Day 5 — Simeon and the Sword of Sorrow
Act of Contrition (for all days)
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against You whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Amen.
Opening Prayer (for all days)
Most Holy Virgin Mary, "the Undoer of Knots," I offer you this novena asking for the following intentions: (here the favors desired are mentioned and remembered).
Biblical Reading
"His father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also'" (Luke 2:33-35).
Brief Reflection
From childhood, Jesus fulfilled the mission entrusted by his heavenly Father: to transmit his word. However, this message was not always understood and accepted, which led to his death. Let us ask Christ, through Mary's intercession, to fill us with courage to change those things that can be changed, and with serenity to bear those that cannot.
Prayer to Our Lady, the Undoer of Knots
Holy Mary, full of the presence of God, during the days of your life you accepted with all humility the will of the Father, and the Evil One was never able to entangle you with his confusions. Beside your Son, you interceded for our difficulties, and with all simplicity and patience, you gave us an example of how to untangle the threads of our lives. And by remaining forever as our Mother, you set in order and make clearer the bonds that unite us to the Lord.
Holy Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, you who with a maternal heart untie the knots that entangle our life, we ask you to free us from the bonds and confusions with which our enemy harasses us. By your grace, by your intercession, by your example, deliver us from every evil, our Lady, and untie the knots that prevent us from being united to God, so that, free from all confusion and error, we may find Him in all things, set our hearts on Him, and serve Him always in our brothers and sisters. Amen.
(One decade of the Holy Rosary is prayed: Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and Gloria).