Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

The following is one example of how to pray the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. The explanation and example are taken from a pamphlet titled, THE SERVITE ROSARY, by the Servants of Mary, Berrwyn, Illinois 60402. Click below for MORE INFORMATION on the Servite Rosary. If you Google the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary or search through your prayer books for this devotion, you will see there are many forms of this prayer. However, the seven Mysteries are the same for all forms.

"During the Middle Ages, when the ordinary Catholic no longer knew the language of the official prayer of the Church, many other prayer forms or devotions developed to fill the prayer vacuum that resulted. One of these was the rosary. And one of the adaptations of this prayer-form was the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

Like all rosaries, the Servite Rosary is a meditation on the mystery-events of God's love for us as reflected in the life of Jesus and Mary.Specifically, it invites us to meditate on those times in the life of Mary when she experienced the pain and suffering that tested her faith and invited her to a full sharing of the mystery of God's salvation in her Son, Jesus."

INSTRUCTIONS:
Opening Meditation: "In the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary we see a reflection of the suffering and bitter anguish of the human Christ. Just as Mary accepted the total mystery of Christ into her life, so may we see in our sorrow, our fear, and humiliation, a dim, but real participation in His passion and death, recalling that if we wish to follow Him, we must 'take up our Cross' each day. Let us pray that we may accept Christ's call, and become co-sufferers of His passion."

I. The Prophecy of Simeon: One Our Father and Seven Hail Marys
II The Flight into Egypt: One Our Father and Seven Hail Marys
III. The Loss of Jesus in the Temple: One Our Father and Seven Hail Marys
IV. Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary: One Our Father and Seven Hail Marys
V. Jesus Dies on the Cross: One Our Father and Seven Hail Marys
VI. Mary Receives the Dead Body of Jesus: One Our Father and Seven Hail Marys
VII. Jesus is Laid in the Tomb: One Our Father and Seven Hail Marys

Closing Prayer: Lord God, our Father, from the passion and death of Jesus, shared by the compassion of His Mother, you brought healing to fallen man. Grant that we, your people, may experience this healing and rise from the power of sin to a wholeness of life promised by Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, Amen

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