Pics of Scotland…..What Have Joe Biden & Bernie Bell Got In Common?........
by Bernie Bell - 09:22 on 15 April 2023
Pics of Scotland…..
7th- 14th of April 2023…..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65256485
A rainbow kisses a hill-top at Loch Garry - by Karina Leahy.
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What Have Joe Biden & Bernie Bell Got In Common?
They’ve both been to Knock!
Mr Biden has just been to Knock, including visiting the Basilica….
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65270569
I’ve previously written of Knock in this article…
https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/05/05/re-the-boyne-to-brodgar-programme-iii/
….drawing possible comparisons between Knock and the Pilgrimage Centre at the Ness of Brodgar……
“Knock isn’t in the Bru na Boinne - it’s in the West of Ireland - and it’s modern - but Knock/Ness? ‘Appen. Something similar? Maybe even people selling ‘souvenirs’ at the Ness, as they do at Knock? Mebbe.
The biggest, most impressive building isn’t necessarily what matters. Sometime in the 18 hundreds, the Virgin Mary appeared at the gable-end of the church there ( I’m not saying what I make of this, I’m just telling the tale). She appeared to a group of children. This became a place of pilgrimage.
When I was a child my Mum & Dad used to take me there every year to drink the ‘Holy Water’, as I have Asthma. (I should mention that, by this time, the ‘Holy Water’ was dispensed from a row of taps, which were periodically blessed by a priest. Still, maybe that still makes it ‘Holy Water’ – who knows).
At first people could just go to the end of the church and touch where Mary appeared. This was so, for many years. Then, next stage, they built a big glass box round it, with statues representing Mary and the children, so you couldn’t touch it anymore, but people knelt and prayed outside the glass box. This was also the case for many years. THEN……they built a whacking great Basilica, not really near the church at all. It looks like a flying saucer.
They have non-stop masses going on (seriously, one after the other). When you go in, you can walk round a covered walkway (does that sound familiar?) so that you can ‘participate’ in the mass, without going in and disturbing people.
So……what I’m on about is……..the huge, great Basilica is now seen as the main event at Knock. Possibly, people go there and don’t even go to the old church - may not know that the old church matters at all! The Basilica has taken over because it’s the most noticeable, impressive ( if you like that sorta thing) building in Knock.“
Did the site on The Ness - and in particular Structure 10 - maybe ‘take over’ a bit from the Ring of Brodgar as far as pilgrims were concerned?
https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/about/the-structures/structure-ten/
Footnote….
When we’d go over to Ireland on holiday to visit the family, we’d always bring back a bottle of the ‘good stuff’….
https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/03/17/memories-of-the-craetur-comfort-2/
Dad’s policy was to ‘hide in clear view’. He’d put the bottle on the back shelf of the car and his plan if stopped at Customs and asked what it was, was to say it was holy water from Knock. Then if the customs people opened it, smelt it, and called his bluff, he planned to say “Glory be to God – it’s a miracle!”
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Here’s one I made earlier…. https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/12/30/im-beginning-to-feel-like-dracula/
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