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Contemplating the Seven Sorrows of Mary: A Chaplet with St. Alphonsus Liguori
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
St. Dymphna for mental healthSt. Joseph for family lifeSt. Josephine Bakhita for human-trafficking victimsBl. Pier Giorgio Frassati for youthBl. Bartolo Longo for protection from the occultSt. Maria Goretti for puritySt. Hildegard of Bingen for pastoral carePraying 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.
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
St. Dymphna for mental healthSt. Joseph for family lifeSt. Josephine Bakhita for human-trafficking victimsBl. Pier Giorgio Frassati for youthBl. Bartolo Longo for protection from the occultSt. Maria Goretti for puritySt. Hildegard of Bingen for pastoral carePraying 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.
- GenresCatholic
240 pages, Paperback
Published August 20, 2024
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May 5, 2025
I enjoyed the reflections but wish they would have been longer.
I didn't find learning about seven saints to be all that helpful in this context. It seemed to break the flow for me. I would have enjoyed learning more about Our Lady's sorrows (That's not to disparage the saints. I just didn't find them to flow well in this book.)
Meditate upon our lady’s seven sorrows to learn how to suffer well. Suffering is redemptive, for every suffering, united to the infinite suffering of Jesus, becomes salvific, and no one embodies this better than Mary.
In contemplating her sorrows, we bring consolation to the heart of Mary and open our hearts to share in the salvific mission of bringing souls closer to the heart of Jesus.
We do not change God‘s mind when we pray, but we bring to fruition what is in God’s mind and heart. We can be sure that holiness for every soul is in his mind and heart.
Mary shows us how to triumph over our temptations and trials as she did.
Without mental prayer, the soul is without light. - St Alphonso’s Ligouri
We find in the fourth century writings of Saint Ambrose and Ephrem the Syrian that Mary’s sorrows were celebrated and venerated.
Simeon’s words revealed to Mary that she will have to live her obedience of faith and suffering at the side of the suffering Savior, and that her motherhood will be mysterious and sorrowful.
Just as the moon’s light reflects the sun without diminishing it, so does Mary reflect the light of Christ without reducing it.
When we ponder with Mary, we learn how to ponder fluently.
A respectful silence can be a way of honouring grief and signalling true camaraderie.
The entirety of this devotion is an accompaniment with Mary that brings her consolation.
Praying with the grieving Mary will steep our hearts in humility, give us a new perspective, and open our souls to unseen graces that are imperative in a time of increasing adversity.
Colossians 1: 24, “I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” What is lacking is our cooperation with God in our afflictions with the affliction of Christ passion for the salvation of souls.
Jesus does not remove suffering, but gives it redemptive power. He wastes nothing.
Nothing draws us closer to the heart of Jesus than suffering. Suffering is often the greatest inconvenience of our day, but love is defined by how we act in that inconvenience.
When we unite our suffering with Christ suffering, we help release the graces also merited by Jesus.
Redemptive suffering transforms us more and more into Christ himself. If we want to be Christlike, we must do what he did: suffer for the sake of souls.
We all suffer in this life. The question is: what will we do with that suffering?
Meditation is a conversation in which our effort prevails — a form of mental prayer in which the mind, in God‘s presence, thinks about God and divine things.
Our meditation is on Jesus Christ himself.
Contemplation is a conversation that God initiates. In contemplating the mysteries of God with the eyes of the heart, the “looking at” moves to more of a “looking into” the subtle movement of God, that allows us to see earth in light of heaven; vocation in light of destiny; and otherwise ordinary, moments in light of truth.
Adoration is to be “mouth-to-mouth” with God, breathing in his life and love.
The more we get to know God, the more powerful our contemplation of God will be.
In contemplation, God is the primary mover; we do less as God steps in and does the work of quieting our soul, filling us with his consolation, light, and truth. Our pursuit of God in meditation ought to lead to a deeper contemplation of God.
Dryness is a sharing in Christ’s experience in the desert.
God‘s strongest desire is that we desire him as much as he desires us.
Prayer is never to be a static courtship with God, but a love affair that sees every moment charged with eternal significance.
The prayer of the heart speaks directly to God about our day-to-day affairs.
Our heart must submit to a mature, thinking process, and a properly formed conscience based on scripture and church teaching.
If we see God, he will use everything, even our mistakes, to lead and guide us.
Prayer is less about asking for things and more about being in the presence of someone and talking with someone, who is God.
Take stock of our prayer lives to see what might be replacing God.
His company produces joy and gladness.
Solitude is not mere isolation; it is intentional communion. The solitude of the heart allows us to hear God, even in the most unsuspecting places. In the quiet of our hearts, we begin to see that the concreteness of our everyday life is charged with Divine appointments.
The physical posture of kneeling is intended to express a spiritual attitude of adoration, an act of humility, recognizing our littleness before God, the father. Kneeling strikes down our pride with a physical reminder of what our souls should be like spiritually.
Affections, petitions, and resolutions are the three principal fruits of meditation. They are rooted in humility and find their growth in the docility to the Holy Spirit, a disposition akin to humility.
God might say, “go there”, when there is no rhyme or reason to do so. Jesus said to his disciples, “go” and they went. Beyond Jesus telling them to “go”, very little else made sense to them, but it didn’t need to, and that’s the genius of mental prayer. It is enough that the one we love said to us, “go.”
When we abide in him, our petitions are more prompted and inspired by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
“In my name” is another way of saying, “abiding in my holy love.” In his grace, his desire becomes our desire; our petitions are his inspirations.
In the intercessory prayer that arises from deep union with God, we do not change God‘s mind, but we bring to fruition what is in God‘s mind. Our petitions order reality between us and God.
Our supplications and petitions unleashed divine power that ought to renew Hope.
Meditation should always conclude with resolutions or a firm purpose of amendment — the determination to transform bad habits into good habits.
Whatever particular vice, we struggle with, we should practice its counter virtue.
Practising gratitude helps us find the positive aspects of our circumstances. Gratitude turns what little we have into abundance.
Grudges weaken our spiritual immune system.
Distractions reveal to us what we are attached to. We should calmly remove them and return to prayer. Out wondering minds tend to gravitate toward those things we are most attached to.
Take the very thing that pulls us sideways in our prayer and trust it to Jesus.
Mary lived the entirety of her life without ever pulling her eyes away from Jesus. Mary’s pondering was one of intense focus and concentration, constantly bringing together or making sense of the life of Christ.
Contemplation is a gaze shared between two lovers.
Behold in the Bible is an exclamation that draws attention to something important.
We all have our sorrowful mysteries.
Christianity is about liberation, not managing wounds.
Healing is a continuous encounter with God, in which he, as the supreme storyteller, speaks into our story. God looks into our past and declares, “I
have always been there; welcome me into that space you have neglected.”
God is always in the business of strengthening his people. We can cry out to him, knowing that he will hear us, answer our prayers, and send us the strength we need to endure.
Mental prayer requires the engagement of both mind and heart to be effective.
The end goal of mental prayer is union with God.
The number seven in scripture and Catholicism represents divine perfect perfection, healing, spiritual completeness, and God‘s continued presence in our lives. It’s always pointing to a father who keeps his promises.
Humility, involves thinking less about ourselves rather than having a lesser opinion of ourselves. It is the fountainhead of all good mental prayer.
Prayer increases our trust in God‘s plan for us and prompts us to surrender to God. Trust is essential to a life of holiness.
Letting go is what leads to personal growth, healing, and a deeper awareness of God‘s presence in our hearts. We might worry, “if I give up this, what will happen to me?” Yet, in this leap of faith, he is ready to catch us.
Holiness is finding complete fulfilment in God by practising the art of living in him and existing for others. Holiness is about constant conversion. It is a daily choice to turn toward God and continually deepen our faith.
God‘s mercy is without limits for everyone provided they repent.
Those with the most extraordinary capacity for love have the most remarkable capacity for suffering.
Every psychological discussion points toward a spiritual reality.
Love is not a sentiment, but an action of the heart that moves toward others
The flight into Egypt reminds us that obedience saves. Obedience is childlike listening to the voice of God with the utmost faith that there is no self-interestedness In God, but the single interest that we are saved in his love.
Mary’s heart speaks, “I am certain it will be OK —though I’m uncertain of what OK entails or looks like. God assured it will be OK, and so it shall be.”
Trust and obedience are intertwined expressions of faith and acceptance. They demonstrate our reliance on God‘s love, even when outcomes are uncertain.
God is love and the degree to which we enter the mystery of that life – willing the good of our spouses and children – is the measure that we transform society.
Let God love you into freedom.
Nothing goes to waste; not a single action is lost on God.
Mary’s anxious search for Jesus was not marked by an absence of faith, but was imbued with faith. Mary was passing through the dark night of the soul. In this faith-filled darkness, a soul advances toward unity with God. It is a period in which God may appear remote, silent, and concealed. This darkness is not without meaning, however;it acts as a forge for spiritual development and cleansing; in such darkness, God reveals intimate secrets because in darkness is when lovers are most intimate. For Mary, the finding of Jesus in the temple was a journey of profound intimacy.
Mary did not understand Jesus’ saying that he had to be in his father‘s house, but she kept it in her heart and allowed it gradually to come to maturity there.
In your struggles, remember that God is at work – even when clarity eludes you.
Forgiveness liberates us from the tyranny of memories and our endless tendency to relive hurts, pains, and all the injustices we experience.
Sin is the distance we have created between us and God.
More sin equals less God, less God equals more darkness.
Mary‘s sorrow teaches us how to love and how to grieve.
Praying with Mary is not a duty, but an honour and a privilege. She is the New Eve stomping on the head of Satan.
I didn't find learning about seven saints to be all that helpful in this context. It seemed to break the flow for me. I would have enjoyed learning more about Our Lady's sorrows (That's not to disparage the saints. I just didn't find them to flow well in this book.)
Meditate upon our lady’s seven sorrows to learn how to suffer well. Suffering is redemptive, for every suffering, united to the infinite suffering of Jesus, becomes salvific, and no one embodies this better than Mary.
In contemplating her sorrows, we bring consolation to the heart of Mary and open our hearts to share in the salvific mission of bringing souls closer to the heart of Jesus.
We do not change God‘s mind when we pray, but we bring to fruition what is in God’s mind and heart. We can be sure that holiness for every soul is in his mind and heart.
Mary shows us how to triumph over our temptations and trials as she did.
Without mental prayer, the soul is without light. - St Alphonso’s Ligouri
We find in the fourth century writings of Saint Ambrose and Ephrem the Syrian that Mary’s sorrows were celebrated and venerated.
Simeon’s words revealed to Mary that she will have to live her obedience of faith and suffering at the side of the suffering Savior, and that her motherhood will be mysterious and sorrowful.
Just as the moon’s light reflects the sun without diminishing it, so does Mary reflect the light of Christ without reducing it.
When we ponder with Mary, we learn how to ponder fluently.
A respectful silence can be a way of honouring grief and signalling true camaraderie.
The entirety of this devotion is an accompaniment with Mary that brings her consolation.
Praying with the grieving Mary will steep our hearts in humility, give us a new perspective, and open our souls to unseen graces that are imperative in a time of increasing adversity.
Colossians 1: 24, “I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” What is lacking is our cooperation with God in our afflictions with the affliction of Christ passion for the salvation of souls.
Jesus does not remove suffering, but gives it redemptive power. He wastes nothing.
Nothing draws us closer to the heart of Jesus than suffering. Suffering is often the greatest inconvenience of our day, but love is defined by how we act in that inconvenience.
When we unite our suffering with Christ suffering, we help release the graces also merited by Jesus.
Redemptive suffering transforms us more and more into Christ himself. If we want to be Christlike, we must do what he did: suffer for the sake of souls.
We all suffer in this life. The question is: what will we do with that suffering?
Meditation is a conversation in which our effort prevails — a form of mental prayer in which the mind, in God‘s presence, thinks about God and divine things.
Our meditation is on Jesus Christ himself.
Contemplation is a conversation that God initiates. In contemplating the mysteries of God with the eyes of the heart, the “looking at” moves to more of a “looking into” the subtle movement of God, that allows us to see earth in light of heaven; vocation in light of destiny; and otherwise ordinary, moments in light of truth.
Adoration is to be “mouth-to-mouth” with God, breathing in his life and love.
The more we get to know God, the more powerful our contemplation of God will be.
In contemplation, God is the primary mover; we do less as God steps in and does the work of quieting our soul, filling us with his consolation, light, and truth. Our pursuit of God in meditation ought to lead to a deeper contemplation of God.
Dryness is a sharing in Christ’s experience in the desert.
God‘s strongest desire is that we desire him as much as he desires us.
Prayer is never to be a static courtship with God, but a love affair that sees every moment charged with eternal significance.
The prayer of the heart speaks directly to God about our day-to-day affairs.
Our heart must submit to a mature, thinking process, and a properly formed conscience based on scripture and church teaching.
If we see God, he will use everything, even our mistakes, to lead and guide us.
Prayer is less about asking for things and more about being in the presence of someone and talking with someone, who is God.
Take stock of our prayer lives to see what might be replacing God.
His company produces joy and gladness.
Solitude is not mere isolation; it is intentional communion. The solitude of the heart allows us to hear God, even in the most unsuspecting places. In the quiet of our hearts, we begin to see that the concreteness of our everyday life is charged with Divine appointments.
The physical posture of kneeling is intended to express a spiritual attitude of adoration, an act of humility, recognizing our littleness before God, the father. Kneeling strikes down our pride with a physical reminder of what our souls should be like spiritually.
Affections, petitions, and resolutions are the three principal fruits of meditation. They are rooted in humility and find their growth in the docility to the Holy Spirit, a disposition akin to humility.
God might say, “go there”, when there is no rhyme or reason to do so. Jesus said to his disciples, “go” and they went. Beyond Jesus telling them to “go”, very little else made sense to them, but it didn’t need to, and that’s the genius of mental prayer. It is enough that the one we love said to us, “go.”
When we abide in him, our petitions are more prompted and inspired by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
“In my name” is another way of saying, “abiding in my holy love.” In his grace, his desire becomes our desire; our petitions are his inspirations.
In the intercessory prayer that arises from deep union with God, we do not change God‘s mind, but we bring to fruition what is in God‘s mind. Our petitions order reality between us and God.
Our supplications and petitions unleashed divine power that ought to renew Hope.
Meditation should always conclude with resolutions or a firm purpose of amendment — the determination to transform bad habits into good habits.
Whatever particular vice, we struggle with, we should practice its counter virtue.
Practising gratitude helps us find the positive aspects of our circumstances. Gratitude turns what little we have into abundance.
Grudges weaken our spiritual immune system.
Distractions reveal to us what we are attached to. We should calmly remove them and return to prayer. Out wondering minds tend to gravitate toward those things we are most attached to.
Take the very thing that pulls us sideways in our prayer and trust it to Jesus.
Mary lived the entirety of her life without ever pulling her eyes away from Jesus. Mary’s pondering was one of intense focus and concentration, constantly bringing together or making sense of the life of Christ.
Contemplation is a gaze shared between two lovers.
Behold in the Bible is an exclamation that draws attention to something important.
We all have our sorrowful mysteries.
Christianity is about liberation, not managing wounds.
Healing is a continuous encounter with God, in which he, as the supreme storyteller, speaks into our story. God looks into our past and declares, “I
have always been there; welcome me into that space you have neglected.”
God is always in the business of strengthening his people. We can cry out to him, knowing that he will hear us, answer our prayers, and send us the strength we need to endure.
Mental prayer requires the engagement of both mind and heart to be effective.
The end goal of mental prayer is union with God.
The number seven in scripture and Catholicism represents divine perfect perfection, healing, spiritual completeness, and God‘s continued presence in our lives. It’s always pointing to a father who keeps his promises.
Humility, involves thinking less about ourselves rather than having a lesser opinion of ourselves. It is the fountainhead of all good mental prayer.
Prayer increases our trust in God‘s plan for us and prompts us to surrender to God. Trust is essential to a life of holiness.
Letting go is what leads to personal growth, healing, and a deeper awareness of God‘s presence in our hearts. We might worry, “if I give up this, what will happen to me?” Yet, in this leap of faith, he is ready to catch us.
Holiness is finding complete fulfilment in God by practising the art of living in him and existing for others. Holiness is about constant conversion. It is a daily choice to turn toward God and continually deepen our faith.
God‘s mercy is without limits for everyone provided they repent.
Those with the most extraordinary capacity for love have the most remarkable capacity for suffering.
Every psychological discussion points toward a spiritual reality.
Love is not a sentiment, but an action of the heart that moves toward others
The flight into Egypt reminds us that obedience saves. Obedience is childlike listening to the voice of God with the utmost faith that there is no self-interestedness In God, but the single interest that we are saved in his love.
Mary’s heart speaks, “I am certain it will be OK —though I’m uncertain of what OK entails or looks like. God assured it will be OK, and so it shall be.”
Trust and obedience are intertwined expressions of faith and acceptance. They demonstrate our reliance on God‘s love, even when outcomes are uncertain.
God is love and the degree to which we enter the mystery of that life – willing the good of our spouses and children – is the measure that we transform society.
Let God love you into freedom.
Nothing goes to waste; not a single action is lost on God.
Mary’s anxious search for Jesus was not marked by an absence of faith, but was imbued with faith. Mary was passing through the dark night of the soul. In this faith-filled darkness, a soul advances toward unity with God. It is a period in which God may appear remote, silent, and concealed. This darkness is not without meaning, however;it acts as a forge for spiritual development and cleansing; in such darkness, God reveals intimate secrets because in darkness is when lovers are most intimate. For Mary, the finding of Jesus in the temple was a journey of profound intimacy.
Mary did not understand Jesus’ saying that he had to be in his father‘s house, but she kept it in her heart and allowed it gradually to come to maturity there.
In your struggles, remember that God is at work – even when clarity eludes you.
Forgiveness liberates us from the tyranny of memories and our endless tendency to relive hurts, pains, and all the injustices we experience.
Sin is the distance we have created between us and God.
More sin equals less God, less God equals more darkness.
Mary‘s sorrow teaches us how to love and how to grieve.
Praying with Mary is not a duty, but an honour and a privilege. She is the New Eve stomping on the head of Satan.
April 2, 2025
This book is oddly titled and oddly organized. There is a large part on mental prayer that does not have much to do with praying a chaplet. I don't understand why it is in this book. It is advised to say petitions as part of mental prayer. This not how I was taught. Mental prayer is for talking to God like a husband and wife talk on a date. You don't read each other your honey-do lists. Petitions are for vocal prayer times like the Rosary or a chaplet. The actual chaplet part of the book is very small. Followed by a very large part of reflections that is not mentioned at all it is just there. The same with the appendices. This book is not practical for you to use daily to pray the chaplet. Its worth the read but like a said some things were just odd.
August 4, 2025
I cried so much
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews