This holiday is always celebrated on September 15th.
The holiday is a Roman Catholic feast day that marks the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ. Mary is a patron saint of Slovakia.
The holiday may also be called 'Day of Blessed Virgin Mary' or 'Virgin Mary of the Seven Sorrows Day'.
In Slovak, this holiday is called 'Sviatok Panny Márie Sedembolestnej, patrónky Slovenska'.
What are the Seven Sorrows?
The Seven Sorrows relate to events during the life of the Virgin Mary.
- The Prophecy of Simeon
- The Flight into Egypt
- The loss of the child Jesus in the Temple
- Mary meets Jesus on the way to Calvary
- Jesus dies on the cross
- Mary receives the body of Jesus in her arms
- The body of Jesus is placed in the tomb
As a mark of devotion, Catholics may recite one Our Father and seven Hail Marys for each of the sorrows.
Devotions to mark the sorrows of the Virgin Mary can be traced back to the 13th century.
The Day of Our Lady of Sorrows was added to the Roman Catholic calendar as a feast in 1814. Pope Pius X moved the feast to 15 September in 1913.
