Our Lady of Knock & Pope Pius X August 21st

Today, is the universal Church memorial of Pope St. Pius X, who was responsible for lowering the age of First Communion to 7 years old. He was also a promoter of frequent and daily Holy Communion.

At the time, Catholics were accustomed to receiving holy communion only once a year. Very few would receive holy communion on a weekly basis, and typically only priests would receive on a daily basis.

People rarely received Communion out of fear of offending the Lord, by their venial sins. The age for first Communion at that time was 12 years old. He was also the pope who attempted to tackle the heresy of modernism, which believes doctrines can change according to the time people lived.

But in some parts of Ireland, today is the feast of Our Lady of Knock. The rest of Ireland celebrates it on August 17th.

The apparition in County Mayo occurred on the evening of August 21, 1879, the vigil of the octave of the feast of the Assumption. The apparition occurred at the time Pope Pius X was not yet pope. He was a priest, who was ordained about 20 years, but, about 5 years after the apparition, he would become a bishop and then elected pope in 1903.

Back then, due to the failure of the potato crop, there was a severe famine in Ireland, so much so, that its estimated that a million Irish died and another million migrated out of the country. It was believed to be a punishment by God for the people not keeping the Sabbath and taking God’s name in vain.

The apparition was described as follows: Our Lady appeared standing only a few feet off the ground, the Blessed Virgin wore a white cloak and was described by witnesses as being incredibly beautiful. She wore a bright golden crown with a golden rose in the center of the crown, and appeared to be praying with her eyes looking toward heaven with her arms bend in front of her with her palms facing inward. Saint Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, also wore white robes and stood on the Virgin’s right. He inclined his head respectfully toward the Blessed Virgin. Saint John the Evangelist wore a miter, and appeared to be preaching as he held a book in his left hand. To their right was an altar with the cross and the lamb.

Those who witnessed the miracle ranged in age from five years old to seventy-five. Twenty parishioners witnessed the apparition for two hours as they recited the rosary. Some parishioners ran home to get family members to come to see it. Although it was daylight when the apparition began, the weather turned for the worse, and it began to rain heavily. The area around the apparition appeared unaffected, however, as the ground remained dry as long as the vision lasted. She did not speak, but the edge of the church where the manifestation was made was covered with a cloud of light.  

A five year old boy crossed the fence that separated the people from the apparition and was able to see the writing in the book held by St. John the Evangelist. A 75-year-old woman also crossed the fence and walked up to Our Lady and touched her feet.

The Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John never spoke. The silent apparition that lasted hours.

There has been over 600 alleged miracles at the shrine of Our Lady of Knock. However, there has only been one Church approved miracle.

In Sept. of 2019, the Church approved the first miracle at the shrine. Marion Carroll was healed of multiple sclerosis. She was blind in one eye, and deaf in one ear, her speech was slurred and she was incontinent. She was bedridden for years until she was healed in 1989 during a blessing with a monstrance at the shrine. Her own bishop is the one who blessed her with the Jesus in the monstrance. At the moment of the blessing she said she had a magnificent peace and felt like the Lord told her she could now walk. Those who investigated the apparition, said the healing had no medical explanation for the cure.

Today, let us ponder the mystery of the apparition, with Mary, with a crown on her head, Joseph, whose head was bowed toward Mary. St. John who had a bishop’s miter and a book in his hand, and the altar with the cross and the lamb.

What was God trying to say to the people of Ireland back then, who went through a severe famine, such that 1 million died and 1 million migrated away? Perhaps it was meant be a consolation to them in their time of suffering and sorrow.

And what is God trying to tell us today about the silent apparition that lasted for hours and was seen by about 20 people?

Our Lady of Knock and Pope St. Pius X, pray for us!