Our Lady Undoer of Knots

“And thus also it was that 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.”
- Against Heresies, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (180 A.D.)

Happy Spring everyone! It’s still cold snowing over here where I’m at, but I heard birds singing and that cheered me up quite a bit! I’ve been working on (rather, working getting around to working on) this image of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. Pope Francis has a particularly especial devotion to Our Lady under this title, and it’s a Marian devotion that has been growing in popularity throughout the Church since the beginning of his pontificate.

I first discovered it sometime last year when I came across a booklet about Our Lady Undoer of Knots, and I thought I might make a piece of my own based on it. I can’t say I’m terribly thrilled with how it turned out in the end (I think it is really lacking in compositional unity, especially color-wise), but it looked much worse before I decided to try and salvage it. The result is what you see here. As I said, my problem is entirely compositional; I like each of the elements well enough in themselves, but I’m not satisfied with how they all work together. Ah well. I can’t think of much else to do with it. Enjoy, in any case.

Mother of Fair Love, I look to you.
Take into your hands the ribbon of my life,
and see the snarl of knots that keeps me bound
to sin, anxiety, and hopelessness.
I beg you, Mother, by your powerful intercession
and long fingers of love and grace,
undo the knots in my heart and in my life.
Free me to love as Christ loves.
Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for us.

History of the Image

The image of Our Lady Undoer of Knots has its origin in the history of a German family from Ausburg, Bavaria, around the year 1615. A gentleman and his wife—named Wolfgang Langenmantel and Sophia Rentz—had some difficulties in their marriage, and Wolfgang had found out that his wife, Sophia, had plans to divorce him. He pleaded with her to halt the divorce proceedings so that they could try and save their marriage. They went to a Jesuit priest named Fr. Jakob Rem from Ingolstodt for counseling and advice. Fr. Jakob had a very strong devotion to Our Lady and prayed for a peaceful resolution to their difficulties. On one of the visits, Wolfgang brought the priest the white wedding ribbon that was customarily tied around the bride and groom’s hands during the wedding ceremony to symbolize their life-long fidelity and commitment to each other. Fr. Rem took the ribbon, held it up before an image of Our Lady, and undid all of the knots in it. When he had finished, it became very bright, and the priest took this as a sign that Our Lady would intercede for the couple in their marriage. The difficulty was peacefully resolved and Wolfgang and Sophia remained happily married.

Their grandson, a priest by the name of Fr. Hieronymus Ambrosius Langenmantel, decided to commemorate the new century with the gift of a family altar to the Church of St. Peter am Perlach in Ausburg. He also wanted to commission a painting of Our Lady of Good Counsel as a thanksgiving for Mary’s intercession in his grandparents’ married life. The image of Our Lady, Undoer (or, Untier) of Knots was painted by Johann Georg Melchior Schmidtner in 1700. The artist decided to take the story of Fr. Hieronymus as his inspiration for the image, and showed Mary untying a knotted white ribbon. In German she is known as Maria Knotenlöserin.


Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now, Pope Francis), saw the original image while he was studying in Germany during the 1980s. He liked it so much that he bought a postcard of it and brought the devotion home with him to Argentina, where it has since become very popular.

Here’s the original painting.

The Painting of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots is filled with characteristic Marian imagery. Our Lady is shown as the Woman from Revelations 12:1 (“A great sign appeared in Heaven; a Woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”). She is crushing the serpent’s head with her foot, as a reference to Genesis 3:15. She is robed in red and blue and girt with a golden sash, all colors associated with Our Lady. Mary’s head is inclined gently to the side as she looks attentively at the knotted ribbon that she is unraveling in her tender hands. The Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity and the bestower of all heavenly graces, hovers above, ready to pour out His grace upon souls. A group of heavenly courtiers watch from above as Mary unties the knots, and they look at her with love, awe and devotion as their Heavenly Queen and the Mother of their Lord. Two angels are particularly assisting her in her work; the first feeds her the mangled ribbon, while the second holds up the ribbon, now smooth and straight, for the viewer to behold. At the bottom of the painting is a dark landscape with two prominent figures—an angel leading a man to a city perched upon a hill. The figures can be interpreted in a number of lights. The first is that they represent Wolfgang and his guardian angel as he is led from despair and darkness to hope in Ingolstadt. The second is a biblical interpretation of the Archangel Raphael leading the young Tobiah. The third is a more general interpretation of a person and their guardian angel leading them to the Heavenly Jerusalem.

Holy Mary, full of God’s presence during the days of your life, you accepted with full humility the Father’s Will, and the devil was never capable of tying you up with his confusion. Once with your Son you interceded for our difficulties, and full of kindness and patience, you gave us an example of how to untie the knots of our life. By remaining forever Our Mother, you put in order and make clear the ties that link us to the Lord. Holy Mother—Mother of God and our Mother—to you who untie with a motherly heart the knots of our life, we pray you to receive into your hands (name of person), and to free him/her of the knots and confusion with which our enemy attacks them. Through your grace, your intercession, and by your example, deliver us from all evil, Our Lady,a nd untie the knots that prevent us from being united with God, so that we, free from sin and error, may find Him in all things, may have our hearts placed in Him, and may serve Him always in our brothers and sisters. Amen.
- Pope Francis’ Prayer to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots