Nefeli Kotseli · Fac ut portem Christi mortem- Stabat Mater- Pergolesi

Stabat Mater Dolorosa, often referred to as Stabat Mater, is a 13th-century Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III. It is about the Sorrows of Mary.

Like so many other hymns the name of the hymn is made of the first few words. This is called an incipit. The first line reads Stabat mater dolorosa (“The sorrowful mother stood”). The Stabat Mater hymn is about the suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ’s mother, during his crucifixion. It is sung at the liturgy on the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Stabat Mater has been set to music by many composers, among them Palestrina, Pergolesi, Alessandro Scarlatti and Domenico Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Haydn, Rossini, Dvořák, George Henschel, Karol Szymanowski, Poulenc and Arvo Pärt.

In the 16th century, the hymn was added to the Roman missal. The Council of Trent banned it, like most sequences. In the 18th century it was added to the Breviary of Roman Catholic mass. The Second Vatican Council abolished this form of mass, so it is only part of regular mass one day of the year. The current version can be found in the Roman Gradual, which dates of 1973.