The Blessed Virgin Mary has reportedly appeared to countless visionaries throughout history, and often brings with her a specific message spoken in words.
However, at Knock, Ireland, Our Lady did not speak, but remained silent.
This fact has puzzled many people over the years, and various interpretations have been put forth as to why she did not speak.
When St. John Paul II visited Knock in 1979, he didn’t speculate about this silence, but instead connected the Blessed Mother’s words in Cana to the apparition at Knock.
Mary was truly united with Jesus. Not many of her own words have been preserved in the Gospels; but those that have been recorded refer us again to her Son and to his word. At Cana in Galilee, she turned from her Son to the servants and said “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2 :5). This same message, she still speaks to us today … let us return in thought from Cana in Galilee to the Shrine of Knock. Do we not hear the Mother of Christ pointing him out to us here too and speaking to us the same words that she used at Cana: “Do whatever he tells you”? She is saying it to all of us.
St. John Paul II goes on to explain how we can follow Mary’s words by listening to Jesus.
We must make ourselves familiar with his words. We do this by listening to the readings from Sacred Scripture in the liturgy of the word, which introduce us to the Eucharistic Sacrifice; by reading the Scriptures on our own; in the family, or together with friends, by reflecting on what the Lord tells us when we recite the Rosary and combine our devotion to the Mother of God with prayerful meditation on the mysteries of her Son’s life. Whenever we have questions, whenever we are burdened, whenever we are faced with the choices that our faith imposes on us, the word of the Lord will comfort and guide us.
Even though Our Lady didn’t speak any words at Knock, she didn’t have to, as she already said what she needed to say at Cana.
