There is something about the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows that has always appealed to me. Since I started seriously considering being received into the Catholic Church around 2015, I feel that she has been a constant and comforting presence. The devotion to the Mother of God was one of the aspects of the Catholic faith that initially drew me to the Church, as I felt that Catholicism had the greatest appreciation for her, and the fullest understanding of her importance. It seemed like a good sign that the church where I started attending Catholic Mass regularly, and would eventually be officially received into the Church, would be under the patronage of Blessed Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows. Another personal connection was that the feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows is two days after my birthday, which gave me even more of a sense of an affinity for her under this title. September is a special month when it comes to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the feast of her own nativity is celebrated on the 8th, exactly nine months after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th, when tradition holds that Our Lady was conceived without inheriting the stain of original sin. One week after the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she is honoured as Our Lady of Sorrows, the compassionate mother lamenting for her crucified Son and our Redeemer. From her, the Word of God took flesh, and that flesh had been nailed to a cross. It is no wonder that sorrow pierced her own soul when her divine Son was crucified, making her a martyr without dying.O Virgin Mother of God, He whom the whole world doth not contain, beareth this punishment of the cross; He the author of life made man.
(From the gradual for the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Virgin of all virgins best, Listen to my fond request: Let me share thy grief divine.
(From the Stabat Mater)
In his Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis continued this cycle of catechesis on "Jesus Christ our Hope," as part of the Jubilee 2025. This week he reflected on the Magnificat, the Virgin Mary's Song of Praise after she is greeted by her cousin Elizabeth.
Pope Francis continued this cycle of catechesis on "Jesus Christ our Hope." Reflecting on the Angel Gabriel's greeting to the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation, he said that "The 'Almighty,' the God of the 'impossible' is with Mary, together with and beside her; He is her companion, her principal ally, the eternal 'I-with-you.'"
On January 1, 2025, Pope Francis gave the homily at Mass on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in St. Peter's Basilica.
In his weekly catechesis, Pope Francis reflected on how the Holy Spirit empowered the Blessed Virgin Mary to become the Mother of God.
On Thursday, August 15, 2024, Pope Francis led the Angelus Prayer and gave an address on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He said that "the Blessed Virgin is She who goes before us on the journey, reminding us all that our life is also a continuous journey towards the horizon of the definitive encounter."