our lady of knock, ireland (21 aug 1979)

sources: https://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/our-lady-of-knock.html & wikipedia.org/wiki/knock_shrine

also known as our lady of SILENCE and our lady of IRELAND. knock is in mayo county, Ireland.

>apparition day: 21 august 1879

>context: there was family, economic dislocation due to forced evictions, leading to immigration 

>event: at around 8pm (till about 11PM), in pouring rain, the parish (of st john the baptist) priest's (archdeacon Cavanaugh -- who did not come out to the disappointment of the devout villagers) housekeeper, MARY McLoughlin (45 years old) saw 3 figures in front of the church's south gabled* wall (about 2 feet above ground) bathed in bright white light (people from afar saw the bright white light in the direction of the parish church) which did not flicker or move. she initially thought these were replacements of some stone figures destroyed in a storm. 

they were identified as THE BLESSED MOTHER "deep in prayer" with hands held up till her shoulders dressed in white with complete folds & fastened on her neck, ST. JOSEPH also in white to her right slightly bowed down towards her direction, and ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST with a mitre & a large book in his left hand & appeared to be preaching, and JESUS, represented by the LAMB with a CROSS with ANGELS hovering around.

https://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/our-lady-of-knock.htm

despite the rain, the ground around the figures remained completely dry & the figures did not flicker or move in any way despite the darkness

https://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/our-lady-of-knock.html

she rushed to her friend MARAGERT BYRNE's (age 21) house who ran to tell her family.  

whenever someone approached the figures so near, they would retreat a little towards the wall -- seemingly always beyond reach.

the parish priest informed the bishop who created an investigation committee. despite having no final decision, the people started to have pilgrimages to the apparition site which formally started in 1880.

 

https://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/our-lady-of-knock.htm

in 1936, with the records presumed to have been gone, another committee was created to investigate the events. the living witnesses relayed exactly the same narrative in 1879, especially Mary Byrne (aged 86 by that time) who married, sired 6 children, and lived in knock until her death.

miracles: aside from the fact the figures sustained a bright white light amidst the darkness & remained dry despite the rains (rain & darkness did not overcome the light & warmth that they exuded!)

in 1882, archbishop john joseph lynch of Toronto visited the parish & claimed to have bee HEALED by the Virgin of Knock.

since then, sticks & cruches as signs of cures and favors received have been left on the scene & are on display at the Marian shrine.

the yearly pilgrimage reached around 500,000. all parishes in Ireland schedule their own pilgrimages throughout the year.

in 1971 (92 years after) the apparitions were finally approved as "quite probable" but never formally stated.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph & John, pray for us who have recourse to you! -- lead us to sacred silence, prayer, listening & meditating on the Word, & follow the way of the lamb of sacrifice. Amen.

---------------

gable = the triangular wall on both ends of a gambrel (legging/leg) roof (wikipedia)

 

the relevance of st joseph in the 20th century

Re: Devotion to St. Joseph in the 21^st Century

Fr: Fr. Donald H. Calloway, MIC (2020). Consecration to St. Joseph: The wonders of our Spiritual Father. Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, pp. 4-5 (caps & parenthetical remarks mine).

 

“… Without exaggeration, the Church has done more to promote St. Joseph in the last 150 years than in the previous 1,800 years of Christianity! But why now? Why St. Joseph?

   “There are many reasons, but I believe there are two that are especially important.

   “FIRST, we need the SPIRITUAL FATHERHOOD of St. Joseph to help us PROTECT MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY. Marriage & the family have always been under attack, but in modern times, the threats have reached extraordinary heights. Many people no longer know what it means to be a MAN or a WOMAN, let alone what constitutes a MARRIAGE and a FAMILY. Many countries even claim to have redefined marriage and the family. There is a great CONFUSION on these matters, greater confusion than in any previous era of human history. The Servant of God Sr. Lucia dos Santos, the longest-lived visionary of the Fatima apparitions, knew the seriousness of the times and made a powerful statement about this issue. She wrote [before her death in 2005 to Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, then Archbishop of Bologna, Italy in response to his request for her prayers for the Pontifical Institute of Marriage and the Family that Pope John Paul II asked him to establish]:

 

          The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about

marriage and the family.

 

   “To combat & overcome Satan’s deceptions, the Church needs St. Joseph. His example & protection are the only way out of the confusing mess we are in. Who else can we turn to who can help us understand what marriage & the family are all about i9f not to the HEAD OF THE HOLY FAMILY and the TERROR OF DEMONS!

 

   “SECOND, the entire world needs to be RE-EVANGELIZED, including the vast majority of baptized Christians. Saint Joseph was the FIRST MISSIONARY. Today, he desires again TO BRING JESUS TO THE NATIONS. Many nations & cultures that were previously Christian have fallen away from their Christian roots & are on a path of self-destruction. Countries once established on Judeo-Christian principles have become overrun by ideologies & organizations that seek to strip society of all that is SACRED. Without a major turnover, civilization itself I going to SELF-DESTRUCT.

   “In an apostolic exhortation on St. Joseph in 1989, St. John Paul II reminded us of the necessity of invoking St. Joseph in the work of re-evangelizing the world. He wrote:

 

 

          This patronage must be invoked as ever necessary for the Church, not only as a

defense against all dangers, but also, & indeed primarily, as an impetus for her

renewed commitment to EVANGELIZATION in the world & to RE-

EVANGELIZATION in those lands & nations where religion & the Christian life

were formerly flourishing & we now put to a hard rest.

 

   “Now is the time to consecrate yourself to St. Joseph! God is telling his Church that, in order to defend marriage & the family, elevate morals, recover lost ground, & win souls for Jesus Christ, we need to bring ST. Joseph onto the BATTLEFIELD….”

 

 

 

fatima message in 2020

fr: adapted from tom hoopes (2020 may 12)

https://www.thegregorian.org/2020/our-lady-of-fatimas-message-for-2020

1. convert

" St. Jacinta Marto died in lockdown during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1920 — exactly 100 years before the Covid-19 pandemic began locking down our world."

"Penance! Penance! Penance"

2. be faithful

our lady did not take away the poverty (material & spiritual) of the children, but instead asked them to "PRAY THE ROSARY EVERY DAY, PROPERLY, & "BEAR ALL THE SUFFERINGS GOD SENDS YOU -- IN ATONEMENT OF THE SINS that offend him & for the CONVERSION OF SINNERS."

3. God loves us

otherwise, he would not have sent the Blessed Mother and just allowed total self-destruction

http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2017/05/fatima-silencing-of-sister-lucia.html

the translation of Salve Regina

 Re: Salve Regina with English Translation

Fr: Universal Catholic Media, Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary with Scripture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV8uEm81pb4

 

LATIN	ENGLISH
Salve Regina, mater misericodiae	Hail Queen, Mother of Mercy
Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.	Our life, our sweetness & our hope, hail
Ad te clamamus exules filii Hevae [of Eve]	To thee do we cry exiled children of Eve
Ad te suspiramus [sigh] gementes [moan] et flentes [weep]	To thee do we sigh, lamenting and weeping
In hac lacrimarum valle	In this valley of tears
Eia [Ho! Aha!] ergo, advocate nostra	Come then, therefore, our advocate
Illos [Those] tuos misericordes oculos	Those thine eyes of mercy
Ad nos converte	Towards us turn
Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui	And Jesus, blessed fruit of thy womb
Nobis post hoc exsilium ostende	Show to us, after this exile
O Clemens, o pia	O clement, o pious
O dulcis Virgo Maria	O sweet Virgin Mary

 

we need a rosary: testimony on mother teresa's rosary

 WE NEED A ROSARY.

Jim Castle, a 45 year old management consultant was tired when he boarded his plane from Cincinnati, U.S.A., that night in 1981. He was ready for the flight home to Kansas City. Walking up the aisle was the face he had seen on magazine covers and television. It was Mother Teresa and she was his seat companion. Mother Teresa pulled out her rosary and began to pray. Once she completed a rosary she turned toward Jim and asked, "Young man, do you say the rosary often?" "No, not really," he admitted. She took his hand and then smiled and said, "Well, you will now". And she dropped her rosary into his palm. An hour later he met his wife Ruth. "What in the world?" Ruth asked when she noticed the rosary in his hand. Jim described his encounter with Mother Teresa. Nine years later Jim and Ruth visited Connie, a friend of theirs who was suffering from ovarian cancer. She said, "The doctor says it's a tough case. "Reaching into his pocket, Jim gently took out Mother Teresa's rosary and twined it around her fingers. He said, "Keep it with you Connie. It may help". Although not a Catholic she accepted it willingly and whispered "Thank you. I hope I can return it". More than a year passed Connie met Jim and handed him the rosary "I carried it with me all the year. I have had surgery and the tumour is gone completely! I knew it was time to give back the rosary. It can help another person in need". Ruth's sister fell ill into a deep depression after her divorce. She asked Jim if she could borrow the rosary and he sent it. Later she mailed the rosary back with this note, "I was so lonely and afraid. At night I held on to it, just physically held on. When I gripped the rosary, I felt as if I held a loving hand. It helped me to put my life together. Now I think, someone else may need it." Then one night a stranger telephoned Ruth and asked if she could borrow the rosary to take it to hospital where her mother lay in a coma. Returning it gratefully, after a few days the woman said, "I explained to my mother that I had Mother Teresa's rosary and put it in her hand. Right away, we saw her face relax! A few minutes later she was gone. Thank you". The request for the rosary was continued. Jim always responded by lending the rosary and reminded when you are through needing it, please send it back. Someone else may need it." Jim's own life changed. When he found how simple was Mother Teresa, he made an effort to simplify his own life. He says, "I try to remember what really count is not money, titles or possessions, but the way we love and serve others."