President Joe Biden is to receive an unusual gift during his visit to the Apparition Chapel at Knock Shrine on Friday.
On August 21st, 1879, a number of local people saw a light at the gable wall of the parish church in Knock, Co Mayo. It is said that a heavenly apparition occurred when Our Lady, St Joseph and St John the Evangelist appeared for two hours.
Gifting a stone from that wall is “very rare”, according to parish priest Fr Richard Gibbons, who believes a visitor attending the chapel this week is worthy of that honour. On Friday, Fr Gibbons will give US President Joe Biden a stone from the original wall when the American attends the church, on the last day of his visit to Ireland.
“After the apparition, people over successive years came to pick up stones and mortar, and the wall came into disrepair; it was at risk. The wall had to be reinforced and we kept a number of the stones in storage,” Fr Gibbons told The Irish Times.
Everyone knew what Biden’s Irish visit was about apart from the sulking British press
Justine McCarthy: British media was right - Joe Biden’s Ireland belongs to Dark Ages
Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland contained some hard messages for us
US media take dim view of Biden’s ‘taxpayer-funded family reunion’ in Ireland
“We wanted to give him something from the actual wall itself. We thought this was appropriate. It’s quite a gift, but it is quite a visit. It’s not very large, maybe about 2.5cm in diameter. We think it would mean a lot to him.”
Fr Gibbons said they “very rarely” gift stones from the wall as they’re so precious to locals and Catholics alike. They presented Pope Francis with a mosaic of Our Lady of Knock, while they gifted Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, a stone from the wall in 2021.
The priest has met President Biden before, when he visited in 2016, while vice president of the US. Fr Gibbons said he doesn’t believe the president will remember him, but he was on the board of Knock airport at the time and met him after he touched down on the runway.
On Friday, President Biden will say a private prayer at the church, before moving onto his other engagements in Co Mayo, where he has Irish relatives and connections.
Knock Shrine is a “place of peacefulness and quiet”, Fr Gibbons said, adding that they are looking forward to welcoming the President.
“We’re lucky because we had a papal visit in 2018 so we have a little bit of experience this time. There’s no panicking around it,” he said. “It won’t be very long and it will be private. It’s a great honour.”
