Our Lady of Knock

On January 12, 2025, by decree of Archbishop Christopher Coyne, St. Patrick Church in Farmington and St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Unionville were officially merged into a single parish under the patronage of Our Lady of Knock. This name patroness and name for the parish were chosen by the Archbishop as eminently fitting given the powerful connection between the Marian tradition and Irish heritage that had been driving forces of these churches for over 100 years.

The Story of Our Lady of Knock 

"At about 8 o’clock on the Thursday evening of the 21st of August, 1879, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and St. John the Evangelist appeared at the South gable of the Church at Knock, County Mayo, Ireland. Beside them and a little to the right was an altar with a cross and the figure of a lamb, around which angels hovered. There were fifteen official witnesses to the apparition – young and old– who watched it for two hours in pouring rain and recited the Rosary. Two Commissions of Enquiry accepted their testimony as trust-worthy and satisfactory in 1879 and 1936. Today, Knock is one of the world’s major Marian Shrines. It has received many Papal honours including the distinction of two papal visits, Pope St. John Paul II in 1979 and Pope Francis in 2018."