"The Blessed Virgin Mary, for the love she bore us, was willing to see her Son sacrificed to Divine Justice by the barbarity of men.  This great torment, then, which Mary endured for us - a torment that was more than a thousand deaths - deserves both our compassion and our gratitude.  If we can make no other return for so much love, at least let us give a few moments this day to consider the greatness of the sufferings by which Mary became the Queen of Martyrs; for the sufferings of her great martyrdom exceed those of all the martyrs; being, in the first place, the longest in point of duration; and in second place, the greatest in point of intensity."

St. Alphonsus Liguori