MZ101WS

Baroque painting by Johann George Melchior Schmidtner (circa 1700) in the Catholic pilgrimage church of "St. Peter am Perlach" in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany.

This painting depicts the Virgin Mary untying knots and at the same time treading on the head of a snake which represents the Devil (Genesis 3:15: "[thy seed] shall bruise the serpent's head". Below Mary is a depiction from the Book of Tobit of the Archangel Raphael with Tobit on his way to ask the hand of Sarah, daughter of Raguel in marriage.

But what are these knots? These knots are the problems and struggles we encounter for which we cannot find any solution. Knots of discord in our families, lack of understanding between mother and daughter, father and son, disrespect, violence, the knots of deep wounds between husband and wife, the absence of joy and peace at home. These knots are also knots of anguish and despair of alienated couples and loved ones, the breakdown of family life, the knots of a child addicted to drugs, a child sick or separated from home or God; knots of alcoholism, the practice of abortion, depression, unemployment, fear, lonelinessThe knots of our life can suffocate the soul, beat us down and betray our hearts joy and alienate us from God.

The concept of Mary untying knots is derived from St. Irenaeus of Lyons' "Adversus haereses" (Against Heresies). In Book III, Chapter 22, he explains 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."

This Catholic devotion has grown since Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J. (later Archbishop of Buenos Aires and now Pope Francis), brought a postcard of the painting to Argentina in the 1980s after seeing the original while studying in Germany. The devotion reached Brazil near the end of the 20th century. According to Regina Novaes, of the Institute of Religious Studies in Rio de Janeiro, Mary Untier of Knots "attracts people with small problems". Bergoglio had this image of Mary engraved on a chalice he presented to Pope Benedict XVI and another chalice bearing her image, the work of the same silversmith, is to be presented to Pope Francis on behalf of the Argentine people.