The Seven Sorrows of Mary are a popular Roman Catholic devotion.
In common religious Catholic imagery, the Blessed Virgin Mary is
portrayed in a sorrowful and lacrimating affect, with seven daggers
piercing her heart, often bleeding. Devotional prayers which consist of meditation
began to elaborate on her Seven Sorrows based on the prophecy of the
Rabbi Simeon. Common examples of piety under this title are Servite rosary, or the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady and the Seven Joys of Mary and more recently, "Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary".
The usual highlight of Good Friday is the Santo Entierro ("holy
internment"), which is the name of both the rite and the wooden or resin
sculpture of the dead Christ lying supine used in this Hispanic custom.
Comparable to the Eastern Orthodox practice of processing the epitaphion, the calandra or bier carrying the Santo Entierro is brought about town, normally followed by a retinue of saints connected with the Passion narrative such as Peter and John the Evangelist. Tradition dictates that the Virgin Mary, dressed as the mourning Mater Dolorosa, is always the last image in the procession regardless of the number of statues involved.