"That's a mistake. All knots in the heart, all knots in the conscience, can be untied," he emphasized.
If we ask Mary, "the woman of faith" for help, he continued, "she will surely say to us, 'go forward, go to the Lord, he will understand you.' And she takes us with the hand of a mother to the embrace of the Father, to the Father of mercy."
As the crowds prayed, the Pope spoke of Mary's example and reflected on her desire to lead others away from the "knots" of sin to divine healing. Mary is "the mother who patiently and lovingly brings us to God, so that he can untangle the knots of our soul by his fatherly mercy."
In preparation for the Pope's consecration of the world to Mary on Sunday, the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima was brought to St. Peter's Square from the shrine in Portugal. Pope Francis took a moment to pray before the image, which depicts how Mary appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917.
The crowds of diverse pilgrims held up various images of Mary, celebrating her universal motherhood. The vigil, which interspersed international music with scripture readings that served as points of meditation and prayer.
Pope Francis taught that Mary, through her witness of faith, is the paradigm for all believers.