Knock 1879 LaSallette 1846
Knock and LaSallette Were 33 Years Apart
the Age of Our Lord When He Died
“Do not offend Our Lord and God anymore,
because He is already so much offended!'
How loving a complaint, how tender a request!
Who will grant me to make it echo through the whole world"… Sr. Lucia
For two years now I wanted to put a post out on Our Lady of Knock on the anniversary of the apparition. This year again, I was overwhelmed with little duties so that it made it impossible for me to finish the post I was working on till now! I refuse to wait another year! So for better or worse here is my little contribution on the message of Our Lady at Knock. Placing these reflections on the Heavenly Vision that took place in 1879, in County Mayo, Ireland in the light of the messages of Our Lady at Fatima.
Using the same principal set forth in a previous post: From Guadelupe to Fatima A Prophetic Mystery. Fatima is undoubtedly the most prophetic of all the modern apparitions over the past 500 years. If we understand the implications of this statement then it will lead us to meditate on each of our Lady's appearances in the light of the Fatima Message.
OUR LADY OF KNOCK
A CONNECTION with the
HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY
According to Susan Tassone author of several books about the Holy Souls, including major novenas, the marvelous appearance on the gable of the Knock Church came on the day when the parish priest, Archdeacon Cavanagh, finished offering, his 100th consecutive Mass for the suffering souls in purgatory! She wrote that a secret organization resorting to violence had threatened the pastor by letter for preaching against their tactics. They resented his condemnation of violence, which prevented them from gaining recruits in the Knock parish. In his distress, he turned to the suffering souls and called on his parishioners to fill the church for 100 days of these offered Masses. And what an answer he was given from Heaven!" As word spread of the apparitions of Knock miraculous healings also took place (the parish priest recorded 300 in the first three years).
Throughout the church’s history there have been supernatural apparitions and signs which, to the surprise of believers and non-believers alike, play their part in the unfolding of human history. There is a deep significance in each Church approved apparition in its historical context and a deeper hidden significance that may only be discovered through prayer and meditation. Rev. Gallagher wrote in the Knock Shrine Annual in 1938. “The apparition itself explains its own significance, declares its own meaning.”
Over time the church, with the help of the Holy Spirit, reflects on these appearances of Our Lady uncovering the hidden mysteries. Mysteries to be revealed at a latter time when they will be better understood after reflecting on them in the unfolding of history. They are not coincidences! God has a purpose in everything he does. There are mysteries in the timing of the appearances as well as within the historical context of the time religious persecution and famine. Further mysteries are gleaned in the providence of God as history unfolds. And the church looks back and reflects. All things; past, present and future lay open before the eternal gaze of God over man.
Remember that our Lord said to the Apostles: “The helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you.” (John:14: 26) “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth”. (John 16.13). Through the guidance of this same Holy Spirit the church also discovers the finger of God in the events and symbols contained within each church approved Marian apparition.
SIMILARITIES OF KNOCK
AND FATIMA
AND FATIMA
On the night of the apparition, those witnessing the apparition knelt for two hours in the pouring rain and prayed the rosary as they watched the vision unfold for over two hours. At Knock the entire area and the witnesses were also soaked from the rain, but the ground around the vision was dry! Fourteen witnesses from 6 years of age to 75 saw the apparition. One other person is documented as having observed the bright light over the church from half a mile away, but did not come to investigate.
Here how I could not help but think of another the similarity with Fatima. All the people who came and prayed the Rosary in the pouring rain as they were waiting for the promised miracle to take place on October 13, 1917. Men and women af all ages and faith experiences witnessed the Miracle. After the Great Miracle of the Sun the people and the ground drenched in rain were completely dry! Also at Fatima the miracle of the Sun was seen from a distance by people up to 70 miles away!
THE GREAT SILENCE OF KNOCK.
There is a deep meaning in silence. There is not enough time to relate all the aspects that surround the silence of Knock. Two people who love each other can sit together for hours and no words are said yet each knows what the other needs or is thinking. We leave to your meditation with the help of the Holy Spirit to uncover the deeper aspects of the Silence of Knock.
But for our purposes, truly here the silence has spoken! I wish to apply the following words from St. Augustine in his Confessions to the silence of the vision of Knock: “You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.”
Another example to help explain this line of thought is gleaned from the apparition of Our Lady at LaSallet in 1846. Here there was a very lengthy message given to the seers together and individually. Our Lady at one point seated on a rock representing the church and papacy. Her face buried in her hands, she was weeping. Weeping for the people and the sins of the time. But, is it possible that she also weeping for us? At one point the children noted that as she stood up to leave she turned her face sorrowfully in silence towards Rome. Silence, no further words can be said, they are too painful to be spoken. The silence of the heart of a Mother who sees all the troubles and anxieties that are going to befall the people and the church over the centuries.
Could it be that Our Lady at Knock who already gave a lengthy message at LaSallette just 33 years previous came again in silence with a similar message for a future time in the symbols of the vision? Our Lady was in deep prayer throughout the length of the apparition at Knock. Was she peering for us once more into the future? Pondering all these things and keeping them in her heart? Pondering the past, present and future contemplated by her in the mind of God, yet hidden from us until the proper time. The Message of LaSallette had been given in 1846 and for all aspects understandably not accepted by the church at that time. The reasons are beyond the scope this post and must be left to another time if God wills. The message was ignored because the context was too hard to accept for the times that they were first given. But today looking back sadly….we can see the possible applications for our time.
Maybe our unwillingness to listen to what God has already spoken through the scriptures and his prophets. In previous approved messages from Heaven. God has decided to speak to those who will heed his voice. Those to whom today God wishes to revel his secrets. “I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to the little ones. Matthew: 11:25 These little ones who are given the gift to hear his voice in the silence because upon hearing they will obey.
THE INSTITUTION OF
THE FEAST OF THE
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
The date of the apparition of Knock occurred, August 21, 1879. In 1944, August 21 became the vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pope Pius XII placed August 22 on the calendar as the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in response to the requests of Sr. Lucia of Fatima. The feast was moved in the new calendar to follow the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. “Our Lady told Sr. Lucia that God wished to establish in the world devotion to her Immaculate Heart to save souls from hell.” If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.”
THE APPARITION OF KNOCK TOOK PLACE NINE YEARS AFTER THE DECLARATION OF PAPAL INFALLIBILITY APPROXIMATELY 100 YEARS BEFORE THE CLOSING OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL.
Could the apparition of Knock also be an announcement for the upcoming Second Vatican Council? When the Holy Mass and the Blessed Sacraments the greatest treasure of the church came under attack! The Angels who surround the lamb on the altar protecting and defending the assaults that would take place by the powers of Hell on the Holy Mass and the Real Presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament!
PROVIDENTIAL DATES LINKING
KNOCK TO FATIMA
In previous posts we have already indicated that the drama of Fatima could be pointing in time to the upcoming attacks on the papacy, the Holy Mass, and the Blessed Sacrament following the Second Vatican Council. See: The 3rd Secret of Fatima, 1960 and the Crisis in the Priesthood 1960 being the focal point when the secret was to be opened and read. Not earlier Sr. Lucia said it would be better understood then. Looking back we see many Historical Events that took place in the 1960s with regards to the Catholic Church, Fatima and the Conversion of Russia. The escalation of the Vietnam War to stop the spread of Communism; the Civil Rights Movement; the change in culture and the creation of a new counterculture that changed the world. The second Vatican Council opened and closed in the early 1960s and the Berlin Wall was built.
At Knock, the Angels hovered protectively around the lamb on the altar. Adoring what men would no longer adore! No sweet Angelic hymns were heard yet one can hear the thrice Angelic Hymn echoing powerfully throughout the vision ---“Sanctus! Sanctus! Sanctus! Dominus Deus Sabaoth! Holy, Lord God of Power and Might! Pleni Sunt Caeli et terra Gloria tua! Heaven and Earth are full of your Glory! Benedictus que venit in nomine Domini! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Saints have written much better than I meditations on the Angelic Hymn that is recited at every Holy Mass—The Lord God of Power and Might becomes the lamb that was slain! Later at Fatima an Angel taught the children and through them the church to make Eucharistic reparation for all the outrages sacrileges and indifferences by which he is offended in this august Sacrament
St. John was dressed in a bishop’s robe and miter. He had with an open book and was depicted as preaching yet one could not hear what was being said. He represented all bishops who remain faithful to Peter. This thought is especially striking, considering the rich symbolism of the Lamb, the altar, and the cross in this vision, all pointing to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! It would seem that the vision of Knock was to instill an increase of love and reverence for the Holy Mass! "Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10 Much can be said in the meditation of this verse from Psalm 46 in regards to the lamb on the altar!
In the silence of Knock Heaven was giving us an example on how to survive spiritually intact the upcoming upheavals in the wake of the council and attacks on the church. As the time grew closer Our Lord would once more send his Mother to Fatima with an Angel, verbal warnings and instructions and A Great Miracle the greatest supernatural event since Biblical times does not belong to Faith or Science it is an Historical event! This it seems has also has gone unheeded. Prayer of the Rosary everyday and Consecration to her Immaculate Heart with the wearing of the brown scapular as a sign of that consecration. Our Lady's motherly solicitude to the church over the centuries comforts and teaches us that the Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration and Obedience to the bishops in union with the Pope are the means for us to live through and survive the assaults of hell on the church in the Holy Mass and the Eucharist. Her presence lets us know she is walking with us to help us if we place ourselves under her protection. Fullfilling the requests of Our Lady at Fatima is the means given by God for the Final Triumph of Good over Evil!
Through the years, the number of pilgrims visiting Our Lady of Knock Shrine has grown. In 1957, the Apparition Church at Knock became an affiliated with the church of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a Shrine. Three million pilgrims from all over the world visited the Shrine during the 100th Anniversary of the apparition in 1979. Pope John Paul II also came on pilgrimage to Knock Shrine to commemorate the centenary of the Apparitions on September 30, 1979, presenting the Golden Rose to this Shrine. His opening words at Knock were: ‘Here I am at the goal of my journey to Ireland: the Shrine of Our Lady at Knock...I am here then as a pilgrim, a sign of the pilgrim church throughout the world.”
Almost half a million pilgrims gathered at Knock on that day. On this occasion he presented a Golden Rose, to the Shrine of Knock which ranks among the world’s major Marian shrines with the full approval of the Church. Pope Paul VI and Pope Benedict XVI each presented a Golden Rose to the Shrine of Fatima.
The Golden Rosary presented to Marian Shrines is a gift of graritude from the Popes to Our Lady. https://zenit.org/articles/golden-roses-and-the-gratitude-of-popes-to-our-lady-of-fatima/
The Golden Rosary presented to Marian Shrines is a gift of graritude from the Popes to Our Lady. https://zenit.org/articles/golden-roses-and-the-gratitude-of-popes-to-our-lady-of-fatima/
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| Photo © Designed by Speramus-We Hope |
Music and Lyrics Dana (Rosemary Scallon)
See: End of Post for Video
See: End of Post for Video
There were people of all ages
gathered ‘round the gable wall
poor and humble men and women,
little children that you called
We are gathered here before you,
and our hearts are just the same
filled with joy at such a vision,
as we praise your holy name
Refrain:
Golden Rose, Queen of Ireland,
all my cares and troubles cease
as we kneel with love before you,
Though your message was unspoken,
still the truth in silence lies
as we gaze upon your vision,
and the truth I try to find
Here I stand with John the teacher,
and with Joseph at your side
and I see the Lamb of God,
on the Altar glorified
Refrain: Golden Rose, Queen of Ireland,
all my cares and troubles cease
as we kneel with love before you,
Lady of Knock, my Queen of peace!
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| Photo © Designed by Speramus-We Hope |
And the woman clothed in the sun,
will shine Her light on everyone
and the lamb will conquer!
And the woman clothed in the sun,
will shine Her light on everyone
and the lamb will conquer!
Golden Rose, Queen of Ireland,
all my cares and troubles cease
as we kneel with love before you,
Lady of Knock, my Queen of Peace!
