Seven Sorrows of Our Lady
Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows
A traditional Catholic novena to Our Lady of Sorrows for grief, mourning, and family suffering. Often prayed in preparation for the September 15 feast.
Pray This Novena
Start with day 1
Begin the novena now, move one day at a time, and come back here whenever you are ready for the next day.
Your prayer progress and private intention stay only on this device unless you clear them. How to pray a novena.
About This Novena
Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary grew in the older life of the Church and was especially spread by the Servite Order. This version is an adapted nine-day form: it keeps the first seven days with the sorrows themselves, then moves into the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and finally the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, drawing the soul more deeply into union with the Passion of Christ through the compassionate heart of His Mother.
Traditionally prayed for
Often prayed for grief, mourning, family suffering, and compassion in sorrow.
Usual timing
Often prayed in preparation for September 15.
Day checklist
Check off each day as you pray
0 of 9
Tap a day after you pray it. Your checklist stays on this device.
Private intention
This stays only on this device and appears at the intention moment in the prayer.
Pray Day 1 of 9
The First Sorrow: The Prophecy of Simeon
Not marked complete yet.
Tap any day to jump straight to it. Blue days are already marked complete on this device.
Most Sorrowful Mother, grief filled was your heart when, on offering your divine Son at the temple, Holy Simeon foretold that a sword would pierce your soul. There and then you knew you would suffer with Jesus.
Queen of Martyrs, let me unite my heart to yours in this pain, and ask you the grace to keep the thought of my death in mind, so I may always avoid sin.
Pause here for your intention.
How to pray each day
Main novena prayer
Repeated prayer cue
After the day meditation, pray the Hail Mary, the prayer to our Sorrowful Mother for a particular grace, and the Memorare.
Hail Mary
Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Prayer to our Sorrowful Mother for a particular grace
O, mother most holy and sorrowful, Queen of Martyrs, you who stood by your Son as He agonized on the cross; by the sufferings of your life, by that sword of pain that pierced your heart, by your perfect joy in heaven, look down on me kindly as I kneel before you, sympathizing with your sorrows and offering you my petition with childlike trust.
Dear Mother, since your Son refuses you nothing, ask of His Sacred Heart to mercifully grant what I ask, through the merits of His sacred passion, along with those of your sufferings at the foot of the cross.
Mother most merciful, to whom shall I go in my misery if not to you who pities us poor sinful exiles in this valley of tears? In our name, offer Jesus but one drop of His most precious blood, but one pang of His loving heart. Remind Him that you are our sweetness, our life and our hope, and your prayer will be heard. Amen.
Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of Virgins, my Mother. To you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your clemency, hear and answer me. Amen.
Related devotion
Keep this novena connected
Move naturally from this novena into the nearest saint life or traditional litany in the library.
Our Lady
The Story of Our Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows brings the faithful to Mary at the foot of the Cross. The devotion is usually gathered around seven sorrows: Simeon's prophecy, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the Child Jesus, the meeting on the way to Calvary, the Crucifixion, the taking down of the body of Jesus, and His burial. These are not random griefs. They trace Mary's union with the redemptive suffering of her Son. Her sorrow is maternal, but it is also obedient. She suffers without rebellion.
Read the full story
Lives of the Saints
The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Read this saint life from Butler's Lives of the Saints. Feast: September 15.
Read the life
Tools, privacy, and reminders
Prayer progress and local tools stay on this device unless you clear them.
About this novena
Description
Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary grew in the older life of the Church and was especially spread by the Servite Order. This version is an adapted nine-day form: it keeps the first seven days with the sorrows themselves, then moves into the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and finally the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, drawing the soul more deeply into union with the Passion of Christ through the compassionate heart of His Mother.
Traditionally invoked as patron of
grief, mourning, family suffering, compassion in sorrow
Traditionally prayed for
Often prayed for grief, mourning, family suffering, and compassion in sorrow.
Usual timing
Often prayed in preparation for September 15.
Mater Dolorosa, from the workshop of Dieric Bouts