Rosary of the Seven Sorrows
One
Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order
Today we celebrate the seven young men who founded the Order of Servants of Mary, also known as the Servites, and who are each honored as Saints.
Seven young laymen belonging to seven patrician families of Florence formed a confraternity known as the “Praisers of Mary.” On the Feast of the Assumption in 1233, the Blessed Virgin appeared to them, and advised them to withdraw from the world and devote themselves entirely to things of Heaven. They obeyed and established themselves close to the convent of the Franciscans in a suburb of Florence.
Then they moved to Monte Senario, eleven miles north of Florence. Here the Blessed Virgin again appeared to them, conferred on them a black habit, instructed them to follow the Rule of St. Augustine and to found the order of her servants, which they did on April 15, 1240. They elected a superior, took the vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty, and admitted members. The order spread rapidly all over the world.
The three-fold goal of the order was holiness of the members, preaching the Gospel, and spreading devotion to Mary, especially by spreading devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary and the Seven Sorrows Rosary.
Two
Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary
In the 1200s, these seven young men formed a movement devoted to Holiness and spreading the Gospel with a special emphasis on the seven sorrows of Mary, recalling how Mary suffered with Jesus in His work of saving souls.
The presentation in the temple when Simeon prophesied that a sword would pierce Mary’s heart.
The flight into Egypt to escape being murdered by King Herod.
The loss of Jesus for three days when he was twelve, causing great anguish in the hearts of Mary and Joseph.
The fourth station of the Cross when Mary meets Jesus.
The Crucifixion
When Mary received her dead Son into her arms as He was taken down from the Cross.
Finally, the last sorrow, when Jesus was placed in the tomb and the stone rolled over the entrance.
These seven sorrows signify the way Mary participated with Jesus in the saving work of Jesus.
The Servite Rosary is comprised of seven decades in memory of Mary’s seven sorrows. It begins with an Act of Contrition, rather than the Creed, to call to mind the role our sins had in Mary’s sufferings. At the beginning of each mystery, the sorrow is announced, followed by an Our Father and seven Hail Marys. It concludes with three Hail Marys in honor of Our Lady’s tears, rather than the Hail Holy Queen.
Three
The Approved Apparition of Mary at Kibeho Rwanda
From November 1981 to 1989 Mary appeared to three teenage girls in Kibeho, Rwanda, a country that was 65% Catholic and comprised of Tootsie and Hutu tribes. On August 15th 1982, Mary wept during the apparition and showed the teenage visionaries images of the future: deadly civil war, a river of blood, abandoned corpses, and a gaping abyss. She begged the people for prayer, conversion, and peace. Her messages were left unheeded.
Civil war erupted in 1990 and in one three-month period in 1994, one million Tootsies were murdered by their Hutu neighbors. On March 27th, 1982, Mary made it extremely clear her warning was not just for Kibeho, but for the whole world.
To Alphonsine Mary said, "When I show myself to someone and talk to them, I want to turn to the whole world. If am turning to the parish of Kibeho, it does not mean that I am concerned only for Kibeho or…the whole of Africa. I am concerned with and turning to the whole world. The world is evil and rushes towards its ruin. It is about to fall into an abyss. The world is in rebellion against GOD. Many sins are being committed. There is no love and no peace. If you do not repent and convert your hearts, you will all fall into an abyss."
At Kibeho Our Lady specifically asked that we pray the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows and spread it.
Four
Expansive
How is it that there is the Seven Sorrows of Mary Rosary which is different from the traditional Rosary? Well, the Rosary was always meant to be a meditation on the Word of God comprised of the whole of Scripture, Tradition, the lives and writings of the saints, and the Magisterium, the teaching of the Church. The traditional mysteries of the Rosary were meant to serve as an outline for the life and teachings of Jesus, but it was never meant to limit us to just those events or mysteries.
This is why St. John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries and then he said, “Obviously these mysteries neither replace the Gospel nor exhaust its content. The Rosary, therefore, is no substitute for lectio divina; on the contrary, it presupposes and promotes it. Yet, even though the mysteries contemplated in the Rosary, even with the addition of the mysteria lucis, do no more than outline the fundamental elements of the life of Christ, they easily draw the mind to a more expansive reflection on the rest of the Gospel, especially when the Rosary is prayed in a setting of prolonged recollection.” Rosarium 29
So, a real Rosary is any time you meditate on something from the Word of God while saying a series of Our Fathers and Hail Marys. The key is this, the Rosary must be a combination of vocal prayer while you think about the life of Jesus, Mary, the saints, or some teaching of our faith.
Five
Our Lady is calling us to join her in a Rescue Mission
God expects you to help the people He placed in your life. Given the culture, I think the most effective thing we can do for our loved ones is three-fold: Pray the Rosary every day for your loved ones who are not interested in Jesus and the Church, offer sacrifice for their conversion, and pick something to fast from and offer it for this person. Offer up some suffering you are experiencing. Prayer combined with sacrifice is powerful.
Invite the people in your life who aren’t very interested in God to come and share life with you. They may not be willing or able to go to Mass but they can come to your home. Over time, if you do this regularly and patiently, maybe this will spark something in them to be interested in God and to have faith in him. Sundays are a great day for this. We need to take back Sundays. And don’t forget personal investment one-on-one. This gives you a chance to get to be genuinely interested in them to show them you know, understand, love them unconditionally, and care for them.
You’re the only Gospel they’re going to get, so you better live it well and joyfully and invite them to join you.
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Consider praying the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows at least once a week, which consists of an act of contrition followed by seven decades (each with one Our Father and seven Hail Marys) for each of Mary’s seven sorrows, and concluding with three Hail Marys in honor of her tears.
Offer prayer and sacrifice for the conversion of your loved ones, as sacrifice can be very powerful when joined to prayer.