MARY MOTHER OF SORROWS

THE CONSOLER OF THE SUFFERING SOULS

" Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he said to his mother:  Woman, behold thy son.  After that, he said to the disciple:  Behold thy mother.  And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own."
-  John 19:25-27

Our Lord promises great graces to those who are devoted to the sorrows of His Blessed Mother.
St Alphonsus tells us that it was revealed to St Elizabeth of Hungary that some years after the assumption of The Blessed Virgin into Heaven St John the beloved apostle wished to see her again.  This favour was granted him.  Mary appeared to him with our Divine Lord.  Then St John heard Mary asking of her Son some special graces for those who were devoted to her dolors.  Our Lord promised the four following graces
1.      Those who invoke the Heavenly Mother through her sorrows will obtain true sorrow for their sins before death.

2.      Our Saviour will protect them in their tribulations, especially at the hour of death.

3.      He will impress upon them the memory of His Passion, and will reward them for it in Heaven.

4.      He will commit such devout servants to the hands of Mary, that she may dispose of them     according to her pleasure, and obtain for them all the graces she desires. 

Dominica Clara of the Holy Cross who died in 1897, was often favoured with apparitions of the souls in purgatory.  One of these souls told the servant of God that she [the soul] owed her salvation solely to her devotion to the sorrows of Mary.  Her life had been so wicked that without a special grace from God she could not possibly have been saved, but Mary leaves nothing unrewarded that is done in her honour.
During life this person had felt a tender compassion for the Mother of Sorrows, and whenever she beheld an image representing the Dolorous Mother, she prayed the Hail Mary seven times in her honour.  She admitted, however, that often she had practiced this devotion more from custom than from interior devotion; for her pious mother had implanted it so deeply in her heart that, despite her wayward life, she had always remained faithful to it.  As a reward for this slight veneration, the Mother of God showed special maternal solicitude for her at the hour of death, recalling to her mind the image of her Seven Sorrows in so vivid a manner that in her last moments the penitent was seized with most profound contrition for her sinful life.  For this reason she obtained the remission of all her sins.
According to the information imparted by this soul, the sorrow she felt for her sins, through the intercession of the Mother of Sorrows, was so great that it expiated not only her sins but also a great part of the temporal punishment due to them. In addition to this incomparably great grace, the soul, while in purgatory, was consoled by frequent visits of the Mother of God, each of which mitigated her sufferings.  Her torments ceased entirely during the time the Blessed Virgin was personally present.
Thousands and thousands of souls, she asserted, who had not committed one twentieth as much evil as she, were eternally lost.  "Ah," she exclaimed, "how lively are my sentiments of gratitude when I consider what our dear Heavenly Mother did for me in the last moments of my life!  Had it not been for Mary, I too should have shared the fate of the reprobates.  for all eternity shall my tongue proclaim the love, the goodness, the solicitude of this sweet Virgin; unceasingly shall my voice glorify her with canticles of praise and thanksgiving". 

HOLY MOTHER! PIERCE ME THROUGH,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified;
Let me share with thee His pain,
Who for all my sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with thee, 
Mourning Him who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live.