Knock Shrine, Knock, Co. Mayo. To combat the effects of lockdown, Knock Shrine will broadcast pilgrimage Masses every Sunday at 3 pm, it has been announced.
The Masses will be celebrated each weekend “for the pilgrimage groups that traditionally travel…for their own celebrations”.
The pilgrimage will include Rosary at 2.30 pm, followed by Mass and Benediction at 3 pm. The celebrant will be Fr Richard Gibbons, PP, Rector at Knock Shrine.
Pilgrims are invited to place their petitions online on the Knock Shrine website in advance of the day. These will be placed on the altar for the Mass.
A spokesperson for the shrine said that “many pilgrims light candles for loved ones and their intentions during their visit to Knock Shrine and this service is also available online. A candle will be lit at the outdoor candelabra for each request received”.
The initiative continues the tradition of special pilgrimage Sundays which have long been a central part of the annual calendar at Knock Shrine.
In 1879, local people reported seeing an apparition of the Blessed Virgin, St Joseph, Sr John the Evangelist and the Lamb of God. After investigation, Church authorities found the witnesses’ accounts to be credible and trustworthy and the Co. Mayo town soon became a site of Marian pilgrimage. Pope St John Paul II visited the shrine during the centenary in 1979 and Pope Francis prayed at the apparition chapel during his trip to Ireland in 2018.
“Knock has always been a place of welcome, sanctuary and togetherness…Since 1880, pilgrimage groups have made their way to Knock, bringing with them their prayers and petitions,” the statement from the shrine added.