This version of the Rosary  calls to mind the seven sorrows Mary endured with love and compassion. Although this prayer began in the middle ages it has more recently become well known because of it’s connections to the Marian Apparitions to Marie-Claire Mukangango in Kibeho Rwanda. In her Apparitions Mary promised that if we sincerely prayed this rosary  we would receive Christ’s forgiveness, and over time grant us an awareness of our sins and the strength to overcome them. Traditionally this prayer is said on Tuesdays (the first day Mary appeared to Marie-Claire) and Fridays. (The day of Christ’s death) In her Apparitions Mary also explained that this prayer in no way was intended to replace The Holy Rosary, but be said in addition to it.

Seven Graces

It was revealed to St. Bridget of Sweden that seven graces are given to those who meditate on her sorrows and pray the Hail Mary.

1. I will grant peace to their families.
2. They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries.
3. I will console them in their pains, and I will accompany them in their work.
4. I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.
5. I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy, and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.
6. I will visibly help them at the moment of their death; they will see the face of their mother.
7. I have obtained (this grace) from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.

How to Pray The Rosary of Seven Sorrows

Introduction

My God, I offer You this rosary for Your glory, so I  may honor Your Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin, so I can share and meditate upon her suffering. I humbly beg You to give me true repentance for all my sins. Give me wisdom and humility so that I may receive all the indulgences contained in this prayer.

Act of Contrition

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend You, my God, You Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

Before each Sorrow

Most merciful mother, remind us always of the sorrows of your son, Jesus

After each Sorrow

Pray one “Our Father” Pray seven “Hail Marys”

For the Poor Souls in Purgatory

Pray one “Our Father”, one “Hail Mary”, and one “Glory Be”.

Conclusion

Queen of Martyrs, your heart suffered so much. I beg you, by the merits of the tears you shed in these terrible and sorrowful times, to obtain for me and all the sinners of the world the grace of complete sincerity and repentance. Amen.

Mary, who was conceived without sin and who suffered for us, pray for us. (x3)

The Seven Sorrows of Mary

The First Sorrowful Mystery: The Prophecy of Simeon

(Luke 2:22-35)

The Second Sorrowful Mystery: The Flight into Egypt

(Matthew 2:13-15)

The Third Sorrowful Mystery: The Loss of Jesus in the Temple

(Luke 2:41-52)

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary

(Luke 23:27-31)

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: Mary Stands at the Foot of the Cross

(John 19:25-27)

The Sixth Sorrowful Mystery: Mary Receives the Dead Body of Jesus in Her Arms

(John 19:38-40)

The Seventh Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb

(John 19:41-42)

Our Lady of Kibeho

In 1981 Our Lady first appeared in Kibeho Africa to 17-year-old Alphonsine Mumreke with the words, “I am Mother of the Word. I have heard your prayers. I would like you and your companions to have more faith. Some do not believe enough.” Alphonsine said that, “The Virgin was not white as She is usually seen in holy pictures. I could not determine the color of Her skin, but She was of incomparable beauty. She was barefoot and had a seamless white dress, and also a white veil on Her head. Her hands were clasped together on Her breast, and Her fingers pointed to the sky. Later, I was told that I was in the dining room. My classmates told me that I was speaking in several languages: French, English, Kinyarwanda, etc. “When the Blessed Virgin was about to leave, I said three ‘Hail Marys’ and the prayer, ‘Come, Holy Spirit’. When She left, I saw Her rise to Heaven like Jesus.”

Mary appeared again to Alphonsine the next day and every Saturday for the next month. During this time she was treated with skepticism and prejudice. During her visions classmates would poke her with needles and burn her with matches to test the authenticity of the apparitions. One day Alphonsine brought her classmate’s rosaries before Mary to have them bless. To her surprise some of the rosaries became too heavy for her to lift up to be blessed. She later found out that those rosaries belonged to the students who didn’t believe in her visions.

In 1982 Mary appeared to Anathalie Mukamazimpaka and Marie Claire Mukangango, two other students at Alphonsine’s school. Marie Claire was one of the most outspoken about her disbelief in Alphonsine’s visions of Mary, but after her own apparition she was saying that, “One must meditate on the Passion of Jesus, and on the deep sorrows of His Mother. One must recite the Rosary every day, and also the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, to obtain the favor of repentance.”

These three seers received Blessed Holy Water, visions of Heaven Purgatory and Hell, Instructions in Prayer, and Prophesies. Mary told Marie Claire to pray the Rosary of Seven Sorrows. “What I ask of you is repentance. If you recite this chaplet, while meditating on it, you will then have the strength to repent. Today, many people do not know any more how to ask forgiveness. They nail again the Son of God on the Cross. So I wanted to come and recall it to you, especially here in Rwanda, for here I have still found humble people, who are not attached to wealth nor money”. The Prophesies that eventually lead to The Apparitions approval in 2001 involved the genocide that occurred in 1994. During that civil war between 500,000 and 1,000,000 were beheaded and dumped into the Kagea River, creating a river of blood. Mary foretold “a river of blood, people who were killing each other, abandoned corpses with no one to bury them, a tree all in flames, bodies without their heads.” She also prophesied that sexual immorality would lead to tragedy just before the AIDS epidemic.

To avoid war and judgment Mary pleads that we pray fast and repent. In the words of John Paul II, “Pray to avoid war! And, above all, let us heed the requests of Our Lady: let us convert by going to confession, by confessing our sins with deep sorrow; let us go to Mass every Sunday; let us pray the Rosary by meditating on the mysteries that recall the main events of the life of Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, related in the Gospel; let us recite the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows that reminds us that Mary took a close part in our Redemption, that She suffered along with Her Son Jesus to save us.”

Mary’s warnings and blessings are not localized to Rwanda, she explains to Marie Claire, “When I tell you this, I am not addressing myself strictly to you, child, but I am making this appeal to the world,”