Stabat Mater dolorósa iuxta crucem lacrimósa, dum pendébat Fílius.
Cuius ánimam geméntem, contristátam et doléntem pertransívit gládius.
✦O quam tristis et afflícta fuit illa benedícta Mater Unigéniti!
Quæ mœrébat et dolébat, pia Mater, dum vidébat nati pœnas íncliti.
✦Eia Mater, fons amóris, me sentíre vim dolóris fac, ut tecum lúgeam.
Fac ut árdeat cor meum in amándo Christum Deum, ut sibi compláceam.
Sancta Mater, istud agas, crucifíxi fige plagas cordi meo válide.
Fac me tecum pie flere, crucifíxo condolére, donec ego víxero.
Virgo vírginum præclára, mihi iam non sis amára: fac me tecum plángere.
Christe, cum sit hinc exíre, da per Matrem me veníre ad palmam victóriæ.
Quando corpus moriétur, fac ut ánimæ donétur paradísi glória. Amen.
At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, all His bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword had passed.
O how sad and sore distressed was that Mother highly blest of the sole-begotten One!
Christ above in torment hangs; she beneath beholds the pangs of her dying glorious Son.
O thou Mother, fount of love, touch my spirit from above, make my heart with thine accord.
Make me feel as thou hast felt; make my soul to glow and melt with the love of Christ my Lord.
Holy Mother, pierce me through; in my heart each wound renew of my Saviour crucified.
Let me mingle tears with thee, mourning Him who mourned for me, all the days that I may live.
Virgin of all virgins blest, listen to my fond request: let me share thy grief divine.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, be Thy Mother my defense, be Thy Cross my victory.
While my body here decays, may my soul Thy goodness praise, safe in Paradise with Thee. Amen.
The Stabat Mater — from its first words, Stabat Mater dolorosa, "the sorrowful Mother stood" — is the Church's great meditation on Our Lady at the foot of the Cross. In tender, aching verse it leads the soul to stand beside her, to feel something of her grief, and through her sorrow to be drawn into the love of her crucified Son.
The hymn dates from the thirteenth century and is traditionally ascribed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi (c. 1230–1306), though the attribution is not certain — Pope Innocent III (d. 1216) is another proposed author. It gathers up the ancient devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary and the sword foretold by Simeon — "thy own soul a sword shall pierce" (Luke 2:35).
It is sung as the Sequence at the Mass of Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15) and as the hymn of that feast in the Office; above all it is prayed at the Stations of the Cross, a stanza between each station, so that the faithful walk the way of the Cross in company with the Mother of Sorrows. Few texts have been set to music more often, from Palestrina and Pergolesi to Dvořák.
At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword had passed.
O how sad and sore distressed
was that Mother highly blest
of the sole-begotten One!
Christ above in torment hangs;
she beneath beholds the pangs
of her dying glorious Son.
O thou Mother, fount of love,
touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord.
Make me feel as thou hast felt;
make my soul to glow and melt
with the love of Christ my Lord.
Holy Mother, pierce me through;
in my heart each wound renew
of my Saviour crucified.
Let me mingle tears with thee,
mourning Him who mourned for me,
all the days that I may live.
Virgin of all virgins blest,
listen to my fond request:
let me share thy grief divine.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
be Thy Mother my defense,
be Thy Cross my victory.
While my body here decays,
may my soul Thy goodness praise,
safe in Paradise with Thee. Amen.
Stabat Mater dolorósa
iuxta crucem lacrimósa,
dum pendébat Fílius.
Cuius ánimam geméntem,
contristátam et doléntem
pertransívit gládius.
O quam tristis et afflícta
fuit illa benedícta
Mater Unigéniti!
Quæ mœrébat et dolébat,
pia Mater, dum vidébat
nati pœnas íncliti.
Eia Mater, fons amóris,
me sentíre vim dolóris
fac, ut tecum lúgeam.
Fac ut árdeat cor meum
in amándo Christum Deum,
ut sibi compláceam.
Sancta Mater, istud agas,
crucifíxi fige plagas
cordi meo válide.
Fac me tecum pie flere,
crucifíxo condolére,
donec ego víxero.
Virgo vírginum præclára,
mihi iam non sis amára:
fac me tecum plángere.
Christe, cum sit hinc exíre,
da per Matrem me veníre
ad palmam victóriæ.
Quando corpus moriétur,
fac ut ánimæ donétur
paradísi glória. Amen.
At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword had passed.
O how sad and sore distressed
was that Mother highly blest
of the sole-begotten One!
Christ above in torment hangs;
she beneath beholds the pangs
of her dying glorious Son.
O thou Mother, fount of love,
touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord.
Make me feel as thou hast felt;
make my soul to glow and melt
with the love of Christ my Lord.
Holy Mother, pierce me through;
in my heart each wound renew
of my Saviour crucified.
Let me mingle tears with thee,
mourning Him who mourned for me,
all the days that I may live.
Virgin of all virgins blest,
listen to my fond request:
let me share thy grief divine.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
be Thy Mother my defense,
be Thy Cross my victory.
While my body here decays,
may my soul Thy goodness praise,
safe in Paradise with Thee. Amen.