How has devotion to the Untied Virgin spread throughout the world?

An image of the Virgin Mary with a white ribbon in her hands can be seen in more and more temples in recent years. This is the Untied Virgin, an invocation to which thousands of faithful come to ask for her help to “untie” the knots of their daily problems.

Its origin and the impulse of Pope Francis

Although its spread throughout the world is relatively recent, the history of this Marian dedication dates back to the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. By the year 1700, the artist Johann Georg Melchior finished painting the image, which was placed in the church of St. Peter in the Perlach, in the German city of Augsburg.

Three centuries later, the devotion took on new impetus at the hands of Pope Francis. According to told Vatican Radio Father Alejandro Russo, rector of the Cathedral of Buenos Aires (Argentina), when the Pontiff was a priest promoted this devotion, and even attached a picture of the Virgin Untied Nudos every time he wrote a letter.

In 2021, when the pontifical coronation of this image took place in the parish of San José del Talar in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis sent a letter in which he invited the faithful to place in it “hope, to be faithful and humble witnesses of the Gospel of God’s mercy and tenderness.”

Also in 2021, Pope Francis concluded a marathon of Rosaries dedicated to the Virgin Mary with a prayer before the image of the Untied Virgin in the Vatican Gardens.

Driven by the affection that the Latin American people have for Pope Francis, devotion has spread throughout America: in Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and Peru, where numerous temples and chapels have been consecrated to this Virgin who “unties the knots” of life.

A Virgin of simple causes

In Cancun, nestled in the jungle of the Mexican Caribbean, is one of the most important temples, which has received many pilgrims daily since 2016.

Its rector, Father Luis Pablo Garza, explained to ACI Prensa that, for him, the growth of this dedication is due to having a connection of simplicity with the people, where anyone comes “full of confidence to ask for very simple things, which may even seem superficial.”

“This invocation transmits to you a motherhood of Mary that you can entrust to her from the moment your child goes to university, from the moment you get a job; from the moment you manage to take a trip, to health situations,” he mentioned.

Father Garza pointed out that he has witnessed that people manage to connect with María Desatanudos “because of the tenderness of her face, her hands, and by understanding that the ribbon that the Virgin has in her hands is my life (…) that she holds it close to her heart and under her gaze.”

The belt that a milagros

A tradition that has become popular around this Marian devotion consists of placing a white ribbon with a knot on it, symbolizing a personal problem. The gesture, Father Garza explained, “heals the soul and fills it with confidence,” as it symbolizes that “I have already given my knot to the Virgin, I have already given her my problem.”

The film has its origins in the German marriage bond of the 18th century. During weddings, the hands of the spouses were tied with a ribbon that symbolized their union. In the case of the first miracle attributed to this dedication, a wife presented her ribbon full of knots, which represented the difficulties of marriage.

For this reason, María Desatanudos is recognized as the patron saint of marriages and marital conflicts. Father Garza assures that “in recent times” he has seen “that families who cannot have children have them. Every day they bring me children who tell me, ‘father, this is a miracle of the Virgin.'”

In addition, he has witnessed “health miracles,” and even people who “had lost faith and here have found it again.”

Faithful people like Sandra Patricia, a Colombian devotee for 30 years, who shared with ACI Prensa that in the Virgin Desatanudos she finds a refuge for “any problem: whether it is health, economic, or sometimes affective, emotional or lack of work, everything is entrusted to her.”

Dafne Campos, a Mexican woman, said that she went to the chapel of the Mexico City Cathedral as soon as she was fired from her job: “I have read that it is super miraculous. So, I think I need at this moment to have a little faith. And it is good to come specifically with someone so miraculous to be able to deliver your knots.”

He message of the Virgin

For Father Garza, the message of the Virgin Untying Knots responds to a spiritual need in today’s world, which, he mentioned, has “many spiritual illnesses, with many mental conflicts, lack of peace, entanglements, and then here knots are untied through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, of all kinds.”

That is why he affirms that his central message is to remind us that “we have a mother in heaven who is always willing to help us with maternal tenderness.”

“That is, you have a mother in heaven who listens to you, to whom you can write with confidence your knots, your needs, your problems, those of your family, those of your loved ones,” the priest concluded.