"Rejoice, Binder of the faithful to the Lord!"
--The Akathist of St. Romanos the Melodist
Since the election of Pope Francis, the originally German devotion to the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary as the "Untier of Knots" as become quite popular. And it is popular for its truth, for she is the one "who gave birth to the Captives' release," the one who "ripped the Athenians' meshes," the one through whom "we have been liberated from terror." She can truly free us from so many ills through the grace that fills her: thus in our ails we pray to her, and we have confidence in her help, whether it is with cancer (the Pantanassa) or addictions (the Inexhaustible Cup) or any other ill. She can truly undo knots, whether those of the devil or merely our own fallen nature. She is, through Christ, "the freedom from our chains," and thus, "in her hands there is no knot that cannot be undone."
