Contemplating the Seven Sorrows of Mary

The Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary is often overlooked and underutilized. Now is the time to respond to Our Lady’s call to pray this chaplet fervently. 

In these pages, you will discover how your own pierced heart can become a portal of grace that opens and transforms you into all that God wants you to be, allowing you to share in the mercy and love of Christ’s Sacred Heart by uniting your sufferings to His. 

Equipped with an enriched understanding of redemptive suffering, Dr. Joseph Hollcraft and Ruth Berghorst guide you in the practice of mental prayer with St. Alphonsus Liguori on the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary in response to Our Lady’s request — echoed in every contemporary Marian apparition — to abide close to her heart and pray for the salvation of souls.

Key to obtaining the triumph of the sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Our Lady is calling upon the saints who are uniquely disposed to help us in the twenty-first century. 

These include:

• St. Dymphna for mental health
• St. Joseph for family life
• St. Josephine Bakhita for human-trafficking victims
• Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati for youth
• Bl. Bartolo Longo for protection from the occult
• St. Maria Goretti for purity
• St. Hildegard of Bingen for pastoral care

Praying the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary is akin to entering Mary’s classroom to comprehend what is often deemed incomprehensible. An important book in this classroom would be about Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows and how to overcome temptations and trials as she did. Among the many sufferings she endured, these particular sorrows flowed from Satan’s efforts to undermine her crucial role in our redemption. This book aims to acquaint Catholics with these vital sorrows — and the advantages Our Lady has linked to this devotion.