ry day and hour of their quiet, happy life at Nazareth. Is it to
be wondered, then, that at this bitter moment her sorrow was so great
that, as St. Anselm observes, she should have died had she not been
sustained by a miracle of divine omnipotence?

PRACTICE

OUGHT not the contemplation of the sorrows of our blessed Mother confirm
us in patience, in resignation to the will of God in our trials and
sufferings? If the Son of God said of Himself: "Ought not Christ to have
suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory?" (_Luke_ xxiv.
26); if the most pure and holy Mother of God, despite her great
prerogatives and merits, had to suffer a sorrow so ineffable, do not
murmur if the word of Christ is addressed also to you: "And he that
taketh not up his cross and followeth Me, is not worthy of Me" (_Matt._
x. 38).

Prayer of the Church (located on the first day of the novena).

Litany of Loreto (located in the final section of the book).

_Prayer_

I COMPASSIONATE thee, sorrowing Mary, for the pain thou didst suffer
when the body of thy divine Son, taken down all torn and bloody from the
cross, was placed in thy arms. Dear Mother, by thy heart pierced
through, obtain for me the virtue of fraternal charity and the gift of
understanding.

Hail Mary, etc.

Ejaculation (located on the first day of the novena).

EIGHTH DAY

Mary's Seventh Sorrow: Jesus is Buried

Preparatory Prayer (located on the first day of the novena).

MEDITATION

THE sacrifice for the redemption of the world was accomplished. "And
Joseph, taking the body, wrapt it up in a clean linen cloth, and laid it
in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock. And he rolled
a great stone to the door of the monument, and went his way" (_Matt._
xxvii. 59). Mary also took part in the burial of her beloved Son, though
the evangelists do not mention her name amongst those who were present
on that mournful occasion. Never, most assuredly, was human soul visited
by such woe and desolation, as that which overwhelmed hers as she cast a
last glance on the precious remains of her dead Son.

PRACTICE

LET us learn of the sorrowful Mother at the tomb of her divine Son
submission to God's holy will in all things, but especially when He
takes from us one of our dear ones. Again, the contemplation of the
sufferings of Mary should fortify us in patience, whenever God is
pleased to visit us with a light and small cross of affliction, or even
with