Welcome back to the Mother’s Day Novena from FaithND, an outreach of the Notre Dame Alumni Association.

Let us pray:

Mary, Our Mother, by accepting the invitation to bear God’s Son to the world, you brought forth new life for all of us. Your faithful acceptance of God’s word is our model and inspiration as we strive to make room in our hearts for your Son and bear him to others. Help us to follow him more closely, even to the foot of the cross, as you did.

During this month dedicated to you, we ask in a special way for you to care for each of our own mothers: (state your personal intention).

Reflection:

Continuing to Day 6 of this Mother’s Day Novena, today we reflect upon Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows. The marble statue by Croatian artist Ivan Meštrović, titled My Mother, is located in the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art on campus. It presents a serious, somber Mary focused on prayer. As we prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day, we remember all mothers who bear the sorrows of dark times in their lives and commend them to our Lady’s intercession.

When deciding on a patron for the Congregation of Holy Cross, which established the University of Notre Dame, founder Blessed Basil Moreau selected Our Lady of Sorrows. In his constitutions for the community, he wrote:

“There stood by the Cross of Jesus his mother Mary, who knew grief and was a Lady of Sorrows. She is our special patroness, a woman who bore much she could not understand and who stood fast. To her many sons and daughters, whose devotions ought to bring them often to her side, she tells much of this daily cross and its daily hope” (Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross, 8:120).

Moreau often stressed the importance of conforming one’s entire life to Christ, which Mary models through her seven sorrows. From the prophecy of Simeon at Jesus’s presentation in the Temple to the final sorrow of laying Jesus’s body in the tomb following the Crucifixion, Mary knew that a “sword would pierce” her heart through her motherhood (Luke 2: 35). Through suffering and trials, Mary was continually united to God’s will for her. The life-changing love each mother has for her children also opens her heart to the deepest grief–to devastating suffering and loss. And yet, Mary is the perfect model of hope. Even in the midst of her seven sorrows, she never despaired. Her faith endured through this suffering and so she shared in her Son’s victory over death. Mary herself knows the deep, incomparable sorrow of losing a beloved child. At the foot of the Cross, Mary experienced the deepest loss, and she remained steadfast in her love and hope in God the Father. We believe that her intercession and patronage can help us do the same. 

Our Lady of Sorrows, you are the patroness of all mothers who experience pain and loss, especially the tragic death of a son or daughter. Pray for us!

Let us pray:

Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, we pray today for our mothers and for all those who are grieving the loss of a family member, particularly mothers and fathers who grieve their children, just as you did when your son was crucified. Welcome all of our loved ones with open arms into the joy of your Son’s kingdom.

(Pause for a moment of silence. Then conclude:)

We pray, as in all things, through the name of your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Closing Hymn – Alma Mater:

Notre Dame, Our Mother, tender, strong, and true,
Proudly in the heavens gleams thy gold and blue.
Glory’s mantle cloaks thee, golden is thy fame
And our hearts forever praise thee, Notre Dame.
And our hearts forever love thee, Notre Dame.

Image Credit: Ivan Meštrović (Croatian, 1883 – 1962), My Mother, 1926, Marble. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame. Mr. and Mrs. Russell G. Ashbaugh Jr., ND ’48 Fund, 1999.056.001.