The Below is an excerpt from Waiting with Mary: a Seven Sorrows Devotional for Catholic Women Facing Infertility. For a limited time, you can purchase both a copy of the devotional and a handmade Seven Sorrows Rosary at a special Lenten price. Click here to purchase. "This devotion is closely connected with the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross which has been celebrated since the year 326. On September 14th of that year, St. Helen found the true cross on Calvary. Four of the Seven Sorrows occur in conjunction with Christ’s passion and death. St. Ambrose and Ephrem the Syrian (fourth century) showed devotion to the Sorrows of Mary in their writing and St. Bridget of Sweden (13th century) received several visions of Our Lady encouraging the devotion and naming the seven promises for those who adopt it. St. Alphonsus Liguori has an entire section devoted to her sorrows in his book The Glories of Mary (d 1787). Mary recently encouraged this devotion in the 1980s when she made several visits to school children in Kibeho, Rwanda. There is actually a religious order that originally formed around a devotion to Mary at the foot of the cross. The Servants of Mary, or Servites, were formed around 1239. During his pontificate, Paul V (d 1621) officially recognized a rudimentary form Seven Sorrows Rosary when he awarded all who prayed seven Our Fathers and seven Hail Marys while contemplating Our Lady’s sorrows a 60 day indulgence when certain other criteria were met (this was before the Church did away with numerical values of indulgences). Fra Arcangelo Ballottini of Bologna (d 1622) is the man who gave us the form of prayer we have kept to this day. He proposed extending the prayer; rather than seven Our Fathers and seven Hail Marys, he suggested adapting a form similar to the Rosary. Each Sorrow should be contemplated while praying one Our Father and seven Hail Marys. He also proposed that the faithful pray it daily, just like the Rosary." The Joyful Leap and Morning Glory Beads have teamed up to offer you a Seven Sorrows Set at a special Lenten price. Not personally experiencing infertility or delayed conception? Consider buying the set and keeping the booklet for a loved one or gifting it to your priest so that they can minister to someone who is. 1 in 8 couples experience infertility. Click here to purchase.
0 Comments
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2020
Categories |