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| Bridie Meehan, my dear Mother died in 1998. |
My Response: I love to spend time with pilgrims at Knock Shrine in County Mayo, Ireland. It is a "thin place" where I feel the spiritual presence of Mary and the precious saints I dearly loved, like my Mom, Bridie, who took us to Knock on all visits to Ireland. In 1956, we emigrated to the United States but we were fortunate to be able to return twice as a family when I was a teenager. In 1964 and 1966, we visited our relatives and toured around Ireland .We never left our homeland without holy water from Knock and turf from the bog. At one time, I had several gallons of water from Knock in our family home. I still have a bottle of Knock water in my Florida home.
One of my happy memories is of my mother blessing us on our major trips with holy water. When we got a new car, it was blessed too. Mom kept the holy water fonts at our doors filled with holy water too!
In 2014, I visited Knock with 12 friends on Celtic pilgrimage. We prayed together in a circle near the apparition site. Even though many do not attend church regularly anymore in Ireland people of all ages including the young still go to Croak Patrick and pilgrimage sites like Knock, and St Brigid wells in Liscannor, Kildare and Faughart.
Bridget Mary Meehan #womenpriestsnow, www.arcwp.org
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