[Catholic Caucus] Everyone’s a Bit Knotty

When glancing over the myriad of Marian devotions in the Catholic Church, it’s easy to find yourself pondering: “How do I pick one? Can I pick only one? In the end, aren’t they all just prayers to Mary?” Yes, our Marian prayers do all end up in the same place, in God’s hands through Mary. But, the long list of devotions isn’t simply a way for Mary to accumulate as many awesome titles as possible. Each Marian devotion has a unique message behind it, directed to a specific audience, and is accompanied by an interesting history. So, it’s helpful to read up on the history and message before deciding to focus on a particular Marian devotion at any given time. Chances are, one of Mary’s messages will speak loud and clear to your heart, making the decision that much easier.

I find it amusing to hear Catholics discussing various devotions like middle schoolers discussing the latest rock bands, bragging, “Well, I prayed this devotion way before it was cool and popular in the U.S.” Unlike teenyboppers’ fickle taste in rock bands, once a Marian devotion spreads like wildfire, it doesn’t simply lose its appeal. On the contrary, if a particular train of devotion to Mary is gaining speed, you’d better hop on. God’s providential hand has always guided Mary into our lives at the perfect moment in the grand tapestry of time. I know she is always reintroduced into my life in new ways just when I need her the most.

The devotion to Our Lady Undoer (or Untier) of Knots has recently gained popularity in the United States since Pope Francis’ election to the papacy. This devotion was entirely obscure until about 40 years ago when Pope Francis brought the devotion from Bavaria to Argentina. Now, he has brought it to the Vatican, which has caused it to spread like wildfire. I hadn’t ever heard of this devotion until quite tragically, a friend’s son committed suicide, and she requested we pray this novena for the repose of his soul. Upon praying these prayers, I was in awe of it’s beauty. It wasn’t just the novelty of a new Marian devotion that excited me, but the depth of the theology contained within the prayers captured my heart.

If you’re a practicing Catholic, you know that when you go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, your sins are washed away and your soul is given new life. However, upon exiting the confessional, you come face to face with the fallen world. While your soul may be cleansed of sin, the consequences of sin, both personal and general, tend to linger and stir up trouble. Penance helps us make retribution for our sins, like setting the truth straight after lying to someone or returning a stolen item. Although, more often than not, our sins have far-reaching consequences that aren’t so easily set straight. For instance, premarital sex could lead to children, and with unmarried parents, there’s a good chance they will not have the benefit of an intact family. Separated parents may then feel powerless to protect their children from suffering for their own past mistakes, despite having God forgive their sin. But, you can’t un-ring that bell, as my mother would say. The primordial example of this is, of course, the first sin ever committed by our first parents Adam and Eve. Although God forgave them and promised a Savior, there still echoes today ramifications for their sin, the most obvious being mortality. While we have been redeemed, we continue to live in a fallen world. Redemption is an ongoing process, one in which God has ordained that Mary play a significant role.

As Jesus hung in agony on the cross, he chose as one of his last acts to give us His mother to care for us. She is here for us, to guide us and protect us, to pick us up and urge us on. There is not one person who hasn’t been affected by sin. We’ve all stumbled into its traps, especially those nagging recurring ones. The image of of our lives as ribbons that have simply been twisted into knots is comforting when we realize we have a Mother to help us untie them. Who doesn’t have kinks in their lives they feel powerless to work out all on their own?
This is why I love Our Lady Undoer of Knots. It is a perfect image of Mary as Mother. She stands almost effortlessly crushing the head of Satan while lovingly attending to each little knot in the ribbon of our lives. Good has triumphed over evil, now we’ve just got some knots to work out. Who better to help us than our mother? We can all conjure up images of our mothers untying knots for us, whether a necklace or a shoelace (or even a rosary). When we were little, we knew if we were stuck, we could cry to mommy for help. This is what Mary is doing in this devotion. She is holding out her tender hands to help us with our struggles. Like children though, we can be too stubborn or proud to seek out help, refusing to let go of our ribbons. But why go it alone?

We need to take responsibility for the traps we find ourselves in, but we must also realize that Jesus has given us a way out, purely due to His unfathomable mercy and love. We must turn to Mary and entrust her with the ribbons of our lives as she helps us untie them for the glory of God. So, don’t hesitate to learn more about this devotion, especially the novena. You can read more about the history of this devotion and its connection to Pope Francis here. Also, this website has my favorite novena prayers to Our Lady Undoer of Knots because it stresses her role as our mother. Did I mention the novena involves praying the Rosary? That’s another reason why this novena rocks! It’s actually what prompted me to incorporate this powerful spiritual weapon into my daily routine. Mary told us at Fatima to pray the Rosary every day, so it’s not just some outdated prayer. Satan would love to have us believe that. He’d rather we not strap on the armor that is Mary’s mantle, and yield the sword that is the Rosary. I don’t think it accidental that this image of Mary’s fingers passing from knot to knot in our lives is similar to how our fingers pass from bead to bead in meditating on the life of Christ in the mysteries of the Rosary. Mary’s hands are waiting to give your strained fingers a rest.

Novena — Our Lady Undoer of Knots - Day 1

1. Make the sign of the cross

2. Say the Act of Contrition. Ask pardon for your sins and make a firm promise not to commit them again.
Oh my God I am heartily sorry for having offended you. I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell. But most of all, because I offended you, oh my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen

3. Say the first 3 decades of the Rosary.

4. Make the meditation of the day (to be posted each day)

5. Say the last 2 decades of the rosary

6. Finish with the Prayer to Our Lady the Undoer of Knots

Meditation for Day 1

Our Lady Undoer of Knots
Dearest Holy Mother, Most Holy Mary, you undo the knots that suffocate your children, extend your merciful hands to me. I entrust to You today this knot....and all the negative consequences that it provokes in my life. I give you this knot that torments me and makes me unhappy and so impedes me from uniting myself to You and Your Son Jesus, my Savior.
I run to You, Mary, Undoer of Knots because I trust you and I know that you never despise a sinning child who comes to ask you for help. I believe that you can undo this knot because Jesus grants you everything. I believe that you want to undo this knot because you are my Mother. I believe that You will do this because you love me with eternal love.

Thank you, Dear Mother.

Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.

The one who seeks grace, finds it in Mary’s hands.

PRAYER TO MARY, UNDOER OF KNOTS (Closing Prayer)

Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine love and immense mercy that exists in your heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exist in my life.
You know very well how desperate I am, my pain and how I am bound by these knots.
Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the undoing of the knots in the lives of his children, I entrust into your hands the ribbon of my life.
No one, not even the evil one himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands there is no knot that cannot be undone.
Powerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with Your Son and My Liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot...I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once for all, You are my hope.
O my Lady, you are the only consolation God gives me, the fortification of my feeble strength, the enrichment of my destitution and with Christ the freedom from my chains.
Hear my plea.
Keep me, guide me, protect me, o safe refuge!

Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for me

Thanks, I needed this! May I ask everyone a favor? Pray for me. I had a lymph node excised 6/22 and was told 7/9 that it was endometrial sarcoma. My PET was today. I have absolutely no symptoms - I feel fantastic - and we're now attempting to nail down the primary and see if/where it's gone. I'm not happy with how the docs and hospitals have handled this: I've seen three docs in two different hospital systems, had a CT 7/10 when I should have had the PET right away, and found out only because a relative is a pathologist at a major institution that the path report is too subjective. In fact, if it wasn't for my cousin I would have had a hysterectomy last Friday instead of a D&C and cystoscopy. The gyn onc wanted to do the surgery until I started questioning the path report, and he finally admitted that my uterus might not be the primary and the surgery, with its risks, would be for nothing. By the way, he's the best in the Ohio Valley. Ugh! So now we're waiting for the biopsy slides (from 6/20!) to be sent to the gyn onc’ hospital, at which point I'm demanding that they be sent to Harvard for the third opinion.

So, please pray? I'm asking for a clean PET: no cancer! I'm asking God for complete and total healing. Additionally, I started Gerson therapy the day I found out, 7/9. I'm not denying medical care, but I just have this unexplained feeling. I believe in alternative as well as traditional medicine. Since the docs still can't figure out my primary I'm thinking, what do I have to lose? We pray about this often and we believe He is leading us down that path. In fact, all delays in my diagnosis and care have come from the medical professionals and not me. We think this might be a sign.

Anyway, that's my story. I will pray for my FRiends here as well!

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