Our Lord and Our Lady Still Remember Ireland

 

The Twentieth Century Republic of Ireland has often been presented as backward, in that contraceptives were illegal until 1979, while divorce was illegal until 1996.  Subsequent years have seen some monumental changes:

• "Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in Ireland, and one outreach group says the problem is even worse than official statistics show...The available statistics on their own show an alarming rise in the number of STDs reported in Ireland. Cases of herpes have jumped from 358 in 2002 to 1,226 in 2011. Syphilis reporting has more than doubled from 303 cases in 2002 to 653 last year, while gonorrhea cases jumped from 214 in 2002 to 834 last year.  Chlamydia presents the biggest STD problem in Ireland, with 1,922 reported cases in 2002, rising to 6,407 in 2011" (Irish Central, Major increase in sexually transmitted diseases in Ireland, 12/30/12).
• "THE last two decades have revealed a culture of abuse of children, by Church and State, in 20th-century Ireland. We are still coming to terms with that dark chapter of our history, as the survivors push for recognition and justice....[Yet] The closure of Ireland’s industrial schools and mother-and-baby homes has not heralded an end of the brutal abuse of children in this State.  Modern-day slavery exists here — almost half of the people trafficked in Ireland in 2012 were children. In 2013, 16 out of the 44 people formally identified as having been trafficked in the country were also children" (Irish Examiner, A History of Child Abuse in Ireland, 9/18/14). 
•  There has been a "sixfold increase in marital breakdown since 1986....[and a] huge increase in cohabitation....A third figure worth highlighting is the number of children being raised outside marriage.  In 1986 this was 12.8pc of all children.  By 2011 it had increased to over 28.1 percent....as 'family 'diversity' in Ireland increases overwhelmingly it will be the result of marriage and relationship breakdown and will go hand-in-hand with a rise in families without active, present fathers" (Iona Institute, Marriage Breakdown and Family Structure in Ireland: A Report Based on Census 2011).

Just three months ago, "Catholic" Ireland took yet another step in its rejection of Our Lord's teaching on marriage/family: "Not only has Ireland has [sic] agreed to same-sex marriage, it has done so in a louder voice than many could have imagined, carried on the back of a remarkable turnout and an engagement by younger people not seen in years....this one was largely for the younger generation, which turned out in its droves. Stories of emigrants returning home to vote and huge increases in voter registration offered indications of what was to come but the final results were astonishing" (Fiach Kelly, the Irish Times, 5/23/15).

It is not too late to embrace God's loving plan for marriage/family.  Our Lord and Our Lady Still have not forgotten Ireland or her sons and her daughters - even though of us who live so far from the "Emerald Isle":

"On this day at about this time, 136 years ago the veil between Heaven and earth was removed when Our Lady appeared. On that occasion she was accompanied by Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist. To their left appeared the Lamb of God on the altar against the background of the cross.  While the apparition has a very definite Marian message it also has an undeniable Eucharistic dimension.  The Eucharist is central to the message of the apparition....

"Here at Knock unlike other Marian Shrines, as you know, there was no verbal message but rather silence which speaks louder than words and is very conducive to the true spirit of adoration and praise.  Central to the celebration of the Eucharist must also be service....

"Here at Our Lady’s Shrine pilgrims come day after day, year after year to worship and adore the Lord and to ask the help of his Mother.  They endeavour to cope with everything that life throws at them, whether it is ageing, illness, so many family difficulties, upset, trouble or worry about the future and the kind of society which our young face.  Pilgrims come in search of healing and hope....


"Here at Knock the Stewards and Handmaids continue to testify to Mary’s concern by taking her advice 'do whatever my Son tells you'....

"As we give thanks for 80 years of dedicated service on behalf of the Knock Shrine Society in their Stewards and Handmaids we make Mary’s Magnificat our own...." (Archbishop Michael Neary, 8/21/15).