By 
Elias Bartel
On September 15, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, friends gathered at the TFP-Louisiana center in Lafayette for the installation of an impressive, life-size statue of Our Lady of Sorrows. The day was forecast by the weatherman to be thoroughly hot and miserably humid, but it proved to be an agreeable afternoon.
After invited friends arrived and visited with each other, the moment came to bless the statue and pray the rosary in Our Lady’s honor. Monsignor Robert Berggreen from Saint Agnes’ parish in Baton Rouge led the Sorrowful Mysteries, followed by Mr. Thomas Drake leading the Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows composed by Pope Pius VII when a prisoner of Napoleon. Fr. Wilfredo Comellas proceeded with the ceremony of the blessing of the water. He then blessed the statue of the Mater Dolorosa and all present.
After the outdoor ceremony was finished, Msgr. Berggreen then blessed the offices of TFP-Louisiana named Sagres, after the famous school of navigation founded by Prince Henry the Navigator.
Delightful food and conversation awaited everyone in the house. As the sun began to set, friends returned home. Nevertheless, the thought remained: in this world, happiness is won only through suffering. Life, contrary to the Hollywood view of life, is not a playground, but a spiritual battleground.
Saint Ferdinand told his mother,”Our Lord did not redeem mankind in the soft arms of His mother, but on the hard arms of the cross,” thus purchasing eternal happiness through sacrifice. Our Lady suffered tremendously by seeing Her Divine Son crucified. She is Our Mother. When you are suffering, look to Our Lady and pray, “Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!”