The memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, which we celebrate today, dates back to the Feast of the “The Seven Sorrows of Mary”, which was introduced by Pope Benedict XIII in 1721.
In Eastern Christianity, the Sorrowful Mother has been venerated since the first centuries. The great poet Ephrem the Syrian (+373) already sings of the Virgin under the Cross, and a large number of authors of Christian antiquity depict the Sorrows of Mary. These texts became part of the liturgy of the East. Thus, as early as the 6th century, the depiction of Mary under the Cross was common in the East.