I had only a few hours of daylight to get back to Shannon from Castlebar on my last day in Ireland. I almost didn’t make it to Knock when I was visiting in 2007. Standing at the foot of this cross, Pope John Paul II as “a pilgrim” addressed 450,000 other pilgrims and said, “Here I am at the goal of my journey to Ireland – the shrine of Our Lady of Knock.” KNOCK IS A THIN PLACE The cross itself, modeled on the ancient Celtic Cross of Ahenny, remains in grateful remembrance of the greatest event in Irish history since the coming of St. This is the cross of the altar on which our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass on the occasion of his visit to the Knock Shrine. It marks a visit to Knock by Pope John Paul II in September of 1979 – 100 years after the apparition. There is a large, high cross now erected in the Knock church complex. I was there, mid-week in the lowest season for tourists in Ireland, the place was had a good number of pilgrims.
I was traveling alone and wanted to see Knock one more time – sort of make my own pilgrimage. We attended Mass there in the chapel of the apparition. We realized we had unintentionally arrived on a Marian feast day – the feast of the Assumption – August 15th. We visited Knock in August and it was crowded. I knew the story from song “Lady of Knock” recorded by Dana and had sung it many times at church, weddings and special events. I visited Knock on my first trip to Ireland in the early nineteen nineties. Statues were commissioned and put in place based on descriptions given by the visionaries. Glass now covers the recreation, and a chapel has been built which extends from the rear of the old church. John and the lamb with angels were commissioned and placed at the gable wall exactly as they appeared in the apparition. Today visitors and pilgrims to Knock exceed one million each year. Eventually those numbers climbed into the thousands and in 1976 a new church had to be built. Once word of the Knock apparition spread, people from all over Ireland began came to the site to pray and ask for healing. It’s now a chapel for reflection and prayer. Knock Church – Glass now encases the area of the apparition. Statements came later from other villagers that they could see a “light” hovering over the church from a distance, through the rain. Eventually fifteen people – men, women and children – gathered at the church wall and saw the same vision. Mary left the scene frightened but word spread throughout the village about the illuminated figures behind the church. There lamb on an altar seemed to have angels hovering over it.
John the Evangelist who was holding a book in one hand. Beside the Virgin Mary was her husband St. When she looked closer, she saw who she believed to be Mary, the mother of Jesus with her eyes lifted heavenward. Mary saw a light at the end of the church wall which appeared to be three standing figures. The first to see the vision was Mary McLoughlin who was serving as a housekeeper to the parish priest. Against the gable wall was a lighted scene with three people who seemed to be hovering above the ground. On a rainy Thursday evening, August 21, 1879, in the small village of Knock, located in the Northwestern part of Ireland in County Mayo several villagers saw something strange at the back of the church.
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