Third Sunday of September Feast of the Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin Mart

1 0 all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow ! M Is this, then, the first ory of that sweet babe, whose coming brought suoh pure joy to our earth P Is the standard of suffering to be so soon unfurled over the oradle of suoh 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 ohild be P

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 oompare theeP' sings the prophet of lamentations: ' 0 Virgin . . . great as the sea is thy destruction.' 8 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 as 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.

1 lam. i. 12. * Isaias, liii. 3. * I^m. ii. 13 f come is not only the reason of

FBAST OF THB SEVEN DOLOURS

Christ dieth now no more : and our Lady* sufferings are over. Nevertheless the Passion of Christ is continued in His eleot, in His Church, against whioh hell Vents the rage it oannofr exercise against Himself. To this Passion of Christ's mystical body, of whioh she is also Mother, Mary still contributes her compassion ; how often have her venerated images attested the faot, by miraoulously shedding tears ! This explains the Church's departure from liturgical custom, by oelebrating 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 Maroh 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. 1 1809-1814, five sorrowful years, during whioh the government of Christendom was suspended ; years of blood which beheld the Man- God agonizing onoe 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

1 (jrardellini, Deoreta authentic* Congr, Sacr. Hit, holy Founders, propagated the flame kindled bv 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 Cruoifixion, 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 reoommendation 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. 1

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 Cleophae, et Salome, et Maria Magda- phas,

There stood by the cross of Jesus his Mother, and his Mother's sister Mary of Cleoand Salome, and Mary lene. Magdalene.

1 Tobias, iy. 3, 14.

FEAST OF THE SEVEN DOLOUBS

2U f. Mulier, ecce filius tu- f. Woman, behold thy son, us, dixit Jesus: ad discipu- said Jesus ; to the disciple lum autem: Ecce mater tua. however, Behold thy mother.

Gloria Patri. Stabant. Glory be. There stood.

The honouring of our Lady's Dolours does not distraot our thoughts from the one Victim of salvation. On the oontrary, its immediate result, as the Collect shows, is to cause the Passion of our Saviour to bear fruit in our souls.

COLLECT

Dens, in cujus passione, secundum Simeonis prophetiam, dulcissimam animam gloriosae Virginis et Mafcris Marias doloris gladius pertransivit: concede propitius; ut qui dolores ejus venerando recolimus, passionis tuse effectum felicem consequamur. Qui vivis.

0 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, prae omnibus mulieribus super terram. Benedictus Dominus, qui creavit ccelum et terram: quia hodie nomen tuum ita magnificavit,

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, 0 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, that nt non recedat laus tua de thy praise shall not depart out ore hominum, qui memores of the mouth of men, who shall fuerint virtutis Domini in be mindful of the power of the eeternum, pro quibus non Lord for ever; for that thou pepercisti animus tuae pro- hast not spared thy life by pter angustias, et tribulatio- reason of the distress and tri- nem generis tui, sed subve- bulation of thy people, but nisti ruinse ante conspectum hast prevented our ruin in the

Dei nostri. 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 oommunicate 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 oo-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 oo-redemptress. Her dolours were not necessary for the redemption of the world, but in the oounsels of God they were inseparable from it. They belong to the integrity of the divine plan. Are not Mary s mysteries Jesus' mysteries, ana 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 eaph xnoment

FBAST OF THB SEVEN DOLOURS through the thiokly 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 whioh fell on them contrary to their merits, but according to their own free will/ 1

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 oan recall sufferings oomparable to hers P

After the Gradual follows the Stabat Mater ^ the touohing Complaint attributed to the Franciscan, blessed Jaoopone de Todi.

GRADUAL

Dolorosa et lacrymabilis es Virgo Maria, stans juxta crucem Domini Jesu Filii tui Redemptoris.

Thou art sorrowful and worthy of tears, 0 Virgin Mary, standing near the cross of the Lord Jesus, thy Son, f. Virgo' Dei Genitrix, f. 0 quern totus non capit orbis, hoc crucis fert supplicium, auctor vitae factus homo. ishment our Redeemer. Virgin Mother of God, he whom the whole world doth not contain, beareth this punof the cross, he the author of life being made man. Alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia. f. Stabat sancta Maria, t. coeli Regina, et mundi mina, juxta crucem Domini nostri Jesu Christi dolorosa,

Holy Mary, the Queen Do- of heaven, and mistress of the world, stood by the cross of our Lord J esus Christ, full of sadness.

SEQUENCE

Stabat Mater dolorosa Near the cross, whilst on it

Juxta crucem lacrymosa, hung her Son, the sorrowing Dum pendebat Filius. Mother stood and wept.

1 Fabbb. The Foot of the Cross, ix. 1, 2.

Cujus animam gementem, Contristatam, et dolentem, Pertransivit gladius.

0 quam tristis et afflicta Fuit ilia benedicta Mater Unigeniti!

Quae moerebat, et dolebat, Pia mater, dum videbat Nati poenas inclyti.

Quia est homo qui non fleret,

Matrem Christi si videret In tanto supplicio?

Quis non posset contristari,

Christi Matrem contemplari Dolentem cum Filio?

Pro peccatis su» gentis Vidit Jesum in tormentis, Et flagellis subditum.

Yidit 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, Tarn dignati pro me pati, Pcenas mecum divide.

Fac me tecum pie flere, Crucifixo condolere, Donee ego vixero.

Juxtacrucem tecum stare,

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 that would not weep to see Jesus' Mother in such suffering?

Who is there that 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, 0 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 J esus, as long as life shall last.

This is my desire: to stand

Et me tibi sociare In planctu desidero.

Virgo virginum praclara, Mihi jam non sis amara: Fac me tecum plangere.

Fac ut portem Christi mortem, Passionis fac consortem, Et plagas recolere.

Fac me plagis vulnerari, Fac me cruce inebriari, Et cruore Filii.

Flammis ne urar succensus,

Per te, Virgo, sim def ensus, In die judicii.

Christe, cum sit hinc exire,

Da per Matrem me venire Ad palmam victoriae.

Quando corpus morietur, Fac ut animse donetur Paradisi gloria.

Amen. 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 the Blood of thy Son.

And that I may not suffer the eternal flames, let me be defended by thee, 0 Virgin, on the day of judgment!

0 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 Cleophae, et Maria Magdalene. Cum vidisset ergo Jesus Matrem, et discipulum stantem quem diligebat, dicit Matri suae: Mulier, ecce Alius tuus. Deinde dicit discipulo: Ecce mater tua. Et ex ilia hora

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to John. Ch. xix. At that time, there stood by the cross of J esus, 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.

TIMB AFTER PENTECOST aocepit earn discipulus in And from that hour the dis-

' Woman, behold thy son. — My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me P ' Suoh are the words of Jesus on the cross. Has He, then, no longer a Father in heaven, a Mother on earth P Oh ! mystery of justioe, 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 prioe: the exchange of an only Son for sons of adoption.

It is at the foot of the cross that our Lady tnily* beoame the Queen of mercy. At the foot of the altar, where the renewal of the great Sacrifice is preparing, let us oommend ourselves to her omnipotent influenoe over the Heart of her divine Son.

Kecordare, Virgo Mater Mo- Dei, dum steteris in conspectu Domini, ut loquaris est in pro nobis bona, et ut avertat indignationem suam a

Be mindful, 0 Virgin ther of God, when thou stand - the sight of the Lord, to speak good things for us, that he may turn away his

How many holy souls, in the oourse of ages, have oome to keep faithful company with the Mother of sorrows ! Their intercession united with Mary's is a strength to the Ohuroh; and we hope to obtain thereby the effect of the merits of our Saviour's death. sua. ciple took her to his own.

OFFERTORY nobis. anger from us.

FEAST OF THE SEVEN DOLOURS

SECRET

Offer imus tibi preces et hostias, Domine Jesu Christe, humiliter supplicantes: ut, qui transfixionem dulcissimi spiritus beatae Mariae Matris tuae precibus recensemus; suo, suorumque sub cruce sanctorum consortium, multiplicato piissimo interventu, meritis mortis tuae, meritum cum beatis habeamus. Qui vivis.

We offer to thee prayers and sacrifices, 0 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 166, except that for 4 in Nativitate, on the Nativity,' is substituted k 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. 1 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 beat© Ma- Happy senses of the blessed riae Virginis, qui sine morte Virgin Mary, which without meruerunt martyrii palmam dying deserved the palm of

1 Bernardin. Sen. Fro festivity V, M. Sermo xiii. De exaltatione F. in gloria, art n. o. 2,

TIME AFTER PENTEC08T sub cruce Domini. martydom beneath the cross of our Lord.

As the Postoommunion points out, the loving memory of our Mother's sorrows will powerfully assist us to find all good things in the holy Saorifioe of the altar.

POSTCOMMTJNION

Sacrificia, qure sumpsi- O Lord Jesus Christ, may mus, Domine Jesu Christe, the sacrifices of which we have transfixionem Matris tua partaken, in the devout cele- et Virginis devote celebran- oration of the transfixion of tes, nobis impetrent apud thy Virgin Mother, obtain for clementiam tuam omnis boni us of thy clemency the effect salutaris effectum. Qui of every salutary good. Who vivis. livest &c.

The Postoommunion 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 dile- 1. Ant. ctus tuus, o pulcherrima mulierum ? quo declinavit tiful dilectus tuus, et quaeremus eum tecum?

Whither is thy beloved gone, 0 thou most beauamong women? whither is thy beloved turned aside, and we will seek him with thee?

Ps. Dixit Dominus, page 38.

2. Ant. Recedite a me, 2. Ant. Depart from me, amare fliebo, nolite incum- I will weep bitterly: labour bere, ut consolemini me. not to comfort me.

JPs, Laudate pueri, page 41.

3. Ant. Non est ei spe- 3. Ant. cies, neque decor, et vidi- in mus eum, et non erat adspectus.

There is no beauty him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness.

Ps. Laetatus sum, page 152.

4. Ant. A planta pedis 4. Ant. From the sole of usque ad verticem capitis, the foot unto the top of the non est in eo sanitas. head, there is no soundness in him.

Ps. Nisi Dominus, page 153.

5. Ant. Fulcite me flori- 5. Ant. bus, stipate me malis, 'quia amore langueo.

Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples, because I languish with love.

Ps. Lauda Jerusalem, page 154.

CAP1TULTJM

Thren. ii.

Cui comparabo te? vel cui assimilabo te filia Jerusalem? cui exsequabo 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

0 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,

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 alj

Et sinistram sauciam, Et rubras cruore plantas JEgra tingit lacrymis.

Centiesque milliesque Stringit arctis nexibus Pectus illud, et lacertos, Hla 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 coBBvo Flamini, Esto summae Trinitati Sempiterna gloria, Et perennis laus, honorque Hoc, et omni saaculo.

Amen. f . Begins, martyrum, ora pro nobis.

Quae juxta crucem Jesu constitisti. 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. f. Pray for us, 0 Queen of martyrs.

15?. Who didst stand by the cross of Jesus.

ANTIPHON OP THE MAGNIFICAT

Oppressit me dolor, et fa- My sorrow hath oppressed cies mea intumuit a fletu, et me, my face is swollen with palpebra mea? caligaverunt. weeping, and my eyelids are dim.

The Prayer is the Collect of the Mass page 211. Then is made a commemoration of the Sunday.