Mary, Undoer of Knots...

When I first began writing in this Blog, another member asked me to please post about Our Lady, Undoer of Knots...and I assured her that, in time, I would do just that. But, as I told myself, I needed to wait until Our Blessed Lady had undone a major knot in my own life, so I would have a frame of reference as far as this Infallible Novena was concerned. I do believe that this moment has come at last...and it has to do with my loving husband Michael.
First, however, I need to explain the painting here ~ done about three hundred years ago ~ and what it means to this post.
The devotion to Mary, Undoer of Knots, really goes back for centuries, but there is a movement coming out of South America in our day and age which is picking up steam quite rapidly...the main prayers were made up by the wife of a man who travels the world spreading this devotion and extolling Our Lady's virtues and Her enormous intercession with Her Divine Son. This Novena, available here: http://www.MaryUndoerOfKnots.com , is said to be unfailing and great in graces bestowed upon anyone who runs to Our Lady for Her assistance.
In the painting itself ~ we see the Archangel Gabriel, to the right, bringing our 'knots' to Her, as She easily undoes the complications in our lives ~ our pain, our sorrows, our needs and our desperate cries for help ~ and as She undoes these 'knots', She hands the ribbon of our lives to the Archangel Raphael, who steadily streams it back to us here on Earth ~ free of any problems which we find impossible to handle, and cures for illnesses, help in financial trouble, rancor against our fellow man, anything else we require to persevere in Faith on this road to Heaven.
Now, all of this being said, I am brought back to the reason why I am a firm believer in this so-called Infallible Novena to Mary, Undoer of Knots, and what it has to do with my husband.
As anyone who regularly reads my other Blog @ Yahoo 360* will recall, my dearest is a retired Ford worker, medically disabled due to complications to his health stemming from Agent Orange when he was in the USMC (ChuLai, VietNam)...and his in-and-out stays @ the hospital had begun to be a familiar part of our lives...but since July 2006 he has been much more stable, thank God!
However, a recent setback having to do with his kidneys saw him landing back in there for a few days, until he was stable again.
Until then, I must have been comfortable and even complacent...but when a loved one suffers a setback like this it is easy to panic and start thinking the worst...so I began this Novena to Our Lady, hoping that She would once again come to our rescue, as She has on numerous occasions already, under Her title of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Well, true to Her motherly affection for a daughter who does not deserve such attention (I can assure you) She came through with an answer that I did not expect! Oh, he still has to be careful with his diet as far as his kidneys are concerned, but his numbers are all within normal limits ~ we were first told that he was in immediate danger of having his heart stop any minute! ~ and he has been in relatively good health ever since; as long as he follows doctor's orders, he will be fine. I cannot begin to list all the times we have been told that he was very nearly at Death's door, only to have him bounce back with flying colors...and I credit all of his recovery to Our Lady's intervention. I realize that this cannot go on forever ~ sooner or later, we all have to go home to Our loving Father's House ~ but in the meantime, I will continue to thank Our Blessed Lady, the Undoer of Knots, for Her assistance in undoing a major knot in my life, and that of my husband!
And so, as I gaze upon this painting ~ it is beautiful, isn't it? ~ I can picture in my mind's eye all the other people who have come before Her, begging Her help in undoing the knots in their lives, and how She must have been happy to do so.
I cannot imagine that She would do less than that for any child of Hers...