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| From the Diocese of Tuam website: Knock Shrine is now the largest pilgrimage centre in Ireland, attracting pilgrims from every part of Ireland, from Europe, and indeed all five continents. The origin of the devotion of the claimed apparition of Our Blessed Lady, with St Joseph and St John, on 21 August 1879. The event was subjected to the most exhaustive Church inquires and, subsequently, in 1936, before the last of the witnesses to the apparition died, both tribunals found the evidence of the witnesses upright and trustworthy. The number of extraordinary cures and favours associated with Knock from the earliest years caused the pilgrimage to grow. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine on 30 September 1979. Almost one million pilgrims visit the shrine annually. Organised groups come from May to October and private pilgrimages take place on almost every day of the year. Pilgrims are cared for by a thousand voluntary helpers, the Knock Shrine Stewards and Handmaids. The Annual Novena, from 14 to 22 August, attracts up to 100,000 people. The shrine grounds and chapels at Knock make it a place of great beauty, conducive to prayerfulness and peace. | |||
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