Lady of Sorrows
Celebrated the final Friday of Lent
The Lady of Sorrows, Virgen de los Dolores or La Dolorosa as she's commonly known in Mexico is one of the most common representations of the Virgin Mary. This allegorical representation symbolizes the seven sorrows in the life of Mary. These were: The Prophecy of Simeon when she presents Baby Jesus in the temple and he tells her that "he is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed--and a sword will pierce your soul too--so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare." The second sword represents the flight to Egypt, when King Herod ordered the death of all newborns. Third was the loss of Child Jesus in the temple when he disappeared for three days and spent them talking to priests and elders. The fourth sorrow came when Mary faced Jesus on the Way of the Cross, struggling to carry the cross to the site of his execution, his face streaked with blood from the crown of thorns, his body cut and bleeding and so weak, he fell under the weight. Then, Mary stood nearby to see her son nailed to the cross where he suffered and died, being this the fifth sorrow in her life. After that she received her dead son's body in her sixth sorrow and ultimately felt the seventh and final sorrow when she and a few friends buried the body of Christ in a borrowed grave quickly before sunset and the beginning of the Sabbath.
The tradition of presenting her with seven daggers took strength during the 14th century but in the Colonial times in the New Spain there remains the pictoric sense of depicting her with only one that symbolizes the prophecy of Simeon.
In art she is usually shown a red or blue robe with one or more swords through her chest as she wrings her hands. |