September – The Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

September is one of the months that holds great significance in the Catholic Liturgical Calendar.

The Catholic Liturgical Calendar dedicates the months of May and October, also known as Marian Months to the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary who is the mother of Jesus Christ and our Spiritual mother too.

The month of September is devoted to Our Lady of Sorrows.

The feast of the Nativity of Our Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated on the 8^th of September to commemorate her Immaculate Conception. This is considered as the “ dawn of our salvation ” as mentioned by Pope Paul VI in the document, Marialis Cultus in 1972.

“The day of the Nativity of the Mother of God is a day of universal joy, because through the Mother of God, the entire human race was renewed, and the sorrow of the first mother, Eve, was transformed into joy.”—Saint John Damascene, Father and Doctor of the Church

On 12^th September, the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary is celebrated to commemorate all the privileges bestowed upon Mother Mary by God and all the graces received through her intercession and mediation.

“For God, having given her power over his only-begotten and natural Son, also gave her power over his adopted children – not only in what concerns their body – which would be of little account – but also in what concerns their soul.”—Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

“ a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” – Revelation 12:1

The Feast of  The Exaltation of the Cross is celebrated on 14^th  September to honour the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, also called Universal Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross or Holy Cross Day.

It commemorates historical incidents relevant to the Church:

1)The finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena.

2) The dedication of churches built by Roman Emperor Constantine on the site of the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Calvary.

3) The restoration of the True Cross to Jerusalem in AD 629 by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, after it had fallen into the hands of the Persian Emperor Chosroes II, in the AD 614 Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem.

Our Lady of Sorrows Feast is celebrated on the 15^th of September.

“Let us bind ourselves tightly to the Sorrowful Heart of our Heavenly Mother and reflect on it’s boundless grief and how precious is our soul.”

–Saint Padre Pio

The Seven Swords of Sorrows of Our Mother Mary are:

1. The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke2:34-35)

• The Flight into Egypt

(Mathew 2:13-15)

• The Loss of the Child Jesus in the   Temple of Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-51)

• Mary meets Jesus as He carries His Cross to Calvary

(Luke 23:26-31)

• Mary stands near the Cross of her Son Jesus (John 19:25-27)

• Mary receives into her as the body of Jesus taken down from the Cross (John 19:38)

• Mary helps place the body of Jesus in the tomb (John 19:39-42)

How to recite the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows? Kindly refer to my article “ Rosary of the Seven  Sorrows” (2^nd August 2021, Divine Newsletter, Divine UK)

The Feast of Lady of Walsingham is on 24^th of September. It is associated with the Marian apparitions to Richeldis de Faverches, a pious English noblewoman, in the village of Walsingham in Norfolk, England in 1061. Our Lady of Walsingham is the title of Mother Mary.

The Feast of Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels is celebrated on the 29^th of September.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”– 1 Thessalonians 4:16

“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.” – Daniel 12:1

The devotees should invoke Mother Mary through the recitations of the Rosary and the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary everyday and especially during the month of September and in the Marian Months.

“Always stay close to this Heavenly Mother, because she is the sea to be crossed to reach the shores of Eternal Splendour.”–Saint Padre Pio, 1887-1968 AD

Mother of Jesus Christ, Pray for us.