The sorrowful mother stood by the cross of her Son.

Tuesday, 9/15/15

Today we honor Our Lady for the sorrows she underwent. Many of us remember singing the Latin hymn “Stabat Mater.” We sang it as we joined in doing the Stations of the Cross. Let’s recall some of those verses, as we think of their English meaning.

“Stabat mater dolorosa, juxta crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat filius. The sorrowful mother stood weeping by the cross of her only Son.

Cujus animan gementum, contristatum et dolentum, pertransivit gladius. She felt a sword passing through that soul already full of grief and pain.

O quam tristus et aflicta, fuit illa benedicta mater unigeniti! O how sad and how afflicted was that mother of an only Son.

Quis est homo qui not fleret, matrem Christi si videbat natus poenas inclyti? What human would not weep with the mother of Christ seeing her son bent over in pain.