Fit To Be Tied

The Blessed Virgin Mary, the God-Bearer, is the first and greatest beneficiary of her Son's gift of salvation. Attention to her role in the Divine Economy is not optional. The Rosary, the Angelus and Regina Cæli, the Memorare, the Litany of Loreto, and other prayers are staples of Marian devotion. Love for Mary appropriately directs us to Jesus.

A couple of years ago, an RCIA sponsor told me about the devotion to "Mary, Undoer of Knots (hereafter, MUK)" That was the first time I'd ever heard of it. He may have told me that Pope Benedict was fond of the devotion, especially because a church in Germany has an image of Mary under that epithet.

A parishioner recently recommended that I publicize a novena to MUK, which you may find helpful.

The longer I live, the longer I serve, the more germane this devotion seems to me. Human persons, are made in the image of God with freedom and understanding, with the capacity to choose the good, to know the truth, and to appreciate the beautiful; yet we get ourselves in many a bind by the misuse of those sacred powers. Drama often poses problems both interpersonal and intra-personal: not the kind of "mess" that Pope Francis encouraged people to create, but rather the destructive kind.

Sometimes it seems that we cannot help creating or getting into binds; but Our Lady always can help us if we but come to her in faith.