Mary Undoer of Knots: Pope Francis' gift to the world

Summary:

The Virgin Mary has over 2,000 titles, many of which are linked to places of apparitions (Lourdes, for example), Marian dogmas (the Immaculate Conception), theological titles or important historical events, etc. This latest name of "Mary Undoer of Knots" is only traced back to a little, simple postcard.

The postcard showed an original 300-year-old painting made by a minor Baroque artist, displayed in a small church in southern Germany. Mailed from Bavaria and delivered in Buenos Aires (Argentina), this postcard was to be the trigger of a great explosion of faith that would eventually irradiate the whole world.

Each of the individual elements that marked this explosion is easy to explain, but the way they came together is completely unexpected and providential. The starting point is particularly improbable. The fact that the devotion to "Mary Undoer of Knots" is for the little ones, the everyday people, the poor in spirit faced with difficulties seemingly insurmountable, let us perceive the finger of God, or rather the active maternal care and concern of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Here's a short history of how this modern devotion was born. It was early December 1986, the end of spring in South America. Argentina had just emerged from the military dictatorship: 30,000 dead or missing in six years, inflation at 1,000% a year had just been brought under control, along with the high unemployment ratethat goes hand in hand with inflation. Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit, was about to turn 50 (on 17 December). He was a man of great faith: "I believe in Mary, my Mother, who loves me and will never abandon me", he wrote in 1969, the day before his ordination. At the age of 36, in 1973, he was the youngest provincial, and the six years he spent at the head of the Province (which includes Argentina and Uruguay) - during which he was on several occasions in difficult negotiations with the state authorities - gave him a rich record of achievements.

• After a 50% decline in the number of Jesuits in fifteen years, Fr. Bergoglio managed to attract new vocations and fill the churches.
• To promote the faith and restore the dignity of the poor and their access to work, he built five churches and opened educational establishments.
• He protected priests and many other people with no connection to the Church who were persecuted by the junta. It is said that more than a hundred of them owe their lives to him.
• Finally, in a particularly delicate task, he succeeded in reversing the serious financial crisis that was threatening to sink the congregation, suffocated by debt.

But at the beginning of December, Padre Jorge had the impression that everything he had built had collapsed. On the initiative of his successor as a provincial, he began a thesis on Romano Guardini, but he was well aware that this request was intended to keep him out of the decision-making arena. A short time earlier, he was the head of the Society in this province, but now he was just a teacher and confessor in a college, with little prospect of advancement. His material living conditions were difficult. We can well imagine his state of mind...

With nothing else to do, he opened his mail and wrote Christmas cards to friends who had not forgotten him. From one of the envelopes he received fell a postcard showing an unknown representation of Mary: she is seen untying the knots of a ribbon handed to her by an angel. This card, sent by a nun he had met in the past, had a powerful impact on him: in the difficult period he had been going through for several months, he realised that the knots of life had to be placed in the hands of the mother of Jesus. All it takes is faith. Padre Jorgewas fascinated and amazed.

What followed is of epic proportion: a handful of faithful friends, and then an ever-growing army of people, made themselves available to Padre Jorge to distribute reproductions of the famous card. The Argentines immediately understood its symbolism and, at a time when they were finally starting to emerge from their suffering, confided in their heavenly Mother. At the doors of the churches where copies of the card could be found, one could see lines of faithful hoping to get a copy, to the point where masses had to be celebrated in the open air. The parish priest of one of these churches, Father Juan R. Celeiro, had the intuition during a priestly retreat that these starving souls needed spiritual nourishment, and composed the now world-famous novena.

On 27 June 1992, Padre Jorge was ordained a bishop by Cardinal Quarracino. On 13 March 2013, he was elected the 266th Pope and took the name of Francis, because, for him, Saint Francis is the man of the poor, the man of peace, and the man who loves and cares for Creation. He soon began receiving visitors, young and old, under the benevolent gaze of a painting depicting Mary Undoer of knots.

Beyond reasons to believe:

Testimonies abound of loosened "knots", i.e crosses and difficult situations concerning family, health, work, housing, money, addictions, studies, etc., gracefully solved or "untied" following a prayer to "Mary Undoer of Knots".  Often, as a result of this heavenly assistance, people find their trust and faith in God renewed, and return to regular prayer.

Going further:

Untying Life's Knots: Mary Undoer of Knots Novena: The Mystery, Meditation, Prayer to the Blessed Mother Mary and Novena to the Virgin Mary Untier of Knots by Francis W. Philips, Independently published (December 1, 2023) 

More information:

• The novena prayer booklet of Mary who undoes knots. Available via the Mary of Nazareth website in themed booklets.

• The Novena and Chaplet to Mary, Undoer of Knots: A Nine-Day Spiritual Journey to Untangle Life Struggles Through Mary’s Powerful Intercession by Father Dominic Ignatius, Independently published (September 21, 2024)

• Radio: "Entrevista con o padre Juan R. Celeiro", Radio Vaticana, 16 May 2013.
• Video of Pope Francis' meeting with the media on 16 March 2013, Vatican News.
• The video from the YouTube channel Libreria Coletti:Intervista a padre Celeiro Juan R., autore della Novena a Maria che scioglie i nodi (17 May 2013).
• The video from the YouTube channel Effatà Editrice:Intervista Maria che scioglie i nodi - Padre Juan R. Celeiro. TV 2000 (12 July 2013).