While doing his doctrinal studies in theology in Germany in the 1980s, Pope Francis discovered a local devotion to “Mary Untier of Knots.” Since then, he has encouraged this powerful devotion that is based on a painting found in the church of St. Peter am Perlach, in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany.

The painting depicts Mary suspended between heaven and earth, resplendent with light. The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove is above her head, reminding us that she became Mother of God and full of grace by virtue of the third person of the Trinity. She is dressed in a crimson gown, with a deep blue mantle representing her glory as Queen of the Universe. A crown of 12 stars adorns her head signifying her as Queen of the Apostles. Her feet crush the head of the serpent confirming her part in the victory over Satan. She is surrounded by angels, signifying her position as Queen of the Angels and Queen of Heaven. In her hands is a knotted white ribbon, which she is serenely untying. Assisting her are two angels: one presents the knots of our lives to her, while another angel presents the ribbon, freed from knots, to us.

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“The final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family.” These prophetic words were shared in a letter from Sister Lúcia to Cardinal Carlo Caffarra of Bologna. Sister Maria Lúcia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart was a Portuguese Catholic nun and one of the three children to witness the 1917 Marian apparitions in Fátima.

In her letter to the Cardinal, she also said, “Don’t be afraid…because anyone who works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue. However, Our Lady has already crushed its head.”

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This week we continue our series on models of marriage lived virtuously. Blessed Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi were beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 21, 2001. This fulfilled a lifelong desire of the future St. John Paul II when, for the first time in the history of the Church, he beatified a husband and wife together. The beatification was part of celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the publication of John Paul II’s seminal apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World).

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St. Joachim and St. Anne are the parents of Mary, the Blessed Mother of Jesus. Each year the Church venerates them on July 26th. Tradition holds that they struggled with infertility for decades. Infertility quite often resulted in couples being shunned and scorned by their family, friends and neighbors.

After years of longing for a child, undeterred in his faith, St. Joachim went into the wilderness to fast and pray for a child. Saint Anne remained home, donning garments of mourning, weeping to God because she was childless. A servant girl reminded St. Anne to put her trust in God. St. Anne washed away her tears, donned her bridal clothes and went into her garden to pray to God for a child.

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Today is the Feast Day of Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Just this past October, they became the first couple to be canonized together as husband and wife. As the exemplars of holy family life, we have designated Louis and Zélie Martin as the patron Saints of the Calling Couples to Christ Apostolate.

Pray for us, Saints Louis and Zélie, that we may be an instrument of hope and healing to families as they strive to live well their vocation to marriage and family life.

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We live in a crazy, mixed up world. What is up is down. What is down is up. There is no area of greater confusion in our society than in the area of marriage and family. If we do not understand marriage, we will never understand God. A lifelong, committed, chaste, faithful and fruitful union of one man and one woman is thought to be old-fashioned. Relationships are just another means of recreation, for immediate self-gratification and nothing more. People are just objects to be used for one’s own personal gratification. If a relationship is not meeting your needs, just throw it away and move on to another.

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We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage. (Teddy Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States)

The American Revolution was in part, a battle for religious freedom. Courageous men and women stood up for that which was right and just, a belief held so deeply that they were willing to risk their lives to fight for this freedom. This young nation honored God and by His providence, was protected from evil forces seeking to destroy it. God bless these holy men and women for fighting for what they believed.

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Did you know that the family is the Center of the New Evangelization? St. John Paul II in his epic Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris Consortio (On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World), had this to say about the mission of the family:

…the family has the mission to become more and more what it is, that is to say, a community of life and love…we must say that the essence and role of the family are in the final analysis specified by love…the family has the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love, and this is a living reflection of and a real sharing in God’s love for humanity and the love of Christ the Lord for the Church His bride[i]

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HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to the men out there! I have something to ask of you today. If there was one thing that you could do to virtually divorce-proof your marriage, would you be willing to do it? This activity has been described as being more intimate than the marital embrace. Do I have your buy-in?

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