The Stabat Mater is a thirteenth-century Latin hymn about the sorrow of the Blessed Virgin Mary standing at the foot of the Cross. Its title is its first words, Stabat Mater dolorosa, “The sorrowful Mother was standing.” It is sung between the Stations of the Cross, on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, and in some of the most beautiful music ever written. Below is the full hymn in its best-known English translation and in Latin, its history and meaning, and when the Church sings it.
The Stabat Mater in English
This is the well-loved translation by Edward Caswall (1849), “At the cross her station keeping,” as printed in Father Lasance’s With God (1911):
At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword has passed.
Oh, how sad and sore distressed
Was that Mother highly blessed
Of the sole-begotten One!
Christ above in torment hangs,
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying, glorious Son.
Is there one who would not weep
Whelmed in miseries so deep
Christ’s dear Mother to behold?
Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that Mother’s pain untold?
Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,
She beheld her tender Child,
All with bloody scourges rent.
For the sins of His own nation
Saw Him hang in desolation
Till His spirit forth He sent.
O thou Mother! fount of love,
Touch my spirit from above.
Make my heart with thine accord;
Make me feel as thou hast felt;
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ, my Lord.
Holy Mother! pierce me through;
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
Let me share with thee His pain,
Who for all our sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.
Let me mingle tears with thee,
Mourning Him Who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live.
By the cross with thee to stay,
There with thee to weep and pray,
Is all I ask of thee to give.
Virgin of all virgins best!
Listen to my fond request:
Let me share thy grief divine;
Let me, to my latest breath,
In my body bear the death
Of that dying Son of thine.
Wounded with His every wound,
Steep my soul till it hath swooned
In His very blood away;
Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
Lest in flames I burn and die.
In His awful judgment day.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
Be Thy Mother my defense.
Be Thy cross my victory;
While my body here decays,
May my soul Thy goodness praise,
Safe in paradise with Thee.
Amen.
The Stabat Mater in Latin
The Latin text as it appears in the Roman Missal of 1962:
Stabat Mater dolorósa
Iuxta Crucem lacrimósa,
Dum pendébat Filius.
Cuius ánimam geméntem,
Contristátam et doléntem,
Pertransivit gládius.
O quam tristis et afflícta
Fuit illa benedícta
Mater Unigéniti !
Quæ mærébat, et dolébat,
Pia Mater, dum vidébat
Nati pœnas íncliti.
Quis est homo, qui non fleret,
Matrem Christi si vidéret
In tanto supplicio ?
Quis non posset contristári,
Christi Matrem contemplári
Doléntem cum Filio ?
Pro peccátis suæ gentis,
Vidit Iesum in torméntis,
Et flagéllis súbditum.
Vidit suum dulcem Natum
Moriéndo desolátum,
Dum emísit spíritum.
Eia, Mater, fons amóris,
Me sentíre vim dolóris
Fac, ut tecum lúgeam.
Fac, ut árdeat cor meum
In ámando Christum Deum,
Ut sibi compláceam.
Sancta Mater, istud agas,
Crucifixi fige plagas
Cordi meo válide.
Tui Nati vulneráti,
Tam dignáti pro me pati,
Pœnas mecum dívide.
Fac me tecum pie flere,
Crucifixo condolére,
Donec ego víxero.
Iuxta crucem tecum stare,
Et me tibi sociáre
In planctu desídero.
Virgo virginum præclára,
Mihi iam non sis amára :
Fac me tecum plángere.
Fac, ut portem Christi mortem,
Passiónis fac consórtem,
Et plagas recólere.
Fac me plagis vulnerári,
Fac me Cruce inebriári,
Et cruóre Fílii.
Flammis ne urar succénsus
Per te, Virgo, sim defénsus
In die iudícii.
Christe, cum sit hinc exíre,
Da per Matrem me venire
Ad palmam victóriæ.
Quando corpus moriétur,
Fac, ut ánimæ donétur
Paradísi gloria.
Amen.
History
The Stabat Mater is usually attributed to Jacopone da Todi (about 1230–1306), a Franciscan poet, although it has also been credited to Pope Innocent III and St. Bonaventure. It spread through the Franciscan devotion to the Passion, and in 1727 it was added to the Roman Missal as the sequence for the feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today it may be sung as the sequence at Mass on the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15, the day after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
The meaning of the hymn
The hymn has two movements:
- Contemplation. The first verses look at Mary standing by the Cross, her heart pierced by the sword Simeon foretold (Luke 2:35), and ask who could fail to weep with her.
- Prayer. The singer then turns to Mary: let me feel what you felt, let me share Christ’s wounds and your tears, stand by the cross with you, and be defended by you on the day of judgment, so that my soul may reach the glory of paradise.
The Gospel itself is brief: “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother” (John 19:25). The hymn helps us stay there with her.
When is the Stabat Mater sung?
- During the Stations of the Cross, one verse between each station, especially on the Fridays of Lent and on Good Friday. See the interactive Stations of the Cross.
- On September 15, Our Lady of Sorrows.
- With the Seven Sorrows Rosary and other devotions to the sorrows of Mary. See the Seven Sorrows Rosary.
- In Holy Week, at services and concerts.
The Stabat Mater in music
Hundreds of composers have set the Stabat Mater, among them Palestrina, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1736, one of the most performed sacred works of the eighteenth century), Joseph Haydn, Gioachino Rossini, Antonín Dvořák and Francis Poulenc. In parishes it is usually sung to the simple chant melody, verse by verse between the stations.
Frequently asked questions
What does Stabat Mater mean?
“The Mother was standing,” from the opening line, Stabat Mater dolorosa: “The sorrowful Mother was standing.”
Who wrote the Stabat Mater?
It is traditionally attributed to the Franciscan poet Jacopone da Todi in the thirteenth century.
Is the Stabat Mater a prayer?
Yes. It is a hymn, but its second half is a direct prayer to Mary, and many people pray it, not only sing it.
Why is it sung during the Stations of the Cross?
Because it contemplates Mary’s sorrow during the Passion and asks to share it, which is the spirit of the Way of the Cross.
More for Lent and the Passion
- Catholic hymns: lyrics and meaning
- Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15)
- Exaltation of the Holy Cross
- Seven Sorrows Rosary
- Good Friday
- The Via Dolorosa
- Chaplet of the Precious Blood
- The Magnificat
- Marian feast days
Texts and sources
- English: Edward Caswall’s translation as printed in F. X. Lasance, With God (1911), The Stations of the Cross, public domain (Wikisource). Small scan corrections are listed in our text log.
- Latin: Latin Wikisource, “Stabat Mater (ignota),” version of the Roman Missal (1962), public domain.
- Scripture: John 19:25; Luke 2:35.