Fr. Troadec and Our Lady of Compassion

What led you to write this book?

This little book was requested by the Sisters of the Society of Saint Pius X whose patron saint is Our Lady of Compassion. The Society’s vocation is to defend the Mass. And the Mass is the sacrifice of Calvary reenacted before our eyes. Our nuns, therefore, are called to imitate the compassion of Our Lady at the foot of the Cross. This title refers to the sufferings of Our Lady in union with those of her Divine Son. Christ was a sign of contradiction. Some adored Him; others crucified Him. The Blessed Virgin as the Mother of Christ followed her Son step by step in the sufferings that led to His death, and she suffered terribly. She shared in His sufferings—the original meaning of the word compassion. The Blessed Virgin also holds the title of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows: the first three were caused by sufferings endured during Christ’s childhood—the sword prophesied by Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple—and the last three at His death: meeting Our Lord on the way of the Cross, at the foot of the Cross, when Our Lord was taken down from the Cross, and when He was laid in the sepulchre.

Isn’t this meditation too theoretical for our contemporaries?

In reality, since the sufferings of the Mother mirror those of the Son, it seemed to me of primordial important to develop in first place the sufferings endured by Jesus Christ, which are in no way theoretical. By studying His sufferings, we see that Christ Himself did not only endure physical sufferings. He also suffered spiritually. The chief cause of Christ’s sufferings was that He could see men letting themselves fall into the disorder of sin rather than follow Him along the way of virtue and goodness. Seeing men become enslaved to their evil inclinations and to the devil caused such suffering to Christ that He even sweated blood in the Garden of Olives.

Isn’t there a risk that meditating on the sufferings of Christ and Our Lady in this way will lead the faithful to a disproportionate emphasis on suffering for its own sake?

In reality, the sufferings themselves are not the most important. All men will suffer at one time or another and will die. The important thing is to know how to suffer. What we admire in Christ and in Our Lady is their eminent virtues and especially their great love for God and for souls. The contemplation of the sufferings of Christ and of His Mother leads us to love them more profoundly, for love brings forth love. One word summarizes Mary’s attitude at the peak of her suffering at the foot of the Cross. This word is stabat. She stands. She does not fall or collapse. She does not faint. She is there, standing, fully mistress of herself, with great dignity. She suffers, she offers and she offers herself.

Fr. Patrick Troadec, Notre-Dame de Compassion [Our Lady of Compassion], Via Romana. 172 pp. Pocket book, €10. Available at the bookstore Notre Dame de France (33 rue Galande, 75005 Paris, 01-43-25-36-67) or at Saint-Yves Priory (26 rue des Sittelles, 29490 Guipavas (€20 for 2, including shipping).