Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
This past summer all 13 Cronins (my children and grandchildren) traveled in pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Knock in County Mayo, Ireland. A-once-in-a-lifetime event to the land of our ancestors, there we gave thanks for the life of Mary Tighe Cronin, my wife and their mother/grandmother. Mary’s parents came from Tuam in County Galway, a 20 minute drive from Knock.
It was, for me, an indescribable and even other worldly encounter to where “Our Lady of silence” came to console the ever faithful and ever persecuted Irish.
Our Mother of Sorrows (today’s feast) and the Knock apparition of 1879 are related. Our Lady of Knock refers to the 1879 apparition where Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, appeared at the gable wall of the parish church. This apparition is associated with hope and healing for the Irish people fresh from a time of penal laws and famine. Mother of Sorrows is a title for Mary
that emphasizes her personal suffering, in particular the seven sorrows that Simeon foretold in Luke’s narrative at the Presentation of the Christ child in the Temple (Luke 2:35).
Exhaustive Vatican investigations concluded that Knock was “worthy of veneration” (1.5 million annually do just that). While distinct, both titles – Our Lady of Knock and Mother of Sorrows – are similar. Our Lady of Knock was where Mary brought hope and comfort, while Our Mother of Sorrows focuses on her shared suffering with Jesus. Both titles emphasize Mary's role as a source of strength, consolation, and intercession for believers, especially the downtrodden and the sorrowing.
Let us pray (Hymn of Our Lady of Knock):
There were people of all ages
Gathered 'round the gable wall
Poor and humble men and women
Little children that you called
We are gathered here before you
And our hearts are just the same
Filled with joy at such a vision
As we praise your name
Refrain:
Golden Rose, Queen of Ireland
All my cares and troubles cease
As I kneel with love before you
Lady of Knock, my Queen of Peace
Oh, your message was unspoken
But the truth in silence lies
So we gaze upon your vision
And the truth I try to find
Here I stand with John the teacher
And with Joseph at your side
And I see the Lamb of God
On the altar glorified
Refrain
And the Lamb will conquer
And the woman clothed in the sun
Will shine her light on everyone
Yes, the Lamb will conquer
And the woman clothed in the sun
Will shine her light on everyone
Refrain
Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe are all holy sites. But it was to Ireland alone that Mary, “Our Lady of silence” brought her family. Never forget that we, too, are part of that family and that Mary, like her divine Son, stands with and consoles us.
-Timothy J Cronin