Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, is one of the most loved Marian devotions of our time — a tender image of Mary patiently untying the tangled “knots” of our lives: broken relationships, worries, sins, and problems that seem impossible to solve. Made known around the world by Pope Francis, this nine-day novena places the hardest knot in your life into the hands of the Mother who never fails to help her children.
How to Pray This Novena
Pray once a day for nine consecutive days. Each day has its own short opening prayer, followed by the same main prayer (given below) in which you name the knot you are entrusting to Our Lady. Many also add a decade of the Rosary each day. The novena is traditionally prayed from September 20 to 28, ending on the feast of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots (September 28), but it may be prayed at any time of year.
The Daily Opening Prayers
Day 1. Dearest Holy Mother Mary, you undo the knots that cripple your children. Extend your merciful hands to me. I entrust to you today this knot and all its negative consequences in my life. Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
Day 2. Mary, beloved Mother, mediatrix of all grace, I give you today my heart, recognizing that I am a sinner in need of your help. I entrust into your hands this knot which keeps me from reflecting the glory of God. Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
Day 3. Queen of heaven, in whose hands the treasures of the King are found, turn your merciful eyes upon me today. I entrust into your holy hands this knot and the resentment it has caused in me. Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
Day 4. Dearest Holy Mother, generous with all who seek you, have mercy on me. I entrust to you this knot which robs the peace of my heart and keeps me from serving the Lord. Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
Day 5. Mother, Undoer of Knots, generous and compassionate, I come to entrust this knot to you and to ask the divine wisdom to undo it, under the light of the Holy Spirit. Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
Day 6. Queen of Mercy, I entrust to you this knot in my life and ask you for a heart that can wait patiently until you undo it. Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
Day 7. Mother Most Pure, I beg you to undo this knot in my life and free me from the snares of evil. Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
Day 8. Virgin Mother of God, overflowing with mercy, have mercy on your child and undo this knot in my life. Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
Day 9. Most Holy Mary, our Advocate, I come today to thank you for undoing this knot in my life. Wrap me in your mantle of love, keep me under your protection, and enlighten me with your peace. Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
The Main Prayer (Prayed Each Day)
Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to caress your beloved children because they are moved by the divine love and immense mercy that exist in your Immaculate Heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exists in my life. You know very well how weak I am, my pain, and how I am bound by these knots. Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the undoing of the knots in the lives of his children, I place into your hands the ribbon of my life. No one, not even the evil one himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands there is no knot that cannot be undone. Powerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with your Son and my Liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot… (mention your request).
I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once for all. You are my greatest hope. O my Lady, you are the only consolation God gives me, the fortification of my feeble strength, the enrichment of my poverty, and, with Christ, the freedom from my chains. Hear my plea. Keep me, guide me, and protect me, O safe refuge. Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, pray for me. Amen.
About This Devotion
The devotion takes its name from a Baroque painting, “Mary, Untier of Knots,” made around 1700 by Johann Georg Melchior Schmidtner and venerated since then in the church of St Peter am Perlach in Augsburg, Germany. The painting was commissioned in thanksgiving after a marriage on the brink of collapse was healed through prayer to Our Lady. Its theology reaches back to the second century, when St Irenaeus of Lyons wrote that “the knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by the obedience of Mary.”
The devotion spread far beyond Germany after the future Pope Francis, studying in Germany in the 1980s, was deeply moved by the image and carried it back to Argentina, where it became immensely popular. A novena booklet published with ecclesiastical permission in 1998 helped spread it throughout the Americas and the world.
Related Prayers and Devotions
The Memorare
Hail, Holy Queen (Salve Regina)
Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Sources: The novena’s daily prayers follow the traditional Novena to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots (published with ecclesiastical permission, 1998). Historical and devotional background from America Needs Fatima and standard accounts of the Augsburg painting and the devotion’s spread under Pope Francis.