Our Lady, Untier of Knots

September 2, 2022
Author: Hannah DeVivo

Peace be with you!

Today is my birthday, so I am going to share with you a very special devotion that I have to Our Lady, Untier of Knots (also known as Our Lady, Undoer of Knots).

The Story and Meaning Behind Our Lady, Untier of Knots

Pope Francis is credited for bringing this story and devotion to many people. He learned of it while studying in Augsburg, Germany. The devotion began in the 1600’s. Wolfgang Langenmantel and his wife Sophie were having marital issues. They were considering divorce, and during their separation, Wolfgang sought the counsel of a Jesuit priest living in the monastery of Ingolstadt. Father Jakob Rem had a strong devotion to “Our Lady Thrice Admirable” and advised Wolfgang to entrust his marriage to her. Wolfgang went to the monastery for four consecutive Saturdays to pray with Father Rem and lay his marriage at the feet of Our Blessed Mother. Over the course of time, he and his wife began to reconcile, and their marriage was saved.

During the last meeting between Wolfgang and Father Rem, Wolfgang brought their wedding ribbon to be prayed over. In those days, it was customary at a wedding for the bride and groom to tie a ribbon together, symbolizing their unity. As they prayed, Father Rem lifted the ribbon up to a picture of Our Lady of Sorrows. He offered her the ties of matrimony and asked that she undo all the knots of discord between the couple. As the priest smoothed the ribbon that had become stained over time, it suddenly became dazzlingly white!

Wolfgang and Sophie passed this story down, and their grandson Hieronymus was so touched and impressed by the reconciliation that when he entered the priesthood, he commissioned a painting of Our Lady under this title to be put in the chapel of Saint Peter in Augsburg.

Novena to Our Lady, Untier of Knots

Through the widespread praying of this novena, many faithful children of God have experienced His merciful healing and untangling of numerous difficult and even impossible situations. The Novena to Our Lady, Untier of Knots, provides a beautiful reflection for each of the nine days, includes decades of the rosary, and ends each day with the following prayer:

“Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine love and immense mercy that exists in your heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exist in my life. You know very well how desperate I am, my pain and how I am bound by these knots. Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the undoing of the knots in the lives of His children, I entrust into your hands the ribbon of my life.
No one, not even the evil one himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands there is no knot that cannot be undone.

“Powerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with your Son and my Liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot (name it). I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once for all, for you are my hope. 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. Hear my plea.
Keep me, guide me, protect me, O safe refuge! Amen.”

We all have knots in our lives. They come in many forms and seem impossible to untie. These knots come from our own sin and also from the brokenness and pain of this world. These knots can come in the form of addiction, marital strife, financial worry, stressful relationships, uneasiness and worry about the future to name a few. The enemy wants us to fret about these knots and try to spend all our time and energy worrying about them and trying to untangle them. However, God has directed us repeatedly to lay our burdens on Him. Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

God’s love for us is unending. He desires for us to have the peace that only He can give. He brings light to our darkness and healing to our hearts, if only we allow Him.

An Invitation to Surrender Your Knots to Mary and a Personal Devotion

I have personally prayed two Novenas to Our Lady, Untier of Knots. I prayed for two things that frankly I thought were impossible to obtain. Through the intercession of Our Lady, the Lord granted both requests within two years.

As with any novena, and prayers in general, we must be careful not to treat them as genies granting wishes. I have found that bringing petitions to God directly or through an intercessor has everything to do with my intention and faith. I was holding on to a lot of pain that I thought I could not let go of. I came to believe that God wanted to take that pain away from me, and so began the novenas.

When I prayed, it was like a child leaning on her father’s wisdom, power, and love. I prayed believing that God would work my problem out according to His perfect will—even if it didn’t look as I wanted it to or thought it should. I encourage you to pray this way. I admit I forget this quite often, and fall back into worry, but God calls me back by His grace. Let us pray to Him together for the strength to surrender the knots in our lives.

I leave you with a quote I saw on a picture of Our Lady, Untier of Knots:

“If you’re hanging by a thread, make sure it’s one of Hers.”

At Autom, we have the Novena and many other helpful devotional items to Our Lady Untier of Knots. Check them out here!

Before You Go

Have you heard of the devotion to Our Lady, Untier of Knots before today?

Do you feel that there are obstacles or knots in your life that Jesus is calling you to give up?

Did you learn anything new in this article?

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