Our Mother stands by the cross of her Son – Fr. Augustine

20110915 Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows(Jn 19:25-27)

My dear brothers and sisters,

Today we are celebrating the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.

As we know, this memorial takes place

on the day after the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Yesterday we praised the triumph of our Lord’s cross,

for he is our salvation and through Him we are saved and made free.

Now, we remember the suffering of Mary as she stood at the Cross of her Son.

Today’s memorial proclaims that

Blessed Mary is tied to an event in the life of her Son,

and shows us the place of cross in our life.

There is not only glorious triumph but also much sorrow,

likewise, are two sides of the same coin.

We can join ourselves to Mary in her sorrow

so that we will also share her glory in the triumph of her Son.

Our Mother stands by the cross of her Son.

In Latin, there are the words, Stabat Mater, that translate into English the Mother stood.

In our Church there are two types of Stabat Mater by tradition,

the one is Stabat Mater Speciosa that is the beautiful Mother stood

that refers to the Nativity of Jesus,

the other is Stabat Mater Dolorosa that is the sorrowful Mother stood

that refers to Our Lady of Sorrows, today’s memorial.

As we know, the image of the Stabat Mater Dolorosa is a great figure in our church.

In today’s Gospel from the John,

we can also find easily that the Mother was standing by the cross of her Son.

I would like to meditate on the a word of ‘stand’ in this Gospel,

and especially on the Role of Holy Mary.

She stands as the first and perfect disciple of Jesus.

She followed Jesus all the way to the foot of the cross.

Mary stood by her Son in joyful moments as well as in moments of sadness and defeat.

So, for us it is Holy Mary’s Role that she stands to pray for our salvation,

and also stands to share in the glory of eternal life.

Today we ask for her intercession so that we may keep our stand as monks,

take our monastic cross and follow her example in following Christ her Son. Amen.

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