Just a day after we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we commemorate the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, honoring Mary’s sorrow as she witnessed the Passion and Death of her Son, Jesus. A faithful Mother who remained with her Son at the foot of the Cross, Mary is indeed faithful from womb to tomb.

The devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows has long been associated with the spiritual tradition of St. Bridget of Sweden (1303–1373). During this month dedicated to the Sorrowful Mother, we are invited to contemplate her sorrows, to console her Sorrowful Heart, and to unite our own sufferings with hers, trusting in the consolation and strength of her maternal presence.

The Scriptures speak of Mary’s sorrow in the prophecy of Simeon: “And you yourself a sword will pierce” (Luke 2:35). At Calvary, this prophecy finds its fulfillment as Mary stands before her suffering and dying Son (John 19:26–27).

St. Ambrose presents Mary as a sorrowful yet courageous Mother at the foot of the Cross. While others fled, Mary remained. She looked upon the wounds of her Son with a mother’s compassion, yet in those wounds, she saw the salvation of the world. Her fiat was not spoken only in Nazareth—it was lived all the way to Calvary.

Stabat Mater Dolorosa. The Sorrowful Mother stood.

Mary teaches us that faithfulness sometimes means simply choosing to remain: to remain with Christ when the road is painful, when the Cross is heavy, and when we do not understand.

For the Mother who remained at the foot of the Cross remains with us in ours.

Our Lady of Sorrows, faithful from womb to tomb, pray for us.