The Valley of Tears

Have you ever felt as though life is a long, long journey through a “valley of tears”?

In the “Hail, Holy Queen,” we pray,

“…to thee do cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.”

Devotion to Mary, especially under the title, “Our Lady of Sorrows,” is a plea for help amidst life’s difficulties… a plea for help from this valley of tears. Through this devotion, we can experience profound consolation.

In my last two emails, I shared some overlooked connections between the Seven Sorrows and the Old Testament.

One of the most thought-provoking connections between Mary’s sorrows and the Old Testament can be found in the Flight into Egypt. (The full text of the Flight into Egypt is only 5 verses long, and it is at the end of this reflection.)

At the end of the short story, St. Matthew shares a passage from Jeremiah that often goes unnoticed:

Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” Mt. 2:17-18

Mary is weeping over the children slaughtered by Herod during the Massacre of the Holy Innocents, in his attempt to eliminate the newborn King of the Jews. But St. Matthew makes his point by citing Jeremiah.

At first, I wondered why Matthew would invoke Jeremiah’s words about Rachel’s weeping. It seemed unrelated to the Slaughter of the Innocents. For most of my life, I overlooked this passage— until I saw a connection between Rachel and Mary.

St. Matthew wrote in the 1st Century, quoting Jeremiah, who lived during the Babylonian Exile (600 years before the birth of Christ). Jeremiah spoke of Rachel, who died 1,000 years before Jeremiah lived.

And yet Rachel wept for her “children.”

Though Rachel only bore two children, Joseph and Benjamin, she weeps for Israel as a whole—because as the favored wife of Jacob (Israel), she represents all twelve tribes. Just as Eve was called the “Mother of all the living,” (Gen. 3:20), Rachel became the “Mother of all of Israel.”

Rachel wept because Israel was being conquered by the Babylonians. Her children were seized, shackled, and enslaved. They were dragged to Babylon through a valley of tears.

Rachel’s tears for Israel echo through the ages, just as Mary’s tears fall for us. If Rachel wept for Israel in exile, how much more does Mary weep for her children today?

To this day, the Tomb of Rachel, right outside Bethlehem, is a holy site. Rachel is revered by the Jews, similar to the way we view Our Blessed Mother.

Just to the northwest of Rachel’s tomb is the “Valley of Rephaim,” sometimes called the “Valley of Baca.” St. Jerome translated it as “Valley of Tears” in the Vulgate:

“Blessed are those whose strength is in the Lord of Hosts, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Tears, they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.” (Psalm 84:5-7)

Mary can identify with the Israelites in the Babylonian exile because she had to flee to Egypt.

Mary can identify with the parents of the Holy Innocents because her son, too, was killed.

If Eve is the “Mother of all the living,” and if Rachel is the “Mother of all of Israel,” how much more can we turn to Mary—the Mother of Jesus and of us all—in our valleys of tears?

How much more can we call out to her for prayer and consolation?

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!

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THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” Mt. 2:13-18

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