On September 15, the Church celebrates the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. Not many Catholics are familiar with the devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary, but it captures a unique side of spiritual life.
Our Lady is the very model of Christian prayer. In her is the height of ecstatic union and glorious conformity to the divine will. This memorial reminds us, however, that proximity to God does not mean an absence of sorrow, but nearly always the opposite – at least this side of the veil, which so happens to be the side with which we are most concerned.
