A telling vision at Knock

There have been many reports of apparitions of Mary, the Mother of God, across the world in recent decades and centuries. Some have been recognised and approved by the authorities of the Roman Catholic church while some have not.  A few turned out to be hoaxes.  Most attract the presence and prayers of large numbers of people.  No approved apparition is imposed on the beliefs of Catholics. One is free to accept, reject, doubt or remain indifferent to all such apparitions.  What is required is faith in the truths revealed by God and taught by the Church through Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium.

All that said, many holy places associated with claimed apparitions of Our Lady are important sites and, in my view, can be accorded some degree of credibility and importance in one’s spiritual life based on the evidence of the fruits flowing from such a place. ‘You will know them by their fruits.’ says Jesus in Matthew 7:16.

Behold the Lamb!

Saint John the Baptist,
Painting by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519),
Painted between 1513 until 1516,
Oil on Panel
© Musée du Louvre, Paris

We are more or less at mid-summer here in the Northern hemisphere. There used to be a custom of lighting a fire on ‘St John’s night’ on the 23^rd of June – the vigil of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.  The custom seemed to mirror ancient pagan customs associated with the worship of the sun and the significance of this moment in the seasonal calendar for primitive peoples across Europe.