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Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 22:32:24 EST
Subject: re: knots in Mary's garments
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apologies for not remembering who asked this, or I'd have taken it off line=20
to them...

I recall the names of Jeffrey Gibson and Ann Hall/Houston as discussants.

Here is a thoughtful reply from Fr. Roten, Director of the Marian Library in=
=20
Dayton:

"There is a piece on our website
which deals with Our Lady with a cord full of knots. (Mary Page/Your
Questions/Art). She is the one who unties these knots, more specifically
the "knot of Eve's disobedience" by becoming the obedient "servant of the
Lord." Alas, this knot doesn't have anything to do with the garment of
Mary.

"Another representation, that of the Virgin in the Temple (according to
apocryphal writings Mary spent her childhood from age 2 - 12 in the temple)
may be of more immediate relevance to your question. The medieval
representation of this type shows Mary wearing a sash (girdle, belt) whose
both ends are knotted in such a way that they are hanging loose and low.
The sash is a typical attribute of the virgin in the temple and symbolizes
Mary's chastity and virginal and exclusive dedication to God later on.  The
sash is sometimes the attribute of the Immaculata. In a different pictorial
theme, the so called Madonna della cintola (Madonna of the sash), St.
Thomas receives the Virgin's sash as proof of her corporeal assumption into
heaven. If the sash knotted in front represents a special attribute of her
virginity, it has also been used to visualize her maternity as can be seen
in the famous Guadalupe image. The black knotted sash identifies Mary as a
future mother. According to sources of antiquity (Plinius, 23-79) the knot
suggests pregnancy and subsequent delivery. To have knots in one's garment
keeps danger at bay. Knotting and untying are faculties of the divinity
(master of human destiny) and also of Christ (he freed himself from all
earthly "attachments" and bonds). There are customs according to which the
robes of the fianc=E9s are knotted together to suggest a common destiny.
There are some representations of the Virgin Mary showing her with the cord
of monks and nuns. The end of the cord has three knots to symbolize the
three evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience. However, the
most likely meaning of cord, sash and knots therein(in Marian
representations) is that of both virginity and motherhood as a consequence
of God himself tying and untying the knot of Mary's dedication of herself
to him."

hope this helps


David A. Herrelko
Dayton, Ohio
.