Our Lady of Tears

Q: Who is "Our Lady of Tears"?

A: Queries at The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute have indicated renewed interest in a devotion known as "Our Lady of Tears." We searched our files and found there is a special Rosary devotion devoted to Mary under this title. At the same time, we received via email this contemporary interpretation of Our Lady of Tears. The devotions – both in variety of prayer forms and visual forms – remind us of the words of Pope Paul VI "to encourage the creative impulse of those who through genuine religious inspiration or pastoral sensitivity wish to establish new forms of piety" [the Angelus and the Rosary are being discussed here] MC 40.

Excerpts from a booklet entitled, "Our Lady of Tears," with an imprimatur from 1936:

"On November 8, 1929, Sister Amalia, her heart moved by the grief of a relative whose wife was critically ill, sought Jesus in the Tabernacle and pleaded that she might give her own life for this mother of little children. So sincere was the desire of this Sister who bears the Holy Stigmata that Our Lord spoke to her, telling her how to pray to attain this grace. Jesus said: "Pray to me in behalf of my mother's tears, I shall gladly grant them." Sister Amalia bent low her head as she reflected on the Tears of Our Lady. "How shall I pray?" she asked humbly. "O Jesus, listen to our prayers in behalf of your holy mother's tears. O Jesus, look down upon the tears of her who loved you best on earth and most deeply loves you now in heaven," was the answer." ... "Later my mother will give the treasure of her tears to my beloved institute as a magnet of mercy."

From this and other experiences developed the devotion of a rosary which consists of forty-nine small, white pearls. These are divided into seven decades by seven large pearls of the same color. It is similar to the rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Also attached to the rosary are three small pearls and the medal of Our Lady of Tears. For more information on this Rosary, see the web site for Our Lady of Tears.

Mary's Tears