Visiting Knock with Prayers in our Hearts

David and Mercedes Rizzo describe their family trip to Ireland, where they prayed with their children at the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock.

This summer we packed ourselves onto a jet plane for a grand Irish adventure. It was our very first trip to Ireland, the Emerald Isle, the home of Yeats, Joyce and Wilde, the place where eyes are supposed to smile. A place where you can kiss the Blarney Stone and see beauty for miles. You know, that Ireland.

What an adventure it turned out to be! Both of us can claim Irish ancestors and our kids are a whopping 59% Irish, strictly speaking. With these numbers, we had to take the kids along too. Unfortunately, our son Colin couldn’t make it but Brendan, Danielle, and Shannon accompanied us.

We were a wee bit nervous about taking our daughter Danielle on a transatlantic flight due to her autism, but Dani had proven herself a good traveler in the past. We said a prayer and gave it a go. She did fantastic.

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Ireland is a rugged, windswept and beautiful place. We saw a lot of it. We had rented a car and practically circumnavigated the island before we were through. Aside from the obvious difficulties of driving on the opposite side of the road on extremely narrow and winding streets, we did very well. We covered a lot of ground and saw many, beautiful and holy places. One of the most inspiring was the shrine at Knock.

The story of Our Lady of Knock

Knock is a major Marian shrine. Knock has received the distinction of two papal visits, by Saint John Paul II and Pope Francis. The story of Knock begins on August 21, 1879. Amid the pouring rain, 15 witnesses saw an apparition of Mary, Saint Joseph, and Saint John the Evangelist. They also witnessed the vision of an altar, the figure of a lamb, and angels.

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We visited the shrine on August 18. On that day, Mass was concelebrated in the Basilica. An inscription on the wall at the Basilica is from Psalm 119:

“Your Word Is A Lamp To My Feet And A Light To My Path.”It is inscribed in both Gaelic and English. A novena is held every 14th to 22nd of August at the Shrine.

The Shrine itself is strikingly beautiful. There is an Apparition Chapel, Blessed Sacrament Chapel, and a Chapel of Reconciliation. There is also a parish church and a Basilica. Many pilgrims had come that day to pay homage to the Blessed Mother and ask for her prayers.

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Our family's prayers at Knock

We have never given up the hope that God would grant our daughter Danielle the gift of speech and improved social skills. We carried our prayers in our hearts and asked Mary for her intercession by placing our hands on the original stones from the apparition gable. We felt comforted and at peace when we placed our hands there, and left feeling like a weight had been lifted, knowing that whatever the future held for Danielle and our whole family, God was in control.

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Before we left, we purchased some empty bottles to fill with holy water. Fonts lined the back wall of the grounds and Danielle, who has always been fascinated by water, carefully filled the small bottles with assistance. When she was finished, a smile flashed across her face because she knew what we knew: This water was special.

The Shrine at Knock is a truly wonderful place to visit and pray. There’s a song written by Dana Rosemary Scallon called Lady of Knock about the apparitions.