Mary Undoer of Knots Novena Question

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Hello, I have a question about part of this novena. Towards the end, it states:

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.

I find it odd it says Mary is the only consolation God gives me. Can anyone comment on this? Doesn’t God give us other consolations?
 
Don’t forget that “consolation” and its related words are synonymous with the word “comforter”. (“Comforter” has its roots in Old French; “consolator” has its roots in Latin.) So while Our Lady of Consolation is one of the earliest Marian titles, it might be understood in the sense of “a person already full of God’s grace who comforts us and shares God’s grace with us.” Which is appropriate for Mary Undoer of Knots.

Also remember that the Mary Undoer of Knots devotion was prominent in places like France, Germany, Austria, and Luxembourg.

So think of a certain amount of overlap between Mary Undoer of Knots and Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted, if it helps.
 
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But even if consolation is synonymous with comforter, is Mary the only comforter God gives us?
 
I’m guessing this is an older prayer. Older prayers are often a bit flowery and hyperbolic.

Mary prayers tend to be written from the standpoint of a person who is very strongly focused on Mary to the point where she often DOES seem to be the only consolation. A lot of saints with Marian devotions fall in that category. The prayer is emotional, not logical. Of course God gives us many consolations, but if you love Mary very strongly then you might see her as the sole one, the only one.

It’s kind of like how someone who really loves their spouse might say, “You are everything to me” when in reality the person saying that may also have other loved ones such as parents and siblings, and probably also has other stuff going on in his life that is fulfilling like a job, hobbies, love of nature etc. So he doesn’t really mean that his spouse is literally “EVERYTHING” but it means his love for her is very great and she is super important to him.
 
Well, we can figure that Mary’s comfort is better than the comfort that you get from, say, St. Peter or St. Gertrude or St. Paul or Pope St. Boniface IV. 😉

So, how does Mary’s comfort differ from God the Father’s comfort?

How does Mary’s comfort differ from God the Son’s comfort?

How does Mary’s comfort differ from God the Holy Spirit’s comfort?

God the Father is our Creator, but not really our comforter.

God the Son is our Savior, and our Judge, but not really our comforter.

God the Holy Spirit is our Advocate and our Counselor, but not really our comforter.

God has given us great gifts that we take comfort in, for sure… he’s full of love and kindness and munificence… but comforting isn’t one of the top ten words I’d use to describe as one of his attributes. YMMV.
 
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That brings up an interesting point. The Holy Spirit IS our “comforter”, as described for example in the hymn “Come Holy Ghost”. “O Comforter, to thee we cry…” etc. It’s my understanding that the word Jesus uses in John 14:16-17 that usually gets translated as “Paraclete” or “Counselor” could also be translated as “comforter”. The Greek word “Parakletos” means “called in aid”.

Mary is the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and, if you ascribe to the Mariology of St. Maximilian Kolbe, she is therefore a God-created human manifestation of the Holy Spirit. (I’m using Taylor Marshall’s words rather than St. Maximilian’s here, as Taylor is a little easier to follow.)
So Mary would be the Comforter too.
 
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Very good point. I was coming back to edit my post and point out that in the Litany of the Holy Spirit, you have “Holy Spirit, the Comforter” around 14 lines down…
 
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