Rosanne Sacchetti admits most people she meets are unaware of the Blessed Mother under her title Mary, Undoer of Knots.
She hopes that will change as more people become aware of the adult ministry she leads out of Christ the King Parish, Haddonfield.
“I hope people will be inspired” by the Marian devotion, she said.
Sacchetti started the ministry in memory of her grandmother, who had a devotion to the Blessed Mother. The group offers monthly service projects, faith activities and fellowship opportunities. Recent projects have included participating in Operation Yellow Ribbon for the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and taking part in a virtual walk for the American Heart Association.
With traditional young adult/adult ministries geared toward those who are 18-39, Sacchetti launched the grassroots effort with ages 21-50 in mind. However, anyone is invited to attend.
“It’s so important to keep God in our lives,” she said. “One way to do that with young people or families is to either bring them back to the Church through fellowship or helping the needy, or by reaching out to someone who is already at church and wanting more.”
Those priorities remained the same during the pandemic, as the ministry stayed active first through virtual service projects and faith-sharing opportunities, and later in-person events.
Father Jon Thomas, parish pastor, and others facilitated some of the online faith discussions, which drew all ages.
Crystal Kwok, a longtime ministry member and parishioner of Saint Peter, Merchantville, said those talks were acts of service in themselves.
“A person can be physically in prison, but also in a mental prison, especially during the pandemic when people were in lockdown,” she said. “It was great to have the virtual talks reach people who were elderly or homebound.”
Another outlet to help the faithful – prayer intentions.
At the end of September, members of Mary, Undoer of Knots gathered with Father Thomas as he blessed a box of “knots” – prayer intentions that had been gathered over the previous weeks.
The importance of the knots, Kwok said, is that it “gives people a sense of hope that they are not alone in the world, that others are praying with and for you.”
“You’re giving all your stresses to the Blessed Mother,” she continued. “One should not take on burdens alone. Really trusting in God, the Blessed Mother and Jesus will help you realize that ‘this is not all on me, or that I have to control everything.’
nstead, this allows you to breathe and say, ‘Here I am Lord. What do you want me to do?’”
Father Thomas, in meeting with the group in the parish’s Morgan Hall, admitted that sometimes the simple act of writing down one’s intentions can help alleviate stress. Placing the box of prayers next to a painting of Mary, Undoer of Knots that was given to the ministry, he said, “Mary looks so peaceful and her peace comes from confidence, and her confidence comes from knowing her son. Realistically, a lot of us don’t have that sense of serenity, that level of confidence, because we don’t know Jesus as well as Mary does. And that’s OK because Mary will help us know Jesus better, she will help us untie our knots.
“You know what your knots are, so we ask that Mary under this title Undoer of Knots will come to our assistance.”
Sacchetti and Kwok invite anyone interested in the ministry to attend the events planned for November, which include prayer, music and fellowship at 5 p.m. Nov. 7 at the church; dinner and trivia night at Carollo’s Little Italy, Moorestown, at 6 p.m. Nov. 11; and fellowship and a service project to collect food for the community’s needy on Nov. 20.
To learn more about the ministry or its events, contact Sacchetti at persistent21@verizon.net.
“Come learn more about your faith, take part in service and fellowship, and maybe go on a deeper journey within yourself,” Kwok said.
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