Apparition At Knock

Intro
Apparitions are remarkable, unexpected appearances of someone, most commonly Mary. This report presents information on the apparitions of Rue du Bac in Paris, Knock in Ireland, and La Salette in France. These apparitions have taken place within the past 200 years.

Para 1- Rue du Bac, Paris
On 18 July, 1830, Mary appeared to Catherine Labouré. Twenty-four year old Catherine was a novice sister who saw Mary late at night in a chapel in the convent Rue du Bac, Paris. She was escorted to the chapel by someone she later found out to be her guardian angel. She then saw Mary descend down the altar steps and sit on the spiritual director's chair. Mary told Catherine that she had a mission for her and warned her of bad times that were to come.
In particular she spoke about the religious persecution that would happen in Paris later that year. Catherine repeated the message to Fr Aladel, who was sceptical, but that scepticism disappeared when a revolution happened in Paris a week later on 27 July. Later on in the year, on 27 November, Catherine saw Mary again in the chapel. She was dressed in white, holding a golden ball with rings on her fingers, flashing with light. An inner voice told Catherine that the ball represented the world and the light represented grace for individuals. The ball disappeared to reveal Mary standing with outstretched arms inside an oval with gold lettering that read: 'O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.' Another inner voice told her to have a medal struck on this model. The medal would be a source of graces and should be worn around the neck. The reverse side of the medal displayed a large 'M' with a bar and cross on top, with two hearts that represented the hearts of Jesus and Mary, encircled by twelve stars. This medal earned the title of the 'Miraculous Medal'.

Para 2- Knock, Ireland
The Apparition at Knock took place in 1879.
The two apparitions took place in the same evening and only lasted three hours. On Thursday 21, 1879, two women from Knock, Mary McLoughlin and Mary Beirne were walking home in the rain when they passed by the local church. Against the wall stood the Virgin Mary, St Joseph, St John the Evangelist and an altar with a lamb and a cross on it. There were several angels flying around the altar. The two women called others to the church and they too saw the apparition. They described what they saw as a beautiful woman, clothed in white garments, wearing a crown and her hands were raised in prayer. Other villagers that weren't involved in the apparition reported seeing a bright, white light illuminating the church. A series of cures happened after this apparition. Ten days after, a young, deaf girl was given the gift of hearing. By the end of 1880, 300 miracles and cures had been recorded in the diary of the parish priest. The Knock Apparition is different to other apparitions for a number of reasons. One reason is that usually only Mary appears. Another reason is the lack of verbal message. Usually Mary comes with a warning or mission. Another factor that makes this apparition different is the number of people that experienced the apparition, usually no more than five people experience one. There were thirteen people involved in this apparition. The final difference is the duration of the apparition. Apparitions usually happen several times, but this one happened once for only two hours. These differences have made people doubt that the apparition in Knock ever took
place.

Para 3- La Salette, France
In 1846, two children, Mélanie and Maximin, were lucky enough to see Mary. Maximin was eleven and Mélanie was fourteen at the time the apparition happened. They were from a town called Corps, near Grenoble, a poor part in south-east France. On Saturday 19 September, the two children were looking after their employer's cattle on a pasture in La Salette. A globe of light revealed a woman sitting on a stone with her head in her hands. The children described her as tall and beautiful. She was wearing a long, white, pearl studded, sleeved dress and a white shawl with a tiara or crown on her head. Hanging from her neck was a necklace with a crucifix on it. With tears in her eyes she told them that unless people repented she would be forced to let go of her son. Mary also complained that she had to pray constantly to her son for them because people still worked on Sundays and spoke evilly. She spoke about punishments for these actions like crops dying and famine. She told a secret to each of the children, which they were not to give out. Finally, she asked the children to spread her message before disappearing.
Why they are authentic
For an apparition to be authentic it must meet a list of requirements. It takes many years for the Church to decide whether an apparition is authentic. Firstly, the apparition needs to be proven that it is not just a supernatural occurrence. Another feature of an authentic apparition is that they do not add or take away anything from the deposit of faith. The church takes many years to approve of an apparition because many people come forward with hoaxes. False apparitions are easier to spot. The Church sees no rush to approve of apparitions.

Conclusion
These three apparitions are amongst some of the most well-known. The things they have in common are: they all happened in the past 200 years, they all take place in the 1800s and they all occurred in Europe. The messages Mary had are very important ones. The only apparition that is different to others is the Apparition in Knock, Ireland because Mary did not speak, she was accompanied when she appeared and her appearance was very short. Mary will probably continue to appear to people to prove she is still here and to strengthen our faith.

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