Mary, Mother of Sorrows

The Sixth Sorrow—Mary receives the dead body of Jesus. “Joseph of  Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission so he came and removed his body” (Jn 19:38).

Imagine Mary watching Joseph reverently remove the nails from Jesus’ hands and feet and carefully lowering the dead body of Jesus to the ground. Legend has it that Mary asks to hold her Son’s body one last time before its burial.  She peers into the wounds, removes the crown of thorns, caresses his bloody hair, gently touches his swollen face and eyes, kisses his wounded body. The love of her entire being and the love of her Son meld into one huge shivering embrace.  She gazes silently upon the body that was crucified by sin and through which sin was deprived of its power to put believers to death—a miracle Mary witnessed in Dismis’ promise to be with Jesus that day in Paradise. 

How hard it was to let go of this dead body and allow Joseph and other men assigned to the task of burial to take Him from her and lay Him in the awaiting tomb. 

All of us know the horrible pain of watching a loved one’s coffin being lowered into a grave.  There is no sorrow as great as that kind of pain, unless it is watching a loved one die a miserable death. Mary was not exempted from this human experience of burying her Son. Yes, she buried Joseph and that was a painful loss, but no way as painful as burying her child, I don’t believe.

Mary weeps with all men and women or child who buries a loved one, no matter what the circumstances of death may be. With whom am I weeping? And who wept with me in similar circumstances? May we let Mary console us in our anguish!