Courtney McGrailThe apparition at Knock symbolises hope for suffering people, writes Archbishop Michael Neary
Archbishop Michael Neary
Growing up in the West of Ireland, about 20 miles from Knock, I have been privileged to imbibe the history and reverence the mystery of the apparition. As a priest I have had the privilege of ministering to pilgrims in the confessional and witnessed to and participated in the faith and prayer of so many visitors to Our Lady’s Shrine. The number of pilgrims to the shrine testifies to its importance for the faith life of our people. Indeed Knock has been very much part of and commentary on the faith history of our people.
While Catholic Emancipation came in 1829, nevertheless the people continued to suffer economic misery which was intensified as a result of the Great Famine (1845-47) when over a million people died of hunger and disease, and a greater number emigrated. From 1877-79 another famine ravished the people. It was followed by evictions and consequent suffering for the people.
The apparition in 1879 was very much in keeping with the approach of God in his relationships with his people down through history. In the Book of Exodus we read that “the people of Israel groaned under their bondage, and cried out for help, and their cry under bondage came up to God, and God heard their groaning” (Exodus 2:22-24). In the following chapter the Lord acknowledges “I have seen the affliction of my people…and have heard their cry. I know their suffering…and I have come to deliver them”.
The apparition gives expression to the way in which God identifies with a broken and beaten people who were crying out in the midst of famine, evictions and emigration. The parish church in Knock was built in 1828 and it was at the gable end that the apparition took place. On the west wall of the parish church there was a stone with the inscription which in many ways was prophetic with regard to the place that Knock would play in the faith of the Irish people. The inscription reads: “my house shall be called the house of prayer to all nations”.
A silent message understood
The Knock apparition, when compared to other apparitions, is unusual in that no words were spoken and yet the images, signs and symbols deliver a message that is understood by people of all nations and languages.
Since 1879 Knock has been a powerful centre of prayer and the reception of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. The apparition itself has been described as a Tableau with two panels; the first consisting of the Lamb of God standing on an altar with a cross in the background; the second panel with the three images of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Joseph and St John the Evangelist. The first panel is an unmistakable allusion to the Eucharist.
The Pope’s prophetic words
Today, Knock attracts pilgrims from all over the world. A special feature of the Knock pilgrimage is the availability of the Sacrament of Reconciliation which is an integral part of the pilgrimage. Many come to avail of Christ’s forgiveness in Confession. There is a recognition of the world’s collective brokenness.
On the occasion of the centenary of the apparition, St John Paul II (pictured) as a pilgrim to Knock Shrine commenced his homily: “Here I am at the goal of my journey to Ireland: the Shrine of Our Lady at Knock… I know very well that every people, every country, indeed every diocese, has its holy places in which the heart of the whole people of God beats, one could say, in more lively fashion, places of special encounter between God and human beings; places in which Christ dwells in a special way in our midst.”
The Holy Father went on to acknowledge the long spiritual tradition of devotion to Mary in Ireland. “From that day of grace August 21, 1879, until this very day, people are suffering, people handicapped in body or mind, troubled in their faith and their conscious, all have been healed, comforted and confirmed in their faith because they trusted that the mother of God would lead them to her Son Jesus.”
The Holy Father extended the challenge: “the Church must constantly look for new ways that will enable her to understand more profoundly and to carry out with renewed vigour the mission from her founder”.
And in words which so many years later are seen to be somewhat prophetic he states “may prosperity never cause Irish men and women to forget God or abandon their Faith. Keep them faithful in prosperity to the faith they would not surrender in poverty and persecution.
“Save them from greed, from envy, from seeking selfish or sectional interest.”