| Friday of Sorrows Viernes de Dolores | |
|---|---|
 Regarded as the most famous inSpain during Holy Week processions, theVirgin of Hope of Macarena, shown in her sorrowful theme while wearingimperial regalia each Friday beforePalm Sunday. | |
| Also called | Council Friday |
| Observed by | Catholic Church (Mexico, Guatemala, Italy, Peru, Brazil, Spain, Malta, Luxembourg and the Philippines) |
| Date | Friday beforePalm Sunday |
| 2024 date | March 22 |
| 2025 date | April 11 |
| 2026 date | March 27 |
| 2027 date | March 19 |
| Frequency | Annual |
TheFriday of Sorrows orPassion Friday[1] is a solemn pious remembrance of the sorrowfulBlessed Virgin Mary on the Friday beforePalm Sunday held in the fifth week ofLent (formerly called "Passion Week"). In theAnglican Ordinariate'sDivine Worship: The Missal it is calledSaint Mary in Passiontide and sometimes it is traditionally known asOur Lady in Passiontide.
In certainCatholic countries, especiallyBrazil,Guatemala,Italy,Luxembourg,Malta,Mexico,Peru, thePhilippines, andSpain, it is the beginning ofHoly Week celebrations and often termedViernes de Dolores (Friday of Sorrows) or a similar local name. It takes place exactly one week beforeGood Friday, and focuses on the emotional pain thePassion ofJesus Christ caused his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is venerated under the titleOur Lady of Sorrows.
In certain Spanish-speaking countries, the day is also referred to asCouncil Friday, because ofJohn 11:47–54 as the Gospel of the day in theTridentine Mass (now read in slightly expanded form the next day, i.e., Saturday of the fifth week of Lent), which recounts the meeting of theSanhedrin to discuss what to do with Jesus.
Like all Fridays in Lent, this Friday is a day ofabstinence from meat, unless the nationalepiscopal conference has indicated alternative forms ofpenance.[2]
A similar commemoration in sympathy with the Virgin Mary under the title ofOur Lady of Solitude is held onBlack Saturday.
The first liturgical celebrations for the sorrowful Mary, the Feast of Our Lady of Compassion, occurred in the 15th century. In 1668 theServites were granted permission for avotive Mass to the Seven Sorrows of Mary. In 1692,Pope Innocent XII authorized the celebration of a feast in honor of Our Lady on the third Sunday of September; which was later transferred to the present date of the Friday beforePalm Sunday. In 1727,Pope Benedict XIII extended theFeast of Our Lady of Compassion, commemorating the sorrowful Virgin Mary, to the whole of theLatin Church, retaining its celebration on the Friday in Passion Week a week before Good Friday.[3]
In 1954, the feast still held the rank of major double (slightly lower in rank than theFeast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 15 September) in the General Roman Calendar.Pope John XXIII's 1960Code of Rubrics reduced it to the level of acommemoration.
Following theSecond Vatican Council, the Friday of Sorrows was deleted in 1969 from theGeneral Roman Calendar as a duplicate of the 15 September feast.[4] Each of the two celebrations had been called a feast of "The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (Latin:Septem Dolorum Beatae Mariae Virginis) and included theStabat Mater as asequence of the Mass. Since then, the 15 September feast combines and continues both is known as theFeast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Latin:Beatae Mariae Virginis Perdolentis), and recitation of theStabat Mater is optional.
Observance of the feast according to the1960 calendar is still the case inTraditionalist Catholicism, and even where the 1969 calendar is used, some countries have kept the commemoration in their national calendars. The 2002 edition of theRoman Missal also provides an alternativecollect for this Friday.[5]
In the1962 Roman Missal, the last edition of the Tridentine Missal and published underJohn XXIII, the day’s Collect was as follows:
O God, in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, the sword of sorrow didst pierce the most sweet soul of the glorious Mary, Virgin and Mother; mercifully grant that we who call to mind with veneration her anguish and suffering, by the glorious merits and prayers of all the Saints who faithfully stood beneath the Cross interceding for us, may obtain the blessed fruit of Thy Passion, Thou Who livest and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
In 2015,Divine Worship: The Missal forAnglican Use Catholics restored the observance on the Friday in Passion Week, and provided propers including theIntroitStabant iuxta crucem (Jn 19:25; Ps 56:1), and a modified form of the 1962Collect:
O LORD in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, the sword of sorrow did pierce the most loving soul of thy glorious Virgin Mother Mary: mercifully grant that we, who devoutly call to mind the suffering whereby she was pierced, may, by the glorious merits and prayers of all the Saints who have stood beneath the Cross, obtain with gladness the benefits of thy Passion; who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
It also restored theGradualDolorosa et lacrimabilis, theTractStabat sancta Maria (Cf. Lam 1:12), theSequenceStabat Mater dolorosa, theOffertoryRecordare, Virgo Mater (Cf. Jer 18:20), theCommunionFelices sensus beatae Mariae and other requisite proper prayers.
Pope Benedict XVI'smotu proprioSummorum Pontificum authorizes, under certain conditions, continued use of the1962 Roman Missal, which has this feast on the Friday of the fifth week of Lent.
Celebrations of Friday of Sorrows inColombia,Costa Rica,Ecuador,Guatemala,Malta,Mexico,Peru, thePhilippines,Portugal, andVenezuela include processions, publicpenance, mournful singing, andmortification of the flesh. Other activities include singing theStabat Mater and candlelightvigils.[6]
In Italy, the day is calledLa Festa dell'Addolorata and processions use famousBaroque images made in the area ofNaples.
In Malta, Holy Week activities commence on this day, with the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows carried in procession through the streets of the capital,Valletta. Many other towns and villages hold similar processions.[7]
In Mexico, people make small shrines of theVirgen de Dolores in their homes and decorate these with candles,wheatgrass andoranges.[8]
In the Philippines, the day’s highlight is the torchlit procession featuring statues of Christ, Our Lady of Sorrows, and other saints. Some families and communities also start the days-long, uninterrupted chanting orPabasa (“reading”) of thePasióng Mahál, a vernacularepic retelling thePassion of Christ and other religious events. Penitents, with covered faces to signify humility, beginself-flagellation and carrying of crosses as their annual sacrifice.
In Spain, theNuestra Señora de los Dolores procession with a statue of Our Lady is held onViernes de los Dolores preceding Palm Sunday, with a fair featuring local cuisine.[9]
In Portugal, one of the best-known celebrations is theprocession of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, inMafra.[10]
There are a number of titles relates toOur Lady of Sorrows associated to various observances duringPassiontide.
