Lent with Loretto, week five: the fifth sorrow of Mary

The fifth sorrow of Mary: the crucifixion of Jesus

Mary at the Foot of the Cross. Reflections on March 17, 2026, by Cathy Mueller

Welcome. Thank you for being here as we reflect together on the sorrow of Mary standing at the foot of the cross as Jesus experiences an excruciating death.

There are not many passages about Mary in the Gospels. Primarily, key moments in her life reflect her humanness, her role as a woman, a mother of a child she has given birth to and raised to adulthood, who was arrested and executed. These moments are given a short narrative and left for us to reflect on and apply to our lives.

John’s gospel is the only Gospel that mentions Mary, the mother of Jesus, witnessing her son’s death. Matthew and Mark speak about women watching from a distance, who had followed Jesus and looked after him when he was in Galilee. Also from a distance, Luke mentions other friends of Jesus and the women who accompanied him from Galilee. They saw what was happening.

John’s Gospel is filled with symbolism. John, along with his community, chose detailed experiences that gave us important insights into Jesus” values and mission. What is John trying to convey in this reading?

A reading from the gospel of John

Standing by the cross were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

John 19:25-27

We will reflect on the experience of Mary, and then what difference it makes for us as Friends of Mary at the Foot of the Cross.

Standing by the cross… Jesus was arrested on Thursday evening and executed on Friday afternoon. I can hardly imagine Mary hearing this shocking information and seeking out where Jesus was, to find him beaten, scourged, bloody, carrying his cross through the streets of Jerusalem to a certain death. We have all seen the mothers in Gaza and Israel, wailing, keening at the violent deaths of their children. I imagine the cries that sounded in Iran at the death of over 150 young girls, each beloved by her mother, each one tragically killed. They are vocalizing, lamenting the deaths of their children. I can hear them in the crowd and I hear the crying in the heart and voice of Mary.

There she stood, near the cross, near Jesus. Like the picture of Idalia, cradling her malnourished son in her arms that JoAnn shared with us last week, Mary may have been beyond tears by the time she stands near her dying son on the cross.

John locates Mary near the cross, not at a distance. There she was standing, for hours, near to the one she loved. Her presence was important, to be seen by Jesus. Jesus knew she was there, along with others who loved him. It is so difficult to be with someone who is in excruciating pain. Often there is nothing you can do except to be with, to stand within the other’s suffering and offer presence, strength, courage and love.

Mary was not alone. John is very clear to name who is there, close to the cross, the faithful witnesses to Jesus’s life and now his death. Jesus sees who is there and speaks to Mary and the disciple he loved. He exhibits the core message of his life: We belong to each other. We are part of a community where we love and cherish one another. No one is alone, not even Jesus. John reflects this in his letters: Love one another, as a parent loves a child, that is the basis of who we are, how we follow the path of Jesus. This is the simple and profound message of Jesus in his life and in his death.

Let stop for some silence as we stand with Mary at the foot of the cross as we allow her presence to also be with us.

(Pause)

We have chosen the charism of the Sisters of Loretto, the Friends of Mary at the foot of the cross. We have committed our lives to live this stance. We are inspired by Mary, her selfless love. We are called to show up, to stand in the face of suffering. We may not be physically standing yet we cannot run from the suffering. I think of the parents and brothers of Renee Good. In an interview, they shared that they have not watched the videos of the murder of Renee by the ICE agent. They know the loss, the incredible senselessness, the deep, deep pain. They choose to not watch the video of her murder.

We do not have to watch every violent act to know, to feel the suffering. We put our bodies there when we can at the detention centers, the shelters, the courts, the street corners, the demonstrations large and small, in the letter writing and phone calls to our local, state and national elected leaders and in national and local newspapers, praying by ourselves and with others.

Like Mary, we choose to be present. Many of our opportunities are much closer to home. People who are suffering and in pain are part of each of our days, whether on the other side of Earth or in the next room. Suffering takes many faces – those who are fearful, grieving, rejected, sad, in physical, emotional or spiritual pain. As Mary modeled for us, often there is nothing you can do except to be with, to stand within the other’s suffering and offer presence, strength, courage and love.

Like Mary we are not alone. Because we are community, bound to one another. Where one of us is, all of us are there.

Weekly, we receive an announcement that presents us with the names of those on our Loretto prayer list. This is a Loretto Litany of Sorrow. Each person on the list – the old or young, ill or grieving, in places of violence or long-term struggle – each one is suffering and each one is known and loved by one of us in Loretto. How do we stand at the foot of their cross with them?

Some Community members stop at 7 pm every evening and pray for those on the list and those Community members who love them.

Some of us add our own people to our prayer in our hearts. Even if you do not stop at 7 pm, find time each day to pray this Litany of Sorrow, because we belong to each other and our hearts go out to those who are suffering and those who stand with them.

We have chosen to be Sisters and Co-members, Friends of Mary at the Foot of the Cross. We claim Mary as our model for our individual and collective lives. Mary, faithful, showing inner strength in the face of suffering, choosing to be present, relying on the resiliency of the human spirit, motivated by love.

IATW #33 reminds us:

As we stand with Mary at the foot of the cross, we strive to bring the healing spirit of God into our world and we commit ourselves to improving the conditions of those who suffer from injustice, oppression, and deprivation of dignity.

IATW #33

Closing prayer

Mary Gutzwiller SL

Mary Stands at the Foot of the Cross

Spirit of Love, be with the long-suffering and dying people living in war zones and in famine areas, especially the people of Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan. May they know your compassionate presence and be comforted. Open the eyes and the hearts of government leaders that they may feel the pain and destruction they are perpetrating. Lead them in ways of peace and justice.

Spirit of Love, be with the long-suffering and dying persons in our homes and nursing facilities. May they know your healing presence in the depths of their lives. Strengthen and encourage their loved ones and caregivers as they stand vigil and attend to their needs. May they know that they are not alone in their loss and grief.

Spirit of Love, be with us as we stand with Mary at the Foot of the Cross of the long- suffering and dying of this world. May we not close our eyes and walk away from the tragedy and pain. But together and with your Spirit may we find the courage and fortitude to remain faithful, hopeful servants.