stabat mater (13. 798)

The devotion to the dolours beginning at the end of the eleventh century with the Servites of Florence—the Order of Servants of Mary, founded by a group of sons of wealth patrician families who eschewed their claim to textile fortunes and bonded in spiritual friendship started a community dedicated to mediating on this particular aspect of the Holy Mother—the feast of Our Lady is celebrated on this day. The Seven Sorrows are traditionally the Presentation of Jesus, the Flight into Egypt, the Disputation in the Temple, Encountering Jesus on the Via Dolorosa, the Crucifixion, the Disposition of Christ and the Burial. Patronage of this Marian aspect include Slovakia, Poland, Mississippi, Molise and people and places named Dolores, Dolorita, Lola and Pia. The title refers to a thirteenth century hymn, from the incipit “the mother stans” performed during the liturgy of the memorial, worth an indulgence of one hundred days each time it is sung.