INVENTIO - Stabat Mater Dolorosa

STABAT MATER DOLOROSA:

An Analysis of the Marian Title through the Works of Pergolesi and

Sacred Scripture

By Matthew Cutrona

by Matthew Cutrona

The Blessed Virgin Mary is revered as one of the most famous women in history, immortalized through Marian devotions in song, art, and prayer. The faithful constantly have asked for her maternal intercession. Among her many titles, her title “Queen of Sorrows” is vital in times of suffering and anguish. The Sorrowful Mother, otherwise known as Mater Dolorosa in Latin, is connected to a thirteenth-century lyric poem, Stabat Mater, that depicts the moment that possibly caused the most anguish: seeing her son, Jesus, crucified. Stabat Mater has inspired numerous musical settings, notably by Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. In this paper, I will demonstrate how Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater Dolorosa connects with the Marian Devotion of the Seven Sorrows and how both are crafted to portray Mary’s title of Mater Dolorosa with an account of Mary being the new Rachel from the Old Testament.

Queen of Sorrows and Her Seven Sorrows

The title attributed to Mary, “Queen of Sorrows,” accounts for the seven sorrows she experienced. The first sorrow is Simeon’s prophecy, which blessed Mary and Joseph with words regarding the death and resurrection of her Son.1 The second sorrow is the flight into Egypt to escape Herod’s Massacre of the Infants.2 The third sorrow is the losing of the child Jesus in the Temple for three days.3 The fourth sorrow is Mary meeting Jesus on His way to Calvary.4 The fifth sorrow is the crucifixion and death of her Son.5 The sixth sorrow is Jesus’s body being taken from the cross.6 Finally, the seventh sorrow is the burial of Jesus in the tomb.7 The seven dolores of Mary are commonly depicted as a sword piercing Mary’s heart.8 The first sorrow sets the tone of Mary accompanying her “Son in His redemptive mission.”9 The prophecy states: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”10,11 The prophetic message illustrates that while she will be joyous for her Son, she will also experience anguish. One of the most anguishing moments would come at her Son’s crucifixion as she would also be, figuratively, crucified. St. Augustine says, “The cross and the nails of the Son were also the cross and nails of the mother; Christ being crucified, the mother was also crucified.”12 St. Bernardino further adds that Mary was sacrificing her soul because “mothers fly from the presence of their dying children; but if a mother is ever obliged to witness the death of a child, she procures for him all possible relief; she arranges the bed, that his posture may be more easy” so as to alleviate the mother’s own sorrows.13 While Mary was limited in what she could do with her Son hanging from a tree, she did what she did best during His ministry: be close to Him.

Stabat Mater

As stated earlier, the fifth sorrow is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. As Mary watches from the bottom of the cross, she, too, is suffering. The composition of this hymn, Stabat Mater Dolorosa, translated to “the sorrowful mother was standing,” allows the audience to unite with the Blessed Mother’s suffering and draw closer to Him. The original purpose of the private prayer is for the reader to be submersed next to the Blessed Virgin during the crucifixion.14 The hymn consists of twenty stanzas, each three lines long, of eight, eight, and seven syllables.15 The hymn dates to the thirteenth century and has ties to the Franciscan Order. It was not originally intended for mass; it was initially a poem to be shared. Two centuries later, the hymn was used as a sequence with the new Mass of the Compassion of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Feast Day of the Sorrowful Mary, celebrated annually on September 15.16 In the mid-sixteenth century, the Council of Trent removed this hymn from the liturgy along with many other hymns. However, in 1727, Pope Benedict XIII restored Stabat Mater to the missal for the Feast of the Sorrowful Mary, and it was used in the Roman Breviary, other forms of prayer, and Marian devotions.17 English composers such as John Browne and Robert Hunt set the hymn as a votive antiphon in the fifteenth century.18 Soon after, settings from Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Innocentius Dammonis would come, Dammonis’s being “a strophic four-part laude published by Petrucci in 1508.”19 Eighteenth-century Italian composers revitalized the piece, imposing “some kind of tonal unity on the Stabat Mater by beginning and ending in the same key and by pursuing a logical course through a series of related keys for the rest of the work.”20 Including soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists, orchestral forces, such as strings and continuo, brought the hymn into the Baroque period. Beyond Rome, it was similarly set to solo voices, with instrumental accompaniment. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and Alessandro Scarlatti were prominent examples of this where they used a “soprano, alto, two violins, and continuo” as they were influenced “by the secular cantata and the chamber duet.”21 Scarlatti’s setting was “more substantial,” containing eighteen sections, five of which were duets.22 Pergolesi’s was a shorter composition that achieved “immediate popularity” and was often substantially rearranged.23

Pergolesi

An Italian composer who lived during the Baroque period, Pergolesi was one of the leading figures in the rise of Italian comic opera. Towards the end of his life, in 1736, he moved into a Franciscan Monastery where he continued to compose music. During his final days, it is said that he composed “the cantata Orfeo, the Stabat Mater and (his last work) the Salve regina in C minor for soprano and strings.”24 According to Pergolesi’s first biographer, the Marquis of Villarosa, the Stabat Mater was the last work Pergolesi wrote before he succumbed to his illness. It was created for the noble fraternity in the Church of S. Maria dei Sette Dolori in Naples.25 In 1749, the Stabat Mater was published posthumously in London and became the most frequently printed single work of the eighteenth century.26 Pergolesi’s approach to developing the “church aria” drew many into the piece because it could be used in liturgical settings.27 His impact has been displayed in churches and concert halls alike, all for the continued unifying figure of expressing one’s feelings through music.

Stabat Mater Dolorosa: Fourth Movement

The hymn’s fourth movement, “Quae moerebat et dolebat” or “When she mourned and grieved,” captures one of the crucial moments in the whole piece. The Latin and English texts are below:

Latin: (Vatican version) English:

Quae moerebat et dolebat, Who mourned and grieved,

Pia Mater, dum videbat the pious Mother, looking at Nati poenas incliti. the torment of her glorious Child.28

In Pergolesi’s work, this fourth movement is in the sequence of “Allegro, E-flat major, 2/4; alto aria.”29 The repetition and the use of violins, viola, violoncello and contrabasso, and basso continuo to accompany the alto make for a brisk and lively tempo.30 The words “pious” and “glorious” stand out in understanding the importance of both Mary and Jesus. Mary is righteous, or devoted, to her Son, and Jesus was glorious because He was and is both fully divine and fully man. The word “torment” highlights the brutality Jesus endured at the hands of the Romans and humanity, who sentenced Him to a humiliating death to fulfill the Father’s will and save humanity from eternal damnation. Mary is one of the few who knew this would happen to Jesus, per the Scriptures, and trusts in the Father’s will. Nevertheless, that does not take away from the pain and suffering felt. Ultimately, Mary, while sinless, is still human.31 Similarly, while Jesus is fully divine, He nonetheless felt the human suffering of death.32 No mother, including the mother of God, wants to see their child tormented. In this movement, we are called to grieve with Mary, hoping to draw closer to Him using her powerful maternal intercession.

Mary is the New Rachel

The Sorrowful Mother is seen as the powerful intercessor “to bring [humanity] the gifts of eternal salvation” who is a “new” Rachel from the Old Testament.33 Rachel, the wife of Jacob, is depicted as the mother of Israel due to Jacob being the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Rachel was “beautiful and lovely,” and Jacob truly loved her.34 Her life was filled with suffering centered on significant life-changing moments. The first was her father, Laban, tricking Jacob into marrying Rachel’s older sister, Leah.35 Once Rachel and Jacob got married, the second life-changing moment occurred: she discovered she was barren.36 Ultimately, Rachel conceived two sons: Joseph, whom Rachel loved, and Benjamin, Hebrew for “son of my sorrow.” Rachel would die giving birth to Benjamin and is seen as the intercessor for her children and the children of Israel.37 Her tomb is signified as a “holy place of prayer” among many faith traditions because of her marriage to Jacob and her sacrifice for her son.38 In ancient traditions, Rachel is seen as the most powerful intercessor on behalf of Israel. It was the belief that Rachel’s intercession was “supremely effective” based on Jeremiah’s prophecy.39 Jewish scholar Jacob Neusner states that Rachel’s intercession with God “succeeds when all other intervention fails,” because “she speaks not of sacrifice but of love.”40

Mary also experienced a life of suffering. The Massacre of the Infants occurs in the vicinity of Rachel’s tomb.41 Jewish scholar David Flusser establishes this connection between Rachel and Mary: “In Matthew, Rachel is a symbolic figure of the suffering mother, in this case, the suffering Jewish mother. And Rachel’s pain for the dead children is also symbolic of Mary’s suffering concerning her illustrious Son.”42 Mary is seen as the “ancient Israelite counterpart,” and her weeping at the foot of the cross symbolizes not only the death of her Son but also her sorrow for humanity.43 Further, the Book of Revelation draws the two counterparts closer.44 Based on Joseph’s dream, the sun, moon, and stars symbolize Joseph, Rachel, and the eleven sons.45 As noted in the Scripture, the crying out in pangs of birth referred to Rachel with her son Benjamin. Mary, similarly, experienced pangs of birth uniquely when Jesus was crucified. As the Mother of the Church in the New Testament, Mary stands as the continued fulfillment of the Old Testament. Mary is “a living intercessor of the Church, much more alive than any human on earth,” where those on Earth seek her maternal refuge.46 Like Rachel, Mary is a figure of maternal sorrow and intercession. Rachel’s anguish for her children prefigures Mary’s grief at the foot of the Cross, as both are seen as advocates for humanity’s salvation.

Flusser utilizes the term Mater Dolorosa “not [as] a theological concept or an overpowering experience of the archetypal but primarily a real person who was inspired by her joy and never defeated by her unspeakable pain.”47 The Blessed Virgin is universally portrayed as a unifying figure drawing many closer to her Son. Pergolesi’s work Stabat Mater Dolorosa further demonstrates the deep theological relationship Mary has not only with her Son but for all of humanity. The title, Queen of Sorrows, is one example of how Christians can draw into a deep relationship with Christ by understanding His mother’s grief and anguish so that, one day, we can better understand Christ’s love for us.

Endnotes

1Luke 2:25-35, New American Bible Revised Edition (Washington, DC: Confraternity of

Christian Doctrine, 2010). All references are to this edition.

2 Matthew 2:13-5.

3 Luke 2:41-50.

4 There are two accounts of this sorrow: Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17.

5 John 19:25-30.

6 There are three accounts of this sorrow: Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-4; John 19:31-7.

7 There are four accounts of this sorrow: Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-6; John 19:38-42;

Mark 15:40-7.

8 Latin for pains or griefs.

9 “Our Lady of Sorrows: EWTN,” EWTN Global Catholic Television Network, accessed

November 27, 2023, https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/seasons-and-feast-days/our-

lady-of-sorrows-14632.

10 Emphasis added.

11 Luke 2:34-5.

12 “The Glories of Mary,” The Glories of Mary St. Alphonsus Liguori, accessed November

27, 2023, https://ecatholic2000.com/liguori/glories.shtml.

13 “The Glories of Mary,” The Glories of Mary St. Alphonsus Liguori.

14 “Stabat Mater Dolorosa and Speciosa, about the Poem and the Poet,” The Ultimate

Stabat Mater site, June 25, 2021, https://stabatmater.info/stabat-mater-dolorosa-

about-the-poem/.

15 “Stabat Mater Dolorosa and Speciosa, about the Poem and the Poet.”

16 John Caldwell and Malcolm Boyd, “Stabat Mater Dolorosa,” Grove Music Online,

January 20, 2001,

https://doi.org.proxycu.wrlc.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.26489.

17 Daniel Heartz, Haydn, Mozart, and the Viennese School 1740-1780, vol. 20 (New

York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1995), 305.

18 John Caldwell and Malcolm Boyd, “Stabat Mater Dolorosa.”

19 Caldwell and Boyd, “Stabat Mater Dolorosa.”

well and Boyd, “Stabat Mater Dolorosa.”

21 Caldwell and Boyd, “Stabat Mater Dolorosa.”

22 Caldwell and Boyd, “Stabat Mater Dolorosa.”

23 Caldwell and Boyd, “Stabat Mater Dolorosa.”

24 Helmut Hucke and Dale E. Monson, “Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista,” Oxford Music

Online, January 20, 2001, https://doi-

org.proxycu.wrlc.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.21325.

25 Hucke and Monson, “Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista.”

26 Hucke and Monson, “Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista.”

27 Hucke and Monson, “Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista.”

28 “Stabat Mater: English Translation. the Ultimate Stabat Mater Website,” The ultimate

Stabat Mater site, January 30, 2021, https://stabatmater.info/stabat-mater-english-

translation/.

29 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Stabat Mater, ed. Andreas Schein (Edition Andreas

Schein, 2020), IMSLP, https://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ReverseLookup/610705.

30 Pergolesi, Stabat Mater.

31 “Part One: The Profession of Faith,” in Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in

Accordance with the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II

(Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 128.

32 “Part One: The Profession of Faith,” 115.

33 “Part One: The Profession of Faith,” 252.

34 Genesis 29:17, 20.

35 Brant James Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the

Messiah (New York, NY: Image, 2018), 164.

36 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 164.

37 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 163-4.

38 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 167.

39 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 169.

40 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 169.

41 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 170-1.

42 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 171.

43 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 171.

44 Revelation 12:1-6.

45 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 172.

46 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 181-2.

47 Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 180.

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