Mary in the Life of Jesus -Cl. Gedion Ramshon

be our mother. Just think that if Mary had to say a ‘No’, all of humankind would lose a powerful intercessor and a loving mother. Mary’s Yes helped in continuing the saving plan of God. Thus this Yes of Mary was in obedience to God’s will and his word. We see that Mary’s Yeses have influenced the life of Jesus in many ways. The best example is in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus submits to the will of the Father in the words, “…not mine but your will be done.” Mary features very few times in the Gospel, but every time she is seen she sets an example to us of the Great virtue of openness which leads us to say Yes! In our lives, we must always like Mary surrender ourselves to the Father and tell him Totus Tuus, Totally yours. Cl. Leroy Mascarenhas

Mary Untier of Knots

Do you have knots in your life that seem impossible to untie? Turn to Mary, Untier of Knots! The devotion to Mary, Untier of Knots is about 300 years old but became more widely known through Pope Francis. He promoted it throughout his papacy, and while he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires,

Argentina. The primary story behind the painting referring to Mary as an Untier of Knots goes back to St. Irenaeus, in the second century.St. Irenaeus presented a parallel between Eve and Mary, describing how "The knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith.”

It was this quote that seemed to work in the mind of Fr. Jakob Rem, who counselled Wolfgang Langenmantel. The story of the devotion to Mary, the untier of Knots begins with German nobleman Wolfgang, who had been married to a noblewoman Sophie, but in the year 1612, the couple was on the verge of divorce. To save their marriage, Wolfgang decided to pay a visit to Father Jakob Rem, a Jesuit priest who lived at the monastery North of Augsburg. Over a period of 28 days, Wolfgang visited Father Rem four times and received advice from the holy priest, who was honoured for his wisdom, piety and extraordinary intelligence. Father Rem was believed to have experienced an apparition of Mary 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, Father Rem had been praying in the chapel of the monastery before the image of our Blessed Virgin Mary. When DD Express 12

the two men met, Wolfgang gave his wedding ribbon to Father Rem. In the marriage ceremony of that time and place, the maid of honour joined together the arms of the bride and groom with a ribbon 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, and untied the knots of the ribbon one by one. As Father Rem smoothed out the ribbon, it became intensely white. Because of this Wolfgang and Sophie were able to avoid a divorce and continue their relationship. Some years later, Wolfgang’s grandson Hieronymus Ambrosius Langenmantel,who himself was 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 that time. The altarpiece 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. The dove presents 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,