Our Lady of Sorrows

A prophecy spoken over an infant

The origin of this devotion lies in a single moment recorded in the Gospel of Luke. When Mary and Joseph presented the infant Jesus at the Temple, the elderly Simeon blessed them, then turned to Mary directly with a warning: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:34-35, NIV). It's a strange thing to say to a new mother — and it became the foundation for centuries of reflection on Mary's own suffering.

Seven moments, one grief

Over time, that single prophecy expanded into a devotional tradition built around seven specific sorrows: the Prophecy of Simeon itself, the Flight into Egypt, the loss of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple, Mary meeting her son on the road to Calvary, the Crucifixion, the Descent from the Cross, and finally the Burial of Jesus. Devotional art traditionally represents her with seven swords piercing her heart — a direct visual echo of Simeon's words, multiplied across a lifetime of grief.

A devotion carried forward by the Servite Order

The Catholic devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows began developing around the end of the eleventh century, particularly in areas around the Mediterranean. In 1233, seven young men in Tuscany founded what became known as the Servite Order, the Order of the Servants of Mary; by 1239, they had taken up Mary's sorrows at the foot of the Cross as their order's principal devotion, carrying it forward through practices like the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows and the Stabat Mater hymn.

A feast with a fixed place on the calendar

In 1814, Pope Pius VII formally added the feast to the General Roman Calendar. It is celebrated each year on September 15, immediately following the Feast of the Holy Cross — a deliberate pairing that links Mary's grief directly to her son's crucifixion the day before. The devotion's purpose, across all its forms, has remained consistent: uniting the faithful with Christ's own suffering through union with the particular sorrow his mother bore as a direct consequence of being his mother.