In celebration of this day of gratitude & reflection, a Mass was broadcast live from Knock Shrine in Co. Mayo Ireland on Friday May 30th at 3pm GMT via the world priest day website www.worldpriestday.com  . This also coincided with the 3pm silent moment of prayer that took place on this day worldwide in thanksgiving for our priests.

We apologise to all those who tried unsuccessfully to access the Mass live from Knock.  Due to the enormous number of people who visited the site our bandwidth was overloaded and we know thousands of people were disappointed.  For this reason we will carry a recording of the Mass on this site for a limited time.

History of Knock

The Story of Knock began on the 21st August 1879 when Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared at the south gable of Knock Parish Church. The apparition was witnessed by fifteen people, young and old. From this miraculous occurrence Knock has grown to the status of an internationally recognised Marian Shrine.

The personal pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II in 1979, commemorating the centenary of the apparition, inspired an even greater devotion to the Shrine and endorsed the indelible seal of Vatican approval. Mother Teresa of Calcutta visited the Shrine in June of 1993. One and a half million pilgrims visit the Shrine annually.

Why should the Mass for the World Day of Prayer for Priests be at 3.00pm?

In the 20th Century before Christ, Abraham, the Father of all those who believe in the One God, sacrificed his son Isaac on Mount Moriah at 3,00pm on the 14th day of Nisan. The Jewish scholars believe that this sacrifice won forgiveness for the descendants of Abraham for all time.

Since Isaac was a type of Christ, the child of promise, the Cause of our Joy, the one through whom the blessing of Abraham was to be given to the whole world, it was fitting that he should die at 3.00pm on the 14th day of Nisan on Mount Calvary, about a kilometer from Moriah.

We know that it is through HIS sacrifice that the sins of all the world are forgiven when we repent. St John says that "the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 Jn 1:7b). Further, in 1 Jn 2:2 he says that: "
(Jesus is) the sacrifice that takes our sins away, and not only ours, but the whole world's."

It is the great privilege of the priest to dispense this largesse of the Lord, and this he does by offering the Son of God to God on behalf of all of Humanity. what greater hour can he do this but at the 3.00pm, the HOUR OF DIVINE MERCY, when the Heart of Jesus was opened to release the floodtide of redemption to a broken world?

THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOCK SHRINE FOR PRIESTS
Fr Mark D. Kirby, a Cistercian priest visiting Knock Shrine recently from the States wrote the following.
Click here to Read

Music from Tony Hanway

Sweet Heart of Jesus (mp3)

Tony Hanway has arranged and recorded Sweet Heart of Jesus and given this as a gift to the Priests of the world. He chose this beautiful old hymn because World priest day falls on the Sacred Heart of Jesus and also because our priests are the human heart of our church showing love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness.
www.tonyhanway.com