[This feast day, previously kept on the third Sunday of September, was moved to Sept. 15 in the reforms of Pope St. Pius X, and is also celebrated on the Friday before Palm Sunday. We provide this on both Sept. 15 and on the Friday before Palm Sunday.]
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
‘O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow!’[1] Is this, then, the first cry of that sweet babe, whose coming brought such pure joy to our earth? Is the standard of suffering to be so soon unfurled over the cradle of such lovely innocence? Yet the heart of mother Church has not deceived her; this feast, coming at such a time, is ever the answer to that question of the expectant human race: What shall this child be?
The Saviour to come is not only the reason of Mary’s existence, He is also her exemplar in all things. It is as His Mother that the blessed Virgin came, and therefore as the ‘Mother of sorrows’; for the God, whose future birth was the very cause of her own birth, is to be in this world 'a Man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity.’[2] ‘To whom shall I compare thee?’ sings the prophet of lamentations: ‘O Virgin . . . great as the sea is thy destruction.’[3] On the mountain of the sacrifice, as Mother she gave her Son, as bride she offered herself together with Him; by her sufferings both as bride and eus Mother, she was the co-redemptress of the human race. This teaching and these recollections were deeply engraved on our hearts on that other feast of our Lady’s dolours which immediately preceded Holy Week.
Christ dieth now no more: and our Lady’ sufferings are over. Nevertheless the Passion of Christ is continued in His elect, in His Church, against which hell vents the rage it cannot exercise against Himself. To this Passion of Christ’s mystical body, of which she is also Mother, Mary still contributes her compassion; how often have her venerated images attested the fact, by miraculously shedding tears! This explains the Church’s departure from liturgical custom, by celebrating two feasts, in different seasons, under one same title.
On perusing the register of the apostolic decrees concerning sacred rites, the reader is astonished to find a long and unusual interruption lasting from March 20, 1809 to September 18, 1814, at which latter date is entered the decree instituting on this present Sunday a second Commemoration of our Lady’s Dolours.[4] 1809-1814, five sorrowful years, during which the government of Christendom was suspended; years of blood which beheld the ManGod agonizing once more in the person of His captive Vicar. But the Mother of sorrows was still standing beneath the cross, offering to God the Church's sufferings; and when the trial was over, Pius VII, knowing well whence the mercy had come, dedicated this day to Mary as a fresh memorial of the day of Calvary.
Even in the seventeenth century, the Servites had the privilege of possessing this second feast, which they celebrated as a double of the second class, with a vigil and an octave. It is from them that the Church has borrowed the Office and Mass. This honour and privilege was due to the Order established by our Lady to honour her sufferings and to spread devotion to them. Philip Benizi, heir to the seven holy Founders, propagated the flame kindled by them on the heights of Monte Senario; thanks to the zeal of his sons and successors, the devotion to the Seven Dolours of the blessed Virgin Mary, once their family property, is now the treasure of the whole world.
The prophecy of the aged Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the divine Child in Jerusalem, the carrying of the cross, the Crucifixion, the taking down from the cross, and the burial of Jesus: these are the seven mysteries into which are grouped the well-nigh infinite sufferings which made our Lady the Queen of martyrs, the first and loveliest rose in the garden of the Spouse. Let us take to heart the recommendation from the Book of Tobias which the Church reads during this week in the Office of the time: Thou shalt honour thy mother: for thou must be mindful what and how great perils she suffered in giving thee birth.[5]
MASS
The daily Sacrifice, though surrounded with all the pomps of the liturgy, is substantially the same as that of Calvary. But the only assistants at the foot of the cross were, as our Introit points out, one man, and a few women weeping around the Mother of sorrows. The Gospel will repeat this Introit, and even its verse which, contrary to custom, is not taken from the Psalms.
Introit
Stabant juxta crucem Jesu Mater ejus, et soror Matris ejus Maria Cleophæ, et Salome, et Maria Magdalene.
℣. Mulier, ecce filius tuus, dixit Jesus: ad discipulum autem: Ecce mater tua. Gloria Patri. Stabant.
There stood by the cross of Jesus his Mother, and his Mother’s sister Mary of Cleophas, and Salome, and Mary Magdalene.
℣. Woman, behold thy son, said Jesus; to the disciple however, Behold thy mother. Glory be. There stood.
The honouring of our Lady’s Dolours does not distract our thoughts from the one Victim of salvation. On the contrary, its immediate result, as the Collect shows, is to cause the Passion of our Saviour to bear fruit in our souls.
Collect
Deus, in cujus passione, secundum Simeonis prophetiam, dulcissimam animam gloriosæ Virginis et Matris Mariæ doloris gladius pertransivit: concede propitius; ut qui dolores ejus venerando recolimus, passionis tuæ effectum felicem consequamur. Qui vivis.
O God, in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, a sword of sorrow pierced the most sweet soul of the glorious Mary, Mother and Virgin: grant in thy mercy, that we who call to mind her sorrows with veneration, may obtain the happy effect of thy Passion. Who livest &c.
Then is added the Collect of the occurring Sunday.
Epistle
Lectio libri Judith.
Cap. xiii.
Benedixit te Dominus in virtute sua, quia per te ad nihilum redegit inimicos nostros. Benedicta es tu, filia, a Domino Deo excelso, præ omnibus mulieribus super terram. Benedictus Dominus, qui creavit cœlum et terram: quia hodie nomen tuum ita magnificavit, ut non recedat laus tua de ore hominum, qui memores fuerint virtutis Domini in sternum, pro quibus non pepercisti animie tuæ propter angustias, et tribulationem generis tui, sed subvenisti ruinæ ante conspectum Dei nostri.
Lesson from the Book of Judith.
Ch. xiii.
The Lord hath blessed thee by his power, because by thee he hath brought our enemies to nought. Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God above all women upon the earth. Blessed be the Lord who made heaven and earth, because he hath so magnified thy name this day, thatthy praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men, who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord for ever; for that thou hast not spared thy life by reason of the distress and tribulation of thy people, but hast prevented our ruin in the presence of our God.
Oh the greatness of our Judith among all creatures! ‘God,’ says the pious and profound Father Faber, ‘vouchsafed to select the very things about Him which are most incommunicable, and in a most mysteriously real way communicate them to her. See how He had already mixed her up with the eternal designs of creation, making her almost a partial cause and partial model of it. Our Lady’s co-operation in the redemption of the world gives us a fresh view of her magnificence. Neither the Immaculate Conception nor the Assumption will give us a higher idea of Mary’s exaltation than the title of co-redemptress. Her dolours were not necessary for the redemption of the world, but in the counsels of God they were inseparable from it. They belong to the integrity of the divine plan. Are not Mary’s mysteries Jesus’ mysteries, and His mysteries hers? The truth appears to be, that all the mysteries of Jesus and Mary were in God’s design as one mystery. Jesus Himself was Mary’s sorrow, seven times repeated, aggravated sevenfold. During the hours of the Passion, the offering of Jesus and the offering of Mary were tied in one. They kept pace together; they were made of the same materials; they were perfumed with kindred fragrance; they were lighted with the same fire; they were offered with kindred dispositions. The two things were one simultaneous oblation, interwoven each momentthrough the thickly crowded mysteries of that dread time, unto the eternal Father, out of two sinless hearts, that were the hearts of Son and Mother, for the sins of a guilty world which fell on them contrary to their merits, but according to their own free will.’[6]Let us mingle our tears with Mary’s, in union with the sufferings of the great Victim. In proportion as we do this during life we shall rejoice in heaven with the Son and the Mother; if our Lady is now, as we sing in the Alleluia verse, Queen of heaven and mistress of the world, is there one among all the elect who can recall sufferings comparable to hers?
After the Gradual follows the Stabat Mater, the touching Complaint attributed to the Franciscan, blessed Jacopone de Todi.
Gradual
Dolorosa et lacrymabilis es Virgo Maria, stans juxta crucem Domini Jesu Filii tui Redemptoris.
℣. Virgo Dei Genitrix, quem totus non capit orbis, hoc crucis fert supplicium, auctor vitæ factus homo. Alleluia, alleluia.
℣. Stabat sancta Maria, cœli Regina, et mundi Domina, juxta crucem Domini nostri Jesu Christi dolorosa.
Thou art sorrowful and worthy of tears, O Virgin Mary, standing near the cross of the Lord Jesus, thy Son, our Redeemer.
℣. O Virgin Mother of God, he whom the whole world doth not contain, beareth this punishment of the cross, he the author of life being made man. Alleluia, alleluia.
℣. Holy Mary, the Queen of heaven, and mistress of the world, stood by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, full of sadness.
Sequence
Stabat Mater dolorosa,
Juxta crucem lacrymosa,
Dum pendebat Filius.
Cujus animam gementem,
Contristatam et dolentem,
Pertransivit gladius.
O quam tristis et afflicta
Fuit illa benedicta
Mater Unigeniti!
Quæ mærebat et dolebat,
Pia Mater, dum videbat
Nati pænas inclyti.
Quis est homo qui non fleret,
Matrem Christi si videret
In tanto supplicio?
Quis non posset contristari,
Christi Matrem contemplari
Dolentem cum Filio?
Pro peccatis suæ gentis
Vidit Jesum in tormentis,
Et flagellis subditum.
Vidit suum dulcem Natum
Moriendo desolatum,
Dum emisit spiritum.
Eia, Mater, fons amoris,
Me sentire vim doloris
Fac ut tecum lugeam.
Fac ut ardeat cor meum
In amando Christum Deum,
Ut sibi complaceam.
Sancta Mater, istud agas,
Crucifixi fige plagas
Cordi meo valide.
Tui Nati vulnerati,
Tam dignati pro me pati,
Pænas mecum divide.
Fac me tecum pie flere,
Crucifixo condolere,
Donec ego vixero.
Juxta crucem tecum stare,
Et me tibi sociare
In planctu desidero.
Virgo virginum præclara,
Mihi jam non sis amara:
Fac me tecum plangere.
Fac ut portem Christi mortem,
Passionis fac consortem,
Et plagas recolere.
Fac me plagas vulneran,
Fac me cruce inebriari,
Et cruore Filii.
Flammis ne urar succensus,
Per te, Virgo, sim defensus,
In die judicii.
Christe, cum sit hinc exire,
Da per Matrem me venire
Ad palmam victoriæ.
Quando corpus morietur,
Fac ut animæ donetur
Paradisi gloria.
Amen.
Near the cross, while on it
hung her Son, the sorrowing
Mother stood and wept.
A sword pierced her soul,
that sighed, and mourned,
and grieved.
Oh! how sad, and how afflicted,
was that blessed Mother
of an only Son!
The loving Mother sorrowed
and mourned at seeing
her divine Son suffer.
Who is there would not weep
to see Jesus’ Mother
in such suffering?
Who is there could contemplate
the Mother and the Son in sorrow,
and not join his own with theirs?
Mary saw her Jesus
tormented and scourged
for the sins of his people.
She saw her sweet Child abandoned by all,
as he breathed forth
his soul and died.
Ah, Mother, fount of love,
make me feel the force of sorrow;
make me weep with thee!
Make this heart of mine burn
with the love of Jesus my God,
that so I may content his heart.
Do this, O holy Mother:
deeply stamp the wounds
of the Crucified upon my heart.
Let me share with thee the sufferings of thy Son,
for it is for me he graciously deigned
to be wounded and to suffer.
Make me lovingly weep with thee:
make me compassionate with thee our crucified Jesus,
as long as life shall last.
This is my desire,
to stand nigh the cross with thee,
and be a sharer in thy grief.
Peerless Virgin of virgins!
be not displeased at my prayer:
make me weep with thee.
Make me to carry the death of Jesus;
make me a partner of his Passion,
an adorer of his Wounds.
Make me to be wounded with his Wounds;
make me to be inebriated with the cross
and Blood of thy Son.
And that I may not suffer the eternal flames,
let me be defended by thee, O Virgin,
on the day of judgment!
O Jesus! when my hour of death comes,
let me, by thy Mother’s aid,
come to my crown of victory.
And when my body dies,
oh! give to my soul
the reward of heaven’s glory.
Amen.
Gospel
Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem.
Cap. xix.
In illo tempore: Stabant juxta crucem Jesu Mater ejus, et soror Matris ejus Maria Cleophæ, et Maria Magdalene. Cum vidisset ergo Jesus Matrem, et discipulum stantem quem diligebat, dicit Matri suæ: Mulier, ecce filius tuus. Deinde dicit discipulo: Ecce mater tua. Et ex illa hora accepit eam discipulus in sua.
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to John.
Ch. xix.
At that time, there stood by the cross of Jesus, his Mother, and his Mother’s sister Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore had seen his Mother and the disciple standing, whom he loved, he saith to his Mother, Woman, behold thy Son. After that he saith to the disciple, Behold thy Mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own.
‘Woman, behold thy son.—My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ Such are the words of Jesus on the cross. Has He, then, no longer a Father in heaven, a Mother on earth? Oh! mystery of justice, and still more of love! God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son for it, so far as to lay upon Him, instead of upon sinful men, the curse our sins deserved; and our Lady too, in her sublime union with the Father, did not spare, but offered in like manner for us all, this same Son of her virginity. If on this head we belong to the eternal Father, we belong henceforth to Mary also; each has bought us at a great price: the exchange of an only Son for sons of adoption.
It is at the foot of the cross that our Lady truly became the Queen of mercy. At the foot of the altar, where the renewal of the great Sacrifice is preparing, let us commend ourselves to her omnipotent influence over the Heart of her divine Son.
Offertory
Recordare, Virgo Mater Dei, dum steteris in conspectu Domini, ut loquaris pro nobis bona, et ut avertat indignationem suam a nobis.
Be mindful, O Virgin Mother of God, when thou standest in the sight of the Lord, to speak good things for us, that he may turn away his anger from us.
How many holy souls, in the course of ages, have come to keep faithful company with the Mother of sorrows! Their intercession united with Mary’s is a strength to the Church; and we hope to obtain thereby the effect of the merits of our Saviour’s death.
Secret
Offerimus tibi preces et hostias, Domine Jesu Christe, humiliter supplicantes: ut, qui transfixionem dulcissimi spiritus beatæ Mariæ Matris tuæ precibus recensemus; suo, suorumque sub cruce sanctorum consortium, multiplicato piissimo interventu, meritis mortis tuæ, meritum cum beatis habeamus. Qui vivis.
We offer to thee prayers and sacrifices, O Lord Jesus Christ, humbly beseeching, that we who pray in remembrance of the transfixion of the most sweet soul of blessed Mary thy Mother, by the multiplied and pious intercession of her and her holy companions under the cross, may have a reward with the blessed, by the merits of thy death. Who livest.
A commemoration is then made of the Sunday.
The Preface is the same as on September 8, page 165, except that for ‘in Nativitate, on the Nativity,’ is substituted ‘in Transfixione, on the Transfixion’ of the blessed Mary ever Virgin.
So great, it has been said, was Mary’s grief on Calvary, that, had it been divided among all creatures capable of suffering, it would have caused them all to die instantly.[7] It was our Lady’s wonderful peace, maintained by perfect acquiescence and the total abandonment of her whole being to God, that alone was able to sustain in her the life which the Holy Ghost was preserving for the Church’s sake. May our participation in the sacred mysteries give us that peace of God which passeth all understanding, and which keepeth minds and hearts in Christ Jesus!
Communion
Felices sensus beatæ Mariæ Virginis, qui sine morte meruerunt martyrii palmam sub cruce Domini.
Happy senses of the blessed Virgin Mary, which without dying deserved the palm of martydom beneath the cross of our Lord.
As the Postcommunion points out, the loving memory of our Mother’s sorrows will powerfully assist us to find all good things in the holy Sacrifice of the altar.
Postcommunion
Sacrificia, quæ sumpsimus, Domine Jesu Christe, transfixionem Matris tuæ et Virginis devote celebrantes, nobis impetrent apud clementiam tuam omnis boni salutans effectum. Qui vivis.
O Lord Jesus Christ, may the sacrifices of which we have partaken, in the devout celebration of the transfixion of thy Virgin Mother, obtain for us of thy clemency the effect of every salutary good. Who livest &c.
The Postcommunion of the occurring Sunday is added, and the Gospel of the same is read at the end of the Mass instead of the usual passage from St. John.
VESPERS
The first and fifth antiphons of Vespers are taken from the Canticle of canticles, the three intermediate ones from Isaias, and that of the Magnificat from Job; the capitulum is from Jeremias.
1. Ant. Quo abiit dilectus tuus, o pulcherrima mulierum? quo declinavit dilectus tuus, et quæremus eum tecum?
1. Ant. Whither is thy beloved gone, o thou most beautiful among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside, and we will seek him with thee?
Ps. Dixit Dominus, page 38.
2. Ant. Recedite a me, amare fliebo, nolite incumbere, ut consolemini me.
2. Ant. Depart from me, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me.
Ps. Laudate pueri, page 41.
3. Ant. Non est ei species, neque decor, et vidimus eum, et non erat adspectus.
3. Ant. There is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness.
Ps. Lætatus sum, page 152.
4. Ant. A planta pedis usque ad verticem capitis, non est in eo sanitas.
4. Ant. From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness in him.
Ps. Nisi Dominus, page 153.
5. Ant. Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo.
5. Ant. Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples, because I languish with love.
Ps. Lauda Jerusalem, page 154.
Capitulum
Thren. ii.
Cui comparabo te? vel cui assimilabo te filia Jerusalem? cui exæquabo te, et consolabor te virgo filia Sion? magna est velut mare contritio tua.
To what shall I compare thee? or to what shall I liken thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? to what shall I equal thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Sion? for great as the sea is thy destruction.
Hymn
O quot undis lacrymarum,
Quo dolore volvitur,
Luctuosa de cruento
Dum, revulsum stipite,
Cernit ulnis incubantem
Virgo Mater Filium!
Os suave, mite pectus,
Et latus dulcissimum,
Dexteramque vulneratam,
Et sinistram sauciam,
Et rubras cruore plantas
Ægra tingit lacrymis.
Centiesque milliesque
Stringit arctis nexibus
Pectus illud, et lacertos,
Illa figit vulnera:
Sicque tota colliquescit
In doloris osculis.
Eia Mater, obsecramus
Per tuas has lacrymas,
Filiique triste funus,
Vulnerumque purpuram,
Hunc tui cordis dolorem
Conde nostris cordibus.
Esto Patri, Filioque,
Et coævo Flamini,
Esto summæ Trinitati
Sempiterna gloria,
Et perennis laus, honorque
Hoc, et omni sæculo.
Amen.
Oh! in what floods of tears,
in what an abyss of sorrow
is she whelmed, that Virgin Mother,
as mourning she beholds her Son
taken down from the blood-stained tree
and laid in her arms!
That lovely mouth, that gentle breast,
that side most sweet,
that right hand all pierced,
and the left hand wounded too,
those feet all rosy with his blood:
the desolate Mother bathes them with her tears.
A hundred and a thousand times
she locks in loving embrace
that breast and those arms,
and kisses their wounds;
and thus she melts away
in sorrowful caresses.
O Mother, we beseech thee,
by these thy tears,
by the cruel death of thy Son,
and by his empurpled wounds,
plant deep in our hearts
this anguish of thine own.
To the Father and to the Son
and to the coequal Spirit,
to the most high Trinity,
be everlasting glory,
unending praise and honour,
now and for evermore.
Amen.
℣. Regina martyrum, ora pro nobis.
℟. Quæ juxta crucem Jesu constitisti.
℣. Pray for us, O Queen of martyrs.
℟. Who didst stand by the cross of Jesus.
Antiphon of the Magnificat
Oppressit me dolor, et facies mea intumuit a fletu, et palpebræ meæcaligaverunt.
My sorrow hath oppressed me, my face is swollen with weeping, and my eyelids are dim.
The Prayer is the Collect of the Mass page 211.
Then is made a commemoration of the Sunday.
[1] Lam. i. 12.
[2] Isaias, liii. 3.
[3] Lam. ii. 13.
[4] Gardellini, Decreta authentica Congr. Sacr. Rit.
[5] Tobias, iv. 3, 14.
[6] Faber.. The Foot of the Cross, ix. 1, 2.
[7] Bernardin. Sen. Pro festivit. V. M. Senno xiii. De exaltatione B. V. in gloria, art 11. c. 2.