dulgence _as
often_ as they visit, after confession and communion, a church where the
Archconfraternity of the Seven Sorrows is canonically established, and
pray there for the intentions of the Holy Father. This indulgence is
applicable to the souls in purgatory.

FIRST DAY

Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary

PREPARATORY PRAYER

BID me bear, O Mother blessed,
On my heart the wounds impressed
Suffered by the Crucified!

Indulgence. 300 days, once a day. A plenary indulgence, on any one day,
in each month, to those who shall have practised this devotion for a
month, saying besides seven Hail Marys, followed each time by the above
invocation. Conditions: Confession, communion, and prayer for the
intentions of the Pope. (Pius IX, June 18, 1876.)

MEDITATION

FROM the dolorous way of Our Lord's passion Holy Church selected
fourteen incidents to place before us for consideration, which are
called the Stations of the Cross. In the same manner the pious devotion
of the faithful selected seven events in the life of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, and gives itself to their religious contemplation. They are: (1)
Simeon's prophecy in the Temple; (2) the flight into Egypt with the
divine Child; (3) the loss of the divine Child at Jerusalem; (4) Mary's
meeting with her Son bearing the cross; (5) Mary beneath the cross; (6)
Mary receives the body of her Son from the cross; (7) the placing of
Jesus' body in the tomb.

PRACTICE

"FORGET not the sorrows of thy mother" (_Ecclus._ vii. 29). According to
this exhortation of Holy Scripture it is our duty to remember and
meditate often on the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We ought never
to forget that our sins were the cause of the sufferings and death of
Jesus, and therefore also of the sorrows of Mary.

Holy Church celebrates two feasts in honor of the sorrows of Mary; she
approved of the Rosary and of many other devotions in honor of the Seven
Dolors, and enriched them with numerous indulgences. Let us practise
these devotions to enkindle in our hearts a true and ardent love for our
sorrowful Mother.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

GRANT, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that the most blessed
Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, may intercede for us before the throne of Thy
mercy, now and at the hour of our death, through whose most holy soul,
in the hour of Thine own passion, the sword of sorrow passed. Through
Thee, Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world, who livest and reigne