The Novena to Mary, Undoer of Knots was inspired by a German baroque icon featuring the Blessed Virgin Mary, surrounded by the heavenly host and under a dove representing the Holy Spirit, undoing knots while crushing the head of the serpent under her heel.   The knot is a good representation of the results of sin in our spiritual life: As we engage habitually in sin, it becomes harder and harder to return to virtue, just as a knot that is pulled tighter and tighter becomes harder to untie. God's