Mary Undoer of Knots

A Thought on Sunday

Mary Undoer of Knots

From the desk of Fr. Ignatius Waters, cp

Sunday 16th March 2014

Everything that happens to us affects us for good or ill. Everything we see, hear or read every day affects us. That’s a lot of affecting! And it all registers not just in our minds and memories but in our bodies as well.

So our bodies are very wise. Our bodies know things before we do. But strangely we don’t seem to catch on though the language we use is saying it all the time! The following is just a very limited list off the top of my head of some of the things we say: I’m sick to the teeth! I’m tongue tied! My eyes were out on sticks! He’s a pain in the neck! I’m choking with grief. I’m frozen with fear. My knees are shaking. My heart is thumping. His face fell. My heart sank. My heart was broken. She’s a heart scald. His nose was out of joint. She has a long face on her! He has one hard neck! She was gob smacked! I’m in a twist. My stomach’s in a knot. I’m all knotted inside! As regards this last one, it may be literally true!

Our Blessed Lady, as you know, has hundreds of titles, and in the Litany of Loreto, we have so many different ways of praising her and describing her goodness and greatness and compassion. But now there’s a new one, at least new to me. And I like it! It is Mary, Undoer of Knots – yes, Mary who unties the knots! Whether they’re inside us or outside of us in our relationships, our families, in our work situation or in all the complexities of life today. This devotion may have been inspired by the words of Saint Irenaeus who said: ”Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; whereas Mary, by her obedience, undid it”.

An image of Mary, Undoer of Knots, was painted in oils on wood by Johan Scnmidtner and it hangs in the church of St. Peter in Augsburg in Germany. It shows Mary untying the knots on a long white ribbon. It seems the ribbon was used at the wedding of a noble couple in the 17th Century and the marriage, in danger of breaking up, was saved through Mary’s intercession. A nephew of the couple commissioned the painting. But we would probably not have heard of it had not Fr. Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) come across it at a time when he was in great turmoil himself; a time when he desperately needed Mary’s help in untying the many knots in his own life.

Everyone has times like this in life and we need the wisdom to recognize this and the humility to ask for the help we need.