You're listening to I Pray with the Gospel on the St. Jose Maria Institute podcast.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence.

I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My Emanaclit Mother, St. Joseph, my Father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, a reading from the Gospel of John, chapter 19.

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister marry the wife of Clopis and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near,

he said to his mother,

Woman, behold your son.

Then he said to the disciple, behold your mother.

And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

After the Feast of the Holy Cross, we look at our lady at the foot of Jesus crucified.

If we hold her mother close to us and stand by her son's cross, we will learn something great from her.

Consider that Mary wasn't hysterical in her grief or shouting back at those who tortured her son.

The gospel does not mention whether she spoke encouraging words to Jesus as he was dying.

It only says that she was standing by the cross.

She was in a place where she could be seen by Jesus.

And there she contemplated her son in agony.

What great comfort she gave to Jesus just by being there with him. Bear in mind that her lady was not there out of a sense of duty. Rather, she knew that for

Jesus it was important to look down and find the lovely face of his mother, to let him know that he

wasn't left alone. Until the end of time, that is the place of our lady, at the foot of the cross, close to her son, co-redeeming with him.

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