September is the Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, since we celebrate on September 15 the feast of the sufferings she endured in the culminating events of salvation history. The mystery of Our Lady’s suffering in union with her Son, our Savior, is most profound. It shines light also on the meaning our own sufferings can attain in imitation of her compassion with her Son.
In the first of her Sorrows, Our Mother receives the prophecy of Simeon that a “sword shall pierce” her own heart, even as her Son is to be “a sign that will be contradicted.” The piercing of the heart of Mary is at the center of the mystery of her suffering with Jesus. It was His Heart that was physically pierced by a sword at the Cross, after He had died. And yet Simeon prophesies that Mary’s heart will be pierced with His!