Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and Saint Rose,

The first three of the seven dolors (sorrows) of the Blessed Virgin Mary are events in the early life of Jesus. The last four all have to do with the final hours of His earthly life.

The fourth of the seven sorrows is also the Fourth Station of the Cross. As He carries His Cross, He encounters His Sorrowful Mother. This station and dolor is mentioned nowhere in the Scripture. It is a tradition of the Church that it occurred. But how could it not have happened? The Blessed Mother was with Jesus as He suffered. She was at the foot of the Cross.  She would have accompanied Him on each step of His agonizing journey to Calvary.
What sorrow Mary would have experienced as she heard within a few hours the cry of the crowd go from the jubilant “Hosanna in the highest!” to the angry, “Crucify Him!”

Mary was aware of who Jesus was and must have wondered how this could happen to the Son of God. Yet even in her agony, she trusts that God is in all of this. The anger, fear, unfairness must be overwhelming. How could so much hatred be directed at the One who is the Lamb of God? How could so much violence be done to the Prince of Peace?

There is strength in a Mother’s love. Mary must be with her son as He walks to His death on Calvary. She is no longer aware of her needs or her suffering. Her eyes are only on Jesus. When they meet, she sees Him bruised and broken. There is so much blood. She looks into His eyes and sees the child to whom she gave birth. And then for a moment she sees in His eyes the presence and love and strength of God. She is there to give Him her presence, and at that moment she is gifted with His Presence.  She is given the strength to be with Him even unto His death. It is a moment of grace as no other ever could be: the woman who gave her consent to bear the Son of God, and that very Child! The gaze lasts but a moment, but it bears the mark of the Eternal.
Such sorrow as the Savior bears the weight of the Cross.
Msgr. Cox
Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary, Raphael (1516)