What an amazing day we have had here in Ireland! Despite being awake for more than 24 hours, everyone is still standing and excited to be here!
We began this morning (5AM, actually) with a drive from Dublin Airport to a nearby rest stop with a delightful breakfast bar and coffee/tea selection (g PRAISE). We were able to enjoy a light breakfast and each other's groggy company for about 45 minutes before packing onto the bus again for our 3 hour ride to Knock. I heard it was beautiful...I was asleep. :). I woke up in the parking lot of our first hotel: The Knock House Hotel. It's an adorable little stone building with friendly people, comfy chairs, and a beautiful view of the countryside. And, it's just a 5 minute walk from town, which has several pubs, take-aways, and souvenir shops.
The Knock House Hotel
Just beautiful!
Upon our arrival, we were given 2 hours of free time to shower, change, and eat lunch before out tour of the Knock basilica and apparition chapel. I think I speak for everyone when I say that the showers we took today were nothing short of amazing, even if the sides of the tub were oddly 3 feet tall and the base of the tub was uncomfortably bumpy under my toes. All things considered, I felt like a new person after taking a shower and brushing my teeth.
3 other friends and I ventured into town for lunch at a small takeaway that was run by a grandmotherly lady and who appeared to be her granddaughter.
Chicken nuggets were good!
Then we headed to the main square of the Knock Basilica grounds to meet our tour guide. She was really lovely and had some great information for us that I've listed here:
-Date of Apparition: August 21, 1869
-Only 1 church built 50 yrs before apparition, and it has a plaque that says "this shall be the house of prayer for all nations."
-Now that church has become the apparition chapel, and thousands from all over come to pray and experience Knock, just as the plaque said years before the apparition even occurred.
-Knock is a village, not even a town. Who saw Mary, Joseph, and John the Evangelist appear?
-2 women (priests housekeeper and another friend) on their way to lock up the church, saw a light radiating from the wall.
-Why Knock? We don't know for sure why Mary appeared, but the west was going through a devastating time after the famine, and even before the famine, there was a serious crime against being Catholic--you could be tortured and killed.
-Irish society was hard. Mary of course knew this. She came to give hope, courage.
-It was a Silent apparition. This is interesting because at the time, Ireland had 3 different languages, the primary being Irish with some English. And to top that off, mas was celebrated in Latin.
So in the middle of our fascinating tour, the sky opened up...it started as a light trickle, and then just dumped rain...even though the sun was still shining and blue sky was visible! These clouds really come and go as they please and drop little to no rain or buckets--you just never know. So we all ran with our tour guide to take cover in the Knock Shrine Museum, where we spent the rest of our tour.
This was taken right as the rain really started to pick up...yikes!
The museum was also quite fascinating, but due to the dim lighting, soft patter of the rain on the tin roof of the building, and the incredibly comfy benches, I confess I did doze off for a minute while I was walking through. No shame! I saw some others do the same. ;)
In the museum, there were many stories shared through the audio aids and on the walls of why people came to Knock, their first impressions, and how they felt about this amazing apparition. I snapped a picture of this rather cute drawing from a boy named Daniel:
After the museum, I attended confession in the reconciliation chapel on the grounds at Our Lady if Knock. The priest, besides having an adorably gentle Irish accent, gave me such wise parting words that he attributed to Pope Francis:
"The sacraments are not a prize for the good, but a universal call for all sinners. They are a reminder that God is merciful and there for all people, and we need only ask".
I was so touched by what he said that I felt the need to share with you all.
I have felt that renewal being in Knock today, and it's so refreshing after a busy school year! Please know that all of you reading have been included in my intentions here in this holy place.
The day ended with mass in the apparition chapel...
Aaaaand a trip to the pub! 
Mmm! Smithwicks! Now off to bed cause none of us have slept for 36 hours. :) Until tomorrow!
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