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The month of September is dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard. The Cistercians and then the Servites undertook to propagate it. It became widespread in the fourteenth and especially the fifteenth centuries, particularly in the Rhineland and Flanders, where Confraternities of the Sorrowful Mother sprang up. It was in this context that the first liturgical formularies in her honor were composed. A provincial council of Mainz in 1423 made use of these in establishing a “Feast of the Sorrows of Mary” in reparation for Hussite profanations of her images.

In 1494 the feast appeared in Bruges, where the Precious Blood of Christ was venerated; later on it made its way into France. It did not, however, become widespread in France before Benedict XIII included it in the Roman Calendar in 1727 and assigned it to the Friday before Palm Sunday.

Some Churches had previously celebrated this feast during the Easter season. Others, however, celebrated the Joys of the Blessed Virgin during the Easter season, as is still done today at Braga. In some places it was entitled “Recollection of the Feasts and Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

Excerpted from The Church at Prayer, Vol. IV A.G. Martimort.

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• A veil, like a sacrament, is an outward sign of an inward event. In this case, it is an outward sign of an inward call to emulate the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, the perfect woman, who always wears a veil. Honor the Blessed Mother May in the month of May by following her example of wearing the veil.

• The tradition of women wearing veils has been practiced within the Catholic Church since its beginning. St. Paul even speaks of women being veiled in Church. This is not because their status is less than men, but because they have a special role in creation and in salvation history. Because of this, women are to be cherished, set apart, special. By wearing a veil, a woman humbly accepts this great honor given to her by God. The veil symbolizes a woman’s acceptance of the sacred vocation God has ordained for her.

• Holy things are veiled in order to preserve their proper mystery and to show that they are set apart. In our Catholic churches, the tabernacle is veiled because it is holy and pure, containing the sacred Body of Christ, the author of life; a woman is veiled because she is a temple of the Holy Spirit and a tabernacle of life, whether in spiritual or physical motherhood, or both.

  [NOTE: Not only is a woman’s head veiled, but her entire body is called to be modestly concealed, preserving her sacred dignity before God and man. For women, skirts and dresses with hemlines below the knee and loosely fitted garments are modest; short skirts or dresses, and tightly fitted, body revealing fashions are not modest.]

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The Divine Mercy Chaplet Prayer Circle is a lay Catholic group offering prayers for those souls who are in their last hours and death is imminent. The group prays the chaplet throughout the day for souls near death. If you have a loved one for whom you would like to receive these prayers at the hour of his or her death, please send your request to the Divine Mercy Chaplet Prayer Circle at: Ezekiel.today@gmail.com