Meditating on the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady not only honors the Blessed Virgin as the Queen of Martyrs, but helps us in our battles with afflictions of any sort. Fr. Chad Ripperger asserts that,
“It is important to a person who is under spiritual attack, if he is unable to determine what the will of God is in a particular case, to pray to Our Lady of Sorrows and ask Her what it is that Her Son wants him to gain from this attack.”
From: Fr. Chad Ripperger: Dominion. Keenesburg, CO, 2022, p. 216.
See also p. 171 and p. 185 with regards to licit means to obtain knowledge about the nature of one’s affliction.
While this Novena can be treated like an ordinary novena, that is, you can pray it for nine consecutive days to obtain a special grace, it is advised to contemplate the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady on a regular basis, that is to say, either daily or at least every Saturday.
There are various versions ‘out there’, as with many devotions and novenas. I very much like this one:
Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows
Ave Maria,
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.
Prayer to Our Sorrowful Mother for a Particular Grace:
O, Mother most holy and sorrowful, Queen of Martyrs, you who stood by your Son as He agonized on the Cross; by the sufferings of your life, by that sword of pain that pierced your heart, by your perfect joy in heaven, look down on me kindly as I kneel before you, sympathizing with your sorrows and offering you my petition with childlike trust.
Here is where you mention your petition.
Dear Mother, since your Son refuses you nothing, ask of His Sacred Heart to mercifully grant what I ask, through the merits of His sacred passion, along with those of your sufferings at the foot of the Cross.
Mother most merciful, to whom shall I go in my misery if not to you who pities us poor sinful exiles in this valley of tears? In our name, offer Jesus but one drop of His most precious Blood, but one pang of His loving Heart. Remind Him that you are our sweetness, our life, and our hope, and your prayer will be heard.
Amen.
The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency, hear and answer me.
Amen.
The Seven Sorrows of Mary
V: Deus, in adiutorium meum intende;
R: Domine, ad adiuvandum me festina.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
- I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the affliction of your tender heart at the prophecy of the holy and aged Simeon.
Dear Mother, by your heart so afflicted, obtain for me the virtue of humility and the gift of the holy fear of God.
Ave Maria… - I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the anguish of your most affectionate heart during the flight into Egypt and your sojourn there.
Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of generosity, especially toward the poor, and the gift of piety.
Ave Maria… - I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in those anxieties which tried your troubled heart at the loss of your dear Jesus.
Dear Mother, by your heart so full of anguish, obtain for me the virtue of chastity and the gift of knowledge.
Ave Maria… - I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the consternation of your heart at meeting Jesus as He carried His Cross.
Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of patience and the gift of fortitude.
Ave Maria… - I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the martyrdom which your generous heart endured in standing near Jesus in His agony.
Dear Mother, by your afflicted heart obtain for me the virtue of temperance and the gift of counsel.
Ave Maria… - I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the wounding of your compassionate heart, when the side of Jesus was struck by the lance before His Body was removed from the Cross.
Dear Mother, by your heart thus transfixed, obtain for me the virtue of fraternal charity and the gift of understanding.
Ave Maria… - I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, for the pangs that wrenched your most loving heart at the burial of Jesus.
Dear Mother, by your heart sunk in the bitterness of desolation, obtain for me the virtue of diligence and the gift of wisdom.
Ave Maria…
Oremus:
Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that the most blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, may intercede for us before the throne of Thy mercy, now and at the hour of our death, through whose most holy soul, in the hour of Thine own passion, the sword of sorrow passed.
Through Thee, Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.
Amen.
