Devotions Explained
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Prayer to Mary, Undoer 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...
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!
Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
Click here for information on a full Nine Day Novena to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots.
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Epiphany House Blessing
The Epiphany household blessing is a centuries-old tradition that invokes God’s blessing on all who enter one’s home.
All you need for an Epiphany blessing is chalk, which is usually made available by parishes either on the feast of the Epiphany or in the weeks leading up to it. There are a few different formulas for blessings out there, but the essence of the ritual is always the same: a priest or the head of the household calls down God’s blessing on the house and everyone who comes into it, and an inscription is made above the door in chalk.
The inscription reads: the first two digits of the year + C + M + B + the last two digits of the year. The initials C, M and B represent the names of the magi — Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar — and also signify the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat: “May Christ bless the house.”
20 + C + M + B + 25
Click here for the full Blessing of the Home and Household on Epiphany.
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St. Blaise Throat Blessing
Perhaps it’s an example of divine providence that the feast of St. Blaise falls on Feb. 3 — right in the middle of cold and flu season! This fourth-century Armenian saint was a bishop and martyr and is venerated as the patron of those who suffer from illnesses of the throat. According to legend, St. Blaise healed a child who was choking on a fishbone while in prison. Some say he placed his hand on the boy's head and prayed, while others say he formed a cross around the boy's throat with two candles. The use of candles in the blessing of throats comes from the candles that St. Blaise received in prison from an old woman who would visit him with food and light. St. Blaise is said to have told people that lighting a candle in his memory would protect them from infection.
On his feast day, Catholics traditionally receive a blessing of the throat. This blessing is administered by a priest, deacon or a lay minister who follows the rites and prayers designated for a layperson. During the blessing, the minister takes two candles that were blessed on the feast of the Presentation and makes a cross in front of the throat, saying “Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness.” A priest or deacon will then make the sign of the cross.
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