Pilgrimage & Active Devotion
Knock Marian Shrine
Background
With a windy and rainy day ahead of me in Connemara (so hiking out of the question), and no wifi in my airbnb, I was a bit dreading today. I was feeling quite disconnected from clear direction in a way that signals to me I’m in the forgetting, and the remembering is (hopefully) around the corner.
I was feeling particularly like I needed to be more specific and active in my devotional life, but unsure of what that would look like if it was going to be authentic and meaningful for me.
While airing it out to bestie, she said something like “I bet you can find a Marian Church nearby, that seems like something that wouldn’t be hard to find in Ireland.” The next morning I popped that phrase into google maps and found the Knock Marian Shrine. It was an hour and a half away and I had precisely nothing to do the next day, so why not?
Knock Marian Shrine
On August 21, 1897 in Knock (County Mayo, Ireland) three villagers witnessed an apparition of Mary, Joseph, and John, a lamb, and a cross. They watched and prayed for two hours in the rain. After investigation, this apparition was declared a bona fide miracle, and people have been making pilgrimages to Knock ever since, experiencing miracle healings from their visits and the holy water provided there. (Much more info here.)
My Visit
It was, in itself, an act of devotion to brave the tiny winding roads in rainy and windy conditions to go to someplace just to go there and not looking for anything in particular. But on that drive I felt like at least I was doing something instead of sitting home feeling sorry for myself, frustrated, or confused… or running around in vain trying to find something worthwhile to do with my day. I was taking some action, going to a place. Perhaps I would learn something or find something or… something.
On the drive I felt connected to the living questions I was wrestling with. And driving has a way of allowing some of those things to flow because my thinking mind is occupied with driving and the rest can wander a bit.
When I got to the shrine, I sat in on a guided prayer session and felt very little. I walked around the site and felt very little. I walked through the museum and felt very little. I went to collect holy water in my bottle, in case I wanted to make any use of it, without any clarity on what kind of essence I would collect from this place where I felt so little.
As I walked to the bookshop and exit, it occurred to me in a flash: I’m here to capture pilgrimage.
Pilgrimage
Countless people have made pilgrimage to Knock Marian Shrine in the last 127 years. Countless people have made pilgrimages to the wells of Brigid and St. Brigid over eons. Countless people have made pilgrimages to countless places for countless reasons over countless years.
I made a pilgrimage to Ireland, not entirely knowing what I was looking for. And I made a pilgrimage to Knock Marian Shrine, also not knowing what I was looking for.
Pilgrimage is not about expectation of a result, but rather about being active in one’s devotion.
When I need answers, I rarely get them when I sit down to pray and ask. I usually get them when I’m so engaged in my acts of devotion, my thinking mind is distracted from the subject and able to receive divine wisdom and clarity.
So this essence, from the holy water of the Knock Marian Shrine, is an essence of pilgrimage and active devotion.
Essence Description
This essence comes to you when you need to be reminded to be active in your devotion. Make a pilgrimage to a local place of solace, or plan a bigger journey centered around what you’re devoted to. Become active in your devotion by simply taking actions related to the divine. Nature walks, visits to sacred sites, prayer, movement - any of these can be acts of devotion if your intention makes it so. How will you be active in your devotion now?
Beautiful!