Mary, a Helpful Mother

(Teachers: See patron saint questions at end of this post. Click on “Read more.”) In our church a painting of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is in a front niche usually where her statue stands. It is an icon, symbolic art regarded as a door to the sacred. Icons are an acquired taste. Appreciation for […]

Gospel on Beads

If you believe that Mary appeared at Lourdes and Fatima, then you will take her advice to heart: Pray the rosary. At Lourdes Mary held a rosary and prayed it with Bernadette. At Fatima she told three children to pray the rosary for peace. October is the month of the rosary, and October 7 is […]

Mary, Our Blessed Mother, Unties Knots

Coming across a knot when you are doing needlework is aggravating. The Mother of Jesus must have experienced knots, maybe as she sewed the swaddling clothes or the seamless garment that the soldiers gambled for at the cross. An unusual devotion is to Mary as the Untier of Knots—not the knots in thread or yarn […]