The Jewish "Our Lady of Sorrows": The Jews have been asking for the Intercession of this Mother for 3,000 Years

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows! “Happy” may seem a strange word to use, but that’s sort of the point …

Did you know the Jews also have an “Our Lady of Sorrows”? And knowing about her helps us better understand the Blessed Mother as “Our Lady of Sorrows”?

The prophecy that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem connects the Blessed Mother to another mother, whose pregnancies were a contrast of health and sickness.

When the wise men came to King Herod, he assembled “all the chief priests and scribes of the people” and “he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born” (Matthew 2:4). They answered Herod, “In Bethlehem of Judea,” citing the prophecy of Micah:

But you, O Bethlehem Eph′rathah, who are little to be among the

clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be

ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days …

until the time when she who is in travail has brought forth; then

the rest of his brethren shall return to the people of Israel

Matthew 2:5-6; Micah 5:2-3

Note that the prophecy states “Bethlehem Eph′rathah,” not just Bethlehem.

This is because the new matriarch of Israel is to give birth where the old matriarch of Israel gave birth and died. “She who is in travail” both points back to Rachel and forward to Mary.

According to Genesis, it was at Bethlehem-Eph′rathah, the place between the two cities, where Rachel and Jacob had to take shelter when Rachal suddenly went into “hard labor”:

Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some

distance from Ephrath, Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.

And when she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Fear

not; for now you will have another son.” And as her soul was

departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-oni [meaning

“child of affliction” or “child of poverty”]; but his father called his

name Benjamin. So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way

to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar upon

her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.

Genesis 35:16-20

These two holy families, that of Mary and Rachel, are connected in so many ways.

Look at the name that Rachel originally chose for her son, Ben-oni, “child of affliction” or “child of poverty.” Though the health of Mary’s pregnancy contrasts with the sickness of Rachel’s, Rachel’s hard labor and death points to the poverty of the Holy Family, especially Jesus as the Suffering Servant, and Mary as “Our Lady of Sorrows.”1

Going back to the Gospel of Matthew, Rachel is mentioned again in reference to Herod’s response to the visit by the wise men, the Slaughter of the Innocents: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children” (Matthew 2:18).

Here is an ancient icon of Rachel weeping for her children:

Ever since Jacob “set up a pillar upon her grave,” described above, the Jews have been visiting the tomb of Rachel, called “Kever Rachel” today. Just as we ask for the intercession of “Our Lady of Sorrows,” the Jews have been praying for their holy mother, Rachel, to intercede for them before the heavenly throne for 3,000 years!

The Jews even tell the story that, when the Babylonian army had conquered Israel and destroyed the Temple, as the Jewish survivors were being marched to Babylon in chains, they stopped to pray at Rachel’s grave.2 All the patriarchs appeared before God at this time to pray for God to forgive their children. Rachel found herself last in line behind Abraham, Isaac, Moses, and even her own husband, Jacob. God rejected all their prayers, but he could not refuse the tears of the mother.

Rachel prayed to God of her affliction. Because it was God’s Will, she allowed her sister to marry her beloved, Jacob. Now, she pleaded with God, saying “If I could give up my love for the sake of my sister, can’t you set aside your anger for the sake of your children?”

Because of Rachel’s plea, God allowed the Jews to return home to Israel.

Now, again, God has given us a still greater pair of intercessors, the Holy Spouses, the mother and father of Jesus, “Our Lady of Sorrows” and Our Prince of Sorrows, the “Patron of the Afflicted.”3 Go to them in good times and in bad, in riches and in poverty, and in health and in sickness.

1

Isaiah 53:4,7: “Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted … He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter …”

2

The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022), Pesichta d’Eicha Rabbah (Lamentations 31:14-16), 24.

3

Cf. The Seven Sorrows and Seven Joys of St. Joseph

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