Pope Francis highlights the dedication to Our Lady in a video message on Friday, while Ireland’s Knock Shrine, which has held the status of National Marian Shrine for decades, is elevated to the status of an International Shrine of Special Eucharistic and Marian consecration.
By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ
Pope Francis sent a video message to Irish believers on Friday to mark the elevation of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Knock to the status of International Marian and Eucharistic Shrine.
“I love using this means of communication to be with you at such an important time in the life of the sanctuary,” said the Pope.
The date chosen for the occasion is March 19, the liturgical ceremony of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“ Since the apparition of August 21, 1879, when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to some villagers, along with Saint Joseph and the Apostle John, ” said the Pope, “ the Irish people, wherever they are, have expressed their faith and dedication to Our Lady of Knock. “
After its apparitions 142 years ago, Knock has become one of Ireland’s popular religious sites, welcoming thousands of pilgrims every year. In 1979 Pope St. John Paul II visited the sanctuary. Pope Francis also visited Knock in August 2018 during his Apostolic visit to the country as part of the World Meeting of Families.
A missionary people
Recognizing the many Irish priests who left their homeland to become ‘missionaries of the gospel’, as well as the many lay people who emigrated to distant lands but still maintained their devotion to Our Lady, Pope Francis emphasized the service of the Church in Ireland to the Faith.
“You are a missionary people,” he said.
“Over the course of nearly a century and a half, how many families have passed on the faith to their children and gathered their daily activities around the rosary, with the statue of Our Lady of Knock in the center.”
The great value of silence
“The Virgin’s arms, outstretched in prayer, continue to show us the importance of prayer as the message of hope emanating from this sanctuary,” affirmed the Pope.
He recalled that in the apparition of Our Lady in Knock, “the Virgin says nothing,” but that her silence is a language – “the most expressive language we have.” Knock’s message, therefore, is that of “the great value of silence to our faith.”
This silence in the face of mystery does not mean that we give up understanding, but rather, “understand while being helped and sustained by the love of Jesus,” explained the Pope. It is also a silence in the “face of the great mystery of a love that cannot be answered unless one trusts surrender to the will of the merciful Father.”
The Holy Father further noted that this is the silence that Jesus asks of us in the Gospel of Matthew: “When you pray, go into your private room, close the door, and pray secretly to your Father. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. While praying, do not chat like the Gentiles, who think they will be heard because of their many words. Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him ”(Matthew 6: 6-8).
The responsibility to welcome everyone
Pope Francis went on to emphasize the “great responsibility” attached to the recently raised International Shrine of Our Lady of Knock.
“You accept to always have your arms wide open as a sign of welcome to any pilgrim who comes from any part of the world, not asking for anything in return, but only acknowledging him as a brother or sister who shares the same experience of brotherly prayer. , ”the Pope urged.
He went on to express his wish that this welcome “could go with charity and become an effective witness of a heart open to receiving the Word of God and the grace of the Holy Ghost which strengthens us.”
Concluding his message with an invocation of God’s blessing upon all, Pope Francis prayed that the Eucharistic mystery, which unites us in communion with Jesus and one another, “ may always be the rock on which we faithfully fulfill our calling as ‘missionary disciples’. ” can live. like Mary. He also implored Our Lady to “protect and comfort us with her compassionate countenance.”