Mary, Untier of Knots

Mary, Untier of Knots or Mary, Undoer of Knots is the name of both a Marian devotion and a Baroque painting (German: Wallfahrtsbild or Gnadenbild) which represents that devotion. The painting by Johann Georg Melchior Schmidtner, of around 1700, is in the Catholic pilgrimage church of St. Peter am Perlach, otherwise known as the Perlach church, in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. Pope Francis saw the image while in Germany as a student and promoted her veneration in Latin America.

Mary, Untier of Knots
ArtistJohann Georg Schmidtner
Yearc. 1700
TypeOil on poplar
Dimensions182 cm × 110 cm (72 in × 43 in)
LocationSt. Peter am Perlach,
Augsburg, Germany

The only church dedicated to her in North America is Our Lady Undoer of Knots in Pikesville, Md, an independent Catholic parish of The Catholic Apostolic Church in North America.

Painting

The painting, executed in the Baroque style by Johann Georg Melchior Schmidtner (1625-1707), shows the Blessed Virgin Mary standing on the crescent moon (the usual way of depicting Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception), surrounded by angels and with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovering above her 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. The serpent represents the devil, and her treatment of him fulfills the prophecy in Genesis 3:15: "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel."[1]

Below are shown a human figure and his dog accompanying a much smaller angel. This scene is often interpreted as Tobias with his dog and the Archangel Raphael traveling to ask Sara to be his wife.[2]

The concept of Mary untying knots is derived from a work by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Adversus haereses (Against Heresies). In Book III, Chapter 22, he presents a parallel between Eve and Mary, describing how "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."[3]

The two small figures have also been interpreted as a representation of Wolfgang Langenmantel, the grandfather of the benefactor, guided in his distress by a guardian angel to Father Jakob Rem in Ingolstadt.[2]

History
St. Peter's Church with the Perlach-Tower

The painting was donated around 1700 by Hieronymus Ambrosius Langenmantel (1641-1718), a canon of the Monastery of Saint Peter in Augsburg. The donation is said to be connected with an event in his family. His grandfather Wolfgang Langenmantel (1586-1637) was on the verge of the separation from his wife Sophia Rentz (1590-1649) and therefore sought help from Jakob Rem, the Jesuit priest in Ingolstadt. Father Rem prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary and said: "In diesem religiösen Akt erhebe ich das Band der Ehe, löse alle Knoten und glätte es [In this religious act, I raise the bonds of matrimony, to untie all knots and smoothen them]". Immediately peace was restored between the husband and wife, and the separation did not happen. In the memory of this event, their grandson commissioned the painting of the "Untier of Knots".

Devotion

The first Chapel to be named "Mary, Untier of Knots" was completed in 1989 in Styria, Austria, inspired as a supplication in response to the Chernobyl Nuclear Tragedy.[4] The image of "Mary, Undoer of Knots" is especially venerated in Argentina and Brazil,[2] where churches have been named for her and devotion to her has become widespread and which the Guardian called a "religious craze".[5]

This Catholic devotion has grown since Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J. (who would later become Pope Francis, after a tenure as Archbishop of Buenos Aires), brought a postcard of the painting to Argentina in the 1980s after seeing the original while studying in Germany.[6][7] 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".[5] 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.[6]

In Buenos Aires, a copy of the icon was made and left by the artist, Dr. Ana de Betta Berti,[8] for the Church of San José del Talar, which has had it since 8 December 1996. On the 8th of each month, thousands of people make the pilgrimage to this church.[9]

Knowing about Pope Francis' special devotion for this image, a new South Korean ambassador in Vatican in 2018, Baek Man Lee, presented him with a Korean painting of Our Lady Undoer of Knots.[10]

The devotion to Mary, the Untier of Knots, can be found at numerous religious sites around the world.[4]

Title in other languages

Mary, Untier of Knots, has different names in other languages:

  • English: Mary, Untier of Knots; Mary, Undoer of Knots; Mary who Unties the Knots
  • German: Maria Knotenlöserin
  • Russian: Мария, развязывающая узлы
  • French: Marie qui défait les Nœuds
  • Italian: Maria che Scioglie i Nodi
  • Polish: Maria Rozwiązująca Węzły
  • Portuguese: Maria Desatadora dos Nós, Nossa Senhora Desatadora dos Nós
  • Spanish: María Desatanudos; María, Desatadora de Nudos; María, la que Desata los Nudos
  • Hungarian: A csomókat feloldó Mária
  • Croatian: Marija koja razvezuje čvorove
  • Chinese: 解結聖母瑪利亞
  • Filipino: Maria, Tagakalag ng mga Buhol ng Buhay; in the Diocese of Novaliches, when Bishop Tobias launched this devotion (12/08/15) in an effort to bring the Youth closer to Mary, he coined the name "Inang Desay" as a word of endearment for her.
  • Ido: Maria Desliganta la Nodi
  • Arabic: العذراء التي تحل العقد
  • Tamil: துன்ப முடிச்சுக்களை அவிழ்க்கும் அன்னை

See also

References
  1. Douay-Rheims Bible, 1899 Edition
  2. Richard Lenar. "History of the Devotion to Mary, Untier of Knots". A Dictionary of Mary. University of Dayton. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  3. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, III, 22
  4. International Fraternity of the Virgin Mary Untier of Knots, "List of Churches, Chapels and Places Archived 28 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine where the Virgin Mary, Untier of Knots is venerated [as] Maria Knotenlöserin". Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  5. Bellos, Alex (23 December 2001). "Virgin painting ties Brazilians in knots". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  6. Jiménez, Pablo (14 March 2013). "The Pope's chalice: silver-made, austere and featuring Our Lady of Luján". Buenos Aires Herald. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  7. (in German) "Bergoglio studierte einst in Frankfurt am Main [Bergoglio once studied in Frankfurt am Main"] - (Die Welt, 14 March 2013, Online Edition).
  8. (in Italian and German) Falasca, Stefania. "Nessun groviglio è senza uscita - Kein Problem (Verwicklung) endet in einer Sackgasse [Italian & German, "No Tangle is a Dead End"]", Avvenire, 14 April 2013.
  9. (in Spanish) Facebook of the parish of San José del Talar in Buenos Aires, with the photograph of the copy of the icon there.
  10. "New ambassador from Korea deeply honored to present credentials to Holy Father". RomeReports.com. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
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