Our Lady of Knock 1879, LaSallette 1846, and Fatima - A Hidden Mystery in the Unfolding of History!

                                   Knock 1879                                            LaSallette 1846

Knock and LaSallette Were 33 Years Apart 

the Age of Our Lord When He Died

                                                                   Fatima, 1917
                             “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

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

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/

                                      Photo © Designed by Speramus-We Hope                                                  

                                                                                                                      

Golden Rose Queen of Ireland

Music and Lyrics Dana (Rosemary Scallon)
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,

              Lady of Knock, my Queen of peace!             

                            

  Photo © Designed by Speramus-We Hope 

  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!

                  

  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!

St. John Paul II You Live On! "Be Not Afraid Open your Hearts to the Love and Light that is Christ!"

St. John Paul's Witness -His Life and Death

A Cry for the Mercy of God!

Eighteen years ago, on April 2, 2005, St. John Paul II passed away. Millions of people mourned his death the world over, and the bells of St. Peter's Square somberly tolled continuously over and over again for hours to mourn his passing .

"Unceasingly the Church implores from God mercy for everyone. At no time and in no historical period -- especially at a moment as critical as our own -- can the Church forget the prayer that is a cry for the mercy of God amid the many forms of evil which weigh upon humanity and threaten it. "The more the human conscience succumbs to secularization, loses its sense of the very meaning of the word "mercy," moves away from God, and distances itself from the mystery of mercy, the more the Church has the right and the duty to appeal to the God of mercy with loud cries!  Bl. John Paul II June 7, 1977  Divine Mercy Shrine in Lagiewniki, Poland.(Dives in Misericordia, n. 15).

 On the seventh anniversary of his death  a documentary was compiled from ROME REPORTS'  "John Paul The Great: A Pope Who Made History" 

 St. John Paul II and Feast of Divine Mercy 

 

The beatifications of Jacinta and Francisco at Fatima on May 13, 2000 and the canonization of St Faustina with the Institution of the Feast of Divine Mercy on April 30, 2000, undoubtedly will be considered one of the most momentous events in the history of the Church in the new millennium. They both took place during the Great Jubilee year a little over a week apart from each other.  

 

I was blessed by God in his providence to be present at both these historic events in the the Church. A religious community obtained tickets for our small group in Rome and we were seated near St Faustina's Community, the Sisters of Mercy. 

  

I recall all my joy at being there standing on my chair when the Holy Father arrived and waving madly for him to see me. Finally his eyes met mine and he smiled at me! He was probably laughing inside at the crazy lady standing on her chair among all the dignitaries present. Very undignified of me but I didn't care!  I will never forget that moment and his smile as long as I live.God gave me the gift of that moment with the pope during the Great Jubilee. The gift of his smile I will always cherish.  😊🙏

 I was a long time devote of St. Faustina and the Divine Mercy Message and well acquainted with her diary. I  used it for some time for my spiritual reading. On the institution of the Feast of Mercy. (1044 - 1049) St. Faustina  recorded in her diary the vision as she saw the Institution of the Feast of Divine Mercy taking place simultaneously in her community and in Rome. She did not understand how but the people were able to experience the institution of the Feast at the same time whether they were in Rome or in Cracow.  

As you read St. Faustina's account description you will note that God also kept from her that she was seeing her own canonization on that day without knowing it. We also did not know either that the pope was going to institute the Feast of Divine Mercy when we attended her canonization, although there was speculation that he would do so. As the pope made the announcement I did not understand the language but noted the air was electrified with suspense and I knew something momentous was being said as the pope made the announcement. Later, overwhelmed at the Mercy God bestowed on me, recalling this grace to be present at this time it has served as a source encouragement to persevere in hope in the trials and afflictions that followed.

April 30, 2000- St Faustina's Canonization

St. Faustina described the ceremony in her diary on the March 23, 1937, that would take place on  April 30, 2000 in Rome and in Cracow simultaneously via internet web TV.  St. Faustina wrote: “Suddenly, God’s presence took hold of me, and at once I saw myself in Rome, in the Holy Father’s chapel and at the same time I was in our chapel. and the celebration of the Holy Father and the entire Church was closely connected with our chapel and, in a very special way, with our Congregation. And I took part in the solemn celebration simultaneously here and in Rome, for the celebration was so closely connected with Rome that, even as I write, I cannot distinguish the two but I am writing it down as I saw it. Everyone was participating in the celebrations with great joy, and many of them obtained what they desired. The same celebration was held in Rome, in a beautiful church, and the Holy Father, with all the clergy, was celebrating this Feast, and then suddenly I saw Saint Peter, who stood between the altar and the Holy Father.   I then looked at the immense crowd worshiping the Divine Mercy and I said to the Lord: Jesus, bless all those who are gathered to give glory to You and to venerate Your infinite mercy. Jesus made a sign of the cross with His hand, and this blessing was reflected in the souls like a flash of light." 

Rome St. Faustina's Canonization

During the ceremonies I wondered in the back of my head if the new saint saw me present, did she see me waving to the Pope back then in 1937?  What a thought the Communion of Saints. After the Canonization in Rome our group we went off to Lourdes and then to Fatima to meet the pope once again on May 13th for the Beatification of Jacinta and Francesco. Another historic event in the church for the Fatima Message. Linking Fatima with the Message of Divine Mercy. 

 The Graces received from these events have sustained me in the sufferings God allowed me live through in the years that followed. When I recall the great gifts God bestowed on me and the whole world during the Great Jubilee I am filled with gratitude and hope.  If only souls myself included avail themselves to them. 

  

There is much fruit to be gleaned in meditation if we take the time to do this letting God speak to us on these mysteries in Providence and on the legacy that  Bl.John Paul II left us. What will we do with it? If we really love him as he loved humanity we will follow his footsteps the way he pointed out to us!

Jesus I trust in you! My life is wrapped in the Mercy of God and in the mantle of the Fatima Message. In a 1977 speech at the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Poland Bl. John Paul II  said  "And if a person responds with a sincere heart: "Jesus, I trust in you," he will find comfort in all his anxieties and fears. In this dialogue of abandonment, there is established between man and Christ a special bond that sets love free there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 Jn 4:18)  Pope John Paul II June 7, 1977  at Shrine of Divine Mercy in Lagiewniki, Poland.
  

Divine Mercy and the Fatima Message!   

Our Lord used St. John Paul II in the Great Jubilee Year and Linked in Divine Providence the Message of Divine Mercy with the Fatima Message. There is so much for meditation on this. Maybe in a future post we can delve deeper into this mystery. 

May 13, 2000 Beatifications at Fatima

St. John Paul II  is also  known as the Fatima Pope as he was imaged in the 3rd secret. When he beatified the Jacinta and Francisco on May 13, 2000, he also revealed at the same time the complete text of the 3rd Secret to the world.  The assassination attempt on his life took place on a Fatima day May 13th,1981.

The bullet that shot the pope
is in the center pointing down

                                                                                                       

One year later after his attempted assassination,he made a pilgrimage to Fatima to Thank Our Lady for her intercession sparing his life and to leave the bullet removed from his body that was later placed in her crown.  John Paul II's assessment, "It was a mother's hand that guided the bullet's path"  She permitted the dying pope to stop on the threshold of death

The Canonization of St. John Paul II

Was a Joyful Event for the Church 

and All Who Loved Him!

St.  John Paul II  the Fatima Pope was Beatified on May 1, 2011 which also was the first Sunday after Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday.  Benedict XVI explained that the date was chosen for the beatification because it was on the eve of Mercy Sunday that his earthly life ended. "Those who knew him, those who esteemed and loved him, cannot but rejoice with the Church for this event."  


John Paul II. was finally canonized with Pope John XXIII on April 27,2014 by Pope Francis in an unprecedented ceremony witnessed by huge crowds gathered in Vatican City.

Pope Benedict XVI Remembers  
World Youth Day & Bl. John Paul II

On April 2, 2012  the seventh anniversary of the death of Blessed John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI paid homage to one of his predecessor's undertakings: World Youth Day. While he Greeted an estimated 5,000 cheering young people from Spain on April 2, Pope Benedict said they were "the protagonists and principal recipients of this pastoral initiative promoted by my beloved predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, whose passage to heaven we remember today. "Each and every person has a vocation, a call from God that is the key to each person's holiness and happiness, as well as being a call to create a better world," the pope told the youth.  Read more.....

BE NOT AFRAID to

Open Wide Your HeartsTo the Love and Light that is Christ!

John Paul II--You Live On! You Live On!

                     

I bear a special love for Poland, and if she will be obedient to My will, I will exalt her in might and holiness. From her will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming"  (Diary, 1732).

John Paul II  Patron of World Youth Day 

Ora pro nobis!

Official Web Site for WYD11