Mary Queen of Hearts and the Seven Swords

Sometimes referred to as Our Lady of Sorrows, Mary Queen of Hearts and the Seven Swords is a common motiff in high Christian art. Typically this style of artwork depicts Mary holding either a flaming or glowing heart that is pierced by either one or seven swords. The seven swords represent seven sorrows that Mary had to go through in the Bible.

So I thought it would be a fun study of both high Christian artwork as well as the Bible here. The intention of this topic is then to spruce things up from the usual debates amd episodes of the Bible with a meatier biblical topic, to post high intellectual Christian artwork, discuss the seven swords of sorrow, and discover the fundamental humanity of Mary that is shown in the sorrows she had to suffer for her son and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us jump right in and examine the first sword of sorrow. The first sword is regarded as the prophecy of Simeon. The Bible implies that Simeon lived into an advanced age and that the Lord promised him that he would not die until he saw the Messian. After calling the baby's name Jesus and achieving her purification as per the Law of Moses, Mary and Joseph go up to Jerusalem and here they meet Simeon. Simeon right away, inspired by the Holy Spirit, notices Jesus as the Messiah and blesses Jesus and also blesses Mary and Joseph. Yet while blessing them Simeon makes a prophecy about Jesus that while true and full of hope in that Jesus will be the salvation of Israel and the light of the Gentiles, that he will also be a sign for the falling of Israel and that many will speak against him, foreshadowing the difficult life that Jesus will lead. Interestingly, Simeon also sets the Seven Swords motiff that will become popular in artwork in verse 35 when proclaims to Mary that a sword shall pierce her soul also that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, and thus this prophecy serves as the first sword of sorrow for Mary as a mother knowing that her son though he be the Messiah that he will suffer many things in accordance to the prophecies.



Luke 2:25-35

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Luke 2:14

Well this is a statement by angel Garbriel, and not part of the Seven Swords. However, to link the two, here is something to think about; up until this point the only people that really know about Jesus' miraculous conception and birth, and thus being Messiah, are Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and the angel Gabriel. Simeon though he causes the first sword of sorrow to Mary in that he prophesies that Jesus will suffer a hard life, he also is the first man outside of their immediate family to recognize Jesus as the Christ. It is of course implied that Simeon would die peacefully after this episode since the Lord had kept him to an old age to see the Messiah and Simeon remarks that now he can die in peace since he has seen the promise of God in the person of Jesus Christ. We will progress to the second sword of sorrow tomorrow morning, good night.

the prophecy of Simeon is in itself a wonderful and deep study - - it is not confined to the man Simeon who beheld the Christ child, but it is coupled with all the Simeon/Simon in the NT - including the man who bore the cross when Christ triumphantly went to the place of the skull of Goliath, the sorcerer in Acts, and Peter - - not to derail your beautiful thread, but to follow the Simeon prophecy, pay careful attention to when Jesus calls him Peter and when He calls him Simon or Simon Peter. There is a significance.

Simon is an Hebrew name meaning to hear or to listen. the prophecy speaks of Israel and her Redeemer, our Lord

The Child’s father and mother were amazed at what was spoken about Him.Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary:

“Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken
against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed— and a sword will pierce your soul as well.”

There was also a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was
well along in years. She had been married for seven years, and then was a widow to the age of
eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Coming forward at that moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about
the Child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

We now leave Luke 2 for a moment, though we will return to this chapter, to examine the second sword of sorrow. The second sword of sorrow is a pretty obvious one, it is when Mary and Joseph have to flee into Egypt and take Jesus with them because of Herod's proclamation to kill the children of the land to try to pre-empt the prophecy. Yet in ironic fashion this just adds more fulfillment to several prophecies in the Old Testament, notably the prophesy as told in the Gospels that God will "call his Son out of Egypt" (Hosea 11:1) as well as the lamentation of Rachel by Jeremiah which are directly cited in here. Focusing on Mary particularly and the swords of sorrow we can see how this is a sorrow indeed to have to leave their land, which we can see from Mary's response to Gabriel she is very zealous for her people and her land. Nevertheless despite the sorrows, both Joseph and Mary are faithful to the warnings of the Lord who warns them by sending Joseph a dream, and they heed the Lord's command, and so they go down to Egypt and by their faith the baby Jesus escapes death. Happily also in time, after Herod is dead, they will be able to return to Israel and choose to settle in Nazareth, which fulfills some other prophecies, as well as explaining how Jesus came from Nazareth which is popularly known.



Matthew 2:13-23
13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

tut tut

We now return to Luke 2 for the third sword of sorrow. The sword of sorrow is when Mary loses Jesus at Jerusalem. This is perhaps easy to empathize with for anyone that might have lost track of their kid for a few moments at the park or in a store. Imagine their shock that after going up to Jerusalem with their townsfolk and family and then leaving discovering your kid is not with you! Even more is it takes them three days to find him, somewhat in foreshadowing of Jesus being crucified and dead for three days before he rises again. So one can really see the humanity of Mary as a mother, not just as mother of God, but just as a mother in general and what exasperation she must have felt to have lost her child and tried to find him for three whole days. This is also the sole canonical episode in the Bible where we get a glimpse of Jesus as a child rather than as an infant or as an adult. We see here also Mary express directly that this caused her sorrow, and we see indeed that though she doesn't fully understand things Jesus says to her, that she keeps his sayings in her glowing heart.



Luke 2:40-51

40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.
47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

Thank you for sharing all of this.
I appreciate it and God bless.

No need to thank me, thank God for giving us Jesus, thank Mary for suffering the sorrows of the seven swords, thank the excellent apostles for writing it all down, and thank the Christian artists both of old and new that made such fantastic and mysterious artwork depicting Mary as the Queen of Hearts and the mystery of the Seven Swords. As stated in the OP the premise is to enjoy the artwork and to unravel the mystery in the light of the sacred scriptures. I thought it would make for a fun as well as somewhat quick topic to make, something a little different from the typical theological or biblical questions and topics and discussions, as well as an investigation into high art. I will post the 4th sorrow later tonight and then maybe conclude tomorrow, but after that the topic can be used to post this artistic motiff as well as discuss the overall story portrayed by the artwork and found in the Bible.

Thank you.
I look forward to it.
In this thread here : Art thread? - Christian Chat Rooms & Forums i have also posted some artwork and the 'anatomy of an icon' and its meaning.

Interesting I will check that out. I also chose this artwork specifically for the intra-Christian appeal. I probably should have made that clear in the OP, my apologies. To make note I am not a Catholic nor an Orthodox, but I do understand that both denominations do contain this artistic motiff and teaching. My thought is that this particular motiff has a universal appeal to Christians. For the Catholics it is obviously a devotion to Mary, for the Orthodox it is a great study in icons and one of the more prominent motiffs in iconography, and for the Protestants even they can appreciate this as it follows the Bible sola scriptura rather than being made out of traditions and shows well the very human qualities of Mary that are sometimes lost in the traditions and icons. While the story shows us a glimpse of how very human Mary is, the artwork has a very majestic and mysterious quality as well. This is really what makes high art high, there is a lot of thinking involved here, there is s a sort of quality to it where Mary's fallibility and humanity but also her strong faith in God and her proximity to divinity as the mother of Jesus is portrayed in the most marvellous way.

Thank you for harmonizing all the denominations.
God bless you.

That is a Catholic devotional. I’ll pass.

Yes and no. Yes the Catholics do have devotionals about this subject, but no it is not exclusive to the Catholics as the Orthodox also contain this concept, and for mainstream Protestants the overall story is found in the Bible and can be derived from sola scriptura and is not derived from the extra-biblical traditions of any particular church. It is a rather universally Christian theme and study.

You can't please everyone so keep going with the rest.
Thank you.

I suppose this is true, though just trying to make a clarification and answer replies. I will continue the story of the seven swords of sorrow later tonight and then conclude it tomorrow morning I suppose so that the more free range discussion can take place.

Interesting I did not know they had a whole song for this subject. At any rate the songs and prayers formulated off of this subject as well as various denominational teachings are welcome, but for my part the focus is going to be about the biblical reference and story as well as the very intriguing artwork of this particular motif.