Pope Francis highlights the devotion to the Mother of God in a video message on Friday, while the Knock Shrine in Ireland, which has been a Marian national altar for decades, is elevated to the status of an international sanctuary of special Eucharistic and Marian devotion.
De pr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ
Pope Francis sent a video message to Irish believers on Friday, marking the erection of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Knock to the status of the International Marian and Eucharistic Sanctuary.
“I am pleased to take advantage of this means of communication to be able to be with you at such an important time in the life of the Altar,” said the Pope.
The date chosen for this occasion is March 19, the liturgical solemnity of St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“Since the apparition of August 21, 1879, when the Blessed Virgin Mary, together with St. Joseph and St. John the Apostle, appeared to some villagers,” said the Pope, “the Irish people, wherever they may be, have expressed their faith. and their devotion to the Mother of God in Knock. “
Following its appearances 142 years ago, Knock has become one of the most popular religious places in Ireland, receiving thousands of pilgrims each year. In 1979, Pope St. John Paul II visited the Altar. 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 many lay people who emigrated to distant lands but kept their devotion to the Mother of God, Pope Francis emphasized the service of the Church in Ireland to faith.
“You are a missionary people,” he said.
“How many families over the course of nearly a century and a half have taught the faith of their children and gathered their daily work around the Rosary prayer, with the image of Our Lady of Knock at its center.”
The great value of silence
“The arms of the Virgin, stretched out in prayer, continue to show us the importance of prayer as a message of hope coming out of this Altar,” the Pope said.
He recalled that in the apparition of the Mother of God at Knock, “Virgo says nothing,” however, her silence is a language – “the most expressive language we have.” Therefore, Knock’s message is that of the “great value of silence for our faith.”
This silence in the face of mystery does not mean renouncing understanding, but rather “understanding while being helped and sustained by the love of Jesus,” the pope explained. It is also a silence in the face of “the great mystery of a love that can only be mutual if we trust in the abandonment of the will of the merciful Father.”
In addition, the Holy Father mentioned that this is the silence that Jesus asks of us in the Gospel of Matthew: “When you pray, go into your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. In prayer, do not stutter like the heathen, 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 of receiving everyone
Pope Francis went on to emphasize the “great responsibility” attributed to the new International Shrine of Our Lady of Knock.
“Accept to always have your arms wide open as a sign of welcome for every pilgrim who could come from any part of the world, without asking for anything in return, but only to recognize him as a brother or sister who wants to share the same experience of fraternal prayer “, urged the Pope.
He further expressed his desire that this reception be “united with charity and become an effective witness of an open heart to receive the Word of God and the grace of the Holy Spirit who empowers us.”
Concluding his message with an invocation of God’s blessings on all, Pope Francis prayed that the Eucharistic Mystery, which unites us in communion with Jesus and with one another, be “always the rock on which to live by faith our vocation as” disciples. missionaries ”like Mary. He also implored the Mother of God to “protect and comfort us with her merciful face.”