Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows Prayer

Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows

Preparation

Dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, let us make our customary devotion, meditating reverently on the most bitter sorrows that the Blessed Virgin Mary endured in the life and death of her beloved Son, our divine Savior. Let us imagine ourselves present before Jesus hanging on the Cross, and His afflicted Mother saying to each of us: “Come and see whether there is any sorrow like mine.”

Trusting that this compassionate Mother wishes to grant us special protection as we meditate on her sorrows, let us invoke divine help with the following prayers.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

Verse: Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created.

Response: And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Verse: Remember Your congregation.

Response: Which You have made Your own from the beginning.

Verse: Lord, hear my prayer.

Response: And let my cry come to You.

Let us pray.

Illuminate our minds, we ask You, Lord, with the light of Your splendor, so that we may see what we ought to do and be able to do what is right. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

First sorrow: The prophecy of Simeon

The Blessed Virgin Mother of God presented her only Son in the temple, placing Him in the arms of the holy elderly Simeon. He told her: “This will be a sword that pierces your soul,” foretelling the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray one Our Father and seven Hail Marys. Then pray:

O sorrowful Virgin, by that most piercing sword with which the holy elderly Simeon foretold that your soul would be pierced in the Passion and death of your dear Jesus, I ask you to obtain for me the grace always to remember your pierced heart and the bitter suffering your Son endured for my salvation. Amen.

Second sorrow: The flight into Egypt

The Blessed Virgin had to flee into Egypt because of the persecution of cruel Herod, who wickedly sought to kill her beloved Son.

Pray one Our Father and seven Hail Marys. Then pray:

O Mary, bitter sea of tears, by the sorrow you felt as you fled into Egypt to keep your Son safe from Herod’s barbarous cruelty, I beg you to be my guide, so that through you I may be freed from the persecution of the visible and invisible enemies of my soul. Amen.

Third sorrow: The loss of Jesus

At Passover, after going to Jerusalem with Joseph her spouse and Jesus her beloved Son, Mary lost Him as she returned to her poor home. For three days she lamented the loss of her only beloved Son.

Pray one Our Father and seven Hail Marys. Then pray:

O desolate Mother, who, having lost the bodily presence of your Son, anxiously sought Him for three days, obtain for all sinners the grace that they too may seek Him through acts of contrition and find Him. Amen.

Fourth sorrow: Meeting Jesus carrying the Cross

The Blessed Virgin met her dear Son as He carried the heavy Cross on His tender shoulders to Mount Calvary, to be crucified for our salvation.

Pray one Our Father and seven Hail Marys. Then pray:

O Virgin, more sorrowful than all others, by the anguish of your heart as you met your Son carrying the wood of the most holy Cross to Calvary, grant that I too may accompany Him constantly in thought and weep for my sins, which were the evident cause of His suffering and yours. Amen.

Fifth sorrow: The death of Jesus on the Cross

The Blessed Virgin saw her Son raised upon the hard wood of the Cross, His sacred body pouring out blood.

Pray one Our Father and seven Hail Marys. Then pray:

O rose among thorns, by the bitter sorrows that pierced your heart as you saw your Son raised upon the Cross, obtain for me, I pray, that through constant meditation I may seek Jesus alone, crucified because of my sins. Amen.

Sixth sorrow: Receiving the body of Jesus

The beloved Son of the Blessed Virgin was wounded in His side after death, taken down from the Cross on which He had been so cruelly killed, and placed in her most holy arms.

Pray one Our Father and seven Hail Marys. Then pray:

O afflicted Virgin, who received into your lap your dead Son taken down from the Cross, kissed His sacred wounds, and shed a sea of tears over them, help me also to wash continually, with tears of true remorse, the mortal wounds my sins have made. Amen.

Seventh sorrow: The burial of Jesus

Mary, our Lady and Advocate of us, her servants and miserable sinners, accompanied the most holy body of her Son to burial.

Pray one Our Father and seven Hail Marys. Then pray:

O Mary, martyr of martyrs, by the bitter torment you endured when, after your Son was buried, you had to leave His beloved tomb, obtain for all sinners the grace to recognize how greatly the soul is harmed when it is far from God. Amen.

Three Hail Marys

Pray three Hail Marys with profound reverence for the tears that the Blessed Virgin shed in all her sorrows, asking her to obtain for us a similar weeping over our sins.

Stabat Mater

The source concludes the chaplet by directing the reader to pray this hymn.

The sorrowful Mother stood weeping beside the Cross while her Son hung there.

A sword pierced her groaning soul, saddened and grieving.

How sad and afflicted was that blessed Mother of the only-begotten Son!

The loving Mother mourned and grieved as she saw the suffering of her glorious Son.

Who would not weep on seeing the Mother of Christ in such anguish?

Who could remain without sorrow while contemplating Christ’s Mother grieving with her Son?

For the sins of His people, she saw Jesus in torment and subjected to scourging.

She saw her sweet Son dying, forsaken, as He gave up His spirit.

O Mother, fountain of love, make me feel the force of your sorrow, so that I may mourn with you.

Make my heart burn with love for Christ our God, so that I may please Him.

Holy Mother, do this: impress deeply on my heart the wounds of the Crucified.

Share with me the sufferings of your wounded Son, who deigned to suffer so much for me.

Let me weep devoutly with you and grieve with the Crucified as long as I live.

I desire to stand with you beside the Cross and join you in lamentation.

Virgin most glorious among virgins, do not now be harsh with me; let me lament with you.

Let me bear the death of Christ, share in His Passion, and remember His wounds.

Let me be wounded by His wounds, filled to overflowing with the Cross and with the blood of your Son.

Lest I burn in the flames, may I be defended through you, O Virgin, on the day of judgment.

Christ, when it is time to leave this life, grant that through Your Mother I may come to the palm of victory.

When my body dies, grant that my soul may receive the glory of paradise. Amen.

The prayers used in the chaplet

Our Father

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.