[Rank]
Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary;;Duplex 2nd class;;5.1;;ex C11

[Rank] (rubrica 196)
Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary;;Duplex 2nd class;;5;;ex C11

[Ant Vespera]
Whither is thy beloved gone, * O thou fairest among women? Whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.;;109
Look away from me. * I will weep bitterly. Labour not to comfort me.;;112
He hath no form nor comeliness, * and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.;;121
From the sole of the foot * even unto the head, there is no soundness in it.;;126
Revive me with flowers, * stay me up with apples for I am swooning with love.;;147

[Hymnus Vespera]
v. Now let the darkling eve mount suddenly on high,
The sun affrighted reave his splendours from the sky,
While I in silence grieve o'er the mocked agony
And the divine catastrophe.
_
Grief-drenched, thou dost appear with heart of adamant,
O Mother; and dost hear the great hierophant,
Upon his wooden bier locked in the arms of death,
Utter in groans his parting breath.
_
What lookest thou upon, mangled and bruised and torn?
Ah, 'tis the very Son thy yearning breast hath borne!
Surely, each breaking moan and each deep-mouthèd wound
Its fellow in thy heart hath found!
_
Surely, the taunts and woes, the scourge, the dripping thorn,
The spitting and the blows, the gall, the lance, the scorn—
Surely, each torment throws a poison-dart at thee,
Crushed by their manifold tyranny.
_
Yet thou with patient mien beneath his cross dost stand,
Nobler in this, I ween, than all the martyr-band:
A thousand deaths, O Queen, upon thy spirit lie,
Yet thou, O marvel! dost not die.
_
O Holy Trinity, let earth and heaven raise
Their song of laud to thee the while my spirit prays:—
When evil comes to me, the strength do thou impart
That erst upheld thy Mother's heart!
Amen.

[Versum 1]
V. Pray for us, O Queen of Martyrs.
R. Who didst stand by the Cross of Jesus.

[Ant 1]
Look not upon me * because I am black, because the sun hath tanned me. My mother's children were angry with me.

[Oratio]
O God, at Whose suffering the prophecy of Simeon was fulfilled, and a sword of sorrow pierced through the gentle soul of the glorious Virgin and Mother Mary, mercifully grant that we who speak worshipfully of her woes, may obtain the saving purchase of thy suffering.
$Qui vivis

[Invit]
Let us take our stand by the Cross, in company with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. * A sword of sorrow hath pierced through her own soul also.

[Hymnus Matutinum]
v. What a sea of tears and sorrow
Did the soul of Mary toss
To and fro upon its billows,
While she wept her bitter loss;
In her arms her Jesus holding,
Torn so newly from the cross.
_
Oh, that mournful Virgin-Mother!
See her tears how fast they flow
Down upon his mangled body,
Wounded side, and thorny brow;
While his hands and feet she kisses—
Picture of immortal woe.
_
Oft and oft his arms and bosom
Fondly straining to her own;
Oft her pallid lips imprinting
On each wound of her dear Son;
Till at last, in swoons of anguish,
Sense and consciousness are gone.
_
Gentle Mother, we beseech thee
By thy tears and troubles sore;
By the death of thy dear offspring,
By the bloody wounds he bore;
Touch our hearts with that true sorrow
Which afflicted thee of yore.
_
To the Father everlasting,
And the Son who reigns on high,
With the co-eternal Spirit,
Trinity in Unity,
Be salvation, honour, blessing
Now and through eternity.
Amen.

[Ant Matutinum]
They are increased that trouble me; * many are they that rise up against me.;;3
They make ready their arrows in the quiver, * that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.;;10
My life is spent with grief, * and my years with sighing.;;30
My heart is like * melting wax in the midst of my bowels.;;21
O God, I have declared my life * unto thee: Thou hast put my tears in thy sight.;;55
My tears have been * my meat day and night.;;41
They bend their bow, * even bitter words, that they may shoot in secret at the perfect.;;63
My soul * is sore vexed, but Thou, O Lord, how long.;;6
God is our help * in trouble, which is come upon us exceedingly.;;45

[Nocturn 2 Versum]
V. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me.
R. He shall lie betwixt my breasts.

[Nocturn 3 Versum]
V. Through thee, O Virgin Mary, may we draw the waters of salvation.
R. Out of the Wounds of Christ.

[Lectio1]
Lesson from the book of Lamentations
!Lam 1:2; 1:20-21
2 Weeping she hath wept in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: there is none to comfort her among all them that were dear to her: all her friends have despised her, and are become her enemies.
20 Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, my bowels are troubled: my heart is turned within me, for I am full of bitterness: abroad the sword destroyeth, and at home there is death alike.
21 They have heard that I sigh, and there is none to comfort me.

[Responsory1]
R. There was a man whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout; and he said unto Mary
* Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also.
V. Call me not My-pleasantness, but call me Embittered, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
R. Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also.

[Lectio2]
!Lam 2:13, 15-16
13 To what shall I compare thee? or to what shall I liken thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? to what shall I equal thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Sion? for great as the sea is thy destruction: who shall heal thee?
15 All they that passed by the way have clapped their hands at thee: they have hissed, and wagged their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying: Is this the city of perfect beauty, the joy of all the earth?
16 All thy enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they have hissed, and gnashed with the teeth, and have said: We will swallow her up.

[Responsory2]
R. Arise, and take the young Child and His Mother, and flee into Egypt;
* And be thou there until I bring thee word.
V. Out of Egypt have I called My Son, that salvation may come unto Israel.
R. And be thou there until I bring thee word.

[Lectio3]
!Lam 2:17-18
17 The Lord hath done that which he purposed, he hath fulfilled his word, which he commanded in the days of old: he hath destroyed, and hath not spared, and he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee, and hath set up the horn of thy adversaries.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord upon the walls of the daughter of Sion: Let tears run down like a torrent day and night: give thyself no rest, and let not the apple of thy eye cease.

[Responsory3]
R. Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us?
* I and thy father have sought thee sorrowing.
V. How is it that ye sought Me? Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?
R. I and thy Father
&Gloria
R. Have sought thee sorrowing.

[Responsory4]
R. Jesus bearing His Cross, went forth.
* And there followed Him a company of women, which bewailed and lamented Him.
V. Daughters of Jerusalem, weep for yourselves and for your children.
R. There followed Him a company of women, which bewailed and lamented Him.

[Responsory5]
R. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him.
* Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother.
V. Then was it that a sword of sorrow pierced through her blessed soul.
R. There stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother.

[Responsory6]
R. Joseph of Arimathaea * Begged the Body of Jesus, and he took It down from the Cross,
* And His Mother received It into her arms.
V. The Shunamite took her dead son, and laid him on her knees; and her soul was vexed within her.
R. He begged the Body of Jesus, and he took It down from the Cross.
&Gloria
R. And His Mother received It into her arms.

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to John
!John 19:25-27
At that time: There stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother, and His Mother's sister, Mary (the wife) of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. And so on.
_
Homily by St. Ambrose, (Bishop of Milan.)
!On Virgins, 7
There stood by the Cross His Mother. Men had forsaken Him, but she stood there fearless. Behold how the Mother of Jesus could break through her shrinking modesty, but could not belie her heart. With the eyes of a mother's love she gazed upon the Wounds of her Son, those Wounds through Which she knew that redemption for all mankind was flowing. The Mother, who feared not the executioners, was able to endure the sight of their work. Her Son was hanging upon the Cross, and she braved His tormentors.

[Responsory7]
R. O what a sickening at heart was thine, thou Mother of sorrows
* When Joseph wrapped thy Son in linen and laid Him in the sepulchre?
V. Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.
R. When Joseph wrapped thy Son in linen and laid Him in the sepulchre.

[Lectio8]
!From the same 25th Epistle to the Church of Vercelli
Mary, the Mother of the Lord, stood by the Cross of her Son. My only informant of this fact is the holy Evangelist John. Others have written that when the Lord suffered, the earth quaked, the heavens were veiled in darkness, the sun was hidden, and the thief received, after a good confession, the promise of Paradise. John hath taught us what the others have not taught us. Upon the Cross He called her Mother. It is reckoned (by John) a greater thing that in the moment of triumph over agony, He should have discharged the watchful duty of a Son to His Mother, than that He should have made gift of the kingdom of heaven. For if it be a sacred thing to have forgiven the thief, this so great kindness of the Son to the Mother is to be worshipped as the outcome of a tenderer and more touching love.

[Responsory8]
R. Forget not the sorrows of thy mother with thine whole heart,
* That thine offering and thy blessing may be perfected.
V. Hail, O maid of Royal birth, Noblest martyr-rose of earth, lily of virginity.
R. That thine offering and thy blessing may be perfected.
&Gloria
R. That thine offering and thy blessing may be perfected.

[Lectio9]
Behold, saith the Lord, thy son: Behold thy Mother! Christ bore witness from the Cross, and divided the offices of his tender love between his Mother and his disciple. Thus doth the Lord give us a testament, not only of his love for souls, but also of his natural affection. Moreover, the testimony which John doth give us concerning this same testament, is a worthy testimony to the original Testator himself. It is a good testament, not of earthly riches, but of eternal life, written not in ink, but in the Spirit of the living God, who speaketh of such testimony in the Psalms, saying: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
&teDeum

[Capitulum Laudes]
!Lam 2:13
v. To what shall I compare thee? or to what shall I liken thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? to what shall I equal thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Sion? for great as the sea is thy destruction: who shall heal thee? 
$Deo gratias

[Hymnus Laudes]
v. God of mercy, let us run
Where yon fount of sorrows flows;
Pondering sweetly, one by one,
Jesu's wounds and Mary's woes.
_
Ah, those tears Our Lady shed,
Enough to drown a world of sin;
Tears that Jesu's sorrows fed,
Peace and pardon well may win!
_
His five wounds, a very home,
For our prayers and praises prove;
And Our Lady's woes become
Endless joys in heaven above.
_
Jesus, who for us did die,
All on thee our love we pour;
And in the Holy Trinity
Worship thee forevermore.
Amen.

[Versum 2]
V. By the woes that tortured thee,
R. Mary, ask for joy for me.

[Ant 2]
Come ye, and let us go * up to the mountain of the Lord, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.

[Lectio Prima]
!Lam 2:18
v. The tears run down like a river day and night. Give thyself no rest, neither let the apple of thine eye cease.

[Responsory Breve Tertia]
R.br. All ye * that pass by.
R. All ye * that pass by.
V. Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.
R. Ye that pass by.
&Gloria
R. All ye * that pass by.

[Versum Tertia]
V. Mine eyes do fail with tears.
R. All my bowels are troubled.

[Capitulum Sexta]
!Lam 1:2
v. She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her.
$Deo gratias

[Responsory Breve Sexta]
R.br. Mine eyes * do fail with tears.
R. Mine eyes * do fail with tears.
V. All my bowels are troubled.
R. With tears.
&Gloria
R. Mine eyes * do fail with tears.

[Responsory Breve Nona]
R.br. A bundle of myrrh * is my well-beloved unto me.
R. A bundle of myrrh * is my well-beloved unto me.
V. He shall lie betwixt my breasts.
R. My well-beloved unto me.
&Gloria
R. A bundle of myrrh * is my well-beloved unto me.

[Versum Nona]
V. My soul failed.
R. When my beloved spake.

[Ant 3]
Sorrow hath crushed me; * My face is swollen with weeping, and on mine eyelids is the shadow of death.
