In the Middle Ages popular devotion, encouraged first by the Servite and later by the Passionist orders, discerned and contemplated seven especially sorrowful moments in the life of the Virgin Mary: 1:) the prophecy of Simeon at Jesus' Presentation in the Temple, that a sword (understood figuratively) would pierce her heart in association with the opposition to Jesus; 2.) the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt to escape the murderous intent of King Herod; 3.) the incident in which Jesus was lost in Jerusalem at the age of 12; 4.) her meeting with Jesus as he carried his cross to Calvary; 5.) her standing beside the cross; 6.) her holding of his body when it was taken from the cross — the popular "Pietà" subject of sculpture and paintings; and 7.) the burial of Jesus.
For the Mass of the day, the sequence (a hymn to be sung between the epistle and gospel readings) Stabat Mater was composed. When I was a boy the hymn was sung to a fairly simple chant melody during the popular Lenten devotion called the Stations of the Cross — one stanza for each of the 14 stations. (Something similar happened with the sequence "Dies Iræ," which was originally written for the first Sunday of Advent, when the scripture readings referred to the final judgment at the end of the world. Bu it came to be used in Masses for the dead — Requiems — and as part of the Requiem it has received notable treatment by many composers, most spectacularly Berlioz, Verdi, and Mozart, IMO.) As wiki notes, the hymn has been given musical settings by numerous composers, famous and obscure. One of the most notable is that by Pergolesi in the early 1720's. (I think Abbado takes the tempo a bit on the slow side in the link, but you can find others, such as Scholl and Bonney, in the links to the video.) I'll put links to examples from other composers (and my Latin joke) in my music blog.
The name Dolores means "Sorrows," and is clearly a reference to Mary under the title Our Lady of Sorrows.
The prayer for the Mass of the day — which reads "Father, as your Son was raised on the cross, his mother Mary stood by him, sharing his sufferings. May your Church be united with Christ in his suffering and death and so come to share in his rising to new life, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever." — might give us some pause if we think carefully about what we're asking for. But taking up our cross is no more than what Jesus says is required of all his disciples. We see Mary as leading us on the way, and we know that we all have our sufferings — it is just a question whether we choose to unite them with our following of the Lord so as to join Paul in filling up in our bodies what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church.
14 comments:
Dear John, both feasts were holidays in the middla ages, but now they are only Feasrs of Rememberance. Only the orthodox churches have them still as holidays. But thank you for reminding the world of these rather underestimated holidays. Propz Pilgrim...p.s., I was in evening mass the other day, which combined both events.Way weird!
J, Is there any record of what became of Mary. How long did she go on to live. After all she was supposedly the closest living connection to Jesus. Nothing has ever been mentioned, or at least I've never read anything that documents her earthly demise.
The Bible seems to raise more questions than answers to the ordinary layman.
Just recently watched a tv documentary called 'Just Exactly Who Wrote The Bible.' It surprisingly stated that Mark got some of his information from second hand sources.
It seems that the more that time moves on then the more that The Bible gets scrutinized.
Apparently a new film that just got released here called 'Creation' will not be shown in the U.S. It's all about Darwin's Theory Of Evolution. Sounds like America is up in arms over it. They say that only 39% of US citizens believe in the Theory, and that the film's subject matter would be too controversial for them.
But you know me, I was always a pain in the butt to my Religious Teacher at School. Always asking questions they couldn't answer.
I think that as children we are 'Told' what to think. But as we grow up and mature then we think for ourselves and decide what is believable and not believable. But by having such a strong Catholic upbringing I just keep an open mind. At 14 I stopped going to Church. I was won over by Youth Culture.
But I'm interested in the 'Mary' question, and why someone of such importance was forgotten.
David.
Thanks for the comments.
@ Pilgrim — I don't know if France has a particular calendar ranking for these days, but in the U.S. (which I believe follows the general Roman Calendar) the Triumph of the Cross has the rank of Feast, while Our Lady of Sorrows is ranked as a Memorial.
@ deejohn — The last references we have in scripture about Mary are John 19:27, which tells us that the beloved disciple, presumed to be John, took her into his home after the crucifixion, and Acts 1:14, which tells us that after the Ascension, Mary was one of those gathered in prayer with the apostles, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. Presumably she was there on Pentecost.
Mary was evidently of secondary interest to the writers of the New Testament — as, of course, she should be to us. Important as she is, Jesus is much more important, since he is Lord and Redeemer.
The questions that we have about further biographical detail are natural enough, but unfortunately there are no solid answers. A widely held tradition, for example, says that Mary went with John to Ephesus (and a further and later tradition says that the house was carried by angels to Loreto in Italy when the Muslims were invading Asia Minor — obviously this cannot be historically documented) and that she died there — or was assumed from there, if you believe that the Assumption occurred while she was still alive. But as I recall, when I was in Israel in 1996, there was a site there which was said to be where she lived and died. So there are these unknowns since the writers of scripture did not need to give further information about her for their purposes. But I would not say that she was exactly forgotten, just that further memories of her were preserved only by tradition.
The way the various books of the Bible came to be written can be a fascinating topic for discussion, and there is much that is open to dispute, especially dates of writing and sources. So, for example, I'm not sure all scholars would agree that Mark relied on second hand sources. It may depend on the date one believes it was actually written. The earlier that was, the more possible it is that the author had first-hand sources, or could even have been present for some of it (for example, the account, found only in Mark, of the young man who ran away naked when Jesus was arrested — was that person the author of the gospel, or someone who knew him?).
I find your blog really interesting and I enjoy reading and learning more about the different saints.
@ Charlie — Thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you like it.
naturgesetz i emailed you a video but you never responded back. :(
@ David — I left a comment on the video itself. I said, "A great choice of hero and a well-made video." It's difficult to add anything to what Mother Teresa says on the video. Clearly love of others is our basic calling, and a way in which we express our love of God. There are lots of other ways in which one can explain the faith, because it is multifaceted. But this gets to the heart of it.
I'm grateful that you thought of me to send the video to, and I'm sorry that I responded (maybe too briefly) in a place where you did not see it.
"Father, as your Son was raised on the cross, his mother Mary stood by him, sharing his sufferings."
"sharing his sufferings" - may i ask what does it mean/ what do you think it means by this?
In the phrase made famous by Bill Clinton, she "felt his pain" intensely as any mother does when her child is suffering. In scriptural terms, it was a particularly intense instance of taking up her cross and following him, fillng up what was lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church.
i don't understand your last statement "fillng up what was lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church."
Colossians 1:24
What Paul can do in this regard, so can Mary and all believers, IMO.
im sorry that im bombarding you with question after question but could you perhaps elaborate on what is the meaning of colossians 1:24?
It seems to me that it means that for those who are in Christ, the sufferings which we offer to the Father, as Jesus offered his, are identified with those of Jesus. The sufferings of the body are united with those of the head and somehow become part of his redeeming work.
thanks for all that
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