The fifth sorrow of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the crucifixion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Standing near the cross of Jesus was his Mother.” (Jn. 19:25). She stood by her Son throughout his life, and especially during his passion, death, and burial. The sorrowful and afflicted Mother remained very close to her divine Son at the foot of the cross. She saw the executioners strip him of his clothes for crucifixion. She saw them nail him to the cross. She saw them raise him up, nailed to the cross, saw his precious blood gush forth from his wounds, saw them put gall into vinegar and give it to him to drink, and saw him, after three long, agonizing hours on the cross, give up his spirit and die. When her Son gave up the ghost, she, as any mother would, felt in her heart the pangs and agony of his death.

She felt and suffered in her Immaculate Heart the pangs and agony of his death as though she herself had died. This last pain of hers was more intense, more excruciating, and more painful than all the others. All the pains that the martyrs and other saints have suffered, and all that future martyrs and other saints will suffer, shall never equal what the Blessed Virgin Mary suffered during the passion and death of her Son. If God had not preserved her life, she would have died at that instant.

Mary attached great importance to the passion and death of her Son. She was not only an eyewitness to what he suffered, but she also experienced it personally within herself. Always keep in mind the mysteries of the incarnation, passion, and death of her Divine Son. The mere memory and contemplation of these mysteries are sources of grace and strength. Also, the thankful remembrance of the life and passion of her Divine Son comes with its own merits and blessings. Very few people know or remember the suffering she bore in union with her Son. We commiserate with her, and we unite our own sufferings, sorrows, and pains with hers so that they may be meritorious before God.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of grace, of mercy, of joy, and of life. She dries away tears and fills her clients and children with joy. She turns mourning into rejoicing, tears into new jubilee, clamors into praise and glory, and the death of sin into life for all who seek it. If only people would take refuge in this sanctuary and they would find in her pardon, mercy, help, and consolation. She is a shield of mercy against divine justice. She holds her spiritual children close to her heart and grants them the favors she has received from the Most High as the Mother of clemency and mercy, and not of justice. She renders assistance to everyone who invokes her. She is the refuge and sanctuary of sinners, and the straight and secure way, full of splendor, for all who wish to walk upon it to heaven.

Let us pray. O Mother of Sorrows, what agony you endured in your sorrowful heart in beholding your divine Son nailed to the cross, pouring forth his precious blood, and expiring between two criminals. O most Compassionate Mother, through your inconceivable sorrow in beholding your beloved Son expire amidst such excessive torments, obtain for me the grace to participate in his sacrifice, by continual mortification of my passions and self-abnegation. Vouchsafe, by your maternal charity, to sustain me to the end in this painful and dangerous pilgrimage. Amen.