Mother of Sorrows: A Meditation

Yesterday we have reflected on the pain and suffering and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus in the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Now, today we remember Our Lady of Sorrows, the pain and suffering and sacrifice of our Mother, Mary beneath the Cross. It is undoubtedly felt by the church that Mary is the first one to share the pain and the triumph of the Cross.
St. Ambrose in particular sees Mary as a sorrowful yet powerful figure at the cross. Mary stood fearlessly at the cross while others fled. Mary looked on her Son's wounds with pity, but saw in them the salvation of the world. As Jesus hung on the cross, Mary did not fear to be killed but offered herself to her persecutors.
The beloved disciple is identified as the church collectively by theologians and professionals of the church. Jesus offers Mary to be the mother of the beloved disciple in the moment of pain, during his suffering and death. Thus, Mary was given to the church during a crucial time of the Redeemer, that even at the point of death; Our Lord makes sure that the Church which is weak and vulnerable would have a Mother who is strong and powerful.
This also implies that Mary’s part in the redemption of Mankind is not over with the death and resurrection of Jesus; rather it is the renewal of the Servant Motherhood of Mary. Our Pope in Lourdes yesterday said that Mary shows man the way to come to God. "She teaches us to approach him in truth and simplicity," he said. "Thanks to her, we discover that the Christian faith is not a burden: It is like a wing which enables us to fly higher, so as to take refuge in God's embrace. The grace of the Immaculate Conception is not given to Mary as a merely "personal grace," but is rather "a grace for all, a grace given to the entire people of God.
The Church has a mother today and this gift of the Mother invites us to take part in the suffering of Jesus since Jesus accepted suffering and death to conquer sin and bring salvation to all. If we aspire to be saved by Christ, we must go through the road less travelled along with Mary in taking up our crosses and follow Him. He will lead us to the resurrection.
Lord Jesus, we now implore, both for the present and for the hour of our death, the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose holy soul was pierced at the time of Thy passion by a sword of grief. Grant us this favor, O Saviour of the world, Who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, forever and ever. Amen. (Prayer of the Servites)