Mary, Undoer of Knots

How this devotion started?

To show us the mission granted to the Virgin Mary by Her Son, an unknown artist painted Mary Undoer of Knots with great grace. Since 1700, his painting has been venerated in the Church of St. Peter in Perlack, Germany. It was originally inspired by a meditation of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, France and martyr. It is based on the parallel made by Saint Paul between Adam and Christ. Saint Irenaeus, in turn, made a comparison between Eve and Mary, saying:

"Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; whereas Mary, by her obedience, undid it".

But what are these knots? They are the problems and struggles we face for which we do not see any solution. Knots of discord in your family, lack of understanding between parents and children, disrespect, violence, the knots of deep hurts between husband and wife, the absence of peace and joy at home. They are also the knots of anguish and despair of separated couples, the dissolution of the family, the knots of a drug addict son or daughter, sick or separated from home or God, knots of alcoholism, the practice of abortion, depression, unemployment, fear, solitude. The knots of our life! How they suffocate the soul, beat us down and betray the heart’s joy and separate us from God.

The devotion to Mary Undoer of Knots is not new. The devotion is more than 300 years old. There is a link to a powerful novena to Mary Undoer of Knots and an explanation of the image and it's meaning.

http://www.maryundoerofknots.com/novena.htm

"In this angelic court, two angels stand out. One of them holds on to a ribbon, the ribbon of our life, which is full of knots big and small, loose and tight. They are the knots of our life. The good hearted angel looks to our Queen and holding onto the ribbon of our life, presents to Mary, the Undoer of Knots and says, “We trust you, Mother; You can help us. Undo, then, the knots of this life!” Then, Mary takes our life into Her compassionate hands and with her long fingers of mercy goes on to undo each knot, one after the other. Look at Her. Feel the attention, love and tenderness with which She does this, hearing our plea, the supplication of a beloved child! See what happens? This ribbon becomes free of any type of knot, reflecting all the mercy and freeing power of the holy hands of Mary Undoer of Knots. Another angel comes over, then, and taking the ribbon of our life, freed of all knots, looks at us and seems to say, “See what She did. Look at what Mary, through her intercession can do again. Trust Her, place your problems and afflictions in Her hands!”

God is love

Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
1 John 4:7,16

Mary as the New Eve

Saint Irenaeus was one of the most important Church Fathers of the 2nd century AD. Today we celebrate his feast day. Irenaeus was bishop of Lyons, in Southern France, though he appears to have grown up in Smyrna, in Modern day Turkey. There, he had personal contact with Saint Polycarp, one of the Apostolic Fathers who in turn knew the Apostle John, son of Zebedee. He was a pastor and a missionary. Before becoming bishop, Irenaeus studied in Rome where he was influenced by Saint Justin Martyr. His major work, Against Heresies, which appeared around the year 185 AD, exposed the absurdities of the Gnostic cults of the day and included a strong presentation and defense of Catholic Christianity. His heroic writing in defense of the church cost him his life. It is said that he received the martyr's crown around the year 200. He gave up his life for the Lord. He upheld the truth and always sought to foster unity and peace.

This is an excerpt from Saint Irenaeus' classic second century work
Against Heresies
The Lord, coming into his own creation in visible form, was sustained by his own creation which he himself sustains in being. His obedience on the tree of the cross reversed the disobedience at the tree in Eden; the good news of the truth announced by an angel to Mary, a virgin subject to a husband, undid the evil lie that seduced Eve, a virgin espoused to a husband.

As Eve was seduced by the word of an angel and so fled from God after disobeying his word, Mary in her turn was given the good news by the word of an angel, and bore God in obedience to his word. As Eve was seduced into disobedience to God, so Mary was persuaded into obedience to God; thus the Virgin Mary became the advocate of the virgin Eve.

Christ gathered all things into one, by gathering them into himself. He declared war against our enemy, crushed him who at the beginning had taken us captive in Adam, and trampled on his head, in accordance with God’s words to the serpent in Genesis: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall lie in wait for your head, and you shall lie in wait for his heel.

The one lying in wait for the serpent’s head is the one who was born in the likeness of Adam from the woman, the Virgin. This is the seed spoken of by Paul in the letter to the Galatians: The law of works was in force until the seed should come to whom the promise was made. He shows this even more clearly in the same letter when he says: When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman. The enemy would not have been defeated fairly if his vanquisher had not been born of a woman, because it was through a woman that he had gained mastery over man in the beginning, and set himself up as man’s adversary.

That is why the Lord proclaims himself the Son of Man, the one who renews in himself that first man from whom the race born of woman was formed; as by a man’s defeat our race fell into the bondage of death, so by a man’s victory we were to rise again to life.

Eve was visited by a fallen angel and Mary was visited by an angel of the Lord. Eve, by her disobedience, brought sin and death to the human race; whereas Mary, by her obedience, brought salvation and new life to all humanity.

Nine day novena

The origin of the idea of praying for a special intention for nine days is very attractive and worth thinking about. It comes from the alleged length of time that Mary and the eleven remaining disciples spent praying together in the upper room, waiting for the Spirit to come upon them at Pentecost. In our imitation of them in these nine days we’ll surely be in good company, especially with Mary, the one who shows us what our attitude in prayer should be: she always trusted, despite confusion; she continued to hope, despite the seeming darkness. The disciples were a small community of fragile yet hopeful trust, of confusion yet deep desire within their hearts. In short, they were probably very much like ourselves at the beginning of this novena.
On each day of the novena, try to have a few quiet moments with yourself or with others to reflect on the scripture passage. Then, in your own time, move on to the reflection and think about what it might say to you today. Then pass on to the short prayer and make it your own. Always end with the Novena Prayer and include in it any intention you would like to make.
Brendan Comerford, SJ

Here is a link to a beautiful novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

http://sacredspace.ie/en/shnovena1/

As the month of June, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, comes to a close, let us always remember to come to Jesus with all our desires, needs and sufferings. Let us always ask Blessed Mother Mary to lead us to her Beloved Son. Let us rest in Him.

The garden of your soul

"Look at the sweetness of the tender fruit, the spotless Lamb, the seed sown in Mary as in a lovely field!...Our rational will has been made even stronger by God's union with humanity. I beg you in Christ gentle Jesus to lift your love, your affection, your desire up high. Take hold of the tree of the most holy cross and let it be planted in the garden of your soul, because this is a tree laden with fruits, the true solid virtues. For you see very well that beyond God's union with his creature, he has joined himself to the most holy cross. And he wills, he insists, that we too join ourselves to this sweet tree in love and desire. Then our garden cannot help producing sweet and tender fruit." Today's Meditation from the Magnificat by Saint Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church

Psalm 23:3
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
It's so important to continually acknowledge God's presence and pray because He restores our souls. He guides us in the paths of righteousness for His glory, so that we will lead others to Him too.

We were created to be living souls for God.
We cannot let the "ways of this world" cause distress in our souls. We must learn to reach out to the Lord, and let Him restore us. He will help us to see beyond all the problems around us and to see His glory. When our hearts and souls ache, we need to reach out to God. Only God can restore our souls. Let us place our trust in Him. He wouldn't make us this way, if He didn't want us this way. When we feel threatened, or we stumble or fall, God is always there to help us. God is always there to restore our souls but we must want Him to do it, and allow Him to do it. God can and does make a difference in our lives so that we can make a difference in our world.

Corpus Christi

Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Let us pray through the intercession of Saint John Vianney and Saint Philomena for our priests who bring us the Body and Blood of Christ.

Totally yours
Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother. Live in me. Act in me. Speak in and through me. Think your thoughts in my mind. Love, through my heart. Give me your dispositions and feelings. Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus. Correct, enlighten and expand my thoughts and behavior. Possess my soul. Take over my entire personality and life. Replace it with yourself. Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving. Pray in me and through me. Let me live in you and keep me in this union always. Pope John Paul II

Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, one of the greatest theologians of the 2nd century, is best known for refuting the Gnostic heresies in his writings, Against Heresies, 180 A.D He wrote teachings on the Eucharist:

"Christ has declared the cup, a part of creation, to be his own Blood, from which he causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, he has established as his own Body, from which he gives increase to our bodies."

"For just as the bread which comes from the earth, having received the invocation of God, is no longer ordinary bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly, so our bodies, having received the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, because they have the hope of the resurrection."

Ephesians 5:30
For we are members of His Body, of His flesh and of His bones.

Our Blessed Mother is the Mother of the Eucharist.

She is the tree of life to them that lay hold on her, and he that shall retain her is blessed. Proverbs 3:18