Our Lady of Sorrows

Consolatrix Afflictorum

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (or Beatae Mariae Virginis Perdolentis in Latin). Devotion to Mary's sorrows dates back to the high Middle Ages, when popular piety very much focused on the suffering of Christ and his Mother. It is no coincidence that the bubonic plague, or Black Death, was claiming many lives all over Europe at the time. People could easily identify themselves with the suffering endured on Mount Calvary.

Traditionally Mary's sorrows were remembered by the Church on two different occasions during the liturgical year: during Passion Week (one week before Good Friday) and in September. Since 1913 the date for the latter has been set to September 15. In 1969 the Passion Week feast was taken off the calendar of saints, as it was considered a duplication of the September 15 feast.

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