Our Lent series continues with the fifth of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.
Read Our Lent 2018 Series
Introduction – Lent Series: 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
Part 2 – Lent Series: The Second Sorrow of Mary and the Uncertainties in Life
Part 3 – Lent Series: The Third Sorrow of Mary and the Mysteries of God’s Will
Part 4 – Lent Series: The Fourth Sorrow of Mary and the Types of Catholics
Part 5 – Lent Series: The Fifth Sorrow of Mary and Consoling Jesus and His Mother
Part 6 – Lent Series: The Sixth Sorrow of Mary and the Blood and Water from the Side of Jesus
The Fifth Sorrow of Mary is the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus. While some Catholics would not be able to readily enumerate each of the Seven Sorrows, the Fifth one – the Passion and Death of Christ on the Cross – is perhaps the most evident dolor and the first to come to mind among the faithful. What deeper sorrow could the Mother of God feel than to see her own Son crucified and lifeless on the Cross? But Mary understood the will of God from the very beginning and she devotedly endured her Sorrow for the love of Jesus and God’s children.
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen.
26 When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son.
27 After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.
28 Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst.
29 Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar and hyssop, put it to his mouth.
30 Jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost.
– John 19:25-30
Biblical Background and Mystic’s Account of the Presence of Mary during the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus:
1. Of the Four Gospels, it is only the Gospel of John that gives us an intimate detail about Jesus and His Mother in His final hours on the Cross. The other three Gospels, referred to as the Synoptic Gospels, also provided rich and unique accounts on the Passion of Christ. But Saint John completes the picture of the Lord’s Crucifixion by narrating about the significant presence of the most faithful of the disciples of Jesus- His Mother, John the Evangelist himself, Mary’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdalen – all of them standing by the Cross.
2. There is a brief mention in the above Bible verse of a woman named Mary, the wife of Cleophas, identified as Mary’s own sister and one of the accompanying women. No bibilical passage further explains about Mary having a sister. But in the visions of the favored Mystic Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, we learn that this woman was the first born of Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, or Heliachim, hence named, Mary Heli. She was quietly present throughout the life of her younger sister, the Virgin Mary, particularly during the Crucifixion.
Excerpts from the visions of Blessed Anne Emmerich on Mary’s sister, Mary Heli, wife of Cleophas:
“The first child born to Anna in her father’s house was a daughter, but she was not the child of promise… She had, however, great joy in her newborn little daughter, who was called Mary (Heli). She was a dear, good, gentle child, and I always saw her growing up rather strong and fat. Her parents were very fond of her, but they felt some uneasiness and distress because they realized that she was not the expected holy fruit of their union.”
“Her husband bore the name of Cleophas, and her daughter that of Mary of Cleophas. This daughter was, however, older than her aunt, the Blessed Virgin, and had been married first to Alpheus, by whom she had three sons, afterwards the Apostles Simon, James the Less and Thaddeus. She had one son by her second husband, Sabat and another called Simon, by her third husband, Jonas. Simon was afterwards Bishop of Jerusalem.”
– From the book “The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary” by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
3. Mary stood by the foot of the Cross not only as a Mother but also as a Witness of Christ.
There is symbolism in the way St. John the Evangelist described the presence of Mary during the Crucifixion. He wrote that Mary ‘stood’ by the Cross of Jesus and it meant more than just being physically there.
To ‘stand’ can be related as to ‘witness’ because the upward position of standing is a representation of the act of witnessing. A witness testifying to something is symbolically standing up to declare the truth of something.
The Gospel thus tells us that Mary was present not only as a mother grieving for her Child. Mary stood by the foot of the Cross, as a Witness to the love of Jesus for the Father by submitting to His will and for mankind by offering His life. In fact, Mary was the first ever witness to God’s plan of salvation from the moment she uttered her “Fiat” at the Annunciation. And true to Mary’s unwavering testimony of God’s love, it was she who stood closest to the Cross of Jesus.
“I did not leave Him,” she revealed to St. Bridget, but stood nearer the cross.”
– From the book “The Glories of Mary” by Saint Alphonsus di Liguori
4. The most terrifying and painful scene of Christ on the Cross, as vividly described in the visions of Blessed Emmerich gives us an idea of the indescribable Sorrow that pierced Mary at the sight of the disfigured, wounded and bloodied body of Jesus.
“With mixed feelings of fear and compassion I cast my eyes upon Jesus,–Jesus my Redeemer,–the Redeemer of the world. I beheld him motionless, and almost lifeless. I felt as if I myself must expire; my heart was overwhelmed between grief, love, and horror; my mind was half wandering, my hands and feet burning with a feverish heat; each vein, nerve, and limb was racked with inexpressible pain; I saw nothing distinctly, excepting my beloved Spouse hanging on the cross. I contemplated his disfigured countenance, his head encircled with that terrible crown of thorns, which prevented his raising it even for a moment without the most intense suffering, his mouth parched and half open from exhaustion, and his hair and beard clotted with blood. His chest was torn with stripes and wounds, and his elbows, wrists, and shoulders so violently distended as to be almost dislocated; blood constantly trickled down from the gaping wounds in his hands, and the flesh was so torn from his ribs that you might almost count them. His legs and thighs, as also his arms, were stretched out almost to dislocation, the flesh and muscles so completely laid bare that every bone was visible, and his whole body covered with black, green, and reeking wounds. The blood which flowed from his wounds was at first red, but it became by degrees light and watery, and the whole appearance of his body was that of a corpse ready for interment. And yet, notwithstanding the horrible wounds with which he was covered, notwithstanding the state of ignominy to which he was reduced, there still remained that inexpressible look of dignity and goodness which had ever filled all beholders with awe.”
5. The multitude of disciples and followers of Jesus was nowhere to be found in the Calvary. Out of fear, they hid and could not offer any consolation to the Lord while He suffered. Saint John among the Apostles and a few holy women are the ones who remained by the side of their Master and the Blessed Mother to share in Their sorrow.
“…Every one excepting Mary and the most faithful among the friends of Jesus left the Cross.”
6. The Blessed Mother, filled with so much sorrow and love, could almost die with Her Son that day. But Jesus, in His ineffable love for Mary, bid the Apostle John to care for her as a mother of his own. In the same way, He gave Mary to John, “the disciple standing whom he loved,” to be her son. Henceforth, Mary became the spiritual mother to John, and to all of us God’s children who believe in Him.
“…But he, casting a look of ineffable tenderness upon her, turned to John and said, Woman, behold thy son;’ then he said to John, Behold thy mother.’ John looked at his dying Redeemer, and saluted this beloved mother (whom he henceforth considered as his own) in the most respectful manner.”
– From the book “The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ” by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
My Reflection:
1. True love bears sufferings.
a. Why else would the Blessed Mother stand by the foot of the Cross, risk her life and put herself through agony, if not for her genuine love for God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? She stayed and suffered with the Lord because she truly loved.
b. Problems and hardships may tempt people to turn away from God. At first, many think that their faith in God is very strong until their Crosses become too heavy to bear. When things get more difficult, some begin to slowly distance themselves from God, while others abruptly abandon Him. We are most tempted when we are most in pain.
The Apostles, like Simon Peter, thought they loved Jesus much until the fear of pain and persecution overtook that love. But Saint John and the holy women never left Jesus. With the Blessed Mother by their side, they braved the cruel crowd during His Passion and Crucifixion as an expression of true love for the Lord and Savior.
c. Also, think of our family and loved ones, and try to recall if there have been times in the past when we ‘left’ them or turned our backs on them at a crucial time because we wanted it easy, disliked to be bothered, refused to be responsible or got afraid of the pain. Yet, we say that we ‘love’ them.
When we are hurting or anyone dear to us is suffering, we should follow what the faithful disciples did. Take refuge in the sorrowful heart of the Blessed Mother. Remember that it was Jesus Himself who entrusted us to her maternal care. Pray that her steadfast love for God may grow in us as well, especially in times of adversity.
2. Consoling Jesus and Mary
a. Jesus died on the Cross only once. But up to now, the sins of the world, including our own sins, continue to offend, hurt and wound Him and His Heart. God, although He is self-sufficient, is saddened by our transgressions and iniquities.
b. In a personal way, though, there is something we can do for our part to ease the pain that Jesus feels. One is to avoid sin. Another way that is not very commonly heard of is to show Jesus compassion, which literally means, “to suffer with.” That is, to console Jesus Christ and His Mother.
c. Jesus desires our consolation. Our Lord Himself said to a Mystic, Sister Benigna Consolate Ferrero, Servant of God:
“If thou lovest Me, thou wilt repair; if thou repairest, thou wilt console Me; and then thou wilt be a faithful spouse.”
d. One way to console Jesus is to visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament, as He Himself told Blessed Alexandrina Costa, Mystic:
“Keep Me company in the Blessed Sacrament. I remain in the tabernacle night and day, waiting to give My love and grace to all who would visit Me. But so few come. I am so abandoned, so lonely, so offended… Many men do not believe that I live in the tabernacle. They curse Me. Others believe, but do not love Me and do not visit Me; they live as if I were not there.”
3. Saint Francisco Marto and his life of consoling Jesus
a. The three visionaries of Our Lady of Fatima, namely, Saint Francisco Marto, his younger sister, Saint Jacinta Marto, and Sister Lucia dos Santos, each had their own ‘themes’ or missions in their spiritual life following the Apparitions. As for Saint Francisco, he spent his brief, blessed life centered on consoling Jesus.
b. Known for being a contemplative soul, Francisco’s utmost desire was to console Jesus. It started when the Angel of Peace, in his third apparition, offered the chalice to him and Jacinta, and said:
“Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men! Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.”
c. Then, right after the third apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, on July 13, 1917, in which the three shepherd children had the vision of hell, his desire to console Jesus became much deeper:
“We were on fire in that light which is God, and yet we were not burnt! What is God? We could never put it into words. Yes, that is something indeed which we could never express! But what a pity it is that He is so sad! If only I could console Him!”
Lucia once asked him:
“I [Lucia] asked him one day: ‘Francisco, which do you like better—to console Our Lord, or to convert sinners, so that no more souls will go to hell?’
Francisco replied:
“I would rather console Our Lord. Didn’t you notice how sad Our Lady was that last month, when she said that people must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already much offended? I would like to console Our Lord, and after that convert sinners so that they won’t offend Him any more.”
Lucia took note of Francisco’s response when she manifested how unhappy she was over the persecution against them that was coming from her own family and from the outside. She said that he encouraged her with these words:
“Never mind! Didn’t Our Lady say that we would have much to suffer, to make reparation to Our Lord and to her own Immaculate Heart for all the sins by which they are offended? They are so sad! If we can console them with these sufferings, how happy we shall be!”
Before Francisco died, he stated that consoling Jesus mattered to him more than anything else. Lucia recalled:
“The day before he died, he said to me: ‘Look! I am very ill; it won’t be long now before I go to heaven.’ ‘Then listen to this. When you’re there, don’t forget to pray a great deal for sinners, for the Holy Father, for me and for Jacinta.’ ‘Yes, I’ll pray. But look, you’d better ask Jacinta to pray for these things instead, because I’m afraid I’ll forget when I see Our Lord. And then, more than anything else I want to console Him.’”
– From the book “Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words,” also known as “Sister Lucia’s Memoirs” by Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart
d. To console Jesus is to offer Him our sufferings. In summary, this is what Saint Francisco Marto teaches us. Knowing that it is for the Lord that we suffer and offering to Him our hurt feelings and pains in life serve as consolation for the sins committed against His Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
4. Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta and consoling Jesus by responding to “I thirst.”
a. In 2002, it was a big revelation that Mother Teresa of Calcutta was actually a Mystic. Her mystical experiences happened from September 10, 1946 up to December 3, 1947. It first occurred to her on a train journey to a retreat in Darjeeling. The meaning of the visions became clearer to her in the subsequent weeks and months. She revealed about them in a letter addressed to Archbishop Ferdinand Perier of Calcutta, through a Jesuit priest, Father Celeste Van Exem, S.J., her spiritual director. In that letter she wrote on January 13, 1947, she began saying, “from last September strange thoughts and desires have been filling my heart. They got stronger and clearer during the eight days retreat I made in Darjeeling.” Soon, Father Van Exem was convinced that her visions were indeed “from God and from the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” as he later wrote to Archbishop Perier.
Four years before her death, on March 25, 1993, after reading the Lenten message of Pope John Paul II on “I Thirst,” she got inspired to reveal about the visions to the religious sisters of Missionaries of Charity, the congregation she founded.
b. As Mother Teresa realized, the central message of her visions was to answer to what she referred to as “a call within a call,” which meant responding to “I thirst,” the words of the Heart of Jesus. To satiate the thirst of the Heart of Jesus for love and for souls defined the life of Mother Teresa. It became her deepest desire; her everything.
c. Firstly, “to console the Sacred Heart of Jesus through joy,” and we do this especially with Mary’s joy. Saint Mother Teresa had lived in one of the most poverty-stricken places in the world, wherein, as Fr. Michael Gaitley said in his book “33 Days to Morning Glory,” she had to put up with “burning heat, bad breath, stuffy rooms, nagging fatigue, endless responsibilities, bland food, hard beds, body odor, cold water bathing, and an agonizingly deep spiritual aridity.” Despite all these, she was known to serve God always with a smile on her face. And more than a smiling face, she always served the Lord with an interior joyful heart, which means serving by not complaining of our sufferings.
d. Secondly, “to console him in the members of his Body” in order to console Jesus in others. How then do we console Jesus in other people? That is by recognizing their thirst; by responding to their suffering, especially to that “deepest, most universal suffering: the thirst for love.” As Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta explained, “The greatest evil is the lack of love and charity, the terrible indifference towards one’s neighbor.” She also said that you should say to those who suffer, with a gentle smile, “I delight that you exist, and I, too, understand the pain of the thirst.”
e. In other words, Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that we should let ourselves “Be the one” to console Jesus, because when Jesus prayed and prayed in Gethsemane, He went to look for consolation and found there was none.
“Tell Jesus, “I will be the one.” I will comfort, encourage and love Him. … Be with Jesus. He prayed and prayed, and then He went to look for consolation, but there was none. … I always write that sentence, “I looked for one to comfort Me, but I found no one.” Then I write, “Be the one.” So now you be that one. Try to be the one to share with Him, to comfort Him, to console Him. So let us ask Our Lady to help us understand.”
f. Lastly, Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta said it is Mary, the Sorrowful Mother of God herself, who can teach us the most in consoling Jesus. For her, it was the Blessed Mother who took Jesus’ words “I thirst” most deeply to heart, and it is through her that others can also carry on with those words in their hearts. She explained, the Blessed Mother brings all of us face-to-face with Him:
“… [Our Lady] was the first person to hear Jesus’ cry “I Thirst” with St. John, and I am sure Mary Magdalen. Because Our Lady was there on Calvary, she knows how real, how deep is His longing for you and for the poor. Do we know? Do we feel as she? Ask her to teach … . Her role is to bring you face to face, as John and Magdalen, with the love in the Heart of Jesus crucified. Before it was Our Lady pleading with Mother, now it is Mother in her name pleading with you —“listen to Jesus’ thirst.” Let it be for each … a Word of Life.”
She also said that it was the Blessed Mother in her visions who made her realize that she was being called to console Jesus by responding to “I thirst:”
“If Our Lady had not been with me that day, I never would have known what Jesus meant when he said, ‘I thirst.’”
5. I got inspired to console Jesus Christ, and His Mother too, after reading about Saint Francisco Marto. Since then, I have been consoling Jesus by always offering my sufferings and penances. I say,
“Jesus, I offer my ________ (Mention your suffering, penance, or sacrifices. For example, “Rosary” “illness” “fasting”) in reparation for the sins committed against Your Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
It is an expression of our love for Him and our Blessed Mother that we offer whatever we do or have before God.
To bring consolation to Jesus through our weekly Holy Hour, my family and I try visiting the Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration Chapel in my beloved St. Paul the Apostle Parish.
***
On this day, Good Friday, we remember Jesus as He suffered the torment of the Cross, and His ultimate sacrifice, by offering His life in atonement for our sins. The least we could do is to live a good Catholic life. We know that it is attainable, because He gave us Mary, His Sorrowful Mother.
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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I need the victory of martyr by st.Alphonsus