The biblical references to Mary’s sorrows are in Luke 2:35 and John 19:26-27. In the Luke passage, Simeon predicts a sword piercing Mary’s soul. In the passage from John we hear Jesus’ words from the cross to Mary and to the beloved disciple. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” Saint Ambrose saw Mary as a sorrowful yet powerful figure at the cross. While others fled, Mary looked on her Son’s wounds with pity, but she also saw in them the salvation of the world. As Jesus hung on the cross, Mary did not fear for herself, but offered herself to her persecutors.