In a world of orphans, Mary is the mother who understands us completely and defends us, not least because she experienced first-hand the same humiliations that, for example, the mothers of prisoners suffer today. Celebrating Mass in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta on Thursday morning, 15 September, the day of remembrance of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Sorrows, Pope Francis suggested that in difficult times we should always take refuge 'under the mantle' of the Mother of God, thus reviving 'the spiritual advice of the Russian mystics' that the West has relaunched with the antiphon Sub tuum preasidium.

For his meditation on "the mystery of Mary's motherhood," the Pontiff took his cue from the Last Supper: "Jesus, at the table, bids farewell to his disciples: there is an air of sadness, everyone knew that something was going to end badly and they asked questions, they were sad." But "Jesus, in that farewell, to give them a little courage and also to prepare them in hope, says to them: 'Do not be sad, do not let your hearts be sad, I will not leave you alone! I will ask the Father to send another Paraclete, who will accompany you. And he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said'." The Lord, therefore, "promises to send the Holy Spirit to accompany the disciples, the Church, on the path of history."

But Jesus "also speaks of the Father." In fact, Francis recalled, "in that long, long discourse with the disciples, he speaks of the Father," assuring them "that the Father loves them and that whatever they ask of the Father, the Father will give them. That they should trust in the Father." And so, the Pope explained, he takes "one more step: he not only says 'I will not leave you alone', but also 'I will not leave you orphans, I give you the Father, the Father is with you, my Father is your Father'." Then, Francis continued, "everything we know happens after the supper: the humiliation, the prison, the betrayal of the disciples; Peter denies Jesus, the others flee."

So much so that, said the Pontiff, referring to the liturgical passage from the Gospel of John (19:25-27), under the cross there was "only one disciple, with the mother of Jesus, with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, a relative." And there, at the cross, "there is Mary, the mother of Jesus: everyone was looking at her," perhaps whispering, "That is the mother of this criminal! That is the mother of this subversive!" And Mary, added the Pope, "heard these things, suffered terrible humiliation and also heard the elders, some priests whom she respected because they were priests," say to Jesus: "But you who are so good, come down, come down!". Mary, Francis said, standing next to "her Son, naked, there, suffered greatly, but she did not leave, she did not deny her Son, he was her flesh."

With personal confidence, the Pope recalled: "It happened many times when I went to the prisons in the diocese of Buenos Aires to visit the prisoners, to see the queue, the line of women waiting to enter: they were mothers, but they were not ashamed, their flesh was in there." And those "women suffered not only the shame of being there," hearing people say: "Look at her, what must her son have done?" Those mothers "also suffered the worst humiliations in the searches that were carried out on them before they entered, but they were mothers and they were going to visit their own flesh." And so it was for Mary, who "was there, with her Son, with that great suffering."

Precisely "at that moment," the Pope pointed out, "Jesus, who had spoken of not leaving us orphans, who had spoken of the Father, looks at his mother and gives her to us as our mother: 'Behold, your mother!'" The Lord "does not leave us orphans: we Christians have a mother, the same as Jesus; we have a Father, the same as Jesus. We are not orphans." And Mary "gives birth to us at that moment with so much pain, it is truly a martyrdom: with her heart pierced, she accepts to give birth to all of us in that moment of pain. And from that moment she becomes our mother, from that moment she is our mother, the one who takes care of us and is not ashamed of us: she defends us."

"The Russian mystics of the early centuries of the Church," Francis recalled in this regard, "gave advice to their disciples, the young monks: in times of spiritual turmoil, take refuge under the mantle of the holy mother of God. The devil cannot enter there because she is a mother and as a mother she defends." Then "the West took this advice and composed the first Marian antiphon, Sub tuum praesidium: under your mantle, under your protection, O Mother, there we are safe."

"Today is the memory of the moment when Our Lady gave birth to us," the Pope continued, "and she has been faithful to this birth until today and will continue to be faithful." And "in a world that we can call 'orphaned', in this world that suffers from a crisis of great orphanhood, perhaps our help is to say: 'Look to your mother!'" Because we have a mother "who defends us, teaches us, accompanies us, who is not ashamed of our sins" and "is not ashamed, because she is a mother."

In conclusion, the Pontiff prayed "that the Holy Spirit, this friend, this companion on the journey, this Paraclete advocate whom the Lord has sent us, may help us understand this great mystery of Mary's motherhood."

[Pope Francis, St. Martha, in L'Osservatore Romano, 16/09/2016]