Tag Archive for: Knock Pilgrimage

Dominican Pilgrimage to Knock

On Sunday 10 October, the annual Dominican Pilgrimage took place again after last year’s pilgrimage was cancelled due to the pandemic. While smaller then other years many associated with the Dominican Family gathered in Knock on a very sunny day to celebrate together.

Fr John Harris OP, the newly elected provincial, was the main celebrant of the Mass. Fr John spoke about the apparition at Knock and drew attention to the fact that the official witnesses to the apparition were witnesses in a similar way to how we witness the apparition. While at other pilgrimage sites revelations were given to visionaries, in Knock the apparition was visible to all present. So as the apparition was present then, it is available to us now though the scene as depicted in the apparition chapel. We are now as much as then all called to be witnesses to the apparition as were the official witnesses!

It was a joy to gather again at Knock, and with God’s help we will be back in full force next year in October!

Rosary Pilgrimage to Knock

The annual Rosary Pilgrimage to Knock takes place this year on the 13th of October.

The ceremonies begin at 2:30pm in the basilica. The preacher this year is Fr. Paul Murray OP.

Many Dominican Priory’s around the country organise busses to take part in the pilgrimage.


Paul Brendan Murray was born on 26 November 1947 and grew up in County Down. He joined the Irish Province of the Friars of the Order of Preachers in 1966 and took profession in 1967. Already a notable and promising poet, his first volume of poetry, Ritual Poems, was published in the early 1970s. Paul was ordained priest in 1973, one of a group of eight Dominicans ordained priest that day. (The group included Fr Gregory Carroll, current Provincial of Ireland, and Fr Mark O’Brien, who has served as Provincial of the Australian Province of the Order.)

After further post-graduate studies, notably on the poetic work of T. S. Eliot, Paul began teaching in the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas, Rome, the ‘Angelicum’, and after living in the Priory of San Clemente he transferred residence to the Convitto, a community located nearer the university campus. Paul’s life is one of preaching, teaching, as well as travelling to give lectures and retreats all over the globe. He works also in a consultative role for a Vatican department, and is visiting professor at Notre Dame University in Sydney, Australia.

He would have known Mother Teresa of Calcutta quite well, and personally, and has been called upon to offer counselling and support to many who are major international figures (not only in the Church). He has written extensively on the spiritual teaching of St Catherine of Siena, who has inspired many writers and teachers even in our own day, including Paul himself. His latest book, God’s Spies, was published by T&T Clark, and deals with a number of internationally renowned authors and their search for the true meaning of life. These ‘spies’ include Dante, Michelangelo and Shakespeare, among other poets. In a lengthy review of Murray’s new book, in Spirituality, Thomas McCarthy described it as ‘a gem’, and spoke of how highly he valued the insights described between its covers.


Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage to Knock

 

Dominican Pilgrimage to Knock

This year the National Dominican Pilgrimage to Knock took place last Sunday the 14th of October. Each year on the second Sunday of October all branches of the Dominican Family travel to the Knock Shrine and lead the liturgical celebrations. As always pilgrims travelled from all the various Dominicans foundations throughout the island of Ireland. This year Fr. Ben Moran OP was the principle celebrant and Fr. Joe Dineen OP the preacher.

The official program began at 14:30 with the Anointing of the Sick, followed by Mass at 15:00. After the Mass there was Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and the blessing of the sick followed by the Rosary. Knock is the National Marian Shrine of Ireland. On the 21st August, 1879, fifteen people from the village of Knock witnessed an Apparition of Our Lady, St. Joseph, St. John the Evangelist, a Lamb and cross on an altar at the gable wall of the Parish Church. The witnesses while reciting the Rosary, watched the Apparition in the pouring rain for two hours. Although they themselves were saturated not a single drop of rain fell on the gable or the apparition.

Please find below a few pictures.

Dominican Pilgrimage to Knock

The

isyear the National Dominican Pilgrimage to Knock took place on Sunday the 8th of October. Each year on the second Sunday of October all branches of the Dominican Family travel to the Shrine and lead the liturgical celebrations. As always pilgrims travelled from all the various Dominicans foundations throughout the island of Ireland. Especially noted were the youth coming from the Friary Youth Club in Dundalk and the prefects from Newbridge College.

The official program began at 14:30 with the Anointing of the Sick, followed by Mass at 15:00. After the Mass there was Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and the blessing of the sick followed by the Rosary. Knock is the National Marian Shrine of Ireland. On the 21st August, 1879, fifteen people from the village of Knock witnessed an Apparition of Our Lady, St. Joseph, St. John the Evangelist, a Lamb and cross on an altar at the gable wall of the Parish Church. The witnesses while reciting the Rosary, watched the Apparition in the pouring rain for two hours. Although they themselves were saturated not a single drop of rain fell on the gable or the apparition.

Please find below a few pictures.

To Praise, to Bless, to Preach

800 years ago this year St. Dominic received the Pope’s permission to found an Order of Preachers in the Church whose mission is summed up in the motto of the Dominican Order, to praise, to bless, to preach.

Each time I come to the shrine of Knock I am reminded of the motto for in the figures of Knock we have a living presentation of the motto. St. Joseph in prayer reminds us that all our lives must begin in praise before God, but particularly if we are to be preachers our lives must be rooted in prayer as we see St. Joseph bowed in prayer. Joseph the silent one of the Gospels bows his head in prayer. Our Blessed Lady stands there calling down a blessing upon all who come to Knock. By accepting the invitation of the angel The Blessed Ever-Virgin brought into the world the greatest of all blessings, Jesus the Lord, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. When we Dominicans preach we preach the Good News of Jesus Christ which is pure blessing to all who hear it. Our preaching of the Word of God brings the Lord into the world in this way we share in Mary’s mission as Mother of the Word of God. Our preaching must be always of the Lamb of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. And finally St. John stands preaching with the Book of the Gospels in his hand. He is dressed as a bishop reminding us that when St. Dominic founded the Order it was to help the bishops in the preaching of the truth of the Gospel.

The apparition of Knock is silent and from the silence it speaks to us. St. Dominic was a quiet man of prayer and study but when he came face to face with people preaching a false gospel, he could no longer remain silent. One of the earliest stories we have of him is staying up all night with an inn-keeper explaining to him the truth of the Gospel and finally winning the man back to the catholic faith. Dominic the quiet man stayed up all night talking, giving the inn-keeper his time and his silence for the salvation of his soul.  St. Dominic’s preaching comes out of love, love of God and love of his neighbour, praise and blessing. Dominic didn’t want to win an argument he wanted to win a soul.

As we Dominicans come to Knock this special year of our Jubilee 800 we remember also St. Dominic’s great love of Our Blessed Lady.  All his life he showed a great devotion and trust in Mary, in times of trouble he turned to her, when the brethren or nuns were in need he confided in her maternal aid and protection. St. Dominic preacher of the Most Holy Rosary knew that by keeping Mary to the fore-front of his preaching the mission of his Order would succeed and flourish.

On this Jubilee 800 pilgrimage to Knock we come inspired by Our Holy Father St. Dominic to remain faithful to our motto, to praised, to bless and to preach and there is no more sure way of remaining faithful than by placing Mary at the centre of our lives and our preaching.

Fr. John Harris, O.P.

Follow the Lamb

Right at the end of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia stories, there’s an extraordinary passage, rich in spiritual insight. Having sailed further than anyone before, the characters in the story have reached the edge of the world, and are on the border with ‘Aslan’s Country’ (an allegory of heaven). There, in this strange, liminal space, they meet a little lamb on a beach, a lamb ‘so white they could hardly look at it’. The lamb addresses the children ‘in its sweet milky voice’, and while Edmund and Lucy dialogue with him, a transformation takes place: ‘As [the Lamb] spoke, his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he was Aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light from his mane’. Aslan the Lion, who of course represents Jesus Christ, had been showing himself to the children in the form of a Lamb.

If you’re familiar with the Book of Revelation, this Narnian scene might ring a few bells. In Chapter 5 of that book, John is shown a scroll sealed with seven seals which no-one can open. John weeps because the scroll cannot be opened, but is then told: ‘Weep not; behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals’. But when John looks up to see this great Lion, he sees instead ‘a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain’. The Lion of Judah is none other than the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

This scene from Revelation is essential to understanding the nature of Jesus Christ and his saving work, represented so clearly for us in the apparition at Knock. John is expecting to see a great strong beast who will tear the seals from the scroll, but is shown instead a slain little lamb, the very epitome of weakness, who is nevertheless ‘worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals’.

This gets to the heart of Christ’s saving work. Jesus Christ was true God, he created the entire universe, and holds it all in being, yet he came among us as a defenceless child, as a simple carpenter’s son, as one who weeps, is hungry, is rejected, and finally as one who suffers and dies on the Cross. At any point in his earthly life, he could have shown his omnipotence and vanquished all his assailants, but he deliberately chooses not to: the great Lion of the tribe of Judah shows himself as a slain Lamb.

And yet, in this deliberately chosen weakness lies the invincible strength of Christ’s work for our salvation. It is by means of his suffering and death that he saves us from our sins. The slain Lamb rises, victorious over death, scattering light on those who approach him, opening up the way to salvation. The Lamb of God is not a frolicking pet; He is powerful enough to ‘take away the sins of the world’. He is, as we love to sing in Knock, the Lamb who conquers.

What does all this mean for us? If the Lamb who appeared in Knock all those years ago is also the Lion of Judah, if his meek sweetness is allied to iron strength, how should we seek to follow him? How should we imitate his curious mix of weakness and strength?

There are many in the contemporary world, and especially in contemporary Ireland, who relish the idea of a weak Church. Some point to a time in the past when the Church had too much worldly power, and propose that the time is ripe for humility on the part of the Church. Others go further and suggest that the Church should have little to no role in official Ireland: no schools, no universities, no hospitals, no influence in public life. Christianity is thereby nicely neutered, and becomes so meek and mild as to be easily ignored. Strangely, this attitude is not just prevalent among those outside the fold, but also among many followers of Christ who are, perhaps, keen to avoid conflict.

There are others, far less numerous, who hope the Church will return to worldly power. Especially in the face of the rise of Islam, one hears murmurings of ‘new crusades’ and ‘muscular Christianity’. Strongman politicians in both east and west make gushing promises about the return of the Church to the corridors of power. What the Church needs, according to this approach, is more money, more buildings, greater manpower, and a new boldness.

Each of these approaches falls short of what it means to follow the Lamb-who-is-Lion, and each is boringly predictable. One is all Lamb and no Lion, the other is all Lion and no Lamb. To follow Christ authentically means being willing to be weak even when strength is an option, and being willing to be strong even when weakness is attractive. Christ is not ‘tame’, he is not domesticated or predictable, he does not fit into our worldly or political categories, and neither should his followers.

In our own times, perhaps the greatest example of such a follower was St Teresa of Calcutta, who visited this shrine in 1993. Think of how she deliberately chose weakness by responding to her ‘call within a call’: God’s invitation to leave the solid structures of the Loreto Sisters and serve the poorest of the poor by living among them. Here is the lamb who was slain. And yet, what a lion she was when she received her Nobel Peace Prize, shocking her bien pensant audience with her ringing denunciation of the violence of abortion.

Following the Lamb, in other words, being a Christian, is not something we can plan ahead of time. We can’t always know in advance when to be defiant in the face of injustice, and when to suffer it meekly, when to denounce wrongdoing, and when to tolerate it, when to preach the Gospel with words, and when to demonstrate it in silent actions. As followers of the Lamb-who-is-Lion we are called, not to predictable security, but to adventure. This adventure can be unsettling, but He is with us.

Together with all the living creatures and elders and angels of the Book of Revelation, let’s take this day in Knock as an opportunity to kneel before the Lamb and to say: ‘Lord, I let go of my own plans and projects, of my limited ideas and tame dreams. I let go of all these things and I choose to follow You, the Lamb who was slain, the Lion of Judah’.

Fr. Conor B. McDonough. O.P.

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