The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-09-17
A WONDERFUL STORY OF KNOCK.
HOW \ NEW YORKER WAS MIRACULOUsLY
CURED or \ PAINFUL LUMBAGO.


The New York Sun of the 9Th inst relates
the following strange story Of number of
remarkable cures resulting from visits made
to the world-renowned Chapel of Knock, in
the County Mayo Ireland:
Mr.. William Geogheghan, we'll known to
the inhabitants Of the Thirteenth Ward, and.
indeed, tOa great many New y OrkerS, arrived
home a few days ago from visit to his native
cOultTy, Ireland. Mr.. Gcoghegan felt that
his journey would he incomplete unless he
made a pilgrimage to the famous Knock
chapel, the scene of the remarkable appaU-
itiOn of a year ago. OF his journey there
and what hc saw and experienced he last
evening told in his saloon, at Grand and
Cannen streets
Il visited Knock chapel, - said Mr. Gcoehe-
gan, "on the 9th of August last a little less
than year after the wonderful apparition
| went in company with the Rev Father
Corbctt, Of ClaremoTTiS. The Village of
Knock, as you know, of course. is in County
Mayo, and in the barOny of Costello. Knock
IN Gaelic means a hill, and the village i
rightly named, fOI"it Is surrounded by eleven
little hills. We drove down from ClaremOr-
Tis IN jaUnting ear. After a drive through
the rain we reached the church. All along
the road we had passed pilgrims bound for
the same destination as ourselves. When we
reached the church | was surprised at the
number OF persons who surrounded it, many
of them kneeling in the mud and water
with their faces on the ground, devoutly
praying to God and the Blessed Mother that
their pains might he taken from them. | CON
fcss that | was skeptIcal when | set out for
Knock. | was a Catholic, to be sure, and
meant to be a good Catholic too. but my
credHlity was pretty severely taxed by the
accounts of the miriclcs / had heard But
when / saw that church and the surrounding
wOrshipperS, a feeling of reverential awe
stole over me.
g / saw" continued Mr. Geoghegan, Z" a
humble church, with no claim to architectu-
raj beauty. 1t was built of gray stone in
the shape of a cross, or of a letter T. The
body of the church is about 80 feet long. the
cross portion perhaps 30 feet long 1t was
on the southern gable of the church that the
appariticn appeared. You remember what
the apparitiOn was > No? Well on the 21St
of August of last year. which was the eve of
the octave day of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, a remarkable appear
ance was seen at : = in the evening 1t was
gloomy. rainy evening, without a particle
Of sunshine. The best accounts say that
some persons hurTying along the road which
leads to the chapel saw the wall beautifully
Illuminated by soft light, amid which stars
shOne. Other persons came up and stopped
and looked. These saw on the gable end of
the church in this light an altar. and by it
figures of the Blessed Virgin St John the
Evangelist. and St Joseph On the altar was
a lamb standing, and behind it a crucifiX
with the figure of the Lord Jesus Christ
upon it. All around the altar was golden
light. These figures were visible until 10
O'Clock that evening, and twenty persons
saw them, and afterward before committee
of Clergymen testified to the facts as | have
told them. subsequently many cures were
accomplished by the application of cement
taken from the chapel walls. / should have
said that over the gray stone of which the
church is built is, or was a firm coating of
cement to protect it from the beating storms
that abound in that region. But now the
cement has disappeared in great pieces,
taken away by the pious pilgrims.
We drove first to the dwelling of the
Very Rev. Archdeacon Bartholomew A.
Cavanagh, the priest of the parish of Knock,
who accompanied us to the church. He is a
man of 30 years, perhaps, tall and slender,
with fine face in which is deyoutnesS and
unaSSuming piety-a man YOU would trust
and believe. Guided by him we made our
way through the throng that pressed up in
front of the shrine Against the wall where
the vision appeared there now stands a statue
of the Blessed Virgin covered by n canopy.
This is the shrine. The end of the gable is all
boarded up to keep the people who come
there from pulling off the cement. And now
! stood before the shrine of our Lady of
Knock. | l1nelt on the damp ground and
prayed that my pains might be taken from
me. For two years and more had been
great sufferer from lumhago ] had such
pains in my back that could not sleep un-
less pTOpped up by pillows. Why, | have
stood behind the bar here and almost cried
out with the great pain. | was still suffering
when | went to Knock. 1t was with diff
Guilty by the aid of a chair that | got on the
seat of the car, and Father COrbett had to
help me to get down. When / arose from my
knees in front of the shrine | felt better.
then went inside Of the church and again
knelt and said more prayers, such as Father
Cavanagl suggested. Inside of that church
the Rosary is continually chanted from in
the afternoon until II O'Clock at night, and a
few weeks before | was there it was chanted
continually night and day. When ! came
out of church felt like new man, and was
able to jump up to the seat of the car with
out aid, nor have felt the pain since | am
cured This is fact that | am telling You.
Father Cavanagh gave me some of the
cement, and also some wood from tine win
dow in the gable where the appariton ap-
I peared. ! used both according 70 his direc-
uohs, In connection ~ith the prayers / said