In 1867, during this bleak period, a great and saintly man, one Father Cavanaugh by name, came to Knock. During the worst days of the Great Hunger, he had worked tirelessly to relieve the poor. He sold all his possessions, including a fine horse and a watch given to him by his father, in order to raise money to feed the children of his parish. But he convinced his parishioners that they were never poor, as long as they had their faith. Father Cavanaugh became the heart and the soul of Knock, and he was much beloved of the people from his own village and from the neighboring parishes as well.
Early in August of 1879, a terrible summer storm damaged the church, ripping a hole in the roof and destroying the two interior statues, one each of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. Father Cavanaugh, in his patient and meticulous way, patched the roof and ordered replacement statues. But in a freak accident, both of these were smashed beyond repair while in transit to Knock from Dublin. Feeling that the forces of evil were, for some reason, taking vengeance on his little parish, the priest vowed not to be defeated and prayed more fervently than ever for the deliverance of Knock. He ordered two more statues, and these arrived intact and were installed in the church.
The following evening, there was another great storm. Father Cavanaugh’s housekeeper, Miss Mary McLoughlin, left him in the presbytery to visit her friends, the Byrne family, who lived on the other side of the village. As she walked past the church, she noticed three strange statues outside that appeared to be illuminated through the rain. She stopped for a moment to consider them, confused. Had the good father ordered even more statues to replace the damaged ones? Strange, he never mentioned it, and he told her everything. They had talked of almost nothing else but the curse of the statues since the first set had been destroyed. And she had helped him install the new statues yesterday. What were these, and why were they outside in the rain?
The Byrne family were upstanding and devout parishioners who took great pride in their duties as caretakers for the church. When the priest’s housekeeper reached the Byrnes’ home, she was brought in to dry off and take tea in the sitting room. Here it was that a teenage daughter of the Byrne family, Margaret, told Mary that she had just come from locking up the church. Margaret had noticed a strange white light near the south gable of the church. It was unusual, but it could have been a trick caused by the rain. She noticed it again on the way out and stopped to look at it for a moment before returning home, somewhat puzzled by it.
Another parishioner, Mrs. Carty, came by the Byrne home shortly thereafter. She also had seen the statues and the light and wondered why Father Cavanaugh was adding to the new collection in the church. Wasn’t this overkill? Given the hardships that so many were suffering in the area surrounding the village, there was surely better use of funds. Adding statues to the exterior of the church so soon after the famine and evictions seemed frivolous and irresponsible. And it didn’t seem a bit in character for the humanitarian priest who gave so much to his flock. The priest’s housekeeper reassured her that Father Cavanaugh would never behave in such a way.
Curious now that three of them in such a short time had noticed strange happenings, the two older women decided to investigate. They walked together in the inclement weather, slowing as they neared the church, where they could both see the strange statues outside in the rain.
Mrs. Carty asked, “When did Father Cavanaugh put those statues there?”
Mary McLoughlin replied, “He didn’t. I’m quite certain he did not. This is what I don’t understand.” They continued to watch, squinting through the raindrops to see if they could determine which saints were depicted in the statuary.
Margaret Byrne jumped with a squeal. “They’re moving! Those are not statues. Look!”
Watching quietly, they realized that indeed, these were not statues. On the far left was an older man with a gray beard, on the far right was a young man with long hair, and appearing in the center was a most luminous woman. The female figure was floating above the grass, surrounded by an incandescent white light. This central lady was identified by both women instantly as the Virgin Mary, and they reported later that they were quite certain the other figures were Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist. When questioned, neither could say specifically why or how they identified the figures, other than by the ages of the males.
Margaret Byrne ran home, breathlessly informing her family that a miracle was occurring at the church. All of them followed her out to witness the apparition of the three holy figures in the rain. In the later official investigations by the Church, fourteen people testified to the vision: six women, three men, and five children, three of whom were teenage girls.
All attested to a magical light, golden at first and then changing to a bright white that illuminated the entire wall of the church. Each witness saw three figures, but the details varied. One woman claimed that she saw a young lamb on an altar, adamant that the lamb was facing west and that it was important that they know he was facing the west. She referred to this as the Paschal Lamb. Several others testified to seeing angels, flying and hovering over the site, or hovering over the lamb and a large cross.
Our Lady was dressed in a shimmering white robe that appeared to be made of liquid silver. On her head was a sparkling crown, and in its center was a bloodred rose. She held her hands out, as the witnesses said, “in the same position as the priest does when he says Mass.” She looked up toward heaven, as if she were praying, while some even said that she appeared to be preaching. But unlike other Marian apparitions, Our Lady did not interact with the citizens of Knock. She did not speak to them and she did not offer any secrets.
All witnesses later described one male figure as Saint Joseph, because of his gray beard, and perhaps weight was added to this assumption because the statues in Knock were of Mary and Joseph. Joseph appeared on the left, and the young figure identified as Saint John the Evangelist was on the right. Strangely, the long-haired youth wore a bishop’s miter and vestments, in contrast to the first-century robes worn by Our Lady and Saint Joseph. “John” held a very great book in his left hand and gestured, as if preaching, with his right. One of the children also emphasized that John was preaching and that this was important, but the child could not hear the words. The significance of the book, and its extraordinary size, was emphasized by a number of witnesses.
Mary McLoughlin hurried back in the rain to tell Father Cavanaugh, but he was unimpressed and advised her that they were probably all seeing a reflection of stained glass in the rain. He would regret that reaction and his ultimate decision not to view the images for the rest of his life, as Knock became a legendary site of Marian apparition.
And Patrick was correct, of course, as all great saints are. His vision was infallible. Pilgrims did come from all over the world to Knock, as this was one of the later Marian apparitions to be acknowledged as authentic. Pope John Paul II visited Knock in 1979 on the centennial anniversary of the apparition, and he presented the village with a golden rose in commemoration of the holy occurrence. The city built an international airport to accommodate the huge number of pilgrims who come to this place in honor of Our Lady’s appearance.
Over a million people now visited Knock annually in celebration of this most Holy Apparition.
Following the presentation, Maureen was uncharacteristically quiet as she, Bérenger, and Peter walked through the streets that led away from St. Peter’s. Bérenger noticed.
“What are you thinking about?”
Maureen shrugged. Maggie was so dear and sincere in her presentation, but the story she told didn’t sit right with Maureen. In fact, even when she had visited Knock as a child, Maureen had found the place somewhat disturbing. It was commercialized, full of souvenir shops and plastic holy water bottles. She had always found this aspect decidedly unspiritual, but there was something else bothering her now.
“Well…there are a lot of assumptions, aren’t there? I mean, the apparitions didn’t exactly identify themselves. She didn’t say, ‘Hi there,
I’m the Virgin Mary, and this is my friend John the Evangelist and my husband Saint Joseph.’ I’ve had my share of visions, and that just doesn’t happen. You make assumptions based on what you know to be true in your own life. The people of Knock, who were very traditional and conservative Catholics in rural Ireland in the nineteenth century, made an assumption that this is what they were seeing based on their frame of reference.”
“So, what are you saying?” This was Peter’s question.
Maureen considered another moment before continuing. “Could it be that they were seeing something other than what they assumed? What if all of these apparitions around Europe, where a beautiful woman appears to children and tells them secrets, are something other than what has always been assumed? A different Mary, perhaps? Some of the witnesses at Knock say she appears to be preaching, which is an integral part of the Magdalene legacy but is not part of the Virgin Mary’s legacy. And the John figure is paramount, particularly because he holds this enormous book which is out of proportion to everything else, from which he also preaches. Yeah, I know, it’s his gospel, thus the title Evangelist. But is he really John the Evangelist? Because if he is, then why is he dressed like a bishop and why doesn’t the rest of his iconography match? Could it be because he is somebody else? Or representative of a different tradition? Are all three of these figures something completely different than what they’ve been assumed to be?”
Peter asked, “Where are you going with this?”
“I don’t even know yet. But what I do know is that there is a truth about the origins of Christianity and its authentic teachings that has been deliberately obscured. And therefore I have to wonder if perhaps God has been creating miracles all this time to direct our attention to that truth. Or maybe I’ve just been immersed in this too long. It seems that I see everything as a conspiracy these days. I suppose I’m just asking the question: what if all these Marian apparitions aren’t what we have been told they are?”
Peter was quiet, considering the question. Bérenger responded. “Fascinating idea, but it leads me to ask this question: to your point, the apparitions occurred in famine-torn rural Ireland in the late nine-tenth century, when no one would have had any frame of reference for the scenario you just presented.”
“So why bother?” Peter continued. “Based on your heretical theory, why would the apparitions attempt to show themselves in this way to a people who could not even begin to comprehend what they were trying to convey?”
Maureen stopped walking as an idea hit her. “Because they weren’t conveying the message to them.”
“What do you mean?” Peter wasn’t following her line of thinking.
“Just maybe…they were conveying the message to us. In the future. In a time when we could reinterpret it.”
It was Bérenger’s turn to question. “But why?”
“You don’t think that’s arrogant?” Peter asked. “To say that these events happened all for our benefit?”
“I’m not saying that they happened for us specifically. I’m saying that they happened in order to leave clues for anyone who was motivated to find them and inspired to follow them. And we are. Our obligation is to not let those clues go undiscovered.”
“For those with ears to hear and eyes to see,” Peter mused.
Bérenger was struck by a thought. “Maggie mentioned Saint Patrick in the presentation, and that he had declared Knock a holy place. Think about it. What do we know about your patron saint?”
Peter responded first. He was passionate about Patrick’s legacy in Ireland. “The miracle of Patrick is that he did not shed one drop of blood in his conversion of the Irish pagans to Christianity. He converted them through understanding and integration.”
“And where do you think he learned that strategy?”
Maureen wasn’t sure where he was going and listened as Bérenger continued.
“From the Prince of Peace, who was his ancestor. Saint Patrick was the grandnephew of Saint Martin of Tours, the French saint who shows up all over bloodline history. I’ve tracked his lineage and can almost definitively prove that he was the direct descendant of Sarah-Tamar.”
“San Martino!” Maureen was excited by where the connections were taking her. “Matilda’s church of the Holy Face in Lucca was named after Saint Martin of Tours.”
Peter was grasping it too. “And built by an Irish saint Finnian, who was inspired by Patrick.”
Peter was shaking his head in wonder. “Remember who Saint Patrick’s true successor was? Saint Brigit. A woman. A very powerful woman. One of the greatest leaders in the early Church.”
Maureen was speaking quickly now, putting it all together. “So Patrick is a direct descendant of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and he declares that Knock will be a holy place after he sees this in a vision. His successor is a powerful woman, who is also a prophetess. Are we saying that the early Celtic church was founded by our people? By heretics?”
Bérenger nodded. “I think it deserves consideration. Perhaps there were others in Knock that night who also witnessed the apparitions—but who saw something very different, something that the Church would not have recorded in the eyewitness accounts for obvious reasons.”
“A vision for those with eyes to see?” Peter asked. “You think there were heretics still living in County Mayo in the eighteen hundreds?”
“I don’t think we can rule it out,” Bérenger said.
Maureen nodded her agreement, her mind racing with the possibilities. They continued on their way across the Tiber, making their crossing on the monumental bridge that joins the edges of Vatican City to the rest of Rome. Bernini’s majestic angel sculptures shone in the moonlight as they passed.
“One thing that has always fascinated me about these visions of Mary is that many of them happen to children.” Maureen addressed her next question to Peter. “She appears to the very innocent, the very young, and the very poor. And she tells them secrets, right?”
Peter nodded now in agreement. “Usually, yes. She also tends to appear in times of great stress. Knock occurs when Ireland is recovering from the famine, the vision at La Salette occurs in France as that country is healing from the revolution, and Fátima has the backdrop of the First World War. In the midst of all this turmoil, secrets of faith are imparted to children by the Holy Mother. This is integral to the apparitions. Knock is unique in that it is one of the few Marian apparitions where there are no secrets and there is no contact, possibly because she is seen by adults as well as children. This is why she is called Our Lady of Silence.”
“But Knock is also unique, correct me if I’m wrong, in that the Marian figure is not alone. She is accompanied by companions who are as important as she is herself.”
Peter nodded. “That is true.”
“So what do we know about the secrets that Mary gives to the children in her other apparitions?” Maureen asked. “Are they ever revealed?”
“Sometimes, like in Fátima, the secrets were revealed a little at a time over the years,” Peter explained. “But some of the others were taken to the grave because the children refused to tell them.”
“And why do you think that is? Could it be that Mary told them something they were too afraid to share? Something that could be deemed…heretical?”
Bérenger found that the more time he spent with Maureen, the more uncannily similar their thought processes became. He joined in. “You think Mother Mary is appearing to tell the children, ‘The true teachings of my son are not being honored’?”
“That’s where this is leading me.”
Peter shook his head. “We have no way of knowing, do we? I have to confess that I never really looked at it this way and I don’t think I can now, either. I think these are beautiful, religious experiences that are had by pure believers during times when an increase of faith was vital to their communities. Children can see Our Lady because they are as pure as she is. I really don’t think it’s anything more than that.”
Maureen was t
ired, and she wasn’t even sure she wanted to make a case for the Marian apparitions being anything other than what they appeared to be. She just felt the need to voice these questions. It was interesting to her that Knock Shrine had become the focal point of the Catholic conservative movement in Ireland. Agenda-driven programs criticizing contraception, divorce, and homosexuality were born and nurtured around Knock. Wouldn’t it be somewhat ironic if these apparitions that were used as a backdrop for intolerance were actually of a heretical nature? It was something to think about, but it was just one of many things that Maureen had to consider as the tortuous path of history continued to take her on a completely unpredictable journey.
The three of them had a late dinner in the Piazza della Rotonda, but Maureen rarely joined in the conversation. Finally she admitted that she just wanted to be alone for a few hours to contemplate all that was swirling through her consciousness. Something was nagging at the back of her brain, and she had to give in to it, to see where it would take her.
Back in her room, she flipped open her laptop and began trawling online to find out more about Marian apparitions. She wasn’t certain what she was looking for or why these suddenly mattered to her quite so much. But she had learned not to ignore her instincts regarding such things. Maybe something would jump out at her, help her to understand why this was suddenly important.
Peter was right. With the exception of Knock, all the apparitions that Maureen found had similar characteristics: they were witnessed by very poor children who were also illiterate. These children were all told “secrets”—some to be kept in perpetuity by the chosen child, others to be shared at designated times with the world. Was the Church censoring these secrets? Fabricating them? Some of the eyewitness accounts were written in ornate and flowery language, utilizing phrasing that simply could not have come from the mouths of illiterate children.