Patrick
" I SCALED THAT GATE, AND LANDED SMACK IN HEAVEN."
Last night I was invited by some Maltese pals to dine,
Some fresh lampuki we did eat and drank good vintage wine,
We drank each other's health oft times,
And wished each other luck,
We laughed and joked and story-told till 3 0'clock was struck.
Then I bade my friends good morning, I went home and into bed,
I had a very funny dream, I dreamt that I was dead.
I though the time for repentance had forever gone,
I saw an angel up above and I was beckoned on.
Then I moved so fast I imagined, I moved on roller skates,
Till at length I thought I found myself outside The Golden Gates.
What brings you here sez Peter, you're insolent and late,
herewith a list of all your sins, the flames must be your fate.
Salv told me in Melitaland, unless you have 'A saint',
Whatever your credentials be, a chance for you there ain't.
So right in front of Peter bold, head bent and tremblin' knees
i shed a bucketful of tears and begged him hear my pleas.
sure I come from Tipperary where St. Patrick had a cell,
The snakes he banished from our land - all Ireland saved from hell,
Do tell him
I'M OUTSIDE THE GATE AND IN DIRE NEED OF HELP,
Ould Peter turned upon his heel and gave an angry yelp.
but then appeared our darlin' Pat, in robes of emerald green,
As bonny and as grand a man as e'er the choirs had seen,
I grasped his noble, outstretched hand while he did count to seven,
And in one skate,
I SCALED THAT GATE,
AND LANDED SMACK IN HEAVEN.
TO ALL THE IRISH EVERYWHERE - BEANNACHTAI NA FEILE PADRAIG AGUS
SLAN GO DEO LE BRON IS BUAIRT ! LE MOR GRA,
( May all the blessings of St. Patrick fall upon you and may you wave good-bye to-day to doom and gloom! With much love ).
"When the storm breaks for you / may the trees shake for you their blossoms down / and in a night when you are troubled / may a friend wake for you / so that your time be doubled / and at the end of all loving and love / may the King above hand you a crown".
Anita Kilbride-Jones
Saint Paul's bay, Malta.
And
The story of Knock.
At about 8 o'clock on the Thursday of the 21st August, 1879, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared at the south gable of the church at Knock, County Mayo, Ireland. Beside them and a little to their left was an altar with a cross and the figure of a lamb, around which angels hovered.
There were fifteen official witnesses to the apparition - young and old - who watched and prayed for two hours in pouring rain.
Two Commissions of Enquiry, in 1879 and 1936, accepted their testimonies as trustworthy and satisfactory.
Today, Knock ranks among the world's major Marian Shrines.
Crough Patrick
County Mayo,Ireland
A Place of Pilgrimage
