On the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, today, thousands of people from every walk of life and of every age unite in the many traditional devotional processions with the statue of the sorrowful Virgin beneath the Cross that are held in many parishes. This is not only time for devotion but, more so, for reflection.
For many believers, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows offers a distinctive opportunity to look with faith at the mystery of suffering. They put themselves in Mary's footsteps and seek her motherly intercession, tenderness and comfort. They call on her for their needs and those of their families and friends.
Christians believe that, in difficult times, which everyone experiences, they are not alone: like the Apostle John at the foot of the Cross, Jesus also gives his Mother to them so that she will console them with her tenderness. They also believe that, like the Son on the Cross, who pours out his suffering into his Mother's heart, every child who suffers experiences such a necessity.
To many, and, possibly, not only the faithful, Mary is a sign of God's mercy and is always ready to direct her gaze towards all those who suffer, offering them comfort and solace.
On various occasions, especially in the most testing of times, such as during World War II, the Christian community of these islands sought the special protection of the Mother of Christ. This deep devotion reflects, primarily, the community's profound sympathy and reverence for the sufferings of Mary during her Son's Passion.
In her sorrows, people continue to see Mary suffering also for all those facing some form of one or more trials in today's life: parents who see their children in pain; those in pain themselves, whether due to ill-health, broken relationships, disrespect or despair; the victims of injustices; the lonely; the abused; the emarginated and the forgotten; those facing the perils of drug abuse, alcoholism or usury. There are so many sufferings that cry out for help.
In their day-to-day experience, people live through many greater or lesser hopes, varying in kind according to the different periods of their life. Young people, for instance, can have the hope of a great and fully satisfying love; the hope of a certain position in their profession or of some success that will prove decisive for the rest of their lives. Yet, how many of them end up facing some sort of suffering such as loneliness, failures and disappointment in their personal lives or difficulties in inserting themselves in the adult world and in professional life?
No wonder so many Christian believers, the world over, continue to see the need to turn to Mary for strength and serenity, according to their culture's pious practices, when their sorrows and tribulations seem too much for their hearts to bear!
The Maltese people's Marian devotion has been so pronounced since time immemorial. It has its own particularly deep roots, values and meaning. Many believe that this devotion, as it should be, also constitutes a clear testimony of love for Christ.
The Catholic Church, on her part, considers that genuine forms of popular piety, expressed in a multitude of different ways, derive from the faith and, therefore, must be valued and promoted. The Church acknowledges that popular religiosity means that faith sows roots in the heart of individual persons in such a way that it may be introduced into the world of daily life.