We all have knots.
A relationship that has become difficult. A decision we cannot seem to make. Something from the past that still weighs on us. A worry about someone we love. A situation we have prayed about many times, yet still do not know how to resolve.
Sometimes we know what we want to change, but we simply cannot make it happen.
Grace That Sets Us Free is a nine-day prayer journey with Mary, under her title of Untier of Knots, and everyone across the Archdiocese is invited to be part of it.
The journey has been prepared especially for October, a month when the Church traditionally gives particular attention to Mary, especially through the prayer of the Rosary and contemplation of the mysteries of Christ with her. But there is no set time or particular way you need to engage with the novena. You might pray it over nine consecutive days, return to it when you have time, or simply use the reflections and prayers in a way that speaks to what you are carrying right now.
The important thing is not keeping up with a schedule. It is making space for prayer.
The devotion to Mary, Untier of Knots, offers a beautiful image for this. The title comes from a painting made in Augsburg, Germany, around 1700, which shows Mary patiently working through a long, tangled ribbon, loosening its knots one by one.
It is an image that speaks to real life. Knots rarely come undone all at once. Some take patience. Some require courage. Some ask us to let go of what we cannot control. And sometimes, we simply have to wait.
Over the nine days, we are invited to take one particular knot and bring it honestly before God. We pause, listen, ask Jesus for what we need, surrender what we cannot control and learn to trust him with what we cannot yet understand.
Mary accompanies us along the way. We ask her to pray for us and to lead us closer to her Son, Jesus. She reminds us that faith does not mean having all the answers. It means learning to trust God even when we cannot see how the story will unfold.
The hope of this prayer journey is not that every problem will be solved in nine days. It is that God’s grace can begin to set us free from the fear, anxiety, resentment or need for control that can keep us bound to our circumstances.
So, wherever you are and whatever you are carrying, you are invited to join us.
Bring your knot.
Bring it to Jesus.
Let Mary pray with you.
And make some space to discover what God’s grace might begin to untangle.