To the Band of Brothers- September 15, 2021

Good morning!

As you know, yesterday we celebrated the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This feast day helps remind us of the passion of our Lord and how it is through his suffering that we are saved. Today, the suffering theme continues with the feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows. In this case, we are reminded of the pain the Blessed Mother experienced when she witnessed her Son’s passion and death.

The Virgin Mary as our Lady of Sorrows has been artistically represented in many different ways throughout the centuries. Actually, on one of the walls next to the conference room in the Administration Building, there is a good example. It is a copy of a very famous painting that can be found in the Colegio San Gabriel, the Jesuit school of Quito. 

I saw the painting when I was in Ecuador years ago for a conference. The President of the school took me to their chapel located in the center of the school to show us their most valued possession. Right behind the altar, where normally the crucifix is located, is la Virgen Dolorosa, our Lady of Sorrows. The story goes that in 1906 this painting, which originally hung in the school’s dining room, in the presence of the student body, began to open and close its eyes as tears ran down the Blessed Mother’s face. There are literally hundreds of eyewitnesses to this event and, since then, it has been at the center of the school’s life.

I remember being very impressed to see the great devotion the students and faculty had to their patroness, la Virgen Dolorosa. As I sat in that chapel gazing at the image, I couldn’t help but think of our own patroness. The Blessed Mother, under the title of Our Lady of Belen, has also watched over us and has been at the center of our school since our founding in 1854. Our battle cry of “Our Lady of Belen… pray for us” is not simply a neat way to gather the troops at our many events. It is an expression of our devotion and admiration for the mother of Jesus who so devoutly has watched over us and protected us for 167 years.

This Marian practice both at San Gabriel and Belen is at the heart of the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola and has been passed down to us. Remember, it was Ignatius who surrendered his sword to the Blessed Mother at Montserrat. Remember, it was Ignatius who on his way to Barcelona met up with a Moor who questioned Mary’s virginity and who Ignatius contemplated killing for such an insult. Remember, it was Ignatius who insisted in the Spiritual Exercises that the first person Jesus appeared to after the resurrection was not Mary Magdalene in the garden, but actually Mary his mother in Jerusalem.

Today’s memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is just one more way the Church has to commemorate the great mother of God. While we see her in so many different ways, representing so many different countries and people, she is in all cases the mother of all mankind whose desire is nothing more than for us to experience the love of Jesus her Son. 

Auspice Maria