FEASTS OF THE DAY
SATURDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER, 2024
1⃣ MARY UNDOER OF KNOTS
2⃣ SAINT WENCESLAUS
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1⃣ MARY UNDOER OF KNOTS
The story of the Devotion to Mary, Untier of Knots begins with the German nobleman Wolfgang Langenmantel (1568-1637). For some years, he had been married to the noblewoman Sophie Imoff, but by the year 1612 the couple was on the verge of a divorce. To save their marriage, Wolfgang decided to pay a visit to Father Jakob Rem, a Jesuit priest who lived at the monastery and university of Ingolstadt, located seventy kilometers north of Augsburg.
Over a period of 28 days, Wolfgang visited Father Rem four times and received advice from the holy priest, who was honored for his wisdom, piety and extraordinary intelligence. In fact, Father Rem was believed to have experienced an apparition of Mary in the course of which she appeared to him under the title of “Mother Thrice Admirable.”
During their meetings, Wolfgang and Father Rem would pray together and venerate the Virgin Mary. On the day of their last visit together, September 28th, 1615, Father Rem had been praying in the chapel of the monastery before an image of the Virgin Mary under the title of “Our Lady of the Snows.” When the two men met, Wolfgang gave his wedding ribbon to Father Rem. (In the marriage ceremony of that time and place, the maid of honor joined together the arms of the bride and groom with a ribbon in order to represent their invisible union for the rest of their lives.) In a solemn ritual act, Father Rem took Wolfgang's wedding ribbon and lifted it up, while at the same time untying the knots of the ribbon one by one. As Father Rem smoothed out the ribbon, it became intensely white. Because of this happening, Wolfgang and Sophie were able to avoid a divorce and continue their marriage.
Some years later, Wolfgang's grandson Hieronymus Ambrosius Langenmantel (Canon of St. Peter's 1666-1709), who was himself a priest and canon law doctor, decided to donate a family altar to the Church of St. Peter am Perlach in Augsburg in commemoration of the turn of the century in the year 1700. Such donations were a common tradition at the time. The altar piece was dedicated to “the Blessed Virgin of Good Counsel” and Father Hieronymus wanted it to represent the history of the Langenmantel family.
A painter, Johann Melchior Georg Schmittdner, was commissioned to provide a painting for the family altar. He decided to base his painting on the story of Wolfgang, Sophie and Father Rem. Therefore, Schmittdner depicts the Virgin Mary as she is untying the knots of the ribbon of married life. The crushing of the serpent illustrates that Mary is the Immaculate Conception, since she as the one exempt by special grace from all stain of original sin is the serpent's eternal opponent. The dove is a reference to Mary as the Bride of the Holy Spirit. Angels assist the Blessed Mother; one presents the knots of our lives to her, while another angel presents the ribbon, freed from knots, to us. Underneath Mary, the worried noble Wolfgang, accompanied by the Archangel Raphael, walks towards a monastery.
Eventually, the story of the Langenmantel family disappeared from history. However, through the following centuries the painting remained as an antique in the Church of St. Peter am Perlach in Augsburg. For some years the painting was located in the Discalced Carmelite Convent of the same city of Augsburg. The painting, which has survived wars, revolutions and secular opposition, still adorns the St. Peter Church today.
Although the reference to Mary as one who unites knots goes back to St. Irenaeus in the second century, the devotion to Mary Untier of Knots was not well known until recently. In the 1980's it was brought to Argentina by Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J. (now Pope Francis), where it remains particularly popular. The devotion has also spread through the efforts of Brother Mario H. Ibertis Rivera, according to whom the Vatican has authorized the use of the image for Vatican publishing.
Because of the spread of the devotion, thousands of followers of the Virgin Mary Untier of Knots now come to the St. Peter am Perlach Church to ask for her intercession regarding all their problems (knots). Besides marriage difficulties, these so-called knots include a range of other problems of unusual diversity. People come to Mary for assistance regarding health, work, disputes, family complications, personal problems, and conflicts both in the community and internationally. Many government officials, business people, Catholic groups and individual pilgrims have already placed themselves under the protection of the Virgin Mary Untier of Knots.
https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/u/untier-of-knots.php
PRAYER TO MARY, UNTIER OF KNOTS
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.
[Mention your request here]
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! Amen.
Mary, Untier of Knots, pray for me.
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2⃣ SAINT WENCESLAUS
KING AND MARTYR
(907 - 935)
St. Wenceslaus, duke of Bohemia, was born about the year 907 at Prague, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). His father was killed in battle when he was young, leaving the kingdom to be ruled by his pagan mother. Wenceslaus was educated by his grandmother, Ludmilla, also a saint. She taught him to be a Christian and to be a good king. She was killed by pagan nobles before she saw him king, but she left him with a deep committment to the Christian faith.
Throughout his life he preserved his virginity unblemished. As duke he was a father to his subjects, generous toward orphans, widows, and the poor. On his own shoulders he frequently carried wood to the houses of the needy. He often attended the funerals of the poor, ransomed captives, and visited those suffering in prison. He was filled with a deep reverence toward the clergy; with his own hands he sowed the wheat for making altar breads and pressed the grapes for the wine used in the Mass. During winter he would visit the churches barefoot through snow and ice, frequently leaving behind bloody footprints.
Wenceslaus was eighteen years old when he succeeded his father to the throne. Without regard for the opposition, he worked in close cooperation with the Church to convert his pagan country. He ended the persecution of Christians, built churches and brought back exiled priests. As king he gave an example of a devout life and of great Christian charity, with his people calling him "Good King" of Bohemia.
His brother Boleslaus, however, turned to paganism. One day he invited Wenceslaus to his house for a banquet. The next morning, on September 28, 929, as Wenceslaus was on the way to Mass, Boleslaus struck him down at the door of the church. Before he died, Wenceslaus forgave his brother and asked God's mercy for his soul. Although he was killed for political reasons, he is listed as a martyr since the dispute arose over his faith. This king, martyred at the age of twenty-two, is the national hero and patron of the Czech Republic. He is the first Slav to be canonized.
PATRON: Bohemia; brewers; Czech Republic; Moravia.
PRAYER: O God, who taught the Martyr Saint Wenceslaus to place the heavenly Kingdom before an earthly one, grant through his prayers that, denying ourselves, we may hold fast to you with all our heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.