I realise how boring holiday pics can be, but this is about Knock , Ireland and my pilgrimage there this week: Knock Ireland's National Marian Shrine located in Mayo in the West of Ireland On the 21st of August, 1879, Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared at the south gable of Knock Parish Church. This Apparition was witnessed by fifteen people, young and old. From this miraculous occurance Knock has grown to the status of an internationally recognised Marian Shrine. The personal pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II in 1979, commemorating the centenary of the Apparition, inspired an even greater devotion to the Shrine and endorsed the indelible seal of Vatican approval. Mother Teresa of Calcutta visited the Shrine in June of 1993. One and a half million pilgrims visit the Shrine annually.
The spirituality at Knock is very Catholic. In the morning I walked round the stations of the cross and got this picture of a statue of St Michael the Arcangel: The Shrine from a distance, early morning: Pope JPII visited in '79 here is a picture of him during his visit: A stained glass window from the old apparition Church: The Marian altar from the old church, I love the way Marys hands are portrayed:
I most especially liked this stained glass of Our Lady of Knock ,I thought it was child like innocent and beautiful: A painting of the apparition in Knock Museum: This gentleman is very interesting, he me have been the one who brought the apparitions about!! He is Archdeacon Cavanagh, the PP of Knock and had just finished a 100 mass novena for the souls in purgatory when the events occured. The locals said he was very,very holy, his picture is in Knock museum: The old chapel:
Love the pics! Padraig, I know of no other apparition that places the Lamb of God on the altar. Too bad you couldn't have been there when my daughter, Rachel, visited. She would have really enjoyed you! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
Knock seems like such a strange (a good strange) apparition to me. There are none other like it that I know of, making me wonder about the combination of figures in it. St. John and St. Joseph, the Lamb . . . I wonder if there is some symbolism in the message that won't be recognized until later.
I hope we all meet up some today before we meet in heaven, Terry!! I read a notice near the apparition site, Deanna that says that everybody takes there own message form what the vision figures signify. Thats true, I think but I also think there is objective meaning for everyone just as there is a subjective meaning for the individual. Just as when we read the gospel there is both objective and subjective meanings. I was praying about the apparitions for three days and found them a good source of meditation. Anyway this is what I noticed about them. Mary and Saint Joseph are interceding with heaven in prayer. This was at the period just after the Irish Famine when on million Irish died of hunger and one million emigrated, during the Irish Famine. The part of the country were Mary appeared seems to be one of the worst hit with widespread death. The Lamb of God in the centre shows I think the intercessory role of the mass, of the Lamb of God as the mediator between God and man. It emphasises ,as it is placed on the altar the Sacrifice of the Mass. Now Saint John the Evangelist is standing with a book of scripture open, I suspect asking us to read and confirm what he has written about the Lamb of God and the role of Jesus. I have always thought and this is only my own opinion that Saint John here also refers to the Book of Revelations that we are moving into the period mentioned in Revelations maybe in Chapter 12. This was the period when Pope Leo had the vision of Satan being released for a hundred years. I t may also be that the Lamb of God is the foreshadowing of the great sign that is to be seen in the heavens. Anyway I got great graces praying about it, so my tim wasn't wasted even if I'm wrong. One of the things I like about this vision is how thouroughly Catholic, pointing to the value of the mass, the importance of scripture, the intercessory role of Mary and Saint Joseph and the wonder of the angels.
