Story, photos by Dale M. King
DELRAY BEACH – The Most Rev. Gerald M. Barbarito, bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach, led hundreds of celebrants in a Marian Rosary Festival held recently at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Delray Beach.
The ceremony honoring the Virgin Mary in her role as “Undoer of Knots” began in the church. Congregants of various ethnic background carried images of the Madonna through the doors and out to the lake behind the church, where Bishop Barbarito led the group in prayer and the recitation of the Rosary and delivered a homily.
“This beautiful devotion in the church is centuries old and has its origin in a reflection written by Saint Irenaeus of Lyons: ‘Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; whereas, by Mary, by her obedience, undid it.’”
“During this Year for Priests,” the bishop said, “let us ask our Blessed Mother, Mary, Undoer of Knots, to pray for us and to pray for our priests.”