Our Lady of Sorrows.

September means a lot of things to people: the end of summer, back to school, so many things starting and ending. The month is dedicated to Mary in the Catholic Church. It sure seems like a lot of months are dedicated to Our Lady but I can't think of anyone better to dedicate September to. Specifically, September is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. Mary has a lot of titles too. But when you think about it, everyone has a lot of titles, no one is just one thing to everyone.
The Church gives us these feast days for Our Lady to call attention to some aspect of her that may be helpful to us in our journey to heaven. There are seven moments of sorrow in Mary's life that we are asked to reflect on:

1. The Prophecy of Simeon.
2. The Flight into Egypt.
3. The Loss of the Child Jesus for Three Days.
4. Meeting Jesus on the Way to Calvary.
5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus.
6. Jesus Taken Down from the Cross.
7. Jesus Laid in the Tomb.

There you pretty much have the spectrum of suffering for a womanly heart: Impending doom through the death and burial of a child.
I could rant about how amazing Mary is for a very long time. Our Lady of Sorrows is possibly my favorite Marian feast. When I read the scripture accounts of the seven sorrows and put myself in Mary's place, reflecting on her feelings and thoughts as a mother, as a woman, and I know she had perfect trust in God, (as she demonstrated when she agreed to bare His Son) my respect and admiration for her grows so much. And, just as she said in the Magnificat, I always find myself thanking God and seeing Him magnified in her.

I put two different settings of the Stabat Mater on the music player. The Stabat Mater is a beautiful prayer in Latin that is traditionally associated with the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. It depicts Mary standing at the foot of the cross. Lots of composers have written music for this prayer. The English translation is also very nice though when you sing it, it must be in Latin. My favorite version is a very modern choral piece that I heard the Gonzaga choir sing two years ago. I can't remember the composers name. But anyway, these two are kind of interesting cause they contrast so much. I've heard the first one somewhere before but the more modern one is totally new to me and I'm not sure what I think of it. There's no rule that says you can't have a synthesizer in a setting of Stabat Mater but somehow is seems wrong to me. Not to mention the drums.
Here is the English translation:

At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to Jesus to the last.


Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has passed.


O how sad and sore distressed
was that Mother, highly blest,
of the sole-begotten One.


Christ above in torment hangs,
she beneath beholds the pangs
of her dying glorious Son.


Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold?


By the Cross with thee to stay,
there with thee to weep and pray,
is all I ask of thee to give.


She beheld her tender Child,
Saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent.


For the sins of His own nation,
She saw Jesus wracked with torment,
All with scourges rent:


Can the human heart refrain
from partaking in her pain,
in that Mother's pain untold?


O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord:


Make me feel as thou hast felt;
make my soul to glow and melt
with the love of Christ my Lord.


Holy Mother! pierce me through,
in my heart each wound renew
of my Savior crucified:


Let me share with thee His pain,
who for all my sins was slain,
who for me in torments died.


Let me mingle tears with thee,
mourning Him who mourned for me,
all the days that I may live:


Let me, to my latest breath,
in my body bear the death
of that dying Son of thine.


Virgin of all virgins blest!,
Listen to my fond request:
let me share thy grief divine;


Wounded with His every wound,
steep my soul till it hath swooned,
in His very Blood away;


Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
lest in flames I burn and die,
in His awful Judgment Day.


Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
by Thy Mother my defense,
by Thy Cross my victory;


When my body dies,
let my soul be granted
the glory of Paradise. Amen.