1 Stabat Mater dolorosa
Iuxta crucem lacrimosa
dum pendebat Filius.
 
2. Cuius animam gementem,
contristatam et dolentem,
pertransivit gladius.
 
3. O quam tristis et afflicta
fuit illa benedicta
Mater Unigeniti.
 
4. Quæ mœrebat et dolebat,
Pia Mater cum [videbat]1
Nati pœnas incliti.
 
5. Quis est homo qui non fleret,
Matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?
 
6. Quis non posset contristari,
Christi Matrem contemplari
dolentem cum Filio?
 
7. Pro peccatis suæ gentis
vidit Iesum in tormentis
et flagellis subditum.
 
8. Vidit suum dulcem natum
moriendo desolatum,
dum emisit spiritum.
 
9. Eia Mater, fons amoris,
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.
 
10. Fac ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum,
ut sibi complaceam.
 
11. Sancta Mater, istud agas,
Crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.
 
12. Tui nati vulnerati,
tam dignati pro me pati,
pœnas mecum divide.
 
13. Fac me [vere tecum]2 flere,
Crucifixo condolere,
donec ego vixero.
 
14. Iuxta crucem tecum stare,
[et me tibi]3 sociare
in planctu desidero.
 
15. Virgo virginum præclara,
mihi iam non sis amara:
fac me tecum plangere.
 
16. Fac ut portem Christi mortem,
passionis fac consortem,
et plagas recolere.
 
17. Fac me plagis vulnerari,
[fac me cruce inebriari,
et cruore]4 Filii.
 
18. [Flammis ne urar succensus]5
per te Virgo, sim defensus
in die [judicii]6.7
 
19. Christe, cum sit hinc exire,
da per Matrem me venire
ad palmam victoriae.
 
20. Quando corpus morietur,
fac ut animæ donetur
Paradisi gloria. Amen

C. Loewe sets stanzas 15-16
J. Novák sets stanzas 1-6, 9-10
B. Wegener-Koopman sets stanzas 1-2
A. Vivaldi sets stanzas 1-10
F. Schubert sets stanzas 1-4
L. Boccherini sets stanzas 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
L. Boccherini sets stanzas 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
L. Netzel sets stanzas 11-12
J. Stephenson sets stanza 9
G. Medlock sets stanzas 8, 20
U. Emanuelsson sets stanza 20
A. Dvořák sets stanzas 1-4 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
A. Dvořák sets stanzas 5-8 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
A. Dvořák sets stanza 9 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
A. Dvořák sets stanzas 10-11 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
A. Dvořák sets stanza 12 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
A. Dvořák sets stanzas 13-14 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
A. Dvořák sets stanza 15 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
A. Dvořák sets stanzas 16-17 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
A. Dvořák sets stanzas 18 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
A. Dvořák sets stanza 20 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
G. Pergolesi sets stanzas 1-5, 8-11, 16 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
F. Ferko sets stanzas 1-4 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
F. Ferko sets stanzas 5-8 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
F. Ferko sets stanzas 9-12 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
F. Ferko sets stanzas 17-20 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
G. Pergolesi sets stanza 20 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
F. Ferko sets stanzas 13-16 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information

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Note: There are several versions of this text. Please visit the highly detailed Stabat Mater Website for more information about over 200 Stabat Mater settings and the many textual variants.

¹ Dvořák: "videbat et tremebat"
² Ferko: "tecum pie"
³ Dvořák: "te libenter"
⁴ Dvořák: "Cruce hac inebriari/ ob amorem"
⁵ Dvořák: "Inflammatus et accensus"
⁶ Dvořák: "iudicii"
⁷ Dvořák adds

Fac me cruce custodiri,
morte Christi præmuniri,
confoveri gratia.

Text Authorship:

• possibly by Jacopone da Todi (1230 - 1306) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Luigi Boccherini (1743 - 1805), "Stabat Mater", op. 61, G. 532a, published 1781, stanzas 1,2,4,5,7,9,12,15,16,17,20 [ soprano, string quintet ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Luigi Boccherini (1743 - 1805), "Stabat Mater", G. 532b, published 1800, stanzas 1,2,4,5,7,9,12,15,16,17,20 [ soprano, alto, tenor, string quintet ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Joanna Bruzdowicz (b. 1943), "Stabat Mater" [ mixed chorus ]
      Publisher: Certosa Verlag [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ľubica Čekovská (b. 1975), 2018 [ mixed chorus ], from Three fragments from Stabat Mater, no. 3, Bärenreiter
      Publisher: Bärenreiter [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Quartetto e coro", op. 58 no. 1 (1876-1877), first performed 1880, stanzas 1-4, from oratorio Stabat Mater, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Quartetto", op. 58 no. 2 (1876-1877), first performed 1880, stanzas 5-8, from oratorio Stabat Mater, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Coro", op. 58 no. 3 (1876-1877), first performed 1880, stanza 9, from oratorio Stabat Mater, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Basso solo e coro", op. 58 no. 4 (1876-1877), first performed 1880, stanzas 10-11, from oratorio Stabat Mater, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Coro", op. 58 no. 5 (1876-1877), first performed 1880, stanza 12, from oratorio Stabat Mater, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Tenore solo e coro", op. 58 no. 6 (1876-1877), first performed 1880, stanzas 13-14, from oratorio Stabat Mater, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Coro", op. 58 no. 7 (1876-1877), first performed 1880, stanza 15, from oratorio Stabat Mater, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Duo", op. 58 no. 8 (1876-1877), first performed 1880, stanzas 16-17, from oratorio Stabat Mater, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Alto solo", op. 58 no. 9 (1876-1877), first performed 1880, stanzas 18, from oratorio Stabat Mater, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Quartetto e coro", op. 58 no. 10 (1876-1877), first performed 1880, stanza 20, from oratorio Stabat Mater, no. 10 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ulrika Emanuelsson (b. 1965), "Quando corpus morietur", 2005, copyright © 2007, stanza 20 [ women's chorus ], Svensk Musik
      Publisher: Svensk Musik [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Alissa Firsova (b. 1986), "Paradisi Gloria", op. 28 (2013) [ satb chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alissa Firsova (b. 1986), "Stabat Mater", op. 30 (2014) [ satb chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Viktor Kioulaphides (b. 1961), "Stabat mater" [ soprano, alto, instrumental ensemble ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Stabat mater dolorosa", S. 3 no. 12 (1866), from oratorio Christus, no. 12 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Virgo", 1843, stanzas 15-16 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Garrett Medlock (b. 1993), "STABAT", 2023, published 2025, copyright © 2025, first performed 2024, stanzas 8,20 [ tenor, bassoon, and piano ], from If You Use Your Senses, no. 4, Lupine Press [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Laura Constance Netzel (1839 - 1927), "Kyrko-aria", subtitle: "Sancta mater istud agas", published 1884, stanzas 11-12 [ voice and organ ], Lundqvist, Stockholm [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jan Novák (1921 - 1984), "Stabat Mater", stanzas 1-6,9-10, from Cantica latina, no. 24 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Stabat mater", D 175, published 1888, stanzas 1-4 [ SATB chorus, organ, and orchestra ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Julia Schwartz (b. 1963), "Stabat Mater", copyright © 2024 [ satb chorus and organ ], Carus-Verlag
      Publisher: Carus-Verlag [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Josephine Stephenson (b. 1990), "Eja, Mater, fons amoris", 2023, first performed 2023, stanza 9 [ satb chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henri Stierlin-Vallon (1887 - 1952), "Stabat Mater", 1947 [ mixed chorus, string quartet and organ ], from Chemin de croix [sung text not yet checked]
• by Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741), "Stabat mater dolorosa", RV. 621, stanzas 1-10 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Bertha Frensel Wegener-Koopman (1874 - 1953), "Stabat Mater", published 1909, stanzas 1-2, from Vier Lieder, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710 - 1736), "Stabat mater"
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    
• by Frank Ferko (b. 1950), "Introduction" [ mixed chorus ], from Stabat Mater, no. 0
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    
• by Frank Ferko (b. 1950), "Andromache’s Lament" [ soprano, mixed chorus ], from Stabat Mater, no. 1
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    
• by Frank Ferko (b. 1950), "The Mother" [ soprano and mixed chorus ], from Stabat Mater, no. 2
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    
• by Frank Ferko (b. 1950), "From The Death Cycle Machine" [ soprano and mixed chorus ], from Stabat Mater, no. 3
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    
• by Frank Ferko (b. 1950), "Elegy" [ soprano and mixed chorus ], from Stabat Mater, no. 4
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    

Set in a modified version by Marc-Antoine Charpentier.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ] FRE
  

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Guido (Pieter Theodoor Jozef) Gezelle (1830 - 1899) , "Onder 't kruis met mededogen" ; composed by Raf Belmans.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in Latin, adapted by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Franz Liszt.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Czesław Jankowski (1857 - 1929) , "Stała Matka bolejąca" ; composed by Karol Maciej Szymanowski.
  • Go to the text.
    

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lau Kanen) , "Stabat mater"
• ENG English (Michael P Rosewall) , "The sorrowful mother", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La mère pleine de douleurs", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Karl Eitner) , "Stabat mater dolorosa"

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 60
Word count: 244

    1. The sorrowful mother
Stood weeping next to the cross
Upon which her son was hanging.

    2. Whose anguished soul, 
Grief stricken and sorrowful,
Had been pierced by a sword.

    3. O what sadness and suffering
For she who was blessed to be
Mother of the only-begotten One.

    4. Who grieved and lamented,
The pious mother, as she saw
The torments of her Son.

    5. Is there a person who would not weep,
Upon seeing the Mother of Christ
In such great distress?

    6. Who would not feel sorrow,
When contemplating Christ’s Mother
Suffering so with her Son?

    7. For the sins of his people
She saw Jesus being tormented
And subjected to flogging.

    8. She witnessed her sweet child
Dying in desolation
As His spirit left Him.

    9. Ah, Mother, wellspring of love,
Allow me to feel the power of your grief
So that I might mourn with you.

    10. Make my heart burn
With love for Christ, the Lord,
So that I might please Him.

    11. Holy Mother, do this,
Impart the wounds of the crucifixion
Powerfully onto my heart.

    12. Those of your wounded child,
Who stooped to suffer so much for me,
That I might share His pain.

    13. Let me sincerely weep with you,
In sympathy for the crucified,
For as long as I will live.

    14. To stand next to the cross with you,
And to share together with you
In weeping, is my desire.

    15. Virgin, chosen above all virgins,
Do not turn your bitterness toward me:
Allow me to weep with you.

    16. May I bear Christ’s death,
The consequence of his Passion,
And forever remember his wounds.

    17. May I suffer the wounds,
May I be intoxicated by the cross,
And the blood of your Son.

    18. Lest I be burned with fire,
Virgin, may you come to my defense
On the day of judgment.

    19.  Christ, when it is my time to depart,
Grant that, through your Mother,
I might come to the palm of victory.

    20. When my body has died,
Let my soul be granted 
The glory of Paradise. Amen.