Roman Catholics will commemorate on Friday, Sept.15, the feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa), in solemn remembrance of the spiritual martyrdom of the Blessed Mother.
Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara will preside over a high mass at 5 p.m. at the Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, the second oldest parish church in Pasay City.
This year’s feast of Our Lady of Sorrows coincides with the 81st year presence of the Society of St. Paul in the Archdiocese of Manila.
Provincial Vicar Fr. Celso Godilano will preside over a concelebrated mass early in the day at 6 a.m. Novena masses were offered from Sept. 6 to 14.
Feast masses will also be celebrated in other parishes placed under the patronage of the Marian title such as at the Parish and National Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows in Dolores, Quezon and in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Novena prayers and holy masses will be preceded by the praying of the Holy Rosary.
Also known as Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother, Mother of Sorrows (Latin: Mater Dolorosa), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours, the feast significantly follows the Feast of the Holy Cross (Triumph of the Holy Cross) on Sept.14 to signify the participation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Passion of her Son Jesus Christ.
In observance of the feast, Church leaders encourage the faithful to recite seven Hail Marys and to reflect on the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady namely: 1. The Prophecy of Simeon in the Temple, 2. The Flight into Egypt, 3. The Carrying of the Cross on Mount Calvary, 5. The Crucifixion, 6. The Taking Down from the Cross, and the 7. The Burial of Jesus.
Devotion to the sorrows of the Blessed Mother gave rise to the figure in Christian art of the Pieta, the sorrowing mother holding the lifeless Body of her Son.
Initiated by the Servants of Mary in 1668, the feast was extended to the Universal Church by Pope Pius VIII in 1814.