Standing by the Cross of Jesus was His Mother Mary

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

St. John the Evangelist recounts one of the most important scenes of the Gospels when he describes, from his firsthand perspective on Calvary itself, that “Standing by the Cross of Jesus was His Mother Mary”. It has been suggested that St. John was himself there at the foot of the cross when all the other disciples had fled because of the Mother of Jesus giving him courage by his accompanying her. 

In her inspirational vision on September 10, 1947, Mother Teresa saw herself as little girl standing by the Cross of Jesus surrounded by a large crowd of anguished people and Our Lady was standing behind her as they both faced the Cross. Our Lady’s left hand was on Mother Teresa’s left shoulder, supporting her, and her right hand was holding Mother Teresa’s right arm, outstretched toward the crucified Jesus. 

Reflecting on the vision years later, Mother Teresa told Fr. Joseph Langford, MC, “If Our Lady had not been there with me that day, I never would have known what Jesus meant when He said, “I thirst”. 

Fr. Langford comments in his book, Mother Teresa: In the Shadow of Our Lady, that “Mother Teresa understood from experience that Our Lady’s presence at her side in the slums of Calcutta somehow purified things no matter how sullied, and beautified things no matter how unlovely. Mary transformed the seemingly unreachable, opening the blackest and bleakest of horizons to the dawning of God’s grace. Mother Teresa taught her Sisters and co-workers that Our Lady’s presence helps us to see through the darkness, is a presence that consoles and sustains us when we are weak, and is a presence that reminds us of the cry of her Son when we are forgetting Him and following the voice of ego.”

As we celebrate the Feasts of the Exultation of the Holy Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows this month, let’s be confident that as Our Lady stood with St. John and with Mother Teresa, she will stand by us as well whenever we have to face the inevitable crosses that come into our lives from illness, loss of loved ones, misfortunes of life, and even disasters and pandemics. Let us, like St. John and Mother Teresa, then in turn embrace Our Blessed Mother in our hearts and lives as our greatest help in following the Lord and doing what He asks us to do and to endure.