An image of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots

I stole the below from a screenshot of a screenshot (see the start of a diocese’s logo at the bottom right corner), so I do not know the attribution. But, isn’t this a beautiful image?

Save the time: I’ll be appearing on Morning Air radio this coming Monday, 4/26 at 7 am to discuss what gifts we can give back to God. Spoiler alert: it’s nothing material! You can listen online here.

Please pray for me, and I will pray for you!

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 exist in your heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exists 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.

A novena to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots

If you’ve been with me here a while, you know I am a fan of the Pray More Novenas community. It’s just so convenient!

When you sign up for their novenas, you get an email reminder every morning with the prayers for that day. It has introduced me to new saints and devotions I did not know about, which I have appreciated. It’s also nice to be praying with people, who are also praying for you and your intentions.

So, Pray More Novenas has one of their classic devotions coming up, the novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots. Pope Francis spoke about the efficacy of this prayer a couple years ago, which I believe is when many people heard of it for the first time, and it has grown in popularity since.

Our Lady has so many titles, and I like this one because it speaks to her practical nature. She was, after all, a mother and a human and if they’d had shoe laces back then, she surely would have helped little Jesus get his laces untangled.

So what kind of “knots” can we pray to undo? I think a lot of people go to relationships - a difficult, unresolved pain between you and a family member or friend. Likewise knots that serve as stumbling blocks in our own relationship with God - pride, vanity, attachment to material goods.

As Pray More Novenas explains, “The theology of the devotion actually goes back to the second century. Saint Irenaeus wrote that, ‘The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by the obedience of Mary; what the virgin Eve bound by her unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by her faith.’ Mary’s faith unties the knot of sin! So we will pray that the Blessed Virgin Mary will intercede for us all, to untie the knots of sin in our lives – so that we may be purified and ever closer to God.”

The novena begins next Thursday, April 22 and you can sign up here.

Happy praying!

Discussing the spirituality of the present

John and Glen had me on Morning Air yesterday and the topic of the moment was: the spirituality of the present. How do we, as the cheesy saying goes, let go and let God?

The most fun part of this conversation was the callers. We had a few people call in with their own tips about prayers and habits that help them recall that God is in control. My favorite reminded us that God is the great “I AM.” He is the living God, in the here and now. He IS!

You can listen here, and my portion begins around minute 23.

I pray you are having a wonderful Easter season!