“…the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had tied through unbelief, the Virgin Mary set free through faith…”
Paul explains the devotion to Our Lady, Untier of Knots: a favourite devotion of Pope Francis’.
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Pope Francis has a great devotion to Our Lady under the title of ‘Mary, Untier of Knots’. He was introduced to this devotion during the time he spent studying in Germany back in the 80’s. The devotion is based on a Baroque style painting by that shows the Blessed Virgin Mary surrounded by angels and with the Holy Spirit Dove hovering above a circle of stars as she unties knots into a long strip and at the same time rests her foot on the head of a “knotted” snake that represents Satan.
This concept of Mary untying knots is derived from a work by St. Irenaeus when he presented a parallel between Eve and Mary, describing how the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had tied through unbelief, the Virgin Mary set free through faith.
It’s the simplicity and the motherly dimension of Mary untying the knots in the lives of Her children that makes this devotion popular, but more than that, the lives of countless people have been witnesses to Mary’s powerful intercession in seeing complicated situations in their lives, turned around for the better. If devotion to Mary is not part of your regular prayer life, why not call upon Mary to help you untie the knots in your life.
