Mary, Mother of Sorrows – Christine Valters Paintner

“Mary has also been known as Our Lady of Sorrows, the one who can bear the tremendous weight of our grief. She is the one who knows aching loss and does not run away in the face of its fierceness. There are stories of the seven sorrows she had to bear . . . . There is a parallel tradition of Mary’s seven joys. She is the container for our struggles and joys. She is the source of compassion. She is the birth mother and the death mother.”

— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Illuminating the Way: Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics

Have you ever turned to Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, in your own times of deepest need? Where did her sorrows and your sorrows overlap? Did your sense of her presence help?