Viernes Dolores or Friday of Sorrows is observed on the sixth Friday of Lent or the Friday before Palm Sunday to commemorate the Blessed Virgin Mary's Seven Sorrows.
Some countries that celebrate Viernes Dolores are Italy, Guatemala, Malta, Mexico, Nicaragua, Portugal, Philippines, and Spain. In Mexico and Nicaragua, the faithful traditionally build altars courtesy of the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And in the Philippines, before the pandemic began, religious floats carried statues of Mater Dolorosa or the Our Lady of Sorrows and other images in a torchlit procession through the streets. The feast of Mater Dolorosa is celebrated on September 5th.
The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary exquisitely represents her suffering. By looking at this, you will also feel her melancholy. A conspicuous image wherein her heart is pierced by seven daggers or sometimes one, a crown of thorns, her clasped hands holding a handkerchief, and wearing a dark veil. That symbolizes both Christ’s Passion and Mary’s sorrows. The heart pierced with seven daggers represents Mary’s heart filled with prayers and sorrows. The ‘Seven Sorrows of Mary or Siete Dolores’ namely: (1) the Prophecy of Priest Simeon on her hardships, (2) the Flight of the Holy Family to Egypt to escape Herod, (3) the Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple, (4) Witnessing Jesus Carry his Cross Via Crucis (on the way to the Cross), (5) the Death of Christ On The Cross, (6) Holding the Lifeless Body of Christ, and (7) the Burial of Jesus. These were crucial in her conscientious act as Our Saviors' mother and her responsibility in salvation history. The one dagger piercing her heart depicts her son's agonizing death.
Her clasped hand positioned close to her heart is a gesture of prayer. Similar to everyone else who cried, the Blessed Virgin Mary wiped her tears with a handkerchief. And a dark veil is placed on her head as a symbol of grief. It is worn by the Mater Dolorosa during Good Friday processions of the Holy Internment and during the re-enactment of the 'Salubong' on Easter Sunday, the black veil is removed by a child acting as an angel, this signals the end of grief.
The image of Mater Dolorosa commemorates how Mary “Esteemed all these things and contemplated them to her heart” (Lk. 2:19). Her sorrows have inspired art for her ages and the devotion of the faithful. For us Filipinos, she will always be the revered lady accompanying the Holy Sepulchre at every Good Friday Procession.
Viernes Dolores reminds us, the faithful to be with Jesus in his sacrifice for our salvation by fasting, praying, and avoiding giving in to temptations that will make us execute sins.