Station 4 – Jesus meets his Blessed Mother

"Simon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: 'Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.' And his mother kept all these things in her heart. -Luke 2:34-35,51

I can’t imagine the pain Mary felt watching her son suffer so. Simeon prophesied that a sword would pierce her heart, and while we extend the sorrow of Mary to her sorrow of watching over all the Church’s children, in that moment, it was the acute pain of a parent watching their child struggle and suffer and the agony of not being able to stop it. She stayed with him, offering what comfort she could: when he looked up, he could see his mother’s loving face. He was not suffering alone.