Our Lady of Knock - August 21st

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Reflections on Knock - IX

St. John Is Alive, According to Saints

by Gregory Johnson

In my last article I presented some indications that all three of the figures appearing in Knock – Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John – are alive. In short, I first mentioned the infallible dogma of the Assumption that declares Our Lady to be alive and in Heaven and, then, some compelling indications to the same effect concerning St. Joseph. The tradition of St. Joseph being resurrected after death is also documented with testimonies of Saints by Dr. Remi Amelunxen in his book The Great St. Joseph (1).

Most of that article, however, addressed the figure of "the bishop,” St. John, and I reminded my reader of some traditions and texts of Sacred Scripture supporting the idea that he too is alive or, at least, could be alive.

Compelling indications that St. John the Evangelist did not die, but will come to fight the Antichrist

Today, I will present some quotes from Saints, Doctors of the Church and theologians favoring this hypothesis. These few quotes sufficiently demonstrate, in my opinion, that “the bishop” St. John is believed to be alive according to some respected theologians.

Here is a quote from St. Thomas Aquinas concerning St. John:

“Various things have been said about his burial. All agree, however, that he entered the sepulcher, which can still be seen. Some say that he entered living into the sepulcher and, by a divine grace, he left, being taken to the place where Enoch and Elias are, where he is reserved for the end of the world. Others, however, say that entering living into the sepulcher, which is in Ephesus, he lives sleeping in it until Jesus Christ will come. …

“This is not to be believed; since he died and was resurrected – in body as well. And the sign of this is that his body was not found and, thus, it is with the blessed with Christ” (2).

The famous Jesuit theologian Cornelius a Lapide says:

“As for the fact that St. John will return and will prophesize at the end of the world, there are serious Doctors from the past and even some in our time who are of this opinion” (3).

Cornelius a Lapide cites in particular St. Hippolyte, Ambrose, Catarino, Salmeron and Barradio. According to these doctors, St. John, like Enoch and Elias, would not have died, but would have conserved his mortal body and will return to preach against the Antichrist, from whom he would suffer martyrdom.

And here is what St. Francis de Sales has to say concerning St. John:

“It is true that the Scripture teaches us in general terms that all men must die and that no one can be freed from death; but it does not say that all men are dead, nor that all those who lived have already died. And the contrary, it exempts some, like Elias, who, without dying was carried away by a chariot of fire, and Enoch, who was taken away by Our Lord before he suffered death, and even St. John the Evangelist, as I think to be most probable, according to the word of God (Jo.21:22)” (4).

There have been a number of studies on this matter throughout Church History, but I believe these few quotes shown above are sufficient to prove that prominent theologians of the Church believe St. John is alive.


St. John, the Faithful Witness of Orthodoxy

The faithful are suffering greatly in the increasing chaos that has an official landmark in Vatican II. The changes in the teachings, Sacraments and ceremonies are causing such confusion that some are beginning to doubt that the Apostolic Succession of Bishops is still effective.

St. John as an Eagle from a medieval manuscript

But, if there is an Eagle (St. John’s symbol) flying over the ages ready to appear and confirm the Apostolic Succession, if Our Lord has left an Apostle and Bishop to be a guarantee that at least one Bishop is completely faithful in the Catholic Hierarchy, then shouldn’t this be a source of great joy to the faithful?

I believe the presence of St. John as “the bishop” in the Knock Apparition is a message of maternal consolation for our time. It is as if Our Lady were saying: “Your Mother is here, my children, do not be afraid. I well know the fallen condition of the Papacy and the shepherds charged by My Son to ’feed My sheep’ (Jn 21:21-25). Behold my son John at my side. A faithful Bishop remains. All things will be restored in Christ.”

Our Lady of Knock, pray for us.

Testimony of Mary McLoughlin, one of the 15 official witnesses

I Mary McLoughlin, live in Knock; I am housekeeper to the Rev. Archdeacon Cavanagh.

I remember the evening of the 21st August; at the hour of seven or so or a little later, while it was yet bright day, I passed from the Rev. Archdeacon’s house on by the chapel, towards the house of Mrs. Byrne, widow.

On passing by the chapel, and at a little distance from it, I saw a wonderful number of strange figures or appearances at the gable; one like the Blessed Virgin Mary and one like St. Joseph; another a bishop; I saw an altar.

I was wondering to see there such an extraordinary group. Yet I passed on and said nothing, thinking that possibly the Archdeacon had been supplied with these beautiful figures from Dublin or somewhere else, and that he had said nothing about them, but had left them in the open air. I saw a white light about them. I thought the whole thing strange.

After looking at them, I passed on to the house of Mrs. Byrne’s in the village. After reaching widow Byrne’s house I stayed there half an hour at least. I returned then homewards to the Archdeacon’s house accompanied by Miss Mary Byrne, and as we approached the chapel, she cried out “Look at the beautiful figures.” We gazed at them for a little while, and then I told her to go for her mother, widow Byrne, and her brother and her sister, and her niece who were still in the house which she and I had left.

I remained looking at the sight before me until the mother, sister and brother of Mary Byrne came. At the time I was outside the ditch and to the south – west of the school – house near the road, about 30 yards or so from the church; I leaned across the wall in order to see, as well as I could, the whole scene. I remained now for the space of at least a quarter of an hour, perhaps longer.

Mary McLoughlin reported the apparition to Fr. Cavanagh (above), but he paid no attention

I told Miss Byrne then to go for her uncle, Brian Byrne, and her aunt, Mrs. Brian Byrne, or any of the neighbors whom she should see, in order that they might witness the sight that they were then enjoying. It was now about a quarter past eight o’clock and beginning to be quite dark. The sun had set; it was raining at the time.

I beheld, on this occasion, not only the three figures, but an altar further on to the left of the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to the left of the Bishop and above the altar a lamb about the size of that which is five weeks old. Behind the lamb appeared the cross; it was away a bit from the lamb, while the latter stood in front from it and not resting on the wood of the cross. Around the lamb a number of gold-like stars appeared in the form of a halo.

This altar was placed right under the window of the gable and more to the east of the figures, all, of course, outside the church at Knock. I parted from the company or gathering at eight and a half o’clock. I went to the priest’s house and told what I had beheld, and spoke of the beautiful things that were to be seen at the gable of the chapel. I asked him or said, rather, it would be worth his while to go to witness them.

He appeared to make nothing of what I said, and, consequently, he did not go. Although it was pouring rain, the wall had a bright, dry appearance, while the rest of the building appeared to be dark. I did not return to behold the visions again after that, remaining at my house. I saw the sight for fully an hour. Very Rev. B. Cavanagh heard the next day all about the apparition from the others who had beheld it; and then it came to his recollection that I had told him the previous evening about it and asked him to see it.”

Continued

1. Remi Amelunxen, The Great St. Joseph, Los Angeles: TIA, 2008, pp. 81-84.
2. Cornelius a Lapide, Super Evangelium S. Johannis, lectura, Turim-Rome: Marietti,p. 487, n. 2647.
3. Cornelius a Lapide, In Apocalypsin, Prologue.
4. Oeuvres de Saint Francois de Sales, ed. Annecy, Book VII, 1896, p. 442 – apud Martin Jugie AA, La Mort et l'Assomption de la Sainte Vierge, Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944 p. 719.

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Reflections on Knock - X

Popes & Hierarchy Oppose Our Lady’s Messages

by Gregory Johnson

When we consider the apparition of Knock as it relates to the other major apparitions of Our Lady – La Sallette, Lourdes and Fatima – it is interesting to note that all three had secrets. Let me remind the reader of them, and see what was and has been the position of the Hierarchy on these apparitions and their secret messages.

La Salette – 1846. In this apparition Our Lady gave two secrets, one to Melanie and one to Maximin, which were to be revealed in 1858. In the first Our Lady spoke these words: “Melanie, what I am going to tell you now will not always be secret. You may make it public in 1858.” Both secrets were written down on paper and placed in sealed envelopes, Maximin’s on July 2, 1851, and Melanie’s on July 3, 1851. (1) Both secrets were delivered to the Holy Father, Pope Pius IX, who read them and they were later published. In these secrets, Our Lady said such things as:

A secret for each child at La Salette

• “Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist;”
  
• “The Church will be in eclipse, the world will be in dismay;”
  
• “Woe to the Princes of the Church who will not be occupied except to pile riches upon riches, to safeguard their authority and to dominate with pride;”
  
• “The priests have become cesspools of impurity;”
  
• “Convents are no longer houses of God, but pastures of Asmodeas and his sort.”
  

A number of the clergy fought against divulging the secret messages of La Salette to the public. This number grew so much that by 1915, under the pontificate of Benedict XV, orders were given from the highest ranks of the Vatican not to discuss publicly the secret messages of La Salette. So, a type of gag order was placed over La Salette about a half-century after the secrets had been made public.


Lourdes – 1858. In the 18 apparitions at Lourdes, Bernadette said that Our Lady told secrets that were for her ears only. As far as I could verify, Bernadette never told these secrets to anyone and she avoided any discussion, even being quite short with anyone who attempted to make her reveal the secrets.

There was a prayer that she received from Our Lady that only she knew and prayed every day of her life. What we know is there was something terrible that she knew that caused her to turn to the crowd weeping, saying the word, “Penance!” There were, “three wonderful secrets” and some others. All of these were known only to Bernadette and everything seems to indicate that she took them to her grave in 1879.

St. Bernadette took her secrets to the grave, above, her incorrupt body

Knock – 1879. In October, two months after the Knock Apparition, the Archbishop of Tuam set up a Commission of three priests, assisted by six other priests, to hold an inquiry concerning that apparition. The official records of this Inquiry were turned over to the Archbishop and have since “disappeared.” Msgr. Michael Walsh stated in his book written in 1955: “the original documents of this Commission are not extant.” (2).

Why are they missing? The possibility exists that the Commission issued a negative opinion and, afterwards, seeing the great popularity of the apparition, the documents registering that opinion were destroyed. In the absence of the records of the official Commission, Mgr. Walsh quotes “reliable contemporary records,” such as the two secular newspapers, the Weekly News and the Tuam News. So, the official records of the Knock Inquiry that were in the sole possession of the Hierarchy have gone missing.


Fatima – 1917. Similar to the La Salette apparition, the Third Secret of Fatima had a deadline for its revelation: 1960. Sister Lucia wrote the secret down and placed it in a sealed envelope that was sent to the Holy Father, who eventually read it. But we know that it was not revealed or published. The Third Secret of Fatima remained a secret by orders of all the recent Popes and highest officials of the Vatican.

Popes responsible for a Sister Lucy replacement? The facts strongly suggest two Sister Lucys...

It even appears that Paul VI and John Paul II presented a false Sister Lucia, whose features were different and whose worldly demeanor spoke contrary to the grave message of Fatima. Decades after the 1960 deadline, Pope Benedict and the Hierarchy attempted to foist a bogus Third Secret on the public. In 2000 it was released, but it was ill received. Indeed, people are wondering why that message about “the bishop in white” would need to be a secret.

Also, Our Lady said that she wanted "the Pope, in union with all the bishops, to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart.” But this also was not done. Through the recent decades popes have made “consecrations of the world” and all sorts of “entrustments.” None of these acts follow Our Lady’s precise instructions.


The Opposition of the Churchmen

So far, in this series on Knock we have shown four truths that are common to the four apparitions of La Salette, Lourdes, Knock, Fatima.

1. The apparitions of Our Lady were not to the clergy, but to laymen, usually children;
   
2. They took place outdoors and not in any Church structure;
   
3. Three of them contained secrets and Knock held secrets in its silenced symbolism.
   
4. Over the course of the four apparitions there is a meteorological process: the weather changed from a spring day in La Salette to a threatening atmosphere in Lourdes, a downpour rain in Knock, culminating in a spectacular cosmic event in Fatima.
   

But, there is another type of affinity between the La Salette and Fatima apparitions: Opposition to their secret messages has grown within the Papacy and Catholic Hierarchy.

The Popes and Hierarchy from Pius XI to this day have placed a gag order on La Salette, have hidden the Third Secret of Fatima and have not consecrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Regarding the Knock apparition, they most probably have “lost” the original report of the Knock Commission.

But, they are responsible for acts that are far worse, as I shall analyze in my next article. I shall show that the post-Vatican II religious authorities are hiding, deviating and even defiling the silent message of Our Lady at the Knock Shrine.

Testimony of Catherine Murray, one of the 15 official witnesses

I am living at Knock; I was staying at my grandmothers.

I followed my aunt and uncle to the chapel.

I, then, saw the likeness of the Blessed Virgin and that of St. Joseph and St. John, as I learned from those that were about where I was. I saw them fully 20 minutes or 30 minutes.


Continued


1. John S. Kennedy, Light on the Mountain; The Story of La Salette, Doubleday Image Book, 1962, pp. 128-131.
2. Michael Walsh, The Apparition at Knock: A Critical Analysis of Facts and Evidence, Veritas Publications 2008, p. 25C

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Reflections on Knock - XI

Knock Message Hidden & Defiled by Vatican II Hierarchy

by Gregory Johnson

I believe that the Vatican II Hierarchy is presenting Our Lady’s message in a way opposed to the truth. In fact, they are using the silent apparition at Knock to promote Progressivism, false religions and the new morality. The evidence I will present is from a 39-minute film entitled The Story of Knock.


A Biased Message of Knock

In 1988, a promotional film called The Story of Knock was produced after Pope John Paul II’s visit to the Knock Shrine in 1979 – the celebration of the centenary of the apparition [34:47 minute mark]. This film has become the most widely known professional film concerning the apparition of Knock and its Shrine. It can be found free online.

JPII, celebrating joy and peace at Knock, ignores any dire warning

The Story of Knock features footage of the Knock Shrine grounds and ceremonies and interviews from the highest ranking clergy involved with Knock. It is a clear demonstration of how the Vatican II Hierarchy wishes to present Knock and its meaning to the public.


Lulled to sleep at Knock

Throughout the film we hear repeatedly the chorus of Lady of Knock, a song written in 1981 that has become something akin to the official theme song for the Knock apparition.

Golden Rose, Queen of Ireland,
All my cares and troubles cease,
As I kneel with love before thee.
Lady of Knock, our Queen of Peace.

It has a peaceful, lullaby-like melody with lyrics that lead its listeners to think of peace and to be without cares and trouble-free. But, in light of the grave crisis of the Church in 1988 (recall John Paul II’s 1986 pan-religious gathering at Assisi), this is the opposite of the Knock message so strongly tied to La Salette where Our Lady wept incessantly, warning us of an approaching chastisement due to a corrupt and filthy Hierarchy and world. There she said outright that “Rome will lose the Faith.”

It is wrong to be indifferent to the tears, burdens and concerns of Our Lady. As Catholics do we not pray that our hearts be like unto hers? Wise and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Make my heart like unto thine (Cor Sapientiale et Immaculatum Mariae, fac cor meum secundum cor tuum). If we add the portending message of Fatima, there is even greater reason to be heedful. As a matter of fact, times of the greatest concern are often accompanied by a very profound silence.

As I mentioned before, the silence of Our Lady at Knock must not be construed as a message of “peace” where “cares and troubles cease.”


World Youth Day Morals & Attire

In many places this video presents the casual, immodest, inappropriate and disrespectful attire that has become common place among lay people in the post-Vatican II epoch.

Even in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, we see the visitors of Our Lady’s Shrine wearing shorts, T-shirts, jeans, women wearing pants, casual and extravagant cloths [7:45]. If we consider that this film was made about 30 years ago, then, it should be seen as a beginning of the current amoral World Youth Day style.

Besides the shabby attire, the video is replete with Novus Ordo Masses, concelebrated Masses [24:02], Communion in the Hand [30:22], Guitar Masses [18:08] and other novelties of Vatican II ceremonies [4:42].


Progressivist Social Justice

At the 18:54 minute mark, the pastor of the Knock Shrine says:

“And the Christian family in 1988 needs to be an involved family; it needs to be involved in the life of the local community. In issues of social justice that arise on its own doorstep; in the missionary effort of the Church; in the elementary and uneven battle between life and death that goes on daily in the Third World. Every Christian family should have a social, even international dimension.”

Priests concelebrating at the Knock shrine

By 1988, ”social justice” had already become a synonym for Liberation Theology and other socialist/communist agendas, especially in the Third World. We who live in 2017 are witnessing 30 years later the dire consequences of this so-called social justice that exploded with Vatican II and has fallen to unimaginable depths in the reign of Pope Francis.


Insufficient Truths Presented as the Knock Message

The film makes feeble attempts at explaining the apparition at Knock, presenting simple things that are common knowledge to the Faithful:

• “Mary’s coming gave them hope” (the people of Ireland in 1879). [7:30]
  
• “Two of the witnesses testified that Mary wore a crown on her head… she is mother and intercessor.” [8:14]
  
• “With the passage of years, the richness of the apparition becomes clearer. Mary is the Mother of God. Her message is a silent one. Namely, that she is present with souls who suffer now as she was with Jesus on Calvary and with the people of Knock and their privations in 1879.” [22:41]
  
• “St. Joseph is the support of Mary and patron of family life.” [23:07]
  
• “John holds open a Bible and preaches from it. With this gesture John is inviting us to study the word of God.” [23:45] It is interesting to note that the identity of the book is uncertain since it could be just the Apocalypse and not the entire Bible. Notwithstanding, the message is being used to spread “bible studies,” which are a common practice of Protestants.”
  

Would Our Lady appear just to repeat what the faithful already know and have known since the beginning of the Church? Apparitions of Our Lady are far too rare to not have a purpose. So, the statements listed above, even though they are true, cannot be the reason Our Lady appeared at Knock.


Defiling the Knock Message through Ecumenism & Pacifism

Ecumenism is openly promoted at the Knock Shrine. In the spirit of Vatican II, the Faith is subjected to a dishonorable relativism where peace is sought at any cost:

“Pilgrims from all walks of life come to Knock to pray for peace. At Our Lady’s shrine the quest for peace takes many forms. As the Shrine develops, an increasing number of people are beginning to see Our Lady’s Shrine as a center, not just for personal or family peace, but also for universal peace; a place where individuals, groups and entire communities come together independent of social or religious divide.”

The pastor of Knock, Msgr. Dominic Greely, publicly welcomes Protestant ministers. Then, the Protestant preachers pray and speak to the Catholics gathered at the Knock Shrine. We are told: "Ever conscious of the need to cater to all Christians, Knock Shrine is working hard to foster an ecumenical spirit and ecumenical services are encouraged." [15:30]

This official promotion of heretics, schismatics and other false religions at the Shrine is a disgraceful, sacrilegious defilement of Our Lady’s apparition and an affront to the messages of Knock, La Salette, Lourdes and Fatima.


No Mention of the Apocalypse

It is well known that St. John, who appears in the Knock apparition, wrote the Apocalypse - the prophetic book of the New Testament that speaks of future, “things which must shortly come to pass.” (Apoc. 1:1)

Yet, in the film, the word Apocalypse is not spoken, not even once. It is safe to say that it is deliberately avoided. At the 23:15 minute mark, St. John is simply described as the “writer of the fourth Gospel and of three of the letters of the New Testament,” nothing more.

So, here we have the astonishing fact that a promotional film about Knock, produced by the Catholic Hierarchy and with its full cooperation, avoids mentioning his prophetic book. The shocking absence of any mention of the Apocalypse demonstrates, I believe, a deliberate intent to avoid a serious investigation of the true message Our Lady gave at Knock. It seems as if panic is raised at the mere thought of linking Our Lady’s apparition with anything concerning the Apocalypse.

Testimony of John Curry (age 5), one of the 15 official witnesses

The child says he saw images, beautiful images, the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph.

He could state no more than that he saw the fine images and the light, and heard the people talk of them, and climbed the wall to see the nice things and the lights.


Continued

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Reflections on Knock - XII

The Lamb & Altar in the Knock Apparition

by Gregory Johnson

In this concluding article of the series Reflections on Knock, allow me to make two points about the last objects to be analyzed in the Knock Apparition.


1. Hierarchy uses Knock to promote New Mass

As demonstrated in this series, Our Lady is the focal point of the Knock apparition. All of the witnesses emphatically speak of her first and, then, St. Joseph and St. John at her side.

Early pictures emphasize Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John; below, later ones emphasize the altar and lamb

But regarding the Lamb and altar, some witnesses did not mention them and some did not see the cross behind the Lamb. The Lamb and altar were in the background to the right and less clearly seen. Earlier, more traditional sketches of the apparition confirm this.

But today, under the influence of the Conciliar Church, there is clearly an exaggerated emphasis on the Lamb and altar present in the Knock apparition. This distorted presentation has reached the point – in modern articles, books and images – in which the Lamb and altar are presented as the focal point of the apparition.

This is another maneuver, I believe, by the Conciliar Hierarchy to promote Vatican II, the New Mass and Ecumenism that we first saw in the previous article in the film The Story of Knock (see here). The Hierarchy is using the apparition as if it were a heavenly approval for the Novus Ordo Mass.

On the contrary, I interpret the less prominent presence of the Lamb and of the altar as a suggestion that, in some places, the Mass will fade, disappear or suffer harmful changes beyond recognition.

The true Mass of the ages was forbidden by Paul VI for about 40 years and then reduced to a sort of museum artifact called the “extraordinary form of the Roman Rite” by Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

I believe that Knock tells us to focus on Our Lady, the Mediatrix of All Graces and remain close to her during this “eclipse of the Church” (La Salette, 1846). Note that at Fatima, 1917, Our Lady only speaks of receiving Communion in the 5 First Saturday Devotion, not Mass. (1).


Angels at Knock were not Versus Populum

The witness who was closest to the apparition and most thoroughly investigated said something that is of interest concerning the New Mass:

“Around the Lamb I saw Angels hovering during the whole time, for the space of one hour and a half or longer; I saw their wings fluttering, but I did not perceive their heads or faces, which were not turned to me.” (Official testimony of Patrick Hill)

That the Angels around the altar always had their backs turned to young Patrick Hill can be understood as an argument that, when the Lamb of God is present on the altar, the ministers should be turned toward Him and not toward the people. So, the versus populum [turned to the people] practice of the Novus Ordo ministers is offensive to God.


2. The Angels Passing through the Gable

The Lamb and altar in the apparition – as well as the Tabernacle and altar inside the church – are both centered directly below the window of the church’s south gable: “The altar was placed right under the window of the gable … outside the church at Knock.” (2) So, the church’s south gable wall directly under the window serves as the backdrop for both the Lamb and altar in the apparition, and the Lamb (Our Lord truly present) and altar inside the church.

An old holy card tries to depict Angels going in and out through the gable as shining stars

Two witnesses, Patrick Hill and John Curry, described watching the Angels around the Lamb going back and forth through the gable wall.

– “Farther on to his (the witness’) right appeared an altar with a lamb on it as represented in Catholic pictures and a cross standing on the altar. All about the group were twinkling or flashing lights, like stars [angels]; they were not steady; they seemed as if they used to come nearer and, then, retire again or to go in and out through the gable.” (3)

– “The small boy, John Curry, saw ‘two Angels flying back and forth.’” (4)

– “I did not see the figures move, but there seemed to be two Angels – I didn’t know they were Angels until I was told – moving back and forth. I asked Pat Hill and he told me they were Angels.”(5)

I interpret that the Angels “going in and out through the gable” are symbolic of the state of the Church today. With the Knock apparition being next to the south gable wall, there are two altars back to back, with Angels “going in and out” adoring the Lamb at both.

Inside the church building one altar is dark, locked and empty because of the storm. Such is the state of the old beautiful traditional religious structures: basilicas, cathedrals, churches, convents and monasteries chapels. But Our Lord may still be there and the Angels adore.

Outside the church building – where the other recent apparitions also took place (See articles 2, 6, 9) – the other altar appears during the storm in a bright, beautiful apparition of Saints and Angels surrounding Our Lady.

A modern depiction of Knock reflects the bare empty altar of the Novus Ordo Mass

In the present crisis of the Church, it is as if there are two altars set before all those who consider themselves Catholic.

There is the dark altar of Vatican II that promotes false religions, heretical doctrines, lax morality, vicious and destructive social teachings, etc.. This Novus Ordo altar is housed today in most of the recognized Church buildings. Our Lord may be present in the tabernacles to help souls, but unfortunately, the churches are increasingly empty and abandoned because of this great storm, that is, the apostasy of the Conciliar Church.

The other altar is often found outside recognized Church buildings. It is next to Our Lady, the Saints and the Angels, but, as the few Knock villagers experienced on that August 21, 1879, the clergy is nowhere in sight and the people are suffering from the storm.

Let us pray to Our Lady of Knock that she grant us the graces to remain faithful during these trying times and that she give us strength to not leave her side during the storm.

Our Lady of Knock, pray for us.

Testimony of Mrs. Hugh Flatley, one of the 15 official witnesses

“I was passing by the chapel of Knock on the evening of the 21st August, about eight o’clock, and I beheld most clearly and distinctly the figures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and that of St. John the Evangelist, standing erect at the gable end of the chapel, towards the south side. I thought that the parish priest had been ornamenting the church, and got some beautiful likenesses removed outside.”

Testimony of Patrick Walsh, one of the 15 official witnesses

“My name is Patrick Walsh; I live in Ballinderrig, an English mile from the chapel at Knock. I remember well the 21st August, 1879. It was a very dark night, It was raining heavily. About nine o’clock on that night I was going on some business through my land, and standing a distance of about half a mile from the chapel, I saw a very bright light on the southern gable end of the chapel. It appeared to me to be a large globe of golden light. I never saw, I thought, so brilliant a light before. It appeared high up in the air above and around the chapel gable and it was circular in its appearance. It was quite stationary, and it seemed to retain the same brilliancy all through.

The following day I made inquiries in order to learn if there were any lights seen in the place that night. It was only then that I heard of the vision or apparitions that the people had seen.”

The silence of Our Lady of Knock speaks of a crisis in the Church

1. Concerning the pious practice of Communion outside the Mass or extra Missam, please read an excellent book that received high praise and an Apostolic Blessing from Pius XII; In Defense of Catholic Action by Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira, 1943, Intro, p. xx.
2. Rev. William J. Smith, The Mystery of Knock, Our Lady of Ireland, New York: Paulist Press,1954, Mary McLoughlin’s Testimony, p. 8.
3. Tom Neary, I Saw Our Lady, Co. Mayo, Ireland: Custodians of Knock Shrine, 1995. Interview with Patrick Hill published in Limerick Reporter and Tipperary Vindicator on Friday, February 13, 1880. p. 46.
4. A Woman Clothed with the Sun, Eight Great Apparitions of Our Lady, Ed. by John J. Delaney. y. New York: Hanover House, 1960. p. 155.
5. Msgr. Michael Walsh, The Apparition at Knock; A Critical Analysis of Facts and Evidence, Dublin, Ireland: Veritas Publications,. 2008, p. 66.

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A reminder ...