21st August : Our Lady Of Knock
21st August
Our Lady Of Knock
Country : Ireland
Year : 1879
The apparition in Ireland of Our Lady of Knock is reported to have occurred on the evening of August 21, 1879, the vigil of the octave of the feast of the Assumption. It is described as follows: “Our Lady was wearing a large, brilliant crown and clothed in white garments. One her right was St. Joseph, his head inclined toward her and on her left St. John Evangelist. To the left of St. John was an altar on which stood a cross and a lamb.” Fifteen parishioners claimed they had seen Our Lady in the apparition for two hours. She did not speak, but the gable of the church where the manifestation was made was covered with a cloud of light. This took place in County Mayo, Ireland.
Since then thousands of people have gone to Knock to pray to Our Lady. Their prayerful, penitential and reverential spirit has been commended again and again by visitors from other lands. No sign of commercialism detracts from the purely religious atmosphere of that hallowed spot. People from all walks of life kneel in humble supplication before the shrine of Our Lady, fully confident that she has sanctified that spot by her apparition.
Organized pilgrimages from various dioceses are conducted frequently to the shrine. The rosary comprises the main portion of the devotion; the shrine is therefore appropriately called the Rosary Shrine. The “Knock Shrine Annual” relates many interesting stories of cures and conversions effected at the shrine.
