August 21st is the feast day of Our Lady of Knock. Knock is a small village in County Mayo in the west of Ireland. It was on this day in 1879 that the apparition of the Virgin Mary along with St. Joseph and St. John as well as the appearance of an altar on which was the Lamb was witnessed by fifteen Irish people, young and old. They stood in a pouring rain for two hours though the rain did not fall on the apparition. Several of them stepped forward to attempt to touch what they saw as it appeared that real. The local bishop listened to all fifteen witnesses tell the exact same story. In 1936, another bishop listened to the testimony of all the witnesses that were still alive. Their testimony matched what they had said 1879. Because of this, the Church officially recognized the apparition at Knock as authentic. Ireland in 1879 had just come through a terrible time. They were still under British control (which meant the Church was still persecuted.) In addition, they were still trying to recover from the effects of the potato famine in which a million Irish starved to death and another million emigrated in order to keep from starving to death. The witnesses all testified that Mary said nothing to them during her apparition. This fits perfectly with classic Irish culture: she did not need to say anything. Just the fact that she came to be with them meant everything to the Irish. One of the great privileges of my life was to be at Knock with my sons and daughter-in-law and be able to go to Mass in the chapel at the site where the apparition occurred. To hear the prayers in both English and Gaelic was an emotional experience that I really cannot describe. A Naomh-Mhuire, a Mháthair Dé, guigh orainn na peacaigh, anois, agus ar uair ár mbáis. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, Now, and at the hour of our death.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 16:24:59 +0000
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