Tradition has it that Jesus’ body was placed in His mother’s arms after he was taken down from the Cross. This touching scene became the subject of artistic renderings around 1300, with the most famous of all being Michelangelo’s sculpture in white marble. The Pieta has been housed in St. Peter’s Basilica since the early 18^th Century.  Today’s For Reflection captures in verse what Michaelangelo’s sculpture captures in marble – a deepening insight into the mystery of Mary, Virgin and Mother, whose Son was her Savior and her God, and Whose suffering was mystically her own.

To Mary: At the Thirteenth Station

You are the priest tonight:
The paten of your lap holds sacrifice.
You are the priest tonight,
Offering Peace and its price.
Star candles burn palely bright;
John is your faithful acolyte.
You are the priest tonight.

                                                                  —Raymond Roseliep
         M. Thérèse. I Sing of a Maiden: The Mary Book of Verse.
                                                        New York: Macmillan, 1947.

For Reflection:              How is this scene almost para- liturgical? Read Paragraphs, 783 and 1546 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in light of the poem.  Do you think the description of Mary as priest is an apt one? What deeper insights does this give you into the mystery of Mary, her union with her Son and His sacrifice, and the suffering they shared in common?

“Only the joy that stands the test of pain and is stronger than afflictions is authentic.”

                                Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

For Reflection:             

Consider the paradox of joy and pain co-existing. What joy might Mary have been experiencing at the foot of the Cross even in the midst of her great suffering? How might this joy help her to stand there? Recall a time when you were experiencing a suffering marked with an underlying joy. How did it help you to stand there – actually or metaphorically? Can you identify the joy in her current sorrow – what is it? How does it help you to stand?

“When the hour came the disciples fled, but Mary remained at the foot of the Cross, near her Son, she was prepared, she was ready for anything, even this.”

                                                                       Federico Suarez

For Reflection:                            In light of Matthew 7:14, how did the narrow way prepare Mary for Golgotha? How has each contradiction and sorrow of your life prepared you for the next? With supernatural outlook, see how these sufferings and difficulties have formed the path of your own Via Dolorosa. Giving your fiat at the foot of this, your cross, unite them to the Cross of Our Lord. Journal your insights.

“To drink the chalice with the Lord (Mt. 20:21) means dying to one’s natural self – both in the sensitive and in the spiritual part. Only in this way can one enter the narrow way.”

                                                     St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

                                                                                    (Edith Stein)

For Reflection:              Recall again that Scripture and Tradition tell us that Mary stood at the foot of the Cross. What is the significance of this stance and what does it indicate about Mary? How was this a “dying to one’s natural self,” in the sense and emotions as well as in the spirit? Read Matthew 7:14. Mary’s fiat gained was her gate to the narrow way, a way she followed all her life. What is your current sorrow? How can it be a narrow way for you?