Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Mary’s of the Lake:

When I was serving the TRI- PARISH in the Valley area, a few Vietnamese Sisters came to visit me and our 4 churches in the Tri- Parish Community. After visiting the church in Stockbridge, the nuns asked me how come this church had the name with a strong financial connotation --i.e. The Church of ‘OUR LADY OF SEVEN DOLLARS’. I managed to explain to the Sisters the difference between dollars and dolors. OUR LADY OF SEVEN DOLORS is another way of saying ‘Our Lady of Seven Sorrows’.

As a matter of fact, every year we have a special Marian Feast called the Feast of our Lady of Sorrows celebrated on September 15. In the life of our Blessed Mother Mary, there were seven (major) Joys & there were also seven (major) sorrows. The Seven Joys of Mary are: The Annunciation; the Visitation; the Nativity of Jesus; The Epiphany (the coming of the Magi); The Presentation of Jesus; The Finding of Jesus in the Temple, and Mary’s Assumption into Heaven.

The Seven Sorrows of Mary include:

1.- The Prophecy of Simeon. (Lk 2:34–35)
2.- The escape and Flight into Egypt. (Matt 2:13)

3.- The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple. (Lk 2:43–45) 4.- The Meeting of Mary and Jesus on the Way of the Cross.
5.- The Crucifixion of Jesus on Mount Calvary. (Jn 19:25) 6.- The Piercing of the Side of Jesus with a spear, and His Descent from the Cross. (Matt 27:57–59)

7.- The Burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea. (Jn 19:40–42)

Mary was indeed called or ‘allowed’ to share in the sufferings of her Divine Son. Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Dolors, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows, Our Lady of Piety (Pietà), Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolors are names by which the Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to SORROWS in her life.

Along with all the joys, each of us also has a share in various kinds of sufferings in life. Regarding his sufferings, St. Paul wrote: ‘Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.’ (Col 1: 24). ‘Lacking’ does not means Christ’s suffering is defective. Rather it can be seen as: Christ ‘wants’ or ‘invites’ us to share in His suffering. In other words, you and I are invited to join our sufferings to His to pray for ourselves & for others, for the Church & for the world.

 

Fr. Philip