OLD-STYLE religion blended easily with the new at Knock, Co Mayo, over the weekend even if one or two of the more veteran pilgrims rolled their eyes to heaven at the sight of drummers and hip hop dancers in the basilica grounds.
The Knock Summer Festival, attracted some 600 young people, between 18 and 35, who certainly lived up to the theme of the event, “Living Life to the Full”.
About 50m from the basilica, a series of large tents had been erected. One of these housed a refreshment area dubbed “the chill-out cafe” which did a hectic trade in tea, coffee, confectionery and minerals. Alcohol was banned.
On Saturday afternoon there was a slightly surreal moment when the music of a group of samba drummers, called “drummers for God”, who were playing on the grass outside the cafe, intermingled with the sound of hymns being sung at the St Joseph’s Young Priests Society pilgrimage in the adjacent basilica.
“It was a strange, yet magical moment to hear the vastly different sounds,” explained Helen Toner, director of youth ministry at Knock Shrine, afterwards. “The old met the new here over the weekend and I think the results, in every respect, were positive.”
The festival, now in its ninth year, was officially opened by Bishop of Elphin Christopher Jones on Friday and concluded yesterday. It included talks, prayer workshops, candlelit processions and healing ceremonies.
Speakers included Sr Helen Prejean, author of the book Dead Man Walking; Dr Andrew O'Connell, communications director with the Presentation Brothers and Sr Marya Grathwohl OSF, who travelled from the US to conduct an environmental ethics workshop.
“It’s been really good,” was Nicole Mulvenna’s verdict as the event came to a close yesterday afternoon. “It was also quite intense. I suppose the festival is all about helping us young people get in touch with the things that are really important in life.”