In the annals of the Society of Jesus, there is a story of when a certain young man was once faced with a severe temptation to sin. Sadly, the poor man yielded to the struggle and decided to commit the mortal sin. He rose to his feet, and was leaving his room when he heard a voice call out to him in a frightening tone,

"Stop, O wretched man! What are you doing?"

Startled, the young man immediately stopped. Looking around in the direction where he had heard the voice, he saw a picture of Our Lady of Sorrows hanging on the wall. As he looked at the pitiful image, his confusion grew to terror when he saw Our Lady take one of the swords that was in Her Heart and hold it out to him.

In a voice both pleading and sorrowful, She said: "Take this sword and pierce my heart with it, rather than wound My beloved Son by the sin you are about to commit."

Faced with such a choice, the young man could only stare in shock at the sword held out to him. Then, his mind grasped the full meaning behind his Heavenly Mother’s words and, full of sorrow and shame, he threw himself on the ground at Her feet.

"O my Mother Mary," he wept, "ask Jesus to pardon me, and I will never, never sin again."

Our compassionate Lady told him that She had obtained his forgiveness from Jesus. And with tears of contrition still streaming down his face, Mary’s erring child thanked Her for Her mercy towards him.

Our Lady of Sorrows, true to Her part of the bargain, helped the young man to keep his. The memory of Her words often came back to him whenever temptations threatened. He never forgot the lesson of how sin gives real pain to both Jesus and Mary; a very intense and saddening one. And in time, by thinking of and praying to Mary, the young man was able to grow in great virtue.