Does anyone else also enjoy solving knots? As a former avid crocheter, I welcome any opportunity to work apart the difficult bunches in a skein of yarn and then wind it up into a new ball. As funny as it sounds, I think this affinity for sorting out tight tangles is what first drew me to the Blessed Mother’s title of Undoer of Knots. Mary likes to figure out knots too, I observed––although of course she busies herself about it with much greater skill than I! Only recently, however, did I learn the true story behind the remarkable image and the feast day of Our Lady Undoer of Knots every September.
A Novena for Turning Knots to Newness
“All the knots of our heart, every knot of our conscience, can be undone. Do I ask Mary to help me trust in God's mercy, to undo those knots, to change?” (Pope Francis)
The powerful novena to Mary Undoer of Knots begins on September 19, ending on the 27th, the eve of her feast day on September 28. While there are many beautiful versions of the novena, my favorite is this one on CatholicNovenaApp.com. Each day’s prayer implores Mary for specific graces that mirror her ten principal virtues, including merciful love, wisdom, purity, peace, and, perhaps most powerful of them all, “the grace to be a blessing in my family.” The Blessed Mother can help resolve the spiritual, emotional, and relational knots in our lives by granting us an increase in these most essential virtues.
A Marriage Saved
The real origin of our Lady’s title of Undoer of Knots reaches back to the early Church. In the second century, Saint Irenaeus of Lyons wrote: “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the Virgin Mary set free through faith” (Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies).
The Church has always hailed our Lady as the anti-Eve. The pride of “Eva” is changed into the humble fiat of Mary’s “Ave.” As Mother of the Church, she reverses the wound of sin that traces back to the “mother of all living” in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 3:20). A miracle in the seventeenth century confirmed Our Lady’s role of undoing the knots of human fallenness and also formalized the title and image that we know today.
The story behind this formal title is that of a German couple from noble background, Wolfgang and Sophia Langenmantel, who experienced significant problems in their marriage. They were on the brink of separating, but Wolfgang sought the counsel of a Jesuit priest, Father Jakob Rem. At one meeting, Wolfgang brought the priest the ribbon used in their wedding liturgy to symbolize their loving sacramental unity. The once-white ribbon was now faded and bore many knots. Placing the ribbon before a statue of our Lady, Father Rem prayed for the Langenmantel’s marriage. By Mary’s maternal intercession, the ribbon loosened, untied completely, and regained its bright white color.
Unraveling Knots for a Straighter Path
The painting of Our Lady Undoer of Knots was commissioned in thanksgiving by the Langenmantels’ grandson, who had become a priest. In it, Mary is dressed in colors that traditionally signify the unity between Heaven and earth. Her deep blue mantle represents Heaven, while her vibrant red gown represents earth, because Mary carried the divine Christ within her humanity by the power of the Holy Spirit (depicted above her in the painting). As she intently draws out knots from a white ribbon held by two angels, Mary stands upon the moon, her left foot directed towards a serpent’s head. In fact, the lower part of the serpent’s form is looped into a loose knot because Satan, the father of confusion, constantly seeks to entangle us in lies. Yet, as the novena prayers note, “the devil was never capable of tying [Mary] up with his confusion.”
A tiny scene unfolds at the bottom of the painting, where a closer look reveals two figures (some versions of the image stop short and do not include them). One is winged and points the way up a path: It is the Archangel Raphael. As for the second figure, I have heard different interpretations: This could be Tobias from the book of Tobit, especially since this second man appears to be carrying a fish. Or, this second man could be Wolfgang Langenmantel being guided to the monastery to speak with Father Rem. This represents how Saint Raphael continues to heal human troubles just as he guided Tobias towards deliverance, healing, and a holy marriage in the Old Testament.
This little vignette has a twofold significance. First, the feast of the Archangels is celebrated on September 29, the day after Our Lady Undoer of Knots! Secondly, while the traveler alongside Saint Raphael may be Wolfgang Langenmantel, it could also very well be each of us: We are invited to place ourselves in the painting too. Just as for this gentleman and his wife in their difficulty, so, too, our Lady can wisely intervene in our difficulties no matter the day and age. She truly works with her holy angels to loosen the confusion in our lives and guard us in all our ways (see Psalm 91:11).
All In Her Hands
"We pray to you, Holy Mother, untie the knots that oppress us materially and spiritually, so that we may joyfully bear witness to your Son and our Lord, Jesus Christ” (Pope Francis).
Thanks to Pope Francis’s devotion to Mary Undoer of Knots, the image has become better known to Catholics today. The story behind the image of Mary Undoer of Knots attests that, as much as Our Lady is occupied with the overall difficulty of fallenness that oppresses humanity, she also cares deeply about the particular knots that accumulate in our personal lives. With her skillful wisdom, she can “untie with a motherly heart the knots of our life.”
As the feast of Mary Undoer of Knots approaches, let’s place our greatest concerns in her hands so she can attend to our greatest difficulties and make them new. Let us ask her intercession for the parts of our lives that must be made new:
- Amid the interpersonal challenges of marriage and family life: Mary, undo these knots.
- For young people seeking their truest vocation: Mary, undo these knots.
- When family members take paths away from the faith: Mary, undo these knots.
- When cycles of dysfunction and sin oppress our families: Mary, undo these knots.
- When injustice personally affects our families and communities: Mary, undo these knots.
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When suffering and death weigh heavily on our hearts: Mary, undo these knots.
Our Lady Undoer of Knots, pray for us!
Leila Joy Castillo calls Florida home but left her heart in hill country long ago. An alumna of Ave Maria University, she freelances in Catholic communications and is a published writer, primarily on Blessed is She and Ascension. When not dabbling in the multitudinous Google docs of her articles, Leila delights in music, personalist philosophy, quality time with her younger siblings, and her literary trifecta: Austen, Lewis, and Dante. You can find her on Instagram @leila_joyinthejourney or follow her personal site here.
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