Popular Traditions
Alongside the church itself, many Irish devotional traditions have continued for centuries as a part of the church's local culture. Holy relics are thought to possess curative powers (through the intercession of the saints), colourful "patterns" (processions) in honour of local saints continue to this day, and in 1985 thousands gathered to pray during the moving-statues phenomenon. Marian Devotion is a central element, focused on the shrine at Knock, where it is claimed the Virgin Mary appeared in 1879. Feasts and devotions such as the Immaculate Conception of Mary (1854) and the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1642), and the concepts of martyrology are still important elements. Respect for mortification of the flesh has led on to the veneration of Matt Talbot and Padre Pio.
An unbroken tradition since ancient times is of annual pilgrimages to sacred Celtic Christian places such as St Patrick's Purgatory and Croagh Patrick.
Read more about this topic: Irish Catholicism
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