Infant Jesus with tears, and the little boy, too, was allowed to take Him in his arms. Anna embraced the Blessed Virgin again and again, weeping as bitterly as if she were never to see her more. Mary Heli (the older daughter of Saint Anne and Saint Joaquim; the elder sister of Mary) flung herself onto the ground in tears. They embraced again with tears, and Anna blessed the Blessed Virgin, who then seated herself on the donkey, led by Joseph, and they started off.”
3. The stressful and exhausting journey along the desert and wilderness made Mary weep. But an Angel of God was sent to comfort the Holy Family.
“I saw the Holy Family arriving here very exhausted and distressed. Mary was very sad and was weeping. Everything they needed was lacking, and in their flight they kept to by-ways and avoided towns and public inns.”
“I saw the Holy Family wandering through a sandy desert, weary and careworn. The water-skin and the jugs of balsam were empty; the Blessed Virgin was greatly distressed, and both she and the Infant Jesus were thirsty.”
“The Blessed Virgin dismounted, and sat for a little with the Child on her knees, praying in her distress.”
“An angel appeared to them and comforted them, and a spring of water gushed forth in the cave at the prayer of the Blessed Virgin, while a wild she-goat came to them and allowed herself to be milked.”
4. In different places, there were all sorts of hideous reptiles and beasts.
“It was dangerous because of the numbers of snakes which lay coiled up among the bushes in little hollows under the leaves. They crawled towards the path, hissing loudly and stretching out their necks towards the Holy Family, who, however, passed by in safety surrounded by light. I saw other evil beasts there with long black bodies, short legs, and wings like big fins. They shot over the ground as if they were flying, and their heads were fish-like in shape.”
“I was alarmed for the Holy Family. The place was sinister, and I wanted to make a screen to protect them on the side left open, but a dreadful creature like a bear made his way in, and I was in terrible fear.”
5. As strangers in foreign lands, it meant that some people would treat the Holy Family with hostility. They also had to live in the midst of thieves and robbers. But some of those criminals and their families were touched by the presence of the Holy Child.
“The inhabitants here were rough and wild, and the Holy Family could obtain no assistance from them. After this they came into a great desert of sand. There was no path and nothing to show their direction, and they did not know what to do.”
“It was dark, and the way led past a wood. In front of this wood, at some distance from the path, I saw a poor hut, and not far from it a light hanging in a tree, which could be seen from a long way off, to attract travelers. This part of the road was sinister: trenches had been dug in it here and there, and there were also trenches all round the hut. Hidden cords were stretched across the good parts of the road, and when touched by travelers rang bells in the hut and brought out its thieving inhabitants to plunder them. This robbers’ hut was not always in the same place, it could be moved about and put up wherever its inhabitants wanted it.”
“When the Holy Family approached the light hanging in the tree, I saw the leader of the robbers with five of his companions closing round them. At first they were evilly disposed, but I saw that at the sight of the Infant Jesus a ray, like an arrow, struck the heart of the leader, who ordered his comrades to do no harm to these people. The Blessed Virgin also saw this ray strike the robber’s heart, as she later recounted to Anna the prophetess when she returned.”
“Then I saw the Holy Family going through a wood, exhausted and helpless. On coming out of it they saw a tall, slender date palm with its fruit growing all together like a bunch of grapes at the very top of the tree. Mary went up to the tree with the Infant Jesus in her arms, and prayed, lifting the Child up to it; the tree bowed down its head to them, as if it were kneeling, so that they were able to pick all its fruit. The tree remained in that position. I saw a rabble of people from the last town following the Holy Family, and I saw Mary distributing the fruit from the tree among the many naked children who were running after her.”
6. Idol worshippers and occult practitioners threatened and persecuted the Holy Family as they did not want them in their place.
“They had rested there for only a short time when there came an earthquake, and the idol swayed and fell to the ground.”
“There was an uproar among the people, and a crowd of canal-workers ran up from near at hand. A good man who had accompanied the Holy Family on their way here (I think he was a drain-digger) led them hurriedly into the town, and they were leaving the place where the idol had stood when the frightened crowd observed them and began assailing them with threats and abuse for having been the cause of the idol’s collapse. They had not, however, time to carry out their threats, for another shock came which uprooted and engulfed the great tree till nothing but its roots showed above ground. The gaping space where the idol had stood became full of dark and dirty water, in which the whole idol disappeared except for its horns. Some of the most evil among the raging mob were swallowed up in this dark pool.”
“Some of the idols fell down in the temple near which they lived, just as the statue near the gate had collapsed on their entry into the city; many people said that this was a sign of the wrath of the gods against the Holy Family, and in consequence they suffered various persecutions.”
7. The Holy Family was greatly distressed from the Massacre of the Holy Innocents, which Mary found out through an Angel who appeared to her.
“Towards the middle of Jesus’ second year the Blessed Virgin was told of Herod’s Massacre of the Innocents by an angel appearing to her in Heliopolis. She and Joseph were greatly distressed, and the Child Jesus wept that whole day.”
8. It was not only desert lands that the Holy Family made through, but mountain lands as well. By God’s power, He used the assistance of beast-animals, which helped them find their way.
“After some time they saw a dark, gloomy mountain-ridge in front of them. The Holy Family were sorely distressed, and fell on their knees praying to God for help. A number of wild beasts then gathered round them, and at first it looked very dangerous; but these beasts were not at all evil, but looked at them in just the same friendly way as my confessor’s old dog used to look at me when he came up to me.”
“I realized then that these beasts were sent to show them the way. They looked towards the mountain and ran in that direction and then back again, just like a dog does when he wants you to follow him somewhere. At last I saw the Holy Family follow these animals and pass over a mountain-ridge into a wild and lonely region.”
9. God always answered the prayers of Mary.
“Next day they continued through waste and sandy deserts, and I saw them sitting on a sand-hill quite exhausted, for they had no water with them. The Blessed Virgin prayed to God, and I saw an abundant spring of water gush forth at her side and run in streams on the ground.”
10. Due to persecutions and lack of livelihood, the Holy Family had to move places. Mary also got insults for her values. Suffering with much poverty, they were treated like slaves. But God answered Mary’s plea for help.
“After staying in Heliopolis for a year and a half, until Jesus was about two years old, the Holy Family left the city because of lack of work and various persecutions.”
“In this town the Holy Family lived in a dark vaulted room in a lonely quarter at the landward side of the town, not far from the gate by which they had entered. As before, Joseph built a room in front of the vaulted one. Here, too, when they arrived, an idol fell down in a small temple, and afterwards all the idols fell. Here, too, a priest pacified the people by reminding them of the plagues of Egypt.”
“The Jews in the land of Gessen had already become acquainted with the Holy Family in the city of On, and Mary had done much work for them knitting, weaving, and sewing. She would never work at things which were superfluous or mere luxuries, only at what was necessary and at praying garments. I saw women bringing her work to do which they wanted, from vanity, to be made in a fashionable style; and I saw Mary giving back the work, however much she needed the money. I saw, too, that the women insulted her vilely.”
“To begin with, they had a very hard time in Matarea. There was great shortage of good water and wood. The inhabitants cooked with dry grass or reeds. The Holy Family generally had cold food to eat. Joseph was given a great deal of work in improving the huts, but the people there treated him just like a slave, giving him only what they liked; sometimes he brought home some money for his work, sometimes none.”
“It was long since they had had any good water, and Joseph was making ready to take his water-skins on the donkey to fetch water from the balsam spring in the desert, when in answer to her prayer an angel appeared to the Blessed Virgin and told her to look for a spring behind their house. I saw her go beyond the enclosure round their dwelling to an open space on a lower level surrounded by broken-down embankments. A very big old tree stood here. The Blessed Virgin had a stick in her hand with a little shovel at the end of it, such as people in that country often carried on their journeys. She thrust this into the ground near the tree, and thereupon a beautiful clear stream of water gushed forth.”
11. The hard life in Egypt was tough for Saint Joseph being the head of the Holy Family, which caused much sorrow for Mary. God heard the prayers of Joseph and sent an Angel commanding them to leave Egypt. This Angel appeared again on their journey back home to instruct them to go back to Nazareth.
“At last I saw the Holy Family leaving Egypt. Though Herod had been dead for some time, they were not yet able to return, for there was still danger. Their sojourn in Egypt became increasingly difficult for St. Joseph. The people there practiced an abominable idolatry, sacrificing deformed children, and even thinking it an act of special piety to offer healthy ones to be sacrificed. Besides this, they practiced obscene rites in secret. Even the Jews in their settlement had become infected by these horrors. They had a temple which they said was like Solomon’s temple, but this was idle boasting, for it was utterly different. They had an Ark of the Covenant in imitation of the real one, but it contained obscene figures, and their ceremonies were abominable.”
“I saw St. Joseph busy at his carpentry on the eve of the Sabbath. He was in great distress because he was not given the payment due to him, and he had nothing to take home, where money was much needed. In his trouble he knelt down under the open sky in a corner and prayed to God to help him in his need. The next night I saw that an angel came to him in a dream, saying that those who had sought the life of the child were dead, and that he was to rise up and make ready to journey home from Egypt by the high road; he was to have no fear, for the angel would accompany him. I saw St. Joseph communicating to the Blessed Virgin and to the Child Jesus this command that he had received from God, and I saw them preparing as promptly and obediently for their journey home as they had done when warned to flee into Egypt.”
“I saw that the Holy Family stayed about three months in Gaza, where there were many heathen. Here an angel again appeared to Joseph in a dream and commanded him to go to Nazareth, which he did at once.”
“Anna was still alive. She and a few relations knew where the Holy Family had been living. The return from Egypt happened in September. Jesus was nearly eight years old.”
My Reflection on the Second Sorrow of Mary:
1. Life can always be like the Holy Family’s Flight into Egypt. Just as the Holy Family was challenged with uncertainties on how everything would work out for them as poor strangers in an unknown land, all of us, too, face uncertainty at different points in our lives.
2. Earlier, I shared with you a memory I had with my Dad. He died some years later after that, when I was still a kid. It was a ‘Flight into Egypt’ for my whole family. We were forced to move on to a life we never knew before: a life without a father and a husband, ‘the man of the house.’ My Mom sorrowfully knew that she had to raise us by herself, with all the responsibilities on her shoulders. Personally, I felt profound sorrow, considering I was young then, knowing that I would face all the years of my life without ever seeing my Dad again. With fear and sadness, it was uncertain how it was going to be like for us.
For some of you here who have already experienced death in the family, especially those deaths that were sudden, and in our human terms, ‘untimely,’ I understand the unspeakable sorrow that we all had felt or are still feeling. There are other reasons, aside from death, that we have to say our goodbyes, with much sadness, to people who most likely we would never see again, as life pushes us to a different direction.
3. In moments of grief, and for people who have experienced deep pain, we have understood the awful reality that we cannot know what the future will be. Nobody can ever know for sure. And we can never be self-assured whether our situation now stays the same tomorrow, sooner or later. As long as we are alive, we are uncertain as to what forbearances, hardships or pains will God ask of us, just like He did of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, and even His Only Begotten Son Jesus – sufferings that they all lovingly and selflessly endured.
4. A common idiom among people is that “In this world nothing can be certain except Death and Taxes.” I have heard of it many times in movies. Logically, that may be true, making life more demanding as with taxes, and ‘sad’ as with death.
5. I think, however, we can also ‘add’ another one: Judgment. When we are out and about in this chaotic world, God’s judgment sounds like a fiction. But in our Catholic faith, it shall happen at the end of each and everyone’s journey in life. Humans who had lived, are living, and will be living – all are going to face Judgment from God.Right after death, there is a Particular Judgment, which decides whether a soul goes to Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell. And when the end of the world comes, all souls will be gathered to face the Final Judgment, and we shall see how every action we have ever done individually, good or bad, and how all our prayers, their causes and effects, affected other people and the plan of salvation of God.
6. Our life here on earth is our own version of the “Flight into Egypt.” Some of us value our God-given life devoutly and ‘take the high road’ – doing what’s moral and godly even if it means sacrifice and difficulty. Some, on the other hand, want the easiest route and choose for themselves an ungodly path. But the Almighty Father sees our every step and knows our every thought. With the Holy Family as our model, it is only through obedience and faith in God that we will reach our ultimate goal, which is Heaven; all else will lead to a soul’s demise.
7. It is comforting for us Catholics to know that there is the Catholic Church to guide us along the way – the Sacraments, teachings and dogmas, and the Oral Tradition of the Church, handed down throughout the past 2000 years, from the succession of the Popes, to the Holy Saints of the Church in their martyrdom, to the favored Mystics of the Church and the revelations given to them, all the way to us who strive now to live as faithful Catholics everyday…
8. The uncertainty in life can cause us to despair us and feel down. When things get too difficult and heavy to bear, we may be tempted to give up on the good and holy things and disobey the will of God. That is why we must be armed with this sense of security found in our Catholic Church- as long as we are truthfully with God, we will be okay; and as long as God is truly with us, He will take care of us. Such was the sheer weapon of the Holy Family across all lands they traveled. Their example is what we always try to keep in mind and take to heart as a family, especially all these years since my Dad passed away- God is faithful to His promise to care for widows and orphans, even to avenge them if anyone afflicts them, as pointed out throughout the Bible.
9. Now which path are you on? Engrossed in fabulous lifestyle? Living to enjoy life? Traveling the world? Partying with friends? Those who live solely for the pleasures of this world should be reminded that earthly life is temporary; the next life is for eternity. It is the Saints would always say that doing more penance and sacrifices on earth to purify our souls are far bearable that being purged from our sins in purgatory, or worse, in eternal fire. We must be mindful not to love ourselves too much, by indulging our senses. But demonstrate the same love the Holy Family showed- sparing the highest love for God, and loving their neighbors with kindness and compassion.
10. Do you feel sorrow from being chronically ill? Feeling lonely? Materially lacking, with honest debts? Spiritually suffering? Our good God has Mercy. Who knows if God will make it different for us tomorrow? He will redeem us; just as He turned Mary‘s Sorrows and tears into her eternal crown as Queen in Heaven. Our Lord is going to use our afflictions for the good of our souls. We must trust in Him that our prayers will be answered according to His will; that He will send us all the graces necessary to live righteously in this life, just as God sent His help to the Holy Family in various ways during their arduous flight to Egypt. He has heard the constant prayers of the Sorrowful Mother.
***
Let us bear our sorrows patiently and humbly, and make them redemptive, as the Virgin Mary did. We must have the hope that one day, our ‘Flight into Egypt’ will come to an end and we will live forever with Our Creator. Someday, God will vanish all our sufferings and turn them into bliss. One day, we will finally complete our ‘Flight’ and the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary, Joseph – shall welcome us in Heaven, our true home.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
Mama Mary, pray for us!
Amen.
She graduated cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas, the country's Pontifical and Catholic university, with an AB in Legal Management and minor units in Theology.
As an unmarried woman, prayer holds a central place in her daily life, with a focus on the Rosary and the Divine Office. Embodying her faith, she emphasizes the growth of her inner spiritual life, guided by the wisdom of Carmelite spirituality.
God manifested to her in a unique and radical manner, which made her know Who He truly is and led her to total surrender of her life to Him.
She has studied the Bible with her family, developing a particular fondness for the Old Testament.
Her adorable and intelligent toy poodle is a delightful companion in her daily life, bringing warmth and joy to her home.
Her hobbies include reading about everything, learning Japanese and German, listening to music and playing the flute.
In her leisure time, she enjoys gaming on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo 3DS, iOS and OS, and collecting things related to PlayStation and Nintendo.
Email: [email protected]
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