The Loss of Jesus in the Temple (the Third Sorrow)

Mater dolorosa. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

The following post is the third in a series presenting the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, based on the meditations of St Alphonsus de Liguori. I have inserted references in the text to numbered footnotes. These references are not hyperlinked but may be found by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?    

Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold? 

 (From the 13th century Latin hymn, Stabat Mater Dolorosa)

The Loss of Jesus in the Temple

St. James the Apostle has said, that our perfection consists in the virtue of patience. “And patience hath a perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.”[1] The Lord having then given us the Virgin Mary as an example of perfection, it was necessary that she should be laden with sorrows, that in her we might admire and imitate her heroic patience. The dolour that we are this day to consider is one of the greatest which our divine mother suffered during her life, namely, the loss of her Son in the temple. He who is born blind is little sensible of the pain of being deprived of the light of day; but to him who has once had sight and enjoyed the light, it is a great sorrow to find himself deprived of it by blindness. And thus it is with those unhappy souls who, being blinded by the mire of this earth, have but little knowledge of God, and therefore scarcely feel pain at not finding him. On the contrary, the man who, illuminated with celestial light, has been made worthy to find by love the sweet presence of the highest good, oh God, how he mourns when he finds himself deprived of it! 

Mary and Joseph seeking Jesus*. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

Quem ad festum transiens:
dolenter perdidisti:
sed mox templum adiens:
gaudenter repperisti. Ave Maria.

Whom once as lost thou didst deplore,
When from the Feast returning;
But in the Temple find once more,
'Midst doctors Him discerning. Hail Mary.





*[44] And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance.
Existimantes autem illum esse in comitatu, venerunt iter diei, et requirebant eum inter cognatos et notos. [Luke 2]

From this we can judge how painful must have been to Mary, who was accustomed to enjoy constantly the sweet presence of Jesus, that third sword which wounded her, when she lost him in Jerusalem, and was separated from him for three days. In the second chapter of St. Luke we read that the blessed Virgin, being accustomed to visit the temple every year at the paschal season, with Joseph her spouse and Jesus, once went when he was about twelve years old, and Jesus remained in Jerusalem, though she was not aware of it, for she thought he was in company with others.

When she reached Nazareth she inquired for her Son, and not finding him there, she returned immediately to Jerusalem to seek him, but did not succeed until after three days. Now let us imagine what distress that afflicted mother must have experienced in those three days in which she was searching everywhere for her Son, with the spouse in the Canticles: “Have you seen him whom my soul loveth?”[2]

But she could hear no tidings of him. Oh, with how much greater tenderness must Mary, overcome with fatigue, and yet not having found her beloved Son, have repeated those words of Ruben, concerning his brother Joseph: The boy doth not appear, and whither shall I go? “Puer non comparet, et ego quo ibo?”[3] My Jesus doth not appear, and I know not what to do that I may find him; but where shall I go without my treasure?

Weeping continually, she repeated during these three days with David: “My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily,Where is thy God?”[4] Wherefore Pelbart with reason says, that during those nights the afflicted mother had no rest, but wept and prayed without ceasing to God, that he would enable her to find her Son. And, according to St. Bernard, often during that time did she repeat to her Son himself the words of the spouse: “Show me where thou feedest, where thou liest in the mid-day, lest I begin to wander.”[5] My Son, tell me where thou art, that I may no longer wander, seeking thee in vain.

Some writers assert, and not without reason, that this dolor was not only one of the greatest, but that it was the greatest and most painful of all.

For in the first place, Mary in her other dolours had Jesus with her; she suffered when St. Simeon uttered the prophecy in the temple; she suffered in the flight to Egypt, but always with Jesus; but in this dolor she suffered at a distance from Jesus, without knowing where he was: “And the light of my eyes itself is not with me.”[6]  Thus, with tears, she then exclaimed: Ah, the light of my eyes, my dear Jesus, is no more with me; he is far from me, I know not where he is! Origen[7] says, that though the love which this holy mother bore her Son, she suffered more at this loss of Jesus than any martyr ever suffered at death.

Ah, how long were these three days for Mary! they appeared three ages. Very bitter days, for there was none to comfort her. And who, she exclaimed with Jeremias, who can console me if he who could console me is far from me? and therefore my eyes are not satisfied with weeping: “Therefore do I weep, and my eyes run down with water, because the comforter is far from me.” [8] And with Tobias she repeated: “What manner of joy shall be to me who sit in darkness, and see not the light of heaven?”[9].

Secondly.—Mary well understood the cause and end of the other dolors, namely, the redemption of the world, the divine will; but in this she did not know the cause of the absence of her Son. The sorrowful mother was grieved to find Jesus withdrawn from her, for her humility, says Lanspergius[10], made her consider herself unworthy to remain with him any longer, and attend upon him on earth, and have the care of such a treasure. And perhaps, she may have thought within herself, I have not served him as I ought. Perhaps I have been guilty of some neglect, and therefore he has left me. They sought him, lest he perchance had left them, as Origen has said.  Certainly there is no greater grief for a soul that loves God than the fear of having displeased him. And therefore Mary never complained in any other sorrow but this, lovingly expostulating with Jesus after she found him: “Son, why hast thou done so to us? Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.”[11] By these words she did not wish to reprove Jesus, as the heretics blasphemously assert, but only to make known to him the grief she had experienced during his absence from her, on account of the love she bore him. It was not a rebuke, says blessed Denis the Carthusian[12], but a loving complaint: “Non erat increpatio, sed amorosa conquestio.”

Finally, this sword so cruelly pierced the heart of the Virgin, that the blessed Benvenuta[13], desiring one day to share the pain of the holy mother in this dolor, and praying her to obtain for her this grace, Mary appeared to her with the infant Jesus in her arms; but while Benvenuta was enjoying the sight of that most beautiful child, in one moment she was deprived of it. So great was her sorrow that she had recourse to Mary, to implore her pity that it should not make her die of grief. The holy Virgin appeared to her again three days after, and said to her: “Now learn, oh my daughter, that thy sorrow is but a small part of that which I suffered when I lost my Son.”

Jesus among the Doctors. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

This sorrow of Mary ought, in the first place, to serve as a comfort to those souls who are desolate and do not enjoy the sweet presence they once enjoyed of their Lord. They may weep, but let them weep in peace, as Mary wept in the absence of her Son. Let them take courage, and not fear that on this account they have lost the divine favor, for God himself said to St. Theresa[14]: “No one is lost without knowing it; and no one is deceived without wishing to be deceived.” If the Lord departs from the sight of that soul who loves him, he does not therefore depart from the heart. He often hides Himself that she may seek him with greater desire and love. But those who would find Jesus must seek him, not amid the delights and pleasures of the world, but amid crosses and mortifications, as Mary sought him: We sought thee sorrowing, as she said to her Son: “Dolentes quærebamus te.”[11]




Learn from Mary to seek Jesus, says Origen “Disce a Maria quærere Jesum.” Moreover, in this world we should seek no other good than Jesus. Job was not unhappy when he lost all that he possessed on earth; riches, children, health, and honors, and even descended from a throne to a dunghill; but because he had God with him, even then he was happy. St. Augustine[15, speaking of him, says: He had lost all that God had given him, but he had God himself: “Perdiderat illa quæ dederat Deus, sed habebat ipsum Deum.”

Unhappy and truly wretched are those souls who have lost God. If Mary wept for the absence of her Son for three days, how ought sinners to weep who have lost divine grace, to whom God says; “You are not my people, and I will not be yours.”[16]  For sin does this, namely, it separates the soul from God: “Your iniquities have divided between you and your God.”[17] Hence, if even sinners possess all the goods of earth and have lost God, every thing on earth becomes vanity and affliction to them, as Solomon confessed: “Behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”[17] But as St. Augustine says: The greatest misfortune of these poor blind souls is, that if they lose an ox, they do not fail to go in search of it; if they lose a sheep, they use all diligence to find it; if they lose a beast of burden, they cannot rest; but they lose the highest good, which is God, and yet they eat and drink, and take their rest.

Example

We read in the Annual Letters of the Society of Jesus, that in India, a young man who was just leaving his apartment in order to commit sin, heard a voice saying: “Stop, where are you going?” He turned round and saw an image, in relief, of the sorrowful Mary, who drew out the sword which was in her breast, and said to him: “Take this dagger and pierce my heart rather than wound my Son with this sin.” At the sound of these words the youth prostrated himself on the ground, and with deep contrition, bursting into tears, he asked and obtained from God and the Virgin pardon of his sin.

Prayer

Oh blessed Virgin, why art thou afflicted, seeking thy lost Son? Is it because thou dost not know where he is? But dost thou not know that he is in thy heart? Dost thou not see that he is feeding among the lilies? Thou thyself hast said it: “My beloved to me and I to him who feedeth among the lilies.”[18] These, thy humble, pure, and holy thoughts and affections, are all lilies, that invite the divine spouse to dwell with thee. Ah, Mary, dost thou sigh after Jesus, thou who lovest none but Jesus? Leave sighing to me and so many other sinners who do not love him, and who have lost him by offending him. My most amiable mother, if through my fault thy Son hast not yet returned to my soul, wilt thou obtain for me that I may find him. I know well that he allows himself to be found by all who seek him: The Lord is good to the soul that seeketh him: “Bonus est Dominus . . . animæ quærenti illum.”[19]   Make me to seek him as I ought to seek him. Thou art the gate through which all find Jesus; through thee I too hope to find him

Notes

[1] [4] And patience hath a perfect work; that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing.
Patientia autem opus perfectum habet : ut sitis perfecti et integri in nullo deficientes. [James 1]

[2] [3] The watchmen who keep the city, found me: Have you seen him, whom my soul loveth?
Invenerunt me vigiles qui custodiunt civitatem : Num quem diligit anima mea vidistis? [Cant 3]

[3] [29] And Ruben, returning to the pit, found not the boy:
Reversusque Ruben ad cisternam, non invenit puerum :
[30] And rending his garments he went to his brethren, and said: The boy doth not appear and whither shall I go?
et scissis vestibus pergens ad fratres suos, ait : Puer non comparet, et ego quo ibo? [Genesis 37]

[4] [4] My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God?
Fuerunt mihi lacrimae meae panes die ac nocte, dum dicitur mihi quotidie : Ubi est Deus tuus? [Ps 41]

[5] [6] shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions.
Indica mihi, quem diligit anima mea, ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie, ne vagari incipiam post greges sodalium tuorum. [Cant of Cant 1]

[6] [11] My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me.
Cor meum conturbatum est, dereliquit me virtus mea, et lumen oculorum meorum, et ipsum non est mecum. [Ps 37]

[7] Origen of Alexandria:c. 184 – c. 253),an early Christian scholar, ascetic,and theologian; prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises

[8] [16] Ain. Therefore do I weep, and my eyes run down with water: because the comforter, the relief of my soul, is far from me: my children are desolate because the enemy hath prevailed.
AIN. Idcirco ego plorans, et oculus meus deducens aquas, quia longe factus est a me consolator, convertens animam meam. Facti sunt filii mei perditi, quoniam invaluit inimicus. [Lamentations 1]

[9] [12] And Tobias said: What manner of joy shall be to me, who sit in darkness, and see not the light of heaven?
Et ait Tobias : Quale gaudium mihi erit, qui in tenebris sedeo, et lumen caeli non video? [Tobias 5]

[10] Lanspergius:1489 – 1539. John Justus of Landsberg,  was a German Carthusian monk and ascetical writer. His works comprise paraphrases and homilies on the Epistles and Gospels of the liturgical year, sermons for Sundays and festivals, meditations and discourses on the Life and Passion of Christ, and a variety of treatises, sermons, letters, meditations etc.

[11] [48] And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
Et videntes admirati sunt. Et dixit mater ejus ad illum : Fili, quid fecisti nobis sic? ecce pater tuus et ego dolentes quaerebamus te. [Luke 2]

[12] Denis the Carthusian: 1402–1471. Theologian and mystic. A prolific student, he read all the principal ecclesiastical writers down to his time, every summa and every chronicle, many commentaries on the Bible, and the works of a great number of Greek, and especially Arab, philosophers, plus the whole of canon as well as civil law

[13] Blessed Benvenuta Bojani:1254 - 1292: Italian professed member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic.Bojani dedicated her life to strict austerities as an act of repentance and devotion to God and was known to have visions of angels and demons.

[14] Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus (1515 – 1582), was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, author, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer.

[15] Saint Augustine of Hippo 354 – 430 AD:  was a Roman African, early Christian theologian and philosopher. Among his most important works are The City of God, De doctrina Christiana and Confessions.

[16] [9] And he said: Call his name, Not my people: for you are not my people, and I will not be yours.
Et dixit : Voca nomen ejus, Non populus meus, quia vos non populus meus, et ego non ero vester. [Osee 1] Osee prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II in Israel, and in the time of Ozias, Joatham, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda, hence from about 750 to 725 B.C.

[17] [2] But your iniquities have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he should not hear.
Sed iniquitates vestrae diviserunt inter vos et Deum vestrum; et peccata vestra absconderunt faciem ejus a vobis, ne exaudiret. [Isaias 59]

[17] [14] I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity, and vexation of spirit.
Vidi cuncta quae fiunt sub sole, et ecce universa vanitas et afflictio spiritus. [Ecclesiastes 1]

[18] [16] My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies,
Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi, qui pascitur inter lilia. [Cant of Cant 2]

[19] [25] Teth. The Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him.
TETH. Bonus est Dominus sperantibus in eum, animae quaerenti illum. [Lamentations 3]




 

The Flight of Jesus into Egypt (the Second Sorrow)

Mater dolorosa. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

The following post is the second in a series presenting the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, based on the meditations of St Alphonsus de Liguori. I have inserted references in the text to numbered footnotes. These references are not hyperlinked but may be found by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?    

Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold? 

 (From the 13th century Latin hymn, Stabat Mater Dolorosa)

The Flight of Jesus into Egypt

As the stag, wounded by an arrow, carries the pain with him wherever he goes, because he carries with him the arrow that has wounded him; thus the divine mother, after the prophecy of St. Simeon, as we saw in our consideration of the first grief, always carried her sorrow with her by the continual remembrance of the passion of her Son. Ailgrin, explaining this passage of the Canticles, “The hairs of thy head as the purple of the king bound in the channel,”[1] says: These hairs of Mary were her continual thoughts of the passion of Jesus, which kept always before her eyes the blood which was one day to flow from his wounds. Thy mind, oh Mary, and thy thoughts tinged in the blood of the passion of our Lord, were always moved with sorrow as if they actually saw the blood flowing from his wounds. Thus her Son himself was that arrow in the heart of Mary, who, the more worthy of love he showed himself to her, always wounded her the more with the sorrowful thought that she should lose him by so cruel a death.

The Flight into Egypt. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Quem Herodem fugiens
Aegypto adduxisti:
tandem inde rediens
ad Nazareth venisti. Ave Maria.

Whom safe to Egypt thou didst bear
Whilst Herod's rage was swelling;
But bring back with maternal care,
To Nazareth thy dwelling.







Let us now pass to the consideration of the second sword of sorrow which wounded Mary, in the flight of her infant Jesus into Egypt from the persecution of Herod.
Herod having heard that the expected Messiah was born, foolishly feared that the new-born King would deprive him of his kingdom. Hence St. Fulgentius[2], reproving him for his folly, thus says; “Why, oh Herod, art thou thus disturbed? This King who is born has not come to conquer kings by arms, but to subjugate them, in a wonderful manner, by his death.”[3]

The impious Herod, therefore, waited to learn from the holy magi where the King was born, that he might take from him his life; but finding himself deceived by the magi, he ordered all the infants that could be found in the neighborhood of Bethlehem to be put to death. But an angel appeared in a dream to St. Joseph, and said to him: “Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt.”[4] According to Gerson, immediately, on that very night, Joseph made this command known to Mary; and taking the infant Jesus, they commenced their journey, as it seems clearly from the Gospel itself: “Who arose and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt.”[5] Oh God, as blessed Albertus Magnus[6] says in the name of Mary, must he, then, who came to save men flee from men? “Debet fugere qui salvator est mundi?”

And then the afflicted Mary knew that already the prophecy of Simeon, regarding her Son, was beginning to be verified: “He is set for a sign which shall be contradicted.”[7] Seeing that scarcely is He born, when He is persecuted to death. What suffering it must have been to the heart of Mary, writes St. John Chrysostom[8], to hear the tidings of that cruel exile of herself with her Son! Flee from thy friends to strangers, from the holy temple of the only true God, to the temples of demons. What greater tribulation than that a new-born child, clinging to its mother’s bosom, should be forced to fly with the mother herself!

Every one can imagine how much Mary must have suffered on this journey. It was a long distance to Egypt. Authors generally agree with Barrada that it was four hundred miles; so that at least it was a journey of thirty days. The way, as St. Bonaventure[9] describes it, was rough, unknown, through woods, and little frequented. The season was winter, and therefore they had to travel in snow, rain, wind, and storms, and through bad and difficult roads. Mary was then fifteen years of age, a delicate virgin, unaccustomed to such journeys. They had no servant to attend them. Joseph and Mary, said St. Peter Chrysologus[10, had no man-servant nor maid-servant; they were themselves both masters and servants. Oh God, how piteous a spectacle it was to see that tender Virgin, with that newly born infant in her arms wandering through this world! St. Bonaventure asks, Where did they obtain food? Where did they rest at night? How were they lodged? What other food could they have, than a piece of hard bread which Joseph brought with him or begged in charity? Where could they have slept (particularly in the two hundred miles of desert through which they travelled, where, as authors relate, there were neither houses nor inns) except on the sand, or under some tree in the wood, in the open air, exposed to robbers, or those wild beasts with which Egypt abounded?

The Sojourn in Egypt. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

Ah, if any one had met these three greatest personages of the world, what would he have believed them to be but three poor, roving beggars? They lived in Egypt, according to Brocard and Jansenius, in a district called Maturea, though, according to St. Anselm[11], they dwelt in Heliopolis, first called Memphis, and now Cairo. And here let us consider the great poverty they must have suffered for the seven years they were there, as St. Antoninus[12], St. Thomas, and others assert. They were foreigners, unknown, without revenues, without money, without kindred; hardly were they able to support themselves by their humble labors.

As they were destitute, says St. Basil[13], it is manifest what effort they must have made to obtain there the necessaries of life.Moreover, Landolph of Saxony[14] has written, and let it be repeated for the consolation of the poor, that so great was the poverty of Mary there, that sometimes she had not so much as a morsel of bread, when her Son, forced by hunger, asked it of her.

The return from Egypt. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

St. Matthew also relates that when Herod was dead, the angel again appeared, in a dream, to St. Joseph, and directed him to return to Judea. St. Bonaventure, speaking of his return, considers the greater pain of the blessed Virgin, on account of the sufferings which Jesus must have endured in that journey, having arrived at about the age of seven years—an age, says the saint, when he was so large that he could not be carried, and so small that he could not go without assistance.





The sight, then, of Jesus and Mary wandering like fugitives through this world, teaches us that we should also live as pilgrims on the earth, detached from the goods which the world offers us, as having soon to leave them and go to eternity. “We have not here a lasting city, but seek one that is to come.”[15] To which St. Augustine adds: Thou art a stranger, thou givest a look, and then passest on: “Hospes es, vides et transis.” It also teaches us to embrace crosses, for we cannot live in this world without a cross.

The blessed Veronica da Binasco[16], an Augustinian nun, was carried in spirit to accompany Mary and the infant Jesus in this journey to Egypt, and at the end of it the divine mother said to her: “Child, hast thou seen through what difficulties we have reached this place? Now learn that no one receives graces without suffering.” He who wishes to feel least the sufferings of this life, must take Jesus and Mary with him: “Accipe puerum et matrem ejus.” For him who lovingly bears in his heart this Son and this mother, all sufferings become light, and even sweet and dear. Let us then love them, let us console Mary by receiving her Son within our hearts, whom, even now, men continue to persecute with their sins.

Example

One day the most holy Mary appeared to the blessed Colletta, a Franciscan nun, and showed her the infant Jesus in a basin, torn in pieces, and then said to her: “Thus sinners continually treat my Son, renewing his death and my sorrows; oh, my daughter, pray for them that they may be converted.”

Similar to this is that other vision which appeared to the venerable sister Jane, of Jesus and Mary, also a Franciscan nun. As she was one day meditating on the infant Jesus, persecuted by Herod, she heard a great noise, as of armed people, who were pursuing some one; and then appeared before her a most beautiful child, who was fleeing in great distress, and cried to her: “My Jane, help me, hide me; I am Jesus of Nazareth, I am flying from sinners who wish to kill me, and who persecute me as Herod did: do thou save me.”

Prayer

Then, oh Mary, even after thy Son hath died by the hands of men who persecuted him unto death, have not these ungrateful men yet ceased from persecuting him with their sins, and continuing to afflict thee, oh mother of sorrows? And I also, oh God, have been one of these. Ah, my most sweet mother, obtain for me tears to weep for such ingratitude. And then, by the sufferings thou didst experience in the journey to Egypt, assist me in the journey that I am making to eternity, that at length I may go to unite with thee in loving my persecuted Saviour, in the country of the blessed. Amen.

Notes

[1] [5] Thy head is like Carmel: and the hairs of thy head as the purple of the king bound in the channels.
Caput tuum ut Carmelus; et comae capitis tui sicut purpura regis vincta canalibus. [Cant of Cant 7]

[2] St Fulgentius: Born 468, died 533. Bishop of Ruspe, Tunisia, and a friend of St. Augustine. Eminent among the Fathers of the Church for saintly life, eloquence and theological learning.

[3] serm 5 de Epiph

[4] [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.
Qui cum recessissent, ecce angelus Domini apparuit in somnis Joseph, dicens : Surge, et accipe puerum, et matrem ejus, et fuge in Aegyptum, et esto ibi usque dum dicam tibi. Futurum est enim ut Herodes quaerat puerum ad perdendum eum. [Matt 2]

[5] [14] Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod:
Qui consurgens accepit puerum et matrem ejus nocte, et secessit in Aegyptum [Matt 2]

[6] Albertus Magnus,O.P. (c. 1193 – 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, was a German Catholic Dominican friar and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his lifetime as Doctor universalis and Doctor expertus. Late in his life, the title Magnus was appended to his name.

[7] [34] And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted;
Et benedixit illis Simeon, et dixit ad Mariam matrem ejus : Ecce positus est hic in ruinam, et in resurrectionem multorum in Israel, et in signum cui contradicetur .

[8] St John Chrsostom: c. 349 – 14 September 407),Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. Chrysostomos, means "golden-mouthed" in Greek and denotes his celebrated eloquence. He is honoured as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic churches. The Eastern Orthodox, together with the Byzantine Catholics, hold him in special regard as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs (alongside Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus).

[9] St. Bonaventure: 1221-1274 Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Known as "the seraphic doctor". He received the name of Bonaventure in consequence of an exclamation of St. Francis of Assisi, when, in response to the pleading of the child's mother, the saint prayed for John's recovery from a dangerous illness, and, foreseeing the future greatness of the little John, cried out "O Buona ventura"-O good fortune! In Paris he became the intimate friend of the great St. Thomas Aquinas. He did much for his (Franciscan) Order and composed The Life of St. Francis. He also assisted at the translation of the relics of St. Anthony of Padua.

[10] St. Peter Chrysologus: 380-450. Italian Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Called "Chrysologus" (golden-worded) because of his exceptional oratorical eloquence. In 1729, he was made a Doctor of the Church, largely as a result of his simple, practical, and clear sermons  nearly all dealing with Gospel subjects.

[11] St Anselm of Canterbury1033/4–1109), also called Anselm of Aosta after his birthplace and Anselm of Bec after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian, archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109

[12] St Antoninus: Archbishop of Florence,1389-1459; principal works are his Summa moralis and Summa confessionum.

[13] St. Basil the Great: 330-379. One of ten children of St. Basil the Elder and St. Emmelia. A man of vast learning, and eloquence.A giant of the early Church.

[14] Ludolph of Saxony: 1295 – 1378; German Roman Catholic theologian of the fourteenth century. His principal work, first printed in the 1470s, was the Vita Christi (Life of Christ).

[15] [14] For we have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come.
Non enim habemus hic manentem civitatem, sed futuram inquirimus. [Hebrews 13]

[16] Blessed Veronica of Milan (c. 1445 – 13 January 1497) was an Italian nun in the Augustinian Order. She was reputed to have received frequent visions of the Virgin Mary, and her local cultus was confirmed by Pope Leo X in 1517.

St Simeon's Prophecy (the First Sorrow)

Mater dolorosa. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

The following post is the first of a series presenting the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, based on the meditations of St Alphonsus de Liguori. I have inserted references in the text to numbered footnotes. These references are not hyperlinked but may be found by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?    

Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold? 

 (From the 13th century Latin hymn, Stabat Mater Dolorosa)

St Simeon's Prophecy (the First Sorrow)

The Presentation: JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Quem die quadragesima
in templo praesentasti:
ac Moysi legitima
spontanee subisti. Ave Maria.


Whom thou upon the fortieth day
In His own house presenting,
Didst freewill offerings duly pay
To Moses' law consenting. Hail Mary.










In this valley of tears, every man is born to weep, and every one must suffer those afflictions that daily befall him. But how much more miserable would life be, if every one knew also the future evils which are to afflict him! Too unhappy would he be, says Seneca[1], whose fate was such.

The Lord exercises his compassion towards us, namely, that he does not make known to us the crosses that await us; that if we are to suffer them, at least we may suffer them only once. But he did not exercise this compassion with Mary, who, because God wished her to be the queen of dolours, and in all things like his Son, and to see always before her eyes, and to suffer continually all the sorrows that awaited her; and those were the sufferings of the passion and death of her beloved Jesus.







For St. Simeon in the temple, after having received the divine child in his arms, predicted to her that this child was to be the mark for all the opposition and persecution of men: “Set for a sign which shall be contradicted;” and that therefore the sword of sorrow should pierce her soul; “And thy own soul a sword shall pierce.”[2]

The holy Virgin herself said to St. Matilda, that at the announcement of St. Simeon all her joy was changed into sorrow[3]. For, as it was revealed to St. Theresa[4], the blessed mother, although she knew before this that the life of her Son would be sacrificed for the salvation of the world, yet she then learned more particularly and distinctly the sufferings and cruel death that awaited her poor Son. She knew that he would be contradicted in all things.

• in doctrine; for instead of being believed, he would be esteemed a blasphemer for teaching that he was the Son of God, as the impious Caiaphas declared him to be, saying: “He hath blasphemed, he is guilty of death.”[5]
• in his reputation, for he was noble, of royal lineage, and was despised as a peasant: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?”[6] “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?”[7]

He was Wisdom itself, and was treated as

• an ignorant man: “How doth this man know letters, having never learned?”[8]
• a false prophet: “And they blindfolded him and smote his face . . . saying: “Prophesy who is this that struck thee.”[9] 
• a madman: “He is mad, why hear you him?”[10]
• a wine-bibber, a glutton, and a friend of sinners: “Behold a man that is a glutton, and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners.”[11]
• a sorcerer: “By the prince of devils he casteth out devils.”[12]
• a heretic and possessed person; ‡ “Do we not say well of thee, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?”[13]

In a word, Jesus was considered as so bad and notorious a man, that no trial was necessary to condemn him, as the Jews said to Pilate: “If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee.”[14] He was contradicted in his soul, for even his eternal Father, in order to give place to the divine justice, contradicted him by not wishing to hear him when he prayed to him, saying: “Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me;”[15] and abandoned him to fear, weariness, and sadness, so that our afflicted Lord said: “My soul is sorrowful even unto death.”[16] His interior suffering even caused him to sweat blood.

Contradicted and persecuted, in a word, in his body and in his life, for he was tortured in all his sacred members: in his hands, in his feet, in his face, and in his head, in his whole body, till, drained to the last drop of his blood, he died an ignominious death on the cross. When David, in the midst of all his pleasures and royal grandeur, heard from Nathan the prophet, that his son should die—“ The child that is born to thee shall surely die”[17]—he could find no peace, but wept, fasted, and slept upon the ground.

Mary received with the greatest calmness the announcement that her Son should die, and peacefully continued to submit to it; but what grief she must have continually suffered, seeing this amiable Son always near her, hearing from him words of eternal life, and beholding his holy demeanour. Abraham suffered great affliction during the three days he passed with his beloved Isaac, after he knew that he was to lose him. Oh God! not for three days, but for thirty three years, Mary had to endure a like sorrow. Like, do I say? A sorrow as much greater as the Son of Mary was more lovely than the son of Abraham.

The Blessed Virgin herself revealed to St. Bridget[17], that while she lived on the earth there was not an hour when this grief did not pierce her soul: As often, she continued, as I looked upon my Son, as often as I wrapped him in his swaddling clothes, as often as I saw his hands and his feet, so often was my soul overwhelmed as it were with a fresh sorrow, because I considered how he would be crucified. 18706

Rupert the Abbot[18], contemplating Mary, while she was suckling her Son, imagines her addressing him in these words: “A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between my breasts.” Ah, my Son, I clasp the in my arms, because thou art so dear to me; but the dearer thou art to me, the more thou dost become to me a bundle of myrrh and of sorrow, when I think of thy sufferings.[19]

Mary, says St. Bernardine of Sienna[20], considered that :

• the Strength of the saints was to pass through death; 
• the Beauty of paradise to be deformed; 
• the Lord of the universe to be bound as a criminal; 
• the Creator of all things to be livid with stripes; 
• the Judge of all to be condemned; 
• the Glory of heaven despised; 
• the King of kings to be crowned with thorns, and treated as a mock king.

Father Engelgrave writes, that it was revealed to the same St. Bridget, that the afflicted mother, knowing all that her Son would have to suffer, suckling him, thought of the gall and vinegar; when she swathed him, of the cords with which he was to be bound; when she bore him in her arms, she thought of him being nailed to the cross; and when he slept, she thought of his death. As often as she put on him his clothes, she reflected that they would one day be torn from him, that he might be crucified; and when she beheld his sacred hands and feet, and thought of the nails that were to pierce them, as Mary said to St. Bridget: “My eyes filled with tears, and my heart was tortured with grief.”

The evangelist says, that as Jesus Christ advanced in years, so also he advanced in wisdom and in grace with God and men.[21] That is, he advanced in wisdom and in grace before men or in their estimation; and before God, according to St. Thomas, inasmuch as all his works would continually have availed to increase his merit, if from the beginning grace in its complete fullness had not been conferred on him by virtue of the hypostatic union. But if Jesus advanced in the esteem and love of others, how much more did he advance in Mary’s love! But oh God, as love increased in her, the more increased in her the grief of having to lose him by a death so cruel. And the nearer the time of the passion of her Son approached, with so much greater pain did that sword of sorrow, predicted by St. Simeon, pierce the heart of the mother; precisely this the angel revealed to St. Bridget, saying: “That sword of sorrow was every hour drawing nearer to the Virgin as the time for the passion of her Son drew nearer.” 

If, then, Jesus our King and His most holy mother did not refuse, for love of us, to suffer during their whole life such cruel pains, there is no reason that we should complain if we suffer a little. Jesus crucified once appeared to sister Magdalene Orsini, a Dominican nun, when she had been long suffering a great trial, and encouraged her to remain with him on the cross with that sorrow that was afflicting her. Sister Magdalene answered him complainingly: “Oh Lord, thou didst suffer on the cross only three hours, but it is more than three years that I have been suffering this cross.” Then the Redeemer replied: “Ah! ignorant soul, what dost thou say? I, from the first moment I was conceived, suffered in heart what I afterwards suffered on the cross.” If, then, we too suffer any affliction and complain, let us imagine that Jesus and his mother Mary are saying to us the same words.

Example

Father Roviglione, of the Company of Jesus, relates, that a certain youth practised the devotion of visiting every day an image of the sorrowful Mary, in which she was represented with seven swords piercing her heart. One night the unhappy youth fell into mortal sin. Going next morning to visit the image, he saw in the heart of the blessed Virgin not only seven, but eight swords. As he stood gazing at this, he heard a voice saying to him, that this sin had added the eighth sword to the heart of Mary. This softened his hard heart; he went immediately to confession, and through the intercession of his advocate, recovered the divine grace.

Prayer

Oh my blessed mother, not one sword only, but as many swords as I have committed sins have I added to those seven in thy heart. Ah, my Lady, thy sorrows are not due to thee who art innocent, but to me who am guilty. But since thou hast wished to suffer so much for me, ah, by thy merits obtain for me great sorrow for my sins, and patience under the trials of this life, which will always be light in comparison with my demerits, for I have often merited hell. Amen.

Notes

[1] Calamitosus esset animus futuri praescius et ante miserias miser. See Ep XVIII 6
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC – AD 65). Seneca was born in Córdoba in Hispania, and raised in Rome, where he was trained in rhetoric and philosophy. He was a tutor, and later an advisor, to emperor Nero. He was forced to take his own life for alleged complicity in a conspiracy to assassinate Nero, in which he was likely to have been innocent.

[2] [34] And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted;
Et benedixit illis Simeon, et dixit ad Mariam matrem ejus : Ecce positus est hic in ruinam, et in resurrectionem multorum in Israel, et in signum cui contradicetur :
[35] And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.
et tuam ipsius animam pertransibit gladius ut revelentur ex multis cordibus cogitationes. [Luke 2]

[3]  Saint Mechtilde (Matilda): Omnis laetitia mea ad illa verba in moerore conversa est. Saint Mechtilde of Hackeborn (1240/1241 – 1298) was a Saxon Christian saint and a Benedictine nun. She was famous for her musical talents and was called the “Nightingale of Helfta”. In 1261, her abbess committed to her care a child of five who in later generations became known as St. Gertrude the Great. Only in her fiftieth year did St. Mechtilde learn that two nuns in whom she had especially confided had noted down the extraordinary favours (including visions) that God had granted her, and that St. Gertrude had nearly finished a book on the subject. She had a vision of Christ approving the book that He wished to be called "The Book of Special Grace", because it would prove such to many.

[4] Saint Teresa: (1515-1582), prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, author, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. Active during the Counter-Reformation, she was a reformer in the Carmelite Order of her time; the movement she initiated was later joined by Saint John of the Cross.

[5] [65] Then the high priests rent his garments, saying: He hath blasphemed; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy:
Tunc princeps sacerdotum scidit vestimenta sua, dicens : Blasphemavit : quid adhuc egemus testibus? ecce nunc audistis blasphemiam :
[66] What think you? But they answering, said: He is guilty of death.
quid vobis videtur? At illi respondentes dixerunt : Reus est mortis. [Matt 26]

[6] [55] Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude:
Nonne hic est fabri filius? nonne mater ejus dicitur Maria, et fratres ejus, Jacobus, et Joseph, et Simon, et Judas? [Matt 13]

[7] [3] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon? are not also his sisters here with us? And they were scandalized in regard of him.
Nonne hic est faber, filius Mariae, frater Jacobi, et Joseph, et Judae, et Simonis? nonne et sorores ejus hic nobiscum sunt? Et scandalizabantur in illo. [Mark 6]

[8] [15] And the Jews wondered, saying: How doth this man know letters, having never learned?
Et mirabantur Judaei, dicentes : Quomodo hic litteras scit, cum non didicerit? [John 7]

[9] [64] And they blindfolded him, and smote his face. And they asked him, saying: Prophesy, who is it that struck thee?
Et velaverunt eum, et percutiebant faciem ejus : et interrogabant eum, dicentes : Prophetiza, quis est, qui te percussit? [Luke 22]
 
[10] [20] And many of them said: He hath a devil, and is mad: why hear you him?
Dicebant autem multi ex ipsis : Daemonium habet, et insanit : quid eum auditis? [John 10]

[11] [34] The Son of man is come eating and drinking: and you say: Behold a man that is a glutton and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners.
Venit Filius hominis manducans, et bibens, et dicitis : Ecce homo devorator, et bibens vinum, amicus publicanorum et peccatorum. [Luke 7]

[12] [34] But the Pharisees said, By the prince of devils he casteth out devils.
Pharisaei autem dicebant : In principe daemoniorum ejicit daemones. [Matt 9]

[13] [48] The Jews therefore answered, and said to him: Do not we say well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
Responderunt ergo Judaei, et dixerunt ei : Nonne bene dicimus nos quia Samaritanus es tu, et daemonium habes? [John 8]

[14] [29] Pilate therefore went out to them, and said: What accusation bring you against this man?
Exivit ergo Pilatus ad eos foras, et dixit : Quam accusationem affertis adversus hominem hunc?[30] They answered, and said to him: If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee.
Responderunt, et dixerunt ei : Si non esset hic malefactor, non tibi tradidissemus eum.  [John 18]

[15] [39] And going a little further, he fell upon his face, praying, and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Et progressus pusillum, procidit in faciem suam, orans, et dicens : Pater mi, si possibile est, transeat a me calix iste : verumtamen non sicut ego volo, sed sicut tu. [Matt 26]

[16] [38] Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me.
Tunc ait illis : Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem : sustinete hic, et vigilate mecum.  [Matt 26]

[17] [13] And David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David: The Lord also hath taken away thy sin: thou shalt not die.
Et dixit David ad Nathan : Peccavi Domino. Dixitque Nathan ad David : Dominus quoque transtulit peccatum tuum : non morieris.
[14] Nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for this thing, the child that is born to thee, shall surely die.
Verumtamen, quoniam blasphemare fecisti inimicos Domini, propter verbum hoc, filius, qui natus est tibi, morte morietur. [2 Kings 12]

[17] St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) In 1316, at the age of thirteen, she was united in marriage to Ulf Gudmarsson, who was then eighteen. She acquired great influence over her noble and pious husband, and the happy marriage was blessed with eight children, among them St. Catherine of Sweden. After her husband's death, Bridget devoted herself entirely to practices of religion and asceticism. The visions from her early childhood became more frequent and definite. Her revelations were in great repute during the Middle Ages. She was canonized, 7 October, 1391, by Boniface IX.
The excerpt is apparently from Book 6, Chapter 57 of her book of Revelations.

[18] Rupert of Deutz (Latin: Rupertus Tuitiensis; c. 1075/1080 – c. 1129) was an influential Benedictine theologian, exegete and writer on liturgical and musical topics. At his General Audience on Wednesday 9th December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI referred to Rupert's description of the:

... wonderful unity in all the events of the history of salvation, from the creation until the final consummation of time: "All Scripture", he says, "is one book, which aspires to the same end (the divine Word); which comes from one God and was written by one Spirit" (De glorificatione Trinitatis et procesione Sancti spiritus I, V, PL 169, 18).

Rupert is the first writer to have identified the bride in the Song of Songs with Mary Most Holy. His commentary on this book of Scripture has thus turned out to be a sort of Mariological summa, in which he presents Mary's privileges and excellent virtues.

In one of the most inspired passages of his commentary Rupert writes: "O most beloved among the beloved, Virgin of virgins, what does your beloved Son so praise in you that the whole choir of angels exalts? What they praise is your simplicity, purity, innocence, doctrine, modesty, humility, integrity of mind and body, that is, your incorrupt virginity" (In Canticum Canticorum 4, 1-6, CCL 26, pp. 69-70). The Marian interpretation of Rupert's Canticum is a felicitous example of harmony between liturgy and theology. In fact, various passages of this Book of the Bible were already used in liturgical celebrations on Marian feasts.

Rupert, furthermore, was careful to insert his Mariological doctrine into that ecclesiological doctrine. That is to say, he saw in Mary Most Holy the holiest part of the whole Church.

[19] Cant, 1: 12

[20] Bernardino of Siena, (also known as Bernardine; 8 September 1380 – 20 May 1444). Italian priest and Franciscan missionary. Famous during his own lifetime for his preaching against sorcery, gambling, infanticide, witchcraft, sodomy (homosexuality), Jews, and usury. Bernardino was canonized as a saint in 1450, only six years after his death, by Pope Nicholas V. Also referred to as “the Apostle of Italy” - for his efforts to revive the country's Catholic faith during the 15th century.

[21] [40] And the child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom; and the grace of God was in him.
Puer autem crescebat, et confortabatur plenus sapientia : et gratia Dei erat in illo. [Luke 2]

With St Alphonsus de Liguori in Lent

The Rosarium Aureum of the Blessed Virgin Mary was the point of departure for this blog in June 2018, incorporating an early form of the Rosary wherein each of the 50 beads represents a mystery of Our Lord's life, shown to us through the eyes of His Blessed Mother.

The Rosarium has continued to provide inestimable help in unimaginable ways, guiding our footsteps in an unforeseen manner in 2019 towards the sublime writings of two great Marian saints:

• Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort (1673-1716), whose Treatise on True Devotion to Mary featured in 33 daily posts starting in January and culminating in February on the feast of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes.
• Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), whose sublime Praises of the Virgin Mother were posted starting in February immediately thereafter and concluded yesterday.

Mater dolorosa. JJ Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

Our path now leads to a third Marian saint: Alphonsus Maria de Liguori ( 1696-1787). Starting tomorrow (DV), we shall be posting selected meditations from his remarkable writings, beginning with the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?    

Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold? 

 (From the 13th century Stabat Mater Dolorosa)

Saint Alphonsus - A Life

Unknown date. (www.introibo.fr CC BY-SA 3.0)

Alphonsus Maria de Liguori was born in 1696 near Naples, Italy. A prodigious student, he received an exceptional education in philosophy, literature, and the arts. He was only 16 when he gained doctorates of civil and canon law. Alphonsus left the legal profession and was ordained a priest in 1726. In 1732 founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). During their missions, Redemptorist priests and brothers would come to preach and conduct religious activities. St. Alphonsus was a brilliant preacher. Three great images were central to Alphonsus’ preaching and teaching:

• Jesus as an infant in the crib, 
• Jesus crucified on the Cross, and 
• Jesus in the Eucharist. 

To this he added the image of Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer.

Alphonsus was a talented musician, composer and artist. He composed the music and lyrics, for example, of the Christmas carol Tu scendi dalle stelle (Thou comest down from the stars); originally played by peasants on their bagpipes and shawns, it remains ever-popular to this day.  Other hymns familiar from my childhood include: Look Down, O Mother Mary, O Bread of Heaven! Beneath This Veil, O Mother Blest! Whom God Bestows and Glory Be to Jesus.

In the course of his long life, Alphonsus wrote more than 100 books, including many on Our Blessed Lady, such as The Glories of Mary. He strongly encouraged the daily recitation of the rosary and such was his devotion to Mary that all his thousands of letters began and ended with the words, “Long live Jesus and Mary.”  He spent his last night in prayer with an image before him of the Blessed Mother. He died at the age of 91 in 1787. St. Alphonsus was canonized in 1839 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1871. He was recognized as a patron of confessors and moral theologians in 1950. His feast day is the 2nd of August.