My mother died of 'slave related injuries' says Magdalene Laundries daughter

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(Ok, the last bit) The local Indian Catholic priests visiting Rome one day in recent years asked the Vatican if they could have Thomas’ remains back, “pls”. Pope John Paul II listened to their pleas. He is said to have agreed to give them back the finger that the doubting Thomas stuck in Jesus’ side. So when and if you visit Thomas’ remains in Ortona, know that the casket’s remains are missing one finger bone. And you can visit St. Thomas’ Church in India (I think in Chennai but check that out) and Thomas’original tomb underneath it, with its single finger bone. Now, RobinForester, stick your finger wherever you like and pls provide your proof that Jesus didn’t exist.

Finally may I admit to Robin that I’ve not yet visited any location where lie the remains of Lazarus, he who was raised from the dead by Jesus. I want to, some day or days. Apparently, his skeletal bones are scattered around in bits and pieces in far-flung places… his head is in Lyons Cathedral in France, some of his rib bones are in Spain, some more bones are in the Church of St. Lazarus in Havana, Cuba and I haven't a clue as to where his toes are. I’d have a lot of travelling to do to visit all of his spread remains, eh? This reminds me of a story about Apostle Thomas… he was the one who doubted that Jesus was resurrected to life after his death and said something like “Unless I stick my finger in his wounds, I won’t believe it.” Yeah, well, according to all the historical stories, he did that (what an “Ouch” moment that musta been). Thomas, a construction worker, went on to spread the news of Jesus resurrection through Yemen and lndia. He died horribly in India, killed by spearing and arrows after having annoyed a few local people’s customs. His remains were transported by Italian merchants to Ortona in Italy (for that, read ‘robbed from India’). (A bit more…)

Conditions in IReland "were like famine times" McGrath is certainly not Irish born.As a Dubliner brought up in Dublin after the war. I would prefer my poor working class upbringing in a family setting rather than been shifted off to a Catholic slave labour camp. You are an insensitive excuse for a human being Mr McGrath.

(…more) The story has it that when Mary’s skeleton was found in a stone casket under the floor of Church of St. Maxime, when they lifted the skull out, the piece of skin fell off onto the stone floor. This piece of skin, today called the ‘noli me tangere’ skin, which never rotted throughout the centuries since Mary died, though the rest of Mary’s skin did, is said to be that bit of Mary’s forehead that Jesus touched that ‘Easter’ morning and so this was taken as the proof that the skeleton found was that of Mary Magdalene. I would urge all former inhabitants of Magdalene Laundries to visit the grotto in Ste Baume (near Marseilles, Aer Lingus will get you there) and the town and Church of St. Maxime and find true, unimaginable, solace there. And have a bit of craic there as you do; it’s a very beautiful part of France.

(…more) Then, from the cave, pilgrims make their way down from the mountain to the nearby town of St. Maxime where the Magdalene’s skull is on display in the crypt of the Church of St. Maxime (and yes, I’ve visited both cave and church but cheated again, driving instead of walking, even illegally parking near the church and getting away with it ). In the Bible (per John), it is recounted that when Mary Magdalene saw the Risen Jesus on that ‘Easter’ morning, she reached out to touch Him. He rebuked her, saying “Do not touch me” (in Latin: ‘noli me tangere’) but in rebuking her, He actually reached out and touched her forehead in that moment. Underneath the skull on display, there is a glass vial containing a piece of skin. (more...)

(…more) Perhaps the most famous of all is James the Great, so-called to differentiate him from James the Less, in Santiago de Compestela in the north of Spain, a place of pilgrimage for millions each year who actually undertake a walking pilgrimage of some hundred or more miles along different routes, or ‘Ways’ as they’re officially called, beginning in various countries throughout Europe, all ending at the Church of St. James (I cheated... I flew in and flew out of Santiago). Two of the ancient ‘Ways’ begin in Russia (taking in Poland and Germany) and in Italy, which conjoin to pass through the Sainte Baume mountain in Le Plan D’Aups, France, where many pilgrims visit the cave where Mary Magdalene lived out her last 30 years of life as a hermit. It’s quite a hike up to the grotto. There are two routes up to the cave. I suggest that most use the easy route (called the Allee des Rois et Reines, the route built for the Kings and Queens from all over Europe and for various Popes who made the pilgrimage in their horse-drawn carriages, to walk up and down to the cave. No, it’s not an alley; today it’s a nice open, mountain-aired, flattened gravel-covered walkway. You can also take the very original, ancient route up or down to the cave, the one through the forest. It’s more difficult but hugely enjoyable for sure-footed walkers like me, heh heh). The cave is huge, big enough to have a small chapel inside it; it also has a silver casket containing some of Mary’s bones. (more...)

(more...) In Rome you will find Apostle Matthias in the Church of Mary Maggiore, Bartholomew in the Church on the Island in the Tiber (what a very funny encasement for Barth! I burst out laughing when I saw it. It’s the altar at which Mass is celebrated and it looks like an outsized black-coloured tub bath. Barth musta been the joker, the funny guy amongst the Apostles). James the Less and Phillip’s caskets are side-by-side together in the Church of the Twelve Apostles (also called the Church of the Duo Apostoli, the two Apostles). That’s eight of the original Apostles... the rest unknown. Also in Rome, I’ve visited the casket containing the remains of the later Apostle, St. Paul, in the Church of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome (stone casket discovered during planned excavations, just a couple years ago). (more...)

(more...) Most of the other Apostles’ remains are in Italy, in old stone or ancient silver caskets, which are on view to the public visiting them – Andrew is in Amalfi, Matthew in Salerno (a very, very astonishingly, beautiful artistic crypt), Thomas in Ortona (famous for a WWII battle between Canadian and German troops; though the Church was bombarded and mostly destroyed, the casket survived intact. That reminds me of St. Benedict, whose remains and those of his sister are buried behind the altar in the monastery atop Monte Casino, site of another great WWII battle and aerial bombardment… the church was obliterated during that terrible battle. One bomb landed in the very spot where Benedict and his sister are buried, but it never exploded… that’s your cue to gasp in astonishment and wonder at God’s power to protect his Saints and Apostles remains). (more...)

It’s really hard to know where to rejoin this discussion which has wandered off the main topic with posts varying so much! But I’ll topically stick with RobinForester’s comments for now (you’ll see why later). I’ve often posted here on IC of how that that I’vebeen privileged to visit the known tombs of the original Apostles (the RCC & Eastern Orthodox Churches don’t know where the rest of them are buried… one story emerged recently that one is buried in Romania). The “tombs” are resting places, not graves with foundations as we know them today and all of them are in Catholic Churches except St. John who was buried under the altar of an ancient Christian Church overlooking Ephesus in Turkey that was destroyed by earthquakes. However, his underground tomb is intact though not accessible by the public except on special occasions. John was said to have been asthmatic and if you kneel over the grate above the tomb there and sniff the air out of the tomb, you will allegedly be cured of asthma. I was there once. Apostle Peter, of course, is in Rome, under the Basilica. His few bones discovered during destructive excavations authorised by Pope Paul VI are now encased in indestructible glass-looking squares (as seen in a BBC TV documentary shot in Vatican City, courtesy of present-day Pope Benedict XVI). (More…)

My comment has been edited out , simply because I sought to see the facts, the truth, behind the Laundries here:-) This makes me see the way hatred is engendered against the Church here and elsewhere. Many of those women would have been sentenced to jail by the courts except for the magdalene alternative, many others would have starved. It's obvious that many others came from homes where they were sexually abused. They were undoubtedly harse regimes, but it was almost impossible to survibve in the Ireland of the times where great wealth existed alongside conditions that were not much better than Famine times, and this was the fault of the State that had let down its own Irish people massively and hugely in favour of rampant native capitalism on a scale never witnessed even in the U.S. capitalist society. And this was the real truth behind the country called Irelabnd at the time and I know because I went through it , and I survived, and rthis is the truth that Irish Central blocks and seeks to hide.

My comment has been edited out , simply because I sought to see the facts, the truth, behind the Laundries here:-) This makes me see the way hatred is engendered against the Church here and elsewhere. Many of those women would have been sentenced to jail by the courts except for the magdalene alternative, many others would have starved. It's obvious that many others came from homes where they were sexually abused. They were undoubtedly harse regimes, but it was almost impossible to survibve in the Ireland of the times where great wealth existed alongside conditions that were not much better than Famine times, and this was the fault of the State that had let down its own Irish people massively and hugely in favour of rampant native capitalism on a scale never witnessed even in the U.S. capitalist society. And this was the real truth behind the country called Irelabnd at the time and I know because I went through it , and I survived, and rthis is the truth that Irish Central blocks and seeks to hide.

My comment has been edited out , simply because I sought to see the facts, the truth, behind the Laundries here:-) This makes me see the way hatred is engendered against the Church here and elsewhere. Many of those women would have been sentenced to jail by the courts except for the magdalene alternative, many others would have starved. It's obvious that many others came from homes where they were sexually abused. They were undoubtedly harse regimes, but it was almost impossible to survibve in the Ireland of the times where great wealth existed alongside conditions that were not much better than Famine times, and this was the fault of the State that had let down its own Irish people massively and hugely in favour of rampant native capitalism on a scale never witnessed even in the U.S. capitalist society. And this was the real truth behind the country called Irelabnd at the time and I know because I went through it , and I survived, and rthis is the truth that Irish Central blocks and seeks to hide.