Through Tribulation
Our Lady of Sorrows. By Charles Journal. Translated by F. J. Sheed. (Sheed and Ward, 2s. fid.) Reviewed by ALBAN GOODIES., Archbishop of Hlerapolls
THE special virtue of Our Lady of Sorrows is to show the consistency, the unity, of the sorrows of Our Lady, both in relation to herself and in relation to her Divine Son. The problem, first of all, is faced and explained, why Our Lord seemed so deliberately, from the beginning to the end, to bring sorrow to her, even to impose it. upon her; with Mary, as with all, " through many tribulations was to be found the way to the kingdom of the heavens."
Next, the effect of this is seen in Our Lady's own maturing; perfect as she was, her perfection could still grow. With these connecting threads we are enabled to tie together the various events, most of them sorrowful, which make up almost all the Gospels tell us about her. The teaching is confirmed by many references to the liturgy, showing how the Church herself dwells specially on this aspect of the Mother of God.
An appendix on the Compassion of Our Lady, and another on the meaning of Co-redemptrtx, point out with thenlogical care the limitations to be put to these much-used and, in their place, valuable terms.