Dear Friends and Benefactors, 
In the month of February, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. This approved Marian Apparition, along with Our Lady of La Salette, Our Lady of Knock, and Our Lady of Fatima give us important insight into the current apostacy we are experiencing. In fact, the times are so evil (this newsletter was submitted on February 14, 2023) that many believe that we are close to the Great Warning from Heaven (where everyone in the world at the same time will know the state of his soul as God sees it).
This work will particularly study the Knock Apparition (1879) in light of Our Lady’s three other apparitions at La Salette (1846), Lourdes (1858) and Fatima (1917), in order to show the inter-relationships among the apparitions, and consequently place the Knock apparition, which is often ignored, into the picture for our times.
THE MESSAGE OF OUR LADY OF KNOCK

As the Catholic writer, Gregory Johnson, thoroughly explains – one rainy night on the 21st of August 1879, from around 7:15 to 9:30 in a small village of no more than a dozen homes, Our Lady made a unique, silent public appearance that has become known to the world as the apparition of Our Lady of Knock.

The village of Knock (which means ‘hill’ in Irish) lies in the northwest quadrant of Ireland, about 28 miles east of Croagh-Patrick, and this prophetic mountain can be seen to the west on the road north from Claremorris to Knock. The pilgrimages to the shrine in the little village have steadily grown since that day, and it presently receives 1.5 million visitors a year. In 1932, Pius XI declared Our Lady of Knock to be “Queen of Heaven and of Ireland” at the closing of the Eucharistic Congress. It is considered to be one of the prominent Marian Shrines of the world.
Our Lady made a “public appearance” because, unlike other recent apparitions of Our Lady – La Salette, Lourdes, Fatima – where she appears and communicates to only one or a few seers (always youths and never members of the clergy), in this apparition she appeared to all present but remained silent. Everyone at or near the south gabled wall of the church dedicated to St. John the Baptist saw the apparition.

The only member of the clergy in the village, the pastor Archdeacon Cavanagh, could also have seen the apparition if he had simply stepped outside. His housekeeper went to tell him about it, but apparently there was some miscommunication and, as a result, once again, the clergy did not receive the gift of seeing an apparition of Our Lady.

Shortly after the apparition, an official commission of investigation was set by the Archbishop, and it recorded the testimony of 15 witnesses: men, women and children, ranging in ages from 5 to 75. At the inquiry, the commission found that, “the testimony of all, taken as a whole, was trustworthy and satisfactory.” Many years later, in 1936, a second commission confirmed the verdict of the first.

Mary Byrne, a primary witness of the apparition at Knock, was 86 at the time of the second commission and spoke to the commission from her bed since she was too sick to leave. She concluded her testimony with these words, “I am clear about everything I have said and I make this statement knowing I am going before my God.” Six weeks later she died.

There were others who saw the apparition (my readings suggest somewhere between 25 and 29 people), whose reports were not officially recorded to avoid redundancy.
Here is testimony of Judith Campbell, one of the 15 official witnesses of the apparition. It is short and concise:

I live at Knock; I remember the evening and night of the 21st August last.

Mary Byrne called at my house about eight o’clock on that evening, and asked me to come and see the great sight at the chapel.

I ran up with her to the place, and I saw outside the chapel, at the gable of the sacristy facing the south, three figures representing St. Joseph, St. John and the Blessed Virgin Mary; also an altar, and the likeness of a lamb on it, with a cross at the back of the lamb.

I saw a most beautiful crown on the brow or head of the Blessed Virgin. Our Lady was in the centre of the group, a small height above the other two; St. Joseph to her right, and bent towards the Virgin; St. John, as we were led to call the third figure, was to the left of the Virgin, and in his left hand he held a book; his right hand was raised with the first and second fingers closed, and the forefinger and middle finger extended as if he were teaching.

The night came on, and it was very wet and dark.

There was a beautiful light shining around the figures or likenesses that we saw.

I went within a foot of them; none of us spoke to them; we believed they were St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, because some years ago, statues of St. Joseph and the Evangelist were in the chapel at Knock.

All the figures were in white or in a robe of silver-like whiteness; St. John wore a small mitre. Though it was raining, the place in which the figures appeared was quite dry.

Everything within the sphere of the image remained completely dry including the grass and part of the church wall.

THE DELIBERATE SILENCE

The apparition was completely silent. The only sounds heard that night were those of the wind and the ever-increasing rain, which eventually became a downpour. But we know that the actions of Divine Providence must always have an ordered purpose. As Fr. William J. Smith said, “There was no message of any kind given, no word was uttered by any of the three celestial visitors. Yet the apparition must have a meaning, an extraordinary, deep and divine significance”.

Consequently, no one should think that the silence of the apparition is an oversight of Our Lady. With certainty, we can affirm that Our Lady willed that this apparition should remain completely silent and that this silence serves a purpose. What is that purpose?

We know that all of the recent apparitions of Our Lady, both before and after Knock, contained secrets:
•    La Salette (1846) contained secrets such as ‘Rome will become the seat of the Antichrist” that could be revealed in 1858;
•    Lourdes (1858) had 3 secrets that were for Bernadette alone and were never revealed;
•    Fatima (1917) included 3 secrets: 2 were soon revealed, and the third was to be revealed in the event of Lucia’s death or by 1960. John XXIII refused to reveal the secret in 1960. Later in 2000, a bogus secret was revealed by Cardinals Bertone and Ratzinger on behalf of John Paul II, but it did not find great acceptance among the faithful. They still await the release of the authentic warning of Our Lady to the world.
Now, since every recent apparition of Our Lady contained a secret, one is induced to ask whether or not there would be a secret at Knock. Perhaps it should even be expected.

So, shouldn’t this deliberate silence willed by Our Lady at Knock be seen as some form of secret? A secret that harmonizes with the secrets of La Salette, Lourdes, and Fatima? Isn’t it reasonable to affirm this?

Shouldn’t one ask if the silence acted as a sort of veil or shroud, concealing a profound message? This is the deep-seated purpose of the silence and suggest to speculate upon what that secret would be using the evidence that we have at hand.

One closing note: The silence itself is NOT the message. The message of Our Lady of Knock is not to promote silence.

Those who try to present this silence as the main message that Our Lady wished to convey are promoting a passivity that pressures the faithful to remain inactive and just pray in face of the grave crises in the Church and society we face today. To keep silent before the onslaughts of an evil world and a corrupt Hierarchy is to suppress the Catholic militant spirit.

OUR LADY OF KNOCK AND THE APPARITION AT LA SALETTE
On a lone mountainside near La Salette, France, on the eve of Our Lady of Sorrows, during the month of the Holy Cross, on the beautiful day of September 19, 1846, Our Lady appeared to two peasant shepherd children named Melanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud. She wept almost for the duration of the apparition, sometimes burying her tear-covered face in her own hands. Melanie would lament that she could not console the beautiful Lady.

In this apparition the Mother of God spoke to the children, asking prayers and penance to help her prevent the arm of her Son from falling over mankind for their sins. She also gave secrets to each of the children. Twice, toward the end of this apparition, Our Lady said, “Well, my children, you will make this known to all my people.”

Here are some of the words she spoke that are part of those secrets she gave to the children to spread:
•    Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist;
•    Woe to the Princes of the Church who will not be occupied except to pile up riches upon riches, to safeguard their authority and to dominate with pride;
•    The priests, ministers of my Son, by their wicked lives, their irreverence and their impiety in the celebration of the Holy Mysteries, by their love of money, their love of honors and pleasures, the priests have become cesspools of impurity;
•    The Church will have a frightful crisis;
•    Many convents are no longer houses of God, but the pastures of Asmodeas [the Devil of impurity] and his sort;
•    The Church will be in eclipse, the world will be in dismay.

KNOCK AND LA SALETTE: SIMILARITIES AND CONTRASTS

As for the similarities, when we compare Knock and La Salette one notices that, besides the presence of secrets and the absence of any clergy, there is another common trait: Our Lady is not appearing inside any Church structure.

The four recent apparitions do not take place inside a church, a convent, a monastery or the like. The apparition of La Salette is on a mountainside, Lourdes is in a grotto, Knock is deliberately and conspicuously just outside of a church that is a few feet away, and Fatima takes place in the fields at the Cova da Iria.
As with Knock, Our Lady of La Salette would appear only once; at Lourdes and Fatima she appeared to the seers multiple times.

Also, as with Knock, the color of Our Lady of La Salette’s clothing was described as something like a silvery white and she appeared in a brilliant sphere of light that did not harm the eyes. She was “clothed with the sun.”

Both Knock and La Salette had been suffering from potato famines that Our Lady at La Salette said was a consequence of man’s sins, especially the profanation of her Son’s name and not keeping holy Sunday, the Lord’s day.

As for the contrasts, at Knock not once would Our Lady look down at the people watching before her or change her expression, and that evening the only tears were those from the sky, rain. In fact, in some ways, the contrast between the two apparitions could not have been greater.

At La Salette (1846), it was a beautiful sunny day in the French Alps, but Our Lady was constantly weeping. Thirty three years later at Knock, it was the opposite. It was an ominously dark, rainy and gloomy day, but Our Lady shed no tears within a bright, dry, splendorous sphere of light. The witnesses saw in her eyes only the fixed, resolute gaze upward of one in a state of profound prayer.

Of course, there is also the obvious contrast between the spoken message of La Salette and the silent message of Knock. The silence at Knock could be seen as a form of secret. One could also ask whether or not the silence of the Knock apparition is a consequence of an infidelity.

Did the actions of a person or persons, especially if they are members of the Catholic Hierarchy, cause this to be a silent apparition? Did some betrayal cause Divine Providence to “say” in 1879 something analogous to what Our Lord said to the “wicked and adulterous generation” of His time: “A sign shall not be given” (Mt 16:4)?
It could be noted that the saintly Pope Pius IX began his reign in June 1846, just a few months before the apparition of La Salette and died in 1878, the year before the apparition at Knock. He was succeeded by the liberal pontificate of Leo XIII: the reigning Pope during the silent apparition of Our Lady of Knock.

Let us observe that during the entire pontificate of Leo XIII the true Catholics, the Ultramontanes, were obliged to be silent about those enemies – liberal Catholics – who had been condemned and removed from the scene by Pius IX. We may say that with Leo XIII the militancy of the Church was silenced, that she entered a dark, long and rainy night. 

Likewise, tolerance toward the errors of the Revolution was exalted, and the Revolution entered a sunny day that prepared Modernism, Progressivism and Vatican II. Doesn’t the silence of Knock have a relation to this papal silence?

Speaking of infidelity, there is another point of contrast between the two apparitions: La Salette received from the Vatican a kind of “gag order”… Knock did not. In 1915, a year after the death of Pope St. Pius X, under the more compromising reign of Pope Benedict XV, there was a decree issued from the Vatican forbidding public commentaries on the secret messages of La Salette. This decree seems to be still in effect even in the present-day scandalous reign of Francis I. We are allowed to have the text, read it and pass it on to friends. But we may not publicly comment on the secret messages of La Salette.

So, we see that a type of silence was placed upon the apparition at La Salette. Perhaps Our Lady, Queen of Prophets, had this future event in mind when she remained silent at Knock. It would be difficult, even absurd, to try to silence a silent message.

KNOCK AND LA SALETTE: a significant connection

At La Salette, after Our Lady said, “Well, my children, you will make this known to all my people,” she rose to leave the children, paused and looked in silence toward the southeast, toward Rome. At Knock, we see that, from the south gable, Our Lady seems once again to be looking silently toward the southeast, toward Rome – toward Rome and toward La Salette, since both lie in the same direction from Knock.

OUR LADY APPEARS AT KNOCK DURING HER CROWNING AT LA SALETTE

Thirty-three years after the Apparition of La Salette, a solemn papal canonical coronation of Our Lady took place and the Basilica of La Salette was consecrated. Three different sources report the event:
•    “On 21 August 1879, Pope Leo XIII formally granted a Canonical Coronation to the image at the Basilica of Our Lady of La Salette.”
•    “An impressive ceremony took place at La Salette, in which the statue of Our Lady was solemnly crowned by the Papal Legate, the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, before a vast assembly of Bishops, priests and lay people.” 
•    “In 1879, the Basilica would at last be consecrated and the statue of Our Lady of La Salette would, by the Pope’s leave, be crowned. Officiating at the consecration was the Cardinal Archbishop of Toulouse, and the coronation was carried out by the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, acting as papal delegate for this rite. Bishops and Archbishops in numbers were on hand and with them came pilgrims from every diocese.
On that same day, a day that must be acknowledged as the public and official recognition by the Church of the apparition of La Salette, the Mother of God was also appearing in the little village of Knock, Ireland. In other words, on August 21, 1879, we have Our Lady of Knock gazing in the direction of La Salette and Rome on the exact day, perhaps even the same hour, as the ceremonies recognizing the Apparition of La Salette were occurring.

If we are looking for messages and meanings in the silent apparition of Knock, here I believe Our Lady could not be clearer. Her appearing on that specific day means she is making a connection with La Salette and its message. She is letting us know that the apparition at Knock must be seen in light of the dire message sent at La Salette.

By appearing precisely on that day, she is signifying that the Knock apparition should be seen as part or a development of the La Salette apparition. There is no other possible conclusion. Authentic apparitions of Our Lady are far too rare for this to be a mere coincidence of dates.

It is interesting to note that the precise times of the beginning and the end of the Knock apparition are unknown. As can be read in the testimony of Margaret Byrne, below, the apparition began before anyone was there to see it.

By all accounts, Our Lady was appearing before anyone arrived; she remained while people were coming and going, and she stayed even after everyone had left. Actually, in a house neighboring the site where the apparition took place, a lady named Mrs. Campbell was dying, and during the apparition someone shouted for help from her house. The village people who were still viewing the apparition ran to help the dying lady; when they returned the apparition was gone.

In other apparitions, Our Lady seems to arrive only when there are witnesses, who also watch her leave. In this case, it was the opposite; Our Lady arrived before the witnesses and remained even after the viewers left.

One possible message that Our Lady might be sending is that the time and duration of the appearance of Our Lady at Knock was not dependent on the presence or absence of witnesses, but on what was happening at that time with the ceremonies of La Salette.
If we try to find a complement for the message of La Salette in the silent symbolism of Knock, we see that the crisis in the Church prophesized in La Salette are confirmed by the presence of St. John, who appeared as a Bishop with a book – probably the Apocalypse – in his hand. This is tantamount to him saying: “The crisis that Our Lady predicted in La Salette, which will make Rome become the seat of the Antichrist and will represent the eclipse of the Church, I also prophesized in the Apocalypse.”

So, we should understand the crisis as something permitted by God for His final victory and greater glory. For the glory of the Lamb of God, which also appears luminous over the altar in Knock as well as in the Apocalypse. It is something that invites us not to despair, but to trust Our Lady and Our Lord.

Also the presence of St. Joseph, Protector of the Church, in the Knock apparition sends the message: “No matter how grave the crisis may be, I will continue to protect the Church and lead her to a safe port as I did with the Holy Family. You, the faithful, must have recourse to me and my Most Holy Spouse, the Virgin Mary, in this crisis.” Again, the message is to increase our confidence in the supernatural.

These points are valid developments of the message of La Salette, which we must take into consideration given that Our Lady chose to appear in Knock on the precise same day when her apparition of La Salette was being officially recognized by the Church.

OUR LADY OF KNOCK AND OUR LADY OF LOURDES

Beginning on February 11, 1858, in a grotto near Lourdes, France, Our Lady appeared 18 times until the last one on July 16, 1858 to a young peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, who would later be canonized. This was 12 years after Our Lady’s Apparition at La Salette and 24 years before her next apparition at Knock. As at Knock and La Salette, Our Lady at Lourdes gave secrets, did not appear to the clergy and did not appear inside any Church structure.

She appeared and spoke only to Bernadette. The message of Our Lady was one of penance and prayer. She told Bernadette to have a basilica built at that site and a miraculous spring of water appeared there, causing many cures of the sick.

LOURDES AND KNOCK: both confirmations of papal declarations

In Rome, in 1854, Pope Pius IX declared the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Consequently, when Our Lady at Lourdes said, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” two things could be understood. First, it attested to the veracity of those apparitions since the simple Bernadette knew nothing of the meaning of that theological term. Second, it was a confirmation of that Papal dogma.
At Knock something analogous happened: It also confirmed a recent papal declaration, as Pius IX had publicly declared St. Joseph as Patron of the Church in 1870 in the decree Quemadmodum Deus. Here are the reasons he gave:

“Because of this sublime dignity which God conferred on His most faithful servant, the Church has always most highly honored and praised Blessed Joseph, next to his Spouse, the Virgin Mother of God, and has besought his intercession in times of trouble.

“And now, therefore, when in these most troublesome times the Church is beset by enemies on every side, and is weighed down by calamities so heavy that ungodly men assert that the gates of Hell have at length prevailed against her, the venerable Prelates of the whole Catholic world have presented to the Sovereign Pontiff their own petitions and those of the faithful committed to their charge, praying that he would deign to constitute St. Joseph Patron of the Church. And this time their prayer and desire was renewed by them even more earnestly at the Sacred Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (Vatican I).

“Accordingly, it has now pleased the Most Holy Sovereign, Pope Pius IX, in order to entrust himself and all the faithful to the Patriarch St. Joseph’s most powerful patronage, has chosen to comply with the Prelates’ desire and has solemnly declared him Patron of the Catholic Church…”
In 1879, nine years after this decree, St. Joseph appeared at Knock. His silent presence there was a confirmation of that papal dedication. He was present there in a position of patron and protector. By the fact that he was turned toward Our Lady with his head slightly inclined, he was telling us that “in these most troublesome times” we should turn to her. So, besides confirming the papal entrustment, he also offered us the best way to find a solution to the difficult situation in the Church.

August 21 is the anniversary of the Apparition of Knock. It is also, very significantly, the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In 1944, August 21 was named the vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It seems that Pope Pius XII placed August 22 on the calendar as the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in response to the request of Sister Lucia of Fatima.

AN APPROACHING STORM

We are studying the Knock Apparition (1879) in light of Our Lady’s three other apparitions at La Salette (1846), Lourdes (1858) and Fatima (1917), with an emphasis on Lourdes, in order to show the inter-relationships among the apparitions, and consequently  place the Knock apparition, which is often ignored, into the picture for our times.
At La Salette Our Lady said: “Melanie, what I am going to tell you now will not always be secret. You will be allowed to publish it in 1858.” This was the year she appeared in Lourdes.

At La Salette as well as at Lourdes, a miraculous spring flowed after Our Lady’s apparition, which caused many cures.

Lourdes confirmed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception declared by Pius IX four years earlier in 1854, and Knock confirmed the act of placing the Church under the patronage and protection of St. Joseph in 1870 by Pius IX, a measure he took, he said, because of “these most troublesome times in which the Church is beset by enemies on every side.”

The dogma of Papal Infallibility was also declared in 1870. But it is especially noteworthy that the year of the apparition at Knock (1879) marks the 25th anniversary of the infallible declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

Pope Pius IX was the reigning Pontiff during the La Salette and Lourdes apparitions, but he died the year before the silent Knock apparition.

August 21, 1879, is not only the day of the apparition of Knock, the Consecration of the Basilica of La Salette and the papal coronation of Our Lady of La Salette, but it is also the year of the completion of the Cathedral of Lourdes begun under Pius IX in 1870 with his approval.
Pope Pius IX approved the Lourdes apparition and promoted Marian piety in Lourdes with the granting of special indulgences and the formation of local Lourdes associations. Pope Leo XIII crowned Our Lady of La Salette and issued the apostolic letter Parte humanae generi in commemoration of the consecration of the new Cathedral in Lourdes in 1879. 

St. Bernadette received secrets from Our Lady of Lourdes that she kept to her death on April 16, 1879. Four months later in 1879, we have the silent apparition of Knock. The 18th and last apparition of Our Lady in Lourdes was July 16, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. At the last apparition in Fatima on, October 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

La Salette told us in 1846 that “the Church will be in eclipse.” At Lourdes in 1858, Bernadette wept saying: “Penance! Penance! Penance!” At Fatima in 1917 she spoke of a coming “chastisement such as the world has never seen.”

So, what should we understand as the message of the dark, rainy, silent apparition at Knock in 1879 where St. John is preaching from the Apocalypse? After the dire messages of La Salette and Lourdes, is not the Knock apparition a perfect prelude to the threatening message of Fatima? 

AN APPROACHING STORM

If we look at the four successive apparitions – La Salette (1846), Lourdes (1858), Knock (1879) and Fatima (1917) – it is interesting to notice the increasingly hostile weather conditions of each. At La Salette, the weather was beautiful, a glorious sunny day in the French Alps. But at Lourdes, things began to change.

The first apparition at the grotto of Lourdes began with a sudden gust of wind and the strong sound of something like an approaching storm. The young Bernadette describes what happened as she was about to wade through the shallow stream:

“I had just begun to take off my first stocking when suddenly I heard a great noise like the sound of a storm. I looked to the right, to the left, under the trees of the river, but nothing moved; I thought I was mistaken. I went on taking off my shoes and stockings, then, I heard a fresh noise like the first. I was frightened and stood straight up. … I saw at one of the openings of the rock a rosebush, one only, moving as if it were very windy.” 

Despite this threatening beginning, the multiple apparitions of Lourdes were not particularly marked by rain or bad weather.
At Knock, the rain became a downpour, but no lightning or thunder.

At Fatima, all the apparitions were presaged by a type of lightening flash and thunder. And by the last apparition on October 13, 1917 – the apparition for which Our Lady promised a sign – the weather for the week in that part of Europe had been the worst in recent memory.

It was very cold and wet, and the roads became quagmires. Around noon, these meteorological omens culminated in a cosmic event now known as the “miracle of the sun”: The rain stopped, the clouds opened, colored rays dart from the sun, which ‘danced,’ then fell, causing great fear in the crowd. The spectators thought they were going to die. Then, the sun returned to its place in the heavens, and everything, including the muddy ground, became completely dry.

Our Lady of Knock is an apparition replete with symbolism. Even though no words were spoken or written, through symbolism its message and meaning becomes clear. One important message – in the context of the other recent apparitions of Our Lady – is found in the increasingly threatening weather conditions that culminated in a cosmic event.

This is also a symbol that should be understood as part of a dire message that Our Lady wished to convey at Knock. A storm of cosmic proportions – a chastisement from God – is coming!

If we consider the atrocities of the present Papacy, perhaps it has already begun.

KNOCK, MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACES, AND THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

It has been demonstrated that in these apparitions (La Salette, Lourdes, Knock, Fatima):
•    Our Lady appeared to laymen (usually children), never the clergy;
•    She did not appear inside Church structures – at Knock she appeared deliberately outside a church;
•    These apparitions all contain secrets;
•    They all point to a coming dire cosmic event, an approaching storm..
Now, let us briefly present two Marian devotions and their links to the Knock apparition.

THE IMAGE OF OUR LADY OF KNOCK
At Knock, Our Lady is described as wearing a white or silvery-white garment with a cloak clasped around the neck, a golden crown with a rose, and topped with sparkling stars or crosses. She appeared outside the church on a slightly higher level than the other figures.

But the most distinguishing feature of Our Lady in this apparition is her gaze and the position of her hands.

In fact, if you spot an image of Our Lady where she is gazing upward and her palms are raised to the level of her heart, a couple of feet apart yet facing one another, you are probably looking at an image of Our Lady of Knock. It is a position of someone who is directing an intense prayer to God.

OUR LADY OF KNOCK AS MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACES

If we consider this apparition in light of the many chaotic, tragic and violent events of the last 137 years, the universal chastisement to come and her triumph foretold at Fatima, I believe we should see Our Lady’s posture at Knock as one of a mother who is praying, petitioning and interceding before God on behalf of her children, the faithful, concerning these coming events.
Her pose is that of a Mediatrix, as observed by author Mary Purcell:

“It is interesting to note that none of the witnesses [at Knock] had ever seen a picture or statue showing Our Lady in this attitude, but authorities on Marian art have commented on the similarity between the description of Our Lady by the Knock witnesses and early Christian paintings in the Roman catacombs depicting the Blessed Virgin as Advocate or Orante, her hands raised in prayer …

“Four witnesses said that she appeared to be praying. When a Queen prays, it is to intercede for her people, to be their advocate, to obtain favors for them. Hence theologians have seen Mary as she appeared at Knock as the mediatrix of all graces.”

Several theologians assert that Our Lady as “mediatrix of all graces” will someday be declared an infallible dogma of the Catholic Church. If this is true, then the apparition at Knock can be seen as a presage to the declaration of this dogma.

It is rumored that Pope Pius XII was preparing such a declaration but changed directions and, instead, declared the less Protestant-offensive dogma of the Assumption in 1950. In this period leading up to the catastrophic Vatican II, the lax, liberal, and progressivist forces in the Vatican have been obstinately opposed to such an anti-ecumenical dogma that would declare Our Lady to be the universal mediatrix of graces.

KNOCK AND FATIMA: The Immaculate Heart of Mary

The 19th century was replete with miracles and manifestations of Mary, i.e.: 
The Miraculous Medal and her apparitions to St. Catherine Labouré (1830), Our Lady of the Miracle and her apparition to Alphonse Ratisbonne (1842), the finding of the 1712 manuscript True Devotion to Mary written by the Apostle of Mary St. Louis de Montfort (1842), Our Lady of La Salette (1846), Our Lady of Lourdes (1858), the declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (1854) and many other actions of Pius IX promoting Our Lady.

More specifically, devotion to the Heart of Mary grew tremendously during the 1800s:
“In 1799 Pius VI, then in captivity at Florence, granted the Bishop of Palermo the feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary for some of the churches in his Diocese. In 1805 Pius VII made a new concession, thanks to which the feast was soon widely observed. Such was the existing condition when a two-fold movement, started in Paris, gave fresh impetus to the devotion.

“The two factors of this movement were, first of all, the revelation of the “miraculous medal” in 1830 and all the prodigies that followed and, then, the establishment at Notre-Dame-des Victoires of the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Refuge of Sinners, which spread rapidly throughout the world and was the source of numberless graces.

“On 21, July, 1855, the Congregation of Rites finally approved the Office and Mass of the Most Pure Heart of Mary without, however, imposing them upon the Universal Church. Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1944 to be celebrated on 22 August, coinciding with the traditional octave day of the Assumption.” 

In 1944, when the Feast of the Immaculate Heart was finally proclaimed, the world was in the midst of the unprecedented destruction of the Second World War. Pius XII’s dedication of a feast day to the Immaculate Heart of Mary should be seen as a desperate plea and response to Our Lady’s request at Fatima,“God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart” (July 13th apparition).

The new feast day would be celebrated on August 22. As a result, the day of the Apparition of Knock, August 21, which was already within the Octave of the Assumption, August 15, would mark the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Just as the Knock apparition would be followed by the Fatima apparition, so also the feast day of Knock was followed by the feast day of the Immaculate Heart – which Our Lady at Fatima came to establish.

Perhaps it could even be said that at Knock the opening of her hands that are normally folded in front of her Immaculate Heart was a pre-vision of this coming devotion and final triumph of her Immaculate Heart.

FORESEEING CHANGES IN THE LITURGY

It is important to note that all the seers at Knock viewed, to the right and in the background, a “plain altar with a lamb standing on it.” They further explained that what they meant by “plain altar” was, “an altar without candlesticks, linens or decorations of any kind.” It was an altar unadorned and bare.
By 1969, in the aftermath of the disastrous Second Vatican Council, “Liturgical Reform” came as a destructive tidal wave. Pope Paul VI moved the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and changed or eliminated many other Feasts. Sacred, beautiful altars, like the liturgy, were stripped of beautiful ornaments, made plain, tossed out, desecrated and destroyed.

So, with this in mind, the presence of the “plain altar” in the Knock apparition was a prophetic allusion to this coming most miserable destruction of Vatican II.

SAINT JOHN AT KNOCK
Let us analyze the figure of St. John the Apostle in the scene at Knock. The figure of St. John is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Knock apparition.
Indeed, it was the presence, pose and symbolism of St. John that drew a number of Catholics to further study the message of Knock. Before entering the subject of St. John’s presence at Knock, let us present a few details concerning this special Apostle.

St. John was the youngest of the 12 Apostles. He was a virgin and because of his virtue and purity, he was often referred to in the Bible as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” He was the one to whom Our Lady was entrusted by Our Lord himself from the height of the Cross. He was the only Apostle who did not flee, but was present at the foot of the Cross.

He wrote three small Epistles and was an Apostle who penned one of the four Gospels – hence the title “St. John the Evangelist.” He also wrote the last book of the Bible, which is the mysterious and prophetic book of the Apocalypse; hence another title, “St. John of the Apocalypse.”

Along with St. Peter and St. James, St. John was present at the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor, the Garden of Gethsemane and most of the other significant events of Our Lord’s life.

OUR LADY, SAINT JOSEPH, AND ‘A BISHOP’

At the Knock apparition, the figure of Our Lady was immediately recognized by the witnesses and required no verbal or written proof. She appeared in the front and center, a little taller than the other two figures and was clearly the focal point of the apparition.

St. Joseph also was immediately recognized by every witnesses of that mystical phenomenon. Indeed, St. Joseph is always one of the easier figures to recognize in any Church. He usually appears tall and lean, holding a lily-flowered or plain staff and often the Child Jesus. He is normally groomed and attired as a grown man of apostolic times, markedly older than Our Lord and the Apostles. The grey coloring of his beard in the apparition at Knock was spoken of by at least two witnesses. As one of the female witnesses adroitly put it, “Everyone knows what St. Joseph looks like.”
However, the identity of the third figure, St. John, was not so easily recognized and he was, at first sight, referred to simply as “a Bishop” because of the miter on his head. The simple peasants of Knock came to realize that the “Bishop” was St. John the Apostle through conversations during the apparition. One of the witnesses had recently been to the city of Lecanvey where she had seen a statue of St. John very similar to the third figure in the apparition.

Ever since the Knock apparition in 1879, the “Bishop” has been universally recognized as St. John, who was, in fact, the Bishop of Ephesus. This is because the third figure corresponds to the traditional representations of St. John who is always depicted as a young man with no beard, long hair and wearing the clothing of apostolic times. Also, the presence of the “Lamb of God” on the altar is a strong proof of the identity of this “Bishop.”

St. John, indeed, is the only one in Sacred Scripture to use the expression, “Lamb of God,” which was first used in the first chapter of St. John’s Gospel. St. John reports that this expression was used by St. John the Baptist when he saw Our Lord approaching: “The next day, John [the Baptist] saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And, also, “And beholding Jesus walking, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God.” (John 1:36).

It is also interesting to note that the apparition of Knock took place outside St. John the Baptist Church. The use of the word “Lamb” with a capital L, which refers to Our Lord, appears many times in St. John’s Apocalypse. But, let us discuss this later.

This is perhaps the only public apparition of St. John. But even if it is not, his appearance can be categorized as apocalyptic. In either case, the message of Knock might be clarified if we find answers to these questions:
1.    Why did he appear in 1879? What was happening or about to happen in the spiritual sphere, the Church, and the temporal sphere, the State?
2.    Why was St. John dressed as a Bishop and preaching from an open book (probably his own), appearing after the forced temporary suspension of the First Vatican Council (1871) and before the final threatening apparition at Fatima (1917)?
3.    It is not the custom to depict Apostles wearing a Bishop’s miter. Usually, they are represented with the tongue of fire from Pentecost, a halo, or nothing on their head but holding an identifying symbol such as keys, a sword, etc. Why this unusual depiction of St. John as Bishop of Ephesus?
St. John’s presence at Knock, with the special emphasis placed on his bishopric is something too unique and too unusual to not have something to do with Our Lady’s message at Knock. If we consider the ‘en masse’ apostasy, betrayal and silence of the present-day Bishops, including the Bishop of Rome, the appearance of the Bishop St. John becomes even more significant… even critical.

Is the presence of Bishop St. John in a “living tableau” in Knock in 1879 an indication of the future presence of Bishop St. John living in our own time?
THE LIVING BISHOP, Saint John

The two closest men to Our Lady during her earthly life, besides Our Lord, were present in the Knock apparition. St. Joseph, who was the head of the Holy Family until his death, and St. John the Apostle, who was entrusted with her care as his mother by Our Lord himself from the height of the Cross. This is one link between the three figures at Knock. But there is another connection that finds support in Tradition, events and teachings: It is possible that all three figures in the apparition at Knock are alive.
It is an infallible dogma of the Church proclaimed by Pope Pius XII that Our Lady is alive, and went to Heaven, body and soul, where she reigns as Queen. No one can deny this fact and still be a member of the Catholic Church.

Concerning St. Joseph there is a strong possibility that he also is alive. It is not an infallibly defined dogma, but there is a tradition that says St. Joseph resurrected and is with Our Lord and Our Lady in Heaven. Most Catholic theologians believe St. Joseph is alive and in Heaven.

One of the reasons they give is that Our Lady wants St. Joseph in Heaven to have the Holy Family reunited. Indeed, why should Our Lord and Our Lady wait until the end of the world and the resurrection of the bodies to only then have St. Joseph with them in body and soul?

Another reason is the absence of his tomb and body. “Everyone talks about St. Joseph, but where is his body?”, said one theologian.

These arguments of probability that St. Joseph could be alive are quite compelling.

CONCERNING SAINT JOHN’S MARTYRDOM 

Also interesting and important for our times is the appearance of St. John, the third figure of Knock, dressed as a Bishop.

Concerning St. John, the proofs that he could be alive are even more numerous and convincing. St. John was the only Apostle to not flee during the Passion of Our Lord. Perhaps, as a result, he is the only Apostle to not suffer a martyr’s death… not for lack of hatred of the enemies of the Church who submitted him several times to martyrdom, but because he did not die in those trials.
It appears that there was more than one attempt to kill St. John. Below is what most consider to be the last attempt, the proverbial ‘last straw,’ that made the Roman Emperor decide to exile him to Patmos Island.

“In this time Domitian was Emperor of Rome, which made great persecutions unto Christian men, and did take St. John, and made him be brought to Rome and made him to be cast into a vat full of hot oil in the presence of the senators, of which he issued out, by the help of God, more pure and more fair than he entered in, without feeling of any more heat or chaffing.

“After this, when that Emperor saw that he ceased not to preach the Christian Faith, he sent him into exile unto an isle called Patmos. There was St. John alone, and was visited by Angels and governed; there he wrote by the revelation of Our Lord the Apocalypse, which contained the secrets of Holy Church and of the world to come.” (The Golden Legend, Jacobus de Voragine)

So, here we see that St. John not only survived the order to kill him, but was actually rejuvenated in the presence of the senators of Rome. It was an attempt to end his life that had the opposite effect, i.e., he lived longer.

ST. JOHN’S DEATH

At the end of the last chapter of the St. John’s last Gospel (21: 21-25), there are very interesting words. These words could even be the last written words of the entire New Testament since there is a tradition that St. John’s Gospel was written after the Apocalypse.

In St. John’s Gospel we read about “the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples, after he was risen from the dead.” After being initially inappropriately dressed when Jesus appears (Peter “girt his coat about him, (for he was naked,)”, and being questioned three times by Christ concerning his fidelity (“Lovest thou me?”), Our Lord confirmed the charge of Peter over His sheep (“Feed my sheep”). Then, while following Jesus, Peter looked back and saw John following them and asked: “Lord, and what shall this man do?” Jesus saith to him: So, if I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? Follow thou me.
“This saying therefore went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. And Jesus did not say to him: He should not die; but, So if I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? This is that disciple who giveth testimony of these things, and hath written these things; and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written.” (21: 21-25)

So, God, through the pen of St. John, ends the Gospels with a chapter in which Jesus questions Peter (and therefore all future Popes) three times, pressing him to remain faithful and, then, ends the chapter with another question to Peter appearing twice: “If I will have him remain till I come, what is it to thee?” Perhaps Our Lord, closing the Gospels with these words, was giving a message to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear: St. John “has remained,” and will remain alive until the end of the world.

Also, there is something very subtly implied in the last sentence. It tells us that even the written word would not be a sufficient testimony: “The world itself … would not be able to contain the books that should be written.” By this, John seems to imply that it would be necessary for him, the witness, to come and “give testimony of these things.” That he, the Disciple who knows the truth, must come.
ST. JOHN IS ALIVE ACCORDING TO SOME SAINTS

We presented some indications that all three of the figures appearing in Knock – Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John – are alive. In short, 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’ .

There exist some traditions and texts of Sacred Scripture supporting the idea that Saint John is alive or, at least, could be alive.
We have some quotes from Saints, Doctors of the Church and theologians favoring the hypothesis that demonstrate 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”.

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”.

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)”.

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

SAINT JOHN, 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.
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?

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.”
POPES AND HIERARCHY OPPOSE OUR LADY’S MESSAGES

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. 

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:

•    “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. 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.
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.” 

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. 
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 properly.

THE OPPOSITION OF THE CHURCHMEN

So far, 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 properly.

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. The post-Vatican II religious authorities are hiding, deviating and even defiling the silent message of Our Lady at the Knock Shrine.
KNOCK MESSAGE HIDDEN AND DEFILED BY VATICAN II HIERARCHY

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, Modernism, false religions and the new morality. 

ECUMENISM AND 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.

THE LAMB AND ALTAR IN THE KNOCK APPARITION

  1. HIERARCHY USES KNOCK TO PROMOTE NEW MASS 

As demonstrated, 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. 
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 by the Conciliar Hierarchy to promote Vatican II, the New Mass and Ecumenism. The Hierarchy is using the apparition as if it were a heavenly approval for the Novus Ordo Mass.

On the contrary, we 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.

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 Holy Communion in the 5 First Saturday Devotion, not Mass.

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.

  1. 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.” 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.
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.” 

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

– “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.”

We 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 – the other altar appears during the storm in a bright, beautiful apparition of Saints and Angels surrounding Our Lady.
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.

AVE  MARIA!
Father Joseph Poisson

Featured Sermon
Given By His Excellency Bishop Pfeiffer

Featured Sermon
Given By His Excellency Bishop Pfeiffer

Consecration of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to Immaculate Heart of Mary
http://ourladyofmountcarmelusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Consecration-to-Immaculate-Heart-by-Our-Lady-of-Mt.-Carmel-SSPX-Marian-Corps.pdf

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