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The Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows, also known as the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows or the Servite Rosary, is a Rosary based prayer that originated with the Servite Order. [1] It is often said in connection with the Seven Dolours of Mary.
It is a chaplet consisting of a ring of seven groups of seven beads separated by a small medal depicting one of the sorrows of Mary, or a single bead. A further series of three beads and a medal are also attached to the chain (before the first "sorrow") and these are dedicated to prayer in honour of Mary's Tears, as well as to indicate the beginning of the chaplet. Conventionally the beads are of black wood or some other black material indicating sorrow. It has also been called the Seven Swords Rosary referring to the prophecy of Simeon:
"Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed." - (Lk.2:34-35)
It received approval through the grant of indulgences by Pope Benedict XII, Pope Clement XII, and Pope Clement XIII.
This devotion to the Our Sorrowful Mother was originated in the thirteenth century, when seven professional men from Florence, which was an important commercial center of Europe, were influenced by the penitential spirit common to the Brothers of Penance with whom they were in close contact. In 1240 they withdrew from the world to pray and serve the Lord, leading a life of penance, prayer and service to Mary. Because of so many visitors, they retreated again to Monte Senario, where they formed the Servite Order. By 1244, under the direction of Peter of Verona, they began to wear a religious habit similar to the Dominicans and began to live under the Rule of Saint Augustine. The Servites devoted their prayer to the rosary of the Seven Sorrows. The choice of the number was derived from the symbolic value of the number seven, suggesting fullness, completeness, and abundance. Consequently, only the principal sorrows are listed. [2]
The chaplet recalls the Sorrows the Virgin Mother of God endured in compassion for the suffering and death of her Divine Son. The Seven Sorrows are taken from events in Scripture. Before Pope Pius VII's formal approval, the Servite Order had permission in 1668 to celebrate the Feast of the Seven Dolors because the Order was instrumental in popularizing the Seven Sorrows Devotion. Members of the Servite Order actively promoted the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows during the time of the Black Death (1347-1351). [2]
Methods of praying the chaplet vary. This devotion may be spread over a week, commemorating one sorrow each day, or it may be prayed as whole in a single day. [3]
A method provided by the 1866 version of "The Raccolta" is shown below. [4] The recitation begins with the sign of the cross and an Act of contrition. Each sorrow is announced, (and in some versions of the recitation, a meditative prayer is said, or a segment from the Hymn Stabat Mater Dolorosa ). Then on the separate bead an Our Father is said, followed by a Hail Mary for each of the seven beads. Some then close the septet of Hail Marys with a brief invocation to Our Lady of Sorrows (Commonly: "Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us"), or a Glory Be. The next sorrow is then announced, and carried out in the same manner until all seven have been meditated upon. The three Hail Marys dedicated to her tears are said and then a closing prayer is said. The most commonly known or traditional closing prayer in the English speaking world is the following:
V. Pray for us, O most sorrowful Virgin.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, we now implore, both for the present and for the hour of our death, the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose holy soul was pierced at the time of Thy passion by a sword of grief. Grant us this favor, O Saviour of the world, Who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, forever and ever. Amen. [5]
On July 2, 2001, the Holy See released a declaration by Augustin Misago, Bishop of Gikongoro, on Marian apparitions that took place in 1981-83 in Kibeho, Rwanda indicating that they were “worthy of belief”. The visionaries, three local schoolgirls, reported seeing the Virgin Mary who identified herself to them as Nyina wa Jambo (Kinyarwanda for “Mother of the Word”).
In March 1982, Mary instructed the third seer, Marie-Claire Mukangango, to spread the devotion of the Seven Sorrows Rosary. Mukangango quoted the Virgin as saying: [6] [7] [8]
“One must meditate on the Passion of Jesus, and on the deep sorrows of His Mother. One must recite the Rosary every day, and also the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, to obtain the favour of repentance.”
According to Marie-Claire, the Virgin Mary gave her revelations about the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows and explained to her the graces associated with it. She also said she had been taught this rosary by the Virgin Mary herself. After research, the Church investigation commissions have not found any evidence that Marie Claire knew this rosary before the beginning of the apparitions. [8] [9] [10]
The Rosary, also known as the Dominican Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers. When referring to the prayer, the word is usually capitalized ; when referring to the prayer beads as an object, it is written with a lower-case initial letter.
Our Lady of Fátima is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal. The three children were Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto. José Alves Correia da Silva, Bishop of Leiria, declared the events worthy of belief on 13 October 1930.
The First Saturdays Devotion, also called the Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Catholic devotion which, according to Sister Lúcia of Fátima, was requested by the Virgin Mary in an apparition at Pontevedra, Spain, in December 1925.
Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows, and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referred to in relation to sorrows in life. As Mater Dolorosa, it is also a key subject for Marian art in the Catholic Church.
The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary, is one of the five original mendicant orders in the Roman Catholic Church. It includes several branches of friars, contemplative nuns, a congregation of religious sisters, and lay groups. The order's objectives are the sanctification of its members, the preaching of the Gospel, and the propagation of devotion to the Mother of God, with special reference to her sorrows. The Servites friars lead a community life in the tradition of the mendicant orders.
In Catholic tradition, the Five Holy Wounds, also known as the Five Sacred Wounds or the Five Precious Wounds, are the five piercing wounds that Jesus Christ suffered during his crucifixion. The wounds have been the focus of particular devotions, especially in the late Middle Ages, and have often been reflected in church music and art.
The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, also called the Divine Mercy Chaplet, is a Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy, based on the Christological apparitions of Jesus reported by Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938), known as "the Apostle of Mercy". She was a Polish religious sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and canonized as a Catholic saint in 2000.
Kibeho is a sector and small town in south Rwanda, which became known outside of that country because of reported apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ occurring between 1981 and 1989. It is also known for the Kibeho Massacre in April 1995, when several thousand internally displaced people were killed by the Rwandan Patriotic Army.
Catholic devotions are particular customs, rituals, and practices of worship of God or honour of the saints which are in addition to the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops describes devotions as "expressions of love and fidelity that arise from the intersection of one's own faith, culture and the Gospel of Jesus Christ". Devotions are not considered part of liturgical worship, even if they are performed in a church or led by a priest, but rather they are paraliturgical. The Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican publishes a Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy.
The Fivefold Scapular, also known as Redemptorist Scapular, is a sacramental made up of five best-known of the early scapulars in the Catholic Church: the Brown Scapular of the Carmelites, the Blue Scapular of the Immaculate Conception, the Black Scapular of the Servites, the Red Scapular of the Passion, and the White Scapular of the Most Holy Trinity. There are 17 total officially approved scapulars of the Catholic Church.
A chaplet is a form of Christian prayer which uses prayer beads, and which is similar to but distinct from the Rosary. Some chaplets have a strong Marian element, others focus more directly on Jesus Christ and his Divine Attributes, or one of the many saints, such as the Chaplet of St Michael. Chaplets are "personal devotionals" and depending on the origins, each one of the chaplets may vary considerably. In the Roman Catholic Church, while the usual five-decade Dominican rosary is also considered to be a chaplet, the other chaplets often have fewer beads and decades than a traditional rosary and may use a different set of prayers. In the Anglican Communion, a chaplet often includes one week of the Anglican rosary.
The Chaplet of Saint Michael the Archangel, also called the Rosary of the Angels, is a chaplet approved by Pope Pius IX in 1851.
Three Hail Marys are a traditional Roman Catholic devotional practice of reciting Hail Marys as a petition for purity and other virtues. Believers recommend that it be prayed after waking in the morning, and before going to bed. This devotion has been recommended by SS. Anthony of Padua, Alphonsus Liguori, John Bosco and Leonard of Port Maurice. Two saints, Mechtilde and Gertrude the Great, are said to have received revelations from the Blessed Virgin Mary regarding this practice.
Our Lady of Kibeho, also known as Our Lady of Sorrows of Kibeho, is a Catholic title of the Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in the 1980s by several adolescents in Kibeho, south-western Rwanda. The young visionaries were Alphonsine Mumureke, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka and Marie Claire Mukangango.
Rosary-based prayers are Christian prayers recited on a set of rosary beads, among other cords. These prayers recite specific word sequences on the beads that make up the different sections. They may be directed to Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary or God the Father.
The exact origins of both the rosary and scapular are subject to debate among scholars. Pious tradition maintains that both the rosary and the brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel were given by the Virgin Mary to Dominic and Simon Stock respectively during the 13th century. Historical records document their growth during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. By the early 20th century, they had gained such a strong following among Catholics worldwide that Josef Hilgers, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1914, stated: "Like the Rosary, the Brown scapular has become the badge of the devout Catholic."
The Scapular of the Seven Sorrows of Mary is a Roman Catholic devotional scapular that dates back to the thirteenth century. It is worn by members of the Confraternity of the Seven Dolours of Mary, associated with the Servite Order.
There are differing views on the history of the rosary, a [Catholic] prayer rope, cord or chain used to count specific prayers, commonly as a Marian devotion. The exact origin of the rosary as a prayer is less than clear and subject to debate among scholars. The use of knotted prayer ropes in Christianity goes back to the Desert Fathers in the 3rd and early 4th centuries. These counting devices were used for prayers such as the Jesus Prayer in Christian monasticism. The period after the Council of Ephesus in 431 witnessed gradual growth in the use of Marian prayers during the Middle Ages.
The rosary is one of the most notable features of popular Catholic spirituality. According to Pope John Paul II, rosary devotions are "among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation." From its origins in the twelfth century the rosary has been seen as a meditation on the life of Christ, and it is as such that many popes have approved of and encouraged its recitation.
Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás is, in Catholicism, a title of veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a reported private revelation to Gladys Quiroga de Motta, a middle-aged housewife, beginning in the 1980s in the city of San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Argentina. Quiroga said that she was tasked with promoting devotion to the Mother of God under this title, with an emphasis on key passages in the Bible and a particular mystical stellar symbolism.