Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland

On the rainy evening of Aug. 21, 1879, 15 persons saw a two-hour vision on the gable of St. John the Baptist church in the humble village of Knock, County Mayo, Ireland. Whoever came, saw. Ranging from 5-75 years of age, they acknowledged seeing the same religious tableaux.

The figures, all robed in white, were raised a couple of feet above the perfectly dry ground.  In the center of the gable was a simple altar with a young lamb standing in front of a cross. Angels encircled this area. To the left were three figures. In the center was Mary, robed and mantled in white with a crown on her unveiled head. There was a rose where the crown touched her forehead. Her eyes were looking upward while her arms were outstretched in the orans position, similar to that of the priest at Mass. To her right was a side view of St. Joseph, slightly bowing toward her. To her left was St. John the Apostle, robed as a mitered bishop, looking forward, holding an open book in one hand and pointing heavenward with the other.

The Knock symbolism is varied, biblically and liturgically. The four figures can represent the four parts of the Rosary. St.  Joseph, of course, represents the joyful mysteries since he lived during the infancy of Jesus, St. John can symbolize the luminous mysteries that recall Our Lord’s ministry of preaching and healing. The Lamb, obviously, brings to mind the sacrificial sorrowful mysteries, and Mary brings forth the glorious mysteries. 

Also, St. Joseph represents the laity, sanctifying labor and family life. St. John represents the hierarchy, evangelizing by word and sacrament. Mary is the model of the Church in its perfection — as indicated by the teaching of Vatican II and recent papal developments of those subjects.(...)

Since Mary is portrayed as the main worshiper, her symbolism is extensive.  St. John Paul II devoted the last section of his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, entirely to Mary’s relationship to the Eucharist. He presents her as the ideal model which the Church is called to imitate. 

As Mother of the Church, Mary has the responsibility of forming our minds, hearts and actions according to the Eucharist, the Paschal Mystery of the Altar. Pope St. John Paul II says in Ecclesia de Eucharistia that her life was totally Eucharistic. Therefore, she enables us to live a Eucharistic life as directed by Sacramentum Caritatis.

As “the model of liturgical worship,” she is the “exemplar of that sense of reverent devotion with which the Church celebrates the divine mysteries and expresses them in its life.” (...)

Knock (Cnoc in Gaelic) means “hill.” And so, Our Lady of Knock is Our Lady of the Hill. The Eucharistic atmosphere of this apparition has us think of the hill of Calvary and therefore of the liturgy of the Church. Because of the crown and the rose on her head, her mystical title could be Queen of the Liturgy both in heaven and on earth. The Mass unites the two as one. That is the unique school of spirituality that Our Lady offers us at that Irish shrine.

​​Father Stanley Smolenski SPMA, August 22, 2021

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