“Contemplate Mary suffering
Near the Savior’s Holy Cross,
See her saintly soul pierced
By the sword of sharp sorrow.
Jesus dying her greatest torture;
Love, her greatest torment,
Her heart, her greatest sacrifice,
O my God, how great her torment!
She feels the same wounds
As her dying Son,
She is the unique echo of His groans,
The true portrait of His pain.”
Three of 10 verses : Sufferings of the Blessed Virgin At The Foot of The Cross
Hymn #74
St. Louis de Montfort
The Hymns of St. Louis de Montfort
Montfort Publications
The Catholic Church has asked all Catholics to pray and to fast as a means to make reparation to Our Lord. On the eve of Our Lady of Sorrows, at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Island, we honored that request to “pray with” and “pray to” Our Lady of Sorrows, to help us and to help the Church.
This message and purpose is explained in the first two minutes of the Spiritual Insight Audio.
The prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows is a way to open our hearts for the graces requested, and to prepare for being in the presence of her Son. The prayer will include the praying of the Penitential Psalms. These psalms, tradition has it, St. Augustine prayed as he reach the end of his life. These psalms are at least from the fifth century AD, and possibly earlier. They were said as special and inspired prayer in which early Catholics cried out for mercy, forgiveness, and the grace for true conversion. All things that today’s Catholics also request of Our Lord.
The Prayer session originally occurred over two and a half hours in the presence of Our Lord. Do not worry, this audio is not 150 minutes. The audio, after the introduction, includes the following……
- 0 – 2:15 – Introduction
- 2:15 – 7:15 Gospel: St. Luke’s Gospel: Simeon and Our Lady of Sorrows and a brief Homily. The Homily sets the tone for our prayers to Our Lady of Sorrows, to open our hearts and to seek forgiveness and to prayerfully unite our hearts to Our Lord through Our Lady of Sorrows.
- 7:15-26:45 Prayers to Our Lady of Sorrows. This section of the audio includes seven prayers to Our Lady of Sorrows, each followed by seven Hail Mary’s. These prayers to Our Lady prepare us to enter the presence of Our Lord. If you have never prayed to Our Lady of Sorrows, join the community in doing so now.
- 27:00 – The Penitential Psalms
The audio, after the opening prayer, explains the origins of the Penitential Psalms, the psalms of repentance. Each Psalm is then read with a brief introduction. We who often do not know what to say when we ask for repentance, lean toward these psalms. This is an amazing audio that all should listen and meditate on.
Please note: depending upon the bible translation / version, the numbers may differ by one. The first line of each psalm appears below. Lastly, the number at the end is the approximate time in which the introduction / overview of the psalm is spoken, followed by the psalm reading.
- Psalm #6: O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation.
- Psalm #32 (31): Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven. (36:00)
- Psalm #38 (37): O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation. (41:00)
- Psalm #51 (50): Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy (47:30)
- Psalm #102 (101): O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee. (54:00)
- Psalm #130 (129): Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord. (61:00)
- Psalm #142: Hear, O Lord, my prayer: give ear to my supplication in thy truth. (64:40)
We encourage you when listening and after hearing the Glory to the Lord… prayer, to pause the audio, and say an Our Father, Hail Mary and a Glory Be. Take whatever meditation time you desire and whatever additional prayer time you want, then resume the audio.
