By Mary Therese.
Over the years, I’ve come to know a woman with a very inspiring story.
No one would have guessed that this woman of few words with the perpetual smile was suffering so intensely day to day. It all started when she was a teenager. I can’t imagine the tremors that tore through her young heart when she was told that suffering would be her “lot in life” … and that there was no cure, nothing to numb the pain. The daily anticipation of that pain was her greatest suffering, and from it she wasn’t free.
Then, when just a young mother, she was faced with poverty, hunger, and uncertainty, and was on the brink of losing everything, even her home. She risked her own safety and comfort to protect her newborn child and stepped out into the unknown to find a place of support, safety and peace, far, far away from the looming dangers they had left behind. In the midst of being homeless she had such tremendous trust in God and His protection!
Her husband was her sturdy rock, and his prudence and fidelity eased her pain. He did all he could to provide for her and his son. Soon they settled down and had a place to call home. While she went about her household duties, she could hear her son and his father working in the distance together. But so often, when she was alone, she was overcome by her suffering. Silent tears of pain rolled down her face and neck. How many times her tears were found mixed with the dirty laundry water, or in the dough she kneaded, or on the floor she cleaned. But she suffered it all out of love for her child. It was her strong, maternal heart that kept her going day after day when she was tempted to give up. Mysteriously, her tears were paving a way and a life for her child and for so many more.
Her story goes on to tell of the heart-stopping moment when she realized her son was missing! For days and nights they searched for him, only to find him safe and sound. She praised God! Years passed, and her boy grew to reach manhood, healthy and strong. She still remembers the day he left the family home. Their encounters were always treasured.
Then, one fateful morning while making her way through the squalid lower streets of the city, she met her son. He was unrecognizable… and she discovered he was in the company of thieves and murderers! As much as she wanted to take control of the situation and be his savior, she knew she had to trust God and His plan. And she trusted again in His plan, when her only son was betrayed by his friend and brutally murdered before her eyes… and again, when she had to bury him with her own hands outside the city. For the second time, she had lost him.
Somehow, she walked away from that grave. She put one foot in front of the other and walked away from the one thing she suffered for and loved most. She trusted in God’s plan, even when nothing made sense. All her life, this woman, in the midst of her deep suffering, continued to care for, counsel, serve and guide those around her. She became a strong rock for those around her to lean on. This woman never let her suffering make her bitter; instead it made her tender and compassionate. This woman is my Mother.
She is your Mother too! She is the Queen of Sorrows, and yet the cause of our joy!
I can’t talk enough about our Lady of Sorrows. In 1482 she was originally entered into the Roman Missal under the title of Our Lady of Compassion. I prefer to call upon her under that title, because, like all of us, I am in need of Compassion. I want to look someone in the eyes and know that they get it! If there is anyone that gets it… it is her. The more I meditate on her Sorrows, the more I discover why she is the most compassionate and loving of mothers. Not only do I find myself even closer to her strong radiant heart, but I find that she is also teaching me how to live and how to love… after all, the way we live is how we love. In my opinion, Compassion is a lost art, but Mary is here to teach us.
Over the next few days of Holy Week, I’d like to lead you through each of her Sorrows and show you that she completely understands whatever you’ve been through or are going through right now.
Image credit: Syrio, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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