Last week, we discovered the beautiful devotion to Our Lady’s sorrows, as they have been revealed to us through the Scriptures, and contemplated the First Sorrow. Today let us study and meditate more in depth the Second Sorrow of Our Lady: The Flight into Egypt.

Unlike Our Lady’s First Sorrow, it is easy to tell why the flight into Egypt is one of the most sorrowful times in her life. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read, “…an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it shall come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him.” Think of it: in the night, Mary awakes to see Joseph preparing them to leave their home. Not only are they leaving, they are going to Egypt to escape King Herod, who wants to kill her infant Son. What grief must have torn her heart! Did she think of Simeon at that moment, remembering the sword which would pierce her soul – the pain she and her Son were to suffer? Or maybe she thought of all the other mothers in Bethlehem that would soon be mourning the loss of their own innocent children, whose lives would all be taken in a vain search for Mary’s own Innocent Child.

We may never know what took place in the heart of Mary in those anxious days on the journey between Bethlehem and Egypt. We should remember her sorrow, which she surely did carry in her heart, and which caused her so much pain. Let us also ask St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin, to help us comfort Mary in her sorrow. Pray for the grace to avoid sin, as it was for our sins that Christ died, and that Mary suffered so much pain. Then pray further, that in our daily lives, we will not only avoid sin, but offer our own sorrows and sufferings to give some consolement to Jesus and Mary for our past sins, because Christ and in turn, His Blessed Mother suffered so much for us.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!