Our Lady, Undoer of Knots

Helps with family and marriage problems, and impossible causes

Original image from Augsburg, Germany of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots by Johann Melchior Georg Schmidttner

By: Juan B

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Published: June 9, 2025

Our Lady, Undoer of Knots isn’t actually an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but was a commissioned piece of art in the 1700s. (Dennelly)

Pope Francis made this devotion more known during His pontificate, as He specifically prayed to Our Lady under this title during the Coronavirus Pandemic which began in 2020. (Dennelly)

Our Lady, Undoer of Knots originated in Augsburg, Germany in the 1600s: a married couple of husband Wolfgang Langenmantel and wife Sophia Rentz were on the verge of divorce and so providentially sought help from a local priest, a Jesuit priest Jakob Rem. In legendary fashion, the priest took the ribbon from the couple’s marriage ceremony and together they all prayed to the Virgin Mary to smooth out all the knots, all the difficulties, they were facing. Praise God, the divorce never happened! (Dennelly)

This actual title of Our Lady comes into play when their grandson, who became a priest, Father Hieronymus Langenmantel, commissioned an artist to paint the image of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots – he wanted to commemorate the help Wolfgang and Sophia received from heaven, from Our Lady! The image is still today in St. Peter’s church in Augsburg. (Dennelly)

Pope Francis in a 2017 interview shared the understanding behind the idea of Mary untying knots, which comes from St. Iranaeus’ writings: “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.” St Irenaeus was a very early Saint: He learned much from a bishop in his time St. Polycarp, who learned from St. John the Evangelist himself (Bird, Kosloski). (Dennelly)

Please feel free to review the prayers to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, which includes a novena, which has a beautiful and powerful closing prayer; I include an excerpt below:

“…Powerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with Your Son and My Liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot…I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once for all, You are my hope….”

Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, please remember our families, especially in Miami, Florida, and the USA, helping them to untie any knots that obstruct their happiness. Please also remember all those men and women seeking to marry!

Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for us!

Citations:

Bird, Chad, “Church Fathers: St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Champion of the Incarnation”, 1517 newsletter, https://www.1517.org/articles/church-fathers-st-irenaeus-of-lyon-champion-of-the-incarnation. Accessed 9 Jun 2025

Dennelly, Tina, “How Pope Francis spread devotion to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots”, News, Catholic News Agency, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255495/pope-francis-and-our-lady-undoer-of-knots#:~:text=Mary%2C%20Mother%20to%20whom%20God,knot%20that%20cannot%20be%20undone.. Accessed 9 Jun 2025

Kosloski, Phillip, “How St. Polycarp was taught by St. John the Apostle”, Spirituality, Aleteia, https://aleteia.org/2024/02/22/how-st-polycarp-was-taught-by-st-john-the-apostle/. Accessed 9 Jun 2025