Seven Sorrows of Mary

Seven Sorrows of Mary is a prayer app built around one specific devotion: the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows. It walks you through the prayer step by step, one sorrow at a time.

The Seven Sorrows come from the life of Our Lady — the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, losing the child Jesus in the temple, meeting Jesus on the way to Calvary, standing at the foot of the Cross, receiving His body, and laying Him in the tomb. The app gives you each one in order, with the prayers to say, so you can pray the whole devotion without a book in front of you.

This is a quieter corner of Catholic prayer, and I was glad to see it done simply. There is no clutter, just the devotion itself. Praying the Seven Sorrows slowly, you sit with Mary in the hardest moments of her life, and it has a way of putting your own troubles in their place.

Good for anyone drawn to Marian devotion, and a fitting prayer for Lent or for Fridays. It suits people going through a hard stretch — grief, worry, a sick family member — who want to pray alongside someone who knew sorrow firsthand.

It does one thing, so if you are looking for a full prayer app with the rosary, the Divine Office, and daily readings, this is not that. It is a single devotion, and it stays in its lane. That focus is a strength, but worth knowing before you download.

Free, from Aquinas Communications, a Catholic developer, and the devotion comes out of the Servite tradition. Available on the App Store: Seven Sorrows of Mary. A solid, focused app for a devotion that deserves more attention.