Day 7 — Our Lady’s Shrine at Knock, County Mayo

by friar Bob Roddy, OFM Conv.

Sadly, four members of our band of pilgrims were under the weather today. Conor, our tour leader, also had to be absent so that he could attend the funeral of his aunt, Kathleen. We were fortunate that Conor secured the services of a friend and fellow guide, Elva, for the day.

On August 21, 1879, fourteen people (men, women and children) saw an apparition of the Blessed Mother, flanked by St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist with an altar off to the side and a lamb standing on the altar. The altar and the lamb were surrounded by angels. The apparition took place on the back side of the parish church outdoors. These fourteen people stood for two hours in the pouring rain; none of the figures in the apparition spoke to the assembled crowd. Later, there were many miraculous cures that took place through the intercession of Our Lady of Knock.

In 1979 Pope St. John Paul II celebrated an outdoor Mass at Knock to mark the 100th anniversary of the apparition, and in August, 2018 as part of the World Meeting of Families, Pope Francis visited Knock. In 2021, Pope Francis recognized Knock as an International Marian and Eucharistic Shrine. Recently, the Shrine at Knock added an outdoor Creation Walk as a way of honoring Pope Francis, encyclical, Laudato Si.

A few people in our group had visited Knock before and in our group sharing that evening, some of our pilgrims spoke of the profound effect that their visit had on them. We made a point of lifting up in prayer the many people who have written to our friars with prayer requests and petitions. It was a quiet day at the Shrine but there were still many pilgrimage groups present. Our liturgy was celebrated on the “gable wall” where the apparition took place, though the original wall has had to be replaced due to many people taking a bit of the wall to their homes. There is a small section of the original wall that is framed and marked outside.

A large church was erected on the site in 1976 to accommodate the large number of pilgrims. This church, dedicated to Our Lady, Queen of Ireland, underwent a restoration in 2016 and the large mosaic pictured below was added to the wall behind the altar. It was a moving day for many in our group.