THE LITANY OF THE
SORROWFUL MOTHER

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This litany of the Sorrowful Mother printed below, like all litanies, can be prayed for private use, either individually, or in a group setting with one person reading each petition while the rest of the group says the words printed in most prayer books in italics (the responses for each as saying “pray for us”).

As such this litany, like many others, gives us some important insights for meditation on those events that made our Blessed Mother our Sorrowful Mother as well!

We see among the many petitions those that are used in the Seven Sorrows Prayers in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which can also be prayed as the Seven Sorrows Rosary. 

As a quick reminder, these sorrows are known in one title or another as the Prophecy of Simeon, The Flight Into Egypt, the Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple, Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary, Jesus Dies on the Cross, Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in Her Arms, and Jesus is Placed in the Tomb.

In a podcast on YouTube, the renowned exorcist Father Chad Ripperger commented on this Litany that in it you get a very deep sense of all the different facets of our Sorrowful Mother’s suffering, and, as he put it, “there’s all sorts of facets that you learn from that.”

Father Ripperger has also noted that Our Lady, who is filled with grace of course, can also help you with much needed graces as you strive for sanctity. In praying to her as Our Lady of Sorrows she can reveal your own spiritual defects, your sinful proclivities as it were, so you can fight against these sins with the corresponding virtues, such as humility over pride, temperance over gluttony, and chastity over lust, for some prominent examples.

In this regard, Father also mentioned most significantly that “the closer you are to Our Lady, because she is the mediatrix of all grace, the two principle effects of grace are to enlighten the mind and strengthen the will; and she gives you the grace to see these things much more clearly and for what they actually are.”

And of course, devotion to our Lady of Sorrows, our Sorrowful Mother, is a great way to comfort her in these days when she sees her Son and His church suffering from so much indifference, opprobrium, blasphemy, and even apostasy in these dark days!

Litany of the Sorrowful Mother

Lord, have mercy on us
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us.
Holy Mother of God,
pray for us.
Mother of Christ, (pray for us after each line)
Mother of our Savior Crucified,
Mother most sorrowful,
Mother most tearful,
Mother most afflicted,
Mother most lonely,
Mother most desolate,
Mother pierced by the sword of sorrow,
Queen of martyrs,
Comfort of the sorrowful,
Help of the needy,
Protectress of the forsaken,
Support of widows and orphans,
Health of the sick,
Hope of the troubled,
Haven of the shipwrecked,
Refuge of sinners,
Hope of the despairing,
Mother of mercy,

Through thy poverty in the stable of Bethlehem,
Through thy sorrow at the prophecy of Simeon,
Through thy sad flight into Egypt,
Through thine anxiety when seeking thy lost Child,
Through thy grief when seeing the Divine Son persecuted,
Through thy fear and anxiety when Jesus was apprehended,
Through the pain caused thee by the treason of Judas
and the denial of Peter
Through thy sad meeting with Jesus on the Way of the Cross,
Through the tortures thy loving heart suffered at the          Crucifixion of Jesus,
Through thine agony at the death of Jesus,
Through the sword of sorrow that pierced thy heart when the side of Jesus was transfixed by the lance,
Through thy lamentations over the dead body of thy Divine Son lying on thy bosom,
Through thy deep mourning at His tomb,
Through thy desolation after the burial of Jesus,
Through the tears thou didst shed for thy beloved Son,
Through thy wonderful resignation at the Will of God in all thy sufferings,

O Queen of peace,
In all our tribulations,
In our illnesses and pains,
In our sorrows and afflictions,
In our need and destitution,
In our fears and dangers,
In the hour of our death,
On the Day of Judgment,

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, O Sorrowful Virgin
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray

We beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, let Thy Mother, The Blessed Virgin Mary, whose holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow at the hour of Thy Passion, implore Thy mercy for us, both now and at the hour of our death,
Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen