House of Prayer, Achill, Co Mayo

Dave!

Hey folks,

My dad was just asking me about this, thought ye might be able to help me.

He said there was an article recently in the Sunday World about the House of Prayer permanently closing its doors recently, and the owner/whatever going off with all the money made from it.

I don't have a clue about any of it, but my dad's interested because his sister goes there fairly regularly to pray, I guess, and he wants to know what the story is.

Again I don't have a clue -- but I had a look on the website and no sign of it. A google search brings up an article from 1998 on another site, but he says it closed years ago, and opened again -- this is a recent closure.

Any clues on this chaps?

Cheers

Michael G

I haven't heard anything about it for years but it was always a bit doubtful. The official Church view of it was like what they say about Medjugorje: that the claims of supernatural revelations have no credibility but that it can't do any harm if it makes people a bit more serious about their religion.

(In case I am mistaken for an atheist, an agnostic or worst of all a liberal Catholic, I should mention that I am as right-wing and Traditionalist as anyone you can find, but I never thought there was anything supernatural happening in Achill. Tell your aunt to go the the Latin Mass in Harrington Street at 10.30 on Sundays if it's religion she's after.)

Dave!

Cheers Michael.

I'm just wondering if it's been closed recently or what... I don't know anything about the supernatural claims! Just wondering if it was a scam or wha

panda100

When I was in medjugorie last year I heared many people talking of this place. I think the person who owned it claimed to see Mary regularly and that If people came to the house of prayer they would receive the gift of eternal life.


There was a strong connection between medjugorie and the house of prayer so much so that one of the visionaries was told by Mary for Irish people to pray in the 'mother house' in Achill Island http://www.christinagallagher.org/en/

It sounded creepy and wierd to me.I wouldnt have been suprised If it was a money racket.


.

kelly1

DaveMcG wrote: »

He said there was an article recently in the Sunday World about the House of Prayer permanently closing its doors recently

I hope it's true because it's a complete scam just like Medjugorje!

panda100

Theres a big expose on her today in the Sunday world. Apparently she lives in a huge mansion in Malahide.

Dave!

Thanks panda! Told my dad about it, he'll pick it up later.

Cheers

Michael G

DaveMcG wrote: »

Just wondering if it was a scam or wha

I can't say it was an intentional scam but it was certainly profitable for Mrs Gallagher.

kelly1

One of her claims was that by going to one of her houses, you could receive the gift of "the seal of the living God" and that Our Lady wanted everyone to do this in order to be saved. This also implied that she could give something that the Church couldn't.

It bears all the hallmarks of a false/demonic apparition (if there ever was any interior locution/apparition in the first place).

BrianCalgary

kelly1 wrote: »

One of her claims was that by going to one of her houses, you could receive the gift of "the seal of the living God" and that Our Lady wanted everyone to do this in order to be saved. This also implied that she could give something that the Church couldn't.

It bears all the hallmarks of a false/demonic apparition (if there ever was any interior locution/apparition in the first place).

If there was ever a need to know scripture.
The Bible is clear on salvation: by faith through Christ.

So someone comes along and offers another way, you know it's not of God.

To all Atheists, this is how we as Christians know what is of God and what isn't.

themadchef

The house of prayer in Achill brings in bucket loads of business to the island so generally you won't get many business people saying it's all a farce, but that's what i believe it is.
People are easily lead, and many have moved to that village to donate money and time to restore the building.
There are lots of stories of coaches pulling up and asking for an audience with Christina, only to be told "she was unavailable". Oddly enough if you were to follow that with, "we have a large cash donation and will only give it to her personally"..she would suddenly become available.

I do believe in miracles, and i do believe that there may be miracle workers on this earth but i truly believe that where there are such large amounts of cash changing hands with no one to account for it there will be corruption.

I really pity the believers, if she is proven to be a fake it will turn many people off the church even though she was not technically part of it!

The web site was a joke, not sure if you heard about the "scroll" thingy. People sold their houses in as far away as Japan just to get one of these. Oh, by the way if you didint get one ....you're doomed? insane stuff indeed.

I have heard nothing about it closing, and the coaches still come..ten at a time some weekends. What does it take to be a believer, when all the evidence points to it being a cash cow.

lostexpectation

picture of her mansion of prayer, any pics of this place in achill?

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/rte-denies-gagging-liveline---over-comments-on-visionary-1272577.html

derry

I cant complain I found the visit to the house of prayer a spiritually enlightening experience like visiting any normal Catholic Church

I went to Achill Island for the few days to see if living in
Co. Mayo would be an interesting possibility

Before I left Dublin my brother a partial catholic as in goes to mass sometimes remarked there was some sort of house of prayer there

Not having a clue about the history of this house having lived in Europe for long periods figured I should try to fit it in

I went there on my last day a bit pressed for time so couldn't stay to chin wag with the locals on what was the story
I merely asked where the praying section was and when I found it I said a rosary
After this I felt spiritually unlighted as I usually do from saying the rosary and figured I must sometime in the future get back there to check it out more and chose to leave a small donation and left to go back to Dublin

I got back to Dublin and then heard the last few days from RTE 1 with Joe a series of so called expose and fact after fact presented was shown to be exaggerated half baked facts or often completely wrong

Claims and counter claims so I merely want to reaffirm my understanding of the basic rules which the Catholic Church has for these type of Catholic activities which are often run by the lay of the Church
Basically as long as these activities adhere to correct Catholic Church teaching and as long as they continue to preach the message of Jesus Christ son of Gods good news and they cause more of the flock to say more prayers to God then if the worshipers there like me wish without any propting but choose from faith to donate time or money to this activity the use of the funds for transport or houses rented borrowed or purchased is not a problem for in faith for the faithful to be involved with this house of prayer the lay always taking their main directions from the Catholic Church duly appointed clergy who interact with these activities
So even if funds are used for luxury types BMW or mansions that doesnt concern me or many of the faith as last rumor I heard was Ireland was the second richest country in the world and if some of the faithful come from the super rich who wish to supply these items on loan or permanently or the funds for these purposes where is the problem?

I can have no problem with any thing I heard about so far and can verify that this type of activity is very much a far reduced type of a return to the origins of the early church where all the flock supplied all of their worldly goods to the good of all of the flock so in todays world suppling some small part of our wealth to the Catholic Church and some extra curriculum activities like St Vincent de Paul or house of prayer are all examples of the faithful responding in faith to their Catholic Church which is entirely based on the teaching of Jesus Christ which is entirely faith based
Oh yee of little faith is a line from the Bible that comes to mind to sum it all up

Derry

withgodforever

I think you are all being very harsh. I believe she did actually see the incarnation of the Virgin Mary and that many people have these experiences. It is all about being open minded and having faith in God to show you how you are to live your life.
If you are chosen for a calling then you are chosen and there is nothing you can do about it. You must then live with whatever consequences come with that, such as Christina's living in a large house in Malahide.

kelly1

For anyone who believes she is genuine, please read this

http://www.catholicplanet.com/apparitions/false02.htm
http://www.catholicplanet.com/apparitions/false02b.htm

and then verify the "messages" at

http://www.christinagallagher.org/en/continue.html

A true visionary would never:

1. Contradicts the teachings of the Church
2. Shows disobedience to the local bishop

Anyone who does either of these is false. It also worth remembering that the devil can appear in disguise (as an angel of light). Bayside, New York is another example. I believe Medjugorje is in the same category.

God bless,
Noel.

Run_to_da_hills

kelly1 wrote: »

For anyone who believes she is genuine, please read this

http://www.catholicplanet.com/apparitions/false02.htm
http://www.catholicplanet.com/apparitions/false02b.htm

and then verify the "messages" at

http://www.christinagallagher.org/en/continue.html

A true visionary would never:

1. Contradicts the teachings of the Church
2. Shows disobedience to the local bishop

Anyone who does either of these is false. It also worth remembering that the devil can appear in disguise (as an angel of light). Bayside, New York is another example. I believe Medjugorje is in the same category.

God bless,
Noel.

Bayside prophecise New York seems to be the only "Roman Catholic" website that exposes RFID technology and biochip implants in relation to the "mark of the beast" spoken of in Revelation 13vs16 to 18. http://www.tldm.org/News4/MarkoftheBeast.htm

DublinWriter

She's also threatened to take RTE to court over the recent Liveline coverage of her activities.

GerHorgan

She is a wacho and a con woman living in a 5 million Euro house in Dublin !
I love this story "One woman explained how a doctor had told her the child she was carrying was dead. She had visited the House of Prayer and when she went back to hospital she was told the infant was alive. The child was with her yesterday." Absolute Classic

On the front of her website: "It is an abnormal calamity what is happening to the bee population in the world. They are disappearing at an alarming rate and this is a great threat to pollination of crops." "Starving vultures are eating live animals in Spain."

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=+1]Our Lady Queen of Peace Prayer House[/SIZE][/FONT]
I thought some of you might be interested in this report of a visit I made to the controversial Our Lady Queen of Peace Prayer House outside Leander, Texas, which I first posted in my own lj. The Prayer House was started by Christine Gallagher, a woman who claims to be a visionary and stigmatist.

St. Margaret Mary's bulletin for July 9, 2006, contained an odd warning:

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PARISHIONERS: Our Lady Queen of Peace House of Prayer, that recently opened at 23700 Nameless Road in Leander, is doing so without the approval of Bishop Aymond. It should not be considered as sanctioned by the Catholic Church. Chancery officials have received several inquiries about its legitimacy and others have expressed concern regarding the situation. If you have any questions, please contact the Chancery at 476-4888.

A quick search online produced the Diocese of Austin's newsletter, the Friday E-Pistle for June 23, 2006, from which this warning was derived. It read:

Serious concerns

Leander prayer house

Our Lady Queen of Peace House of Prayer, scheduled to open on June 23 at 23700 Nameless Road in Leander, is doing so without the approval of Bishop Aymond. It should NOT be considered as sanctioned by the Catholic Church. Chancery officials have received several inquiries about its legitimacy and others have expressed concern regarding the situation.

The house of prayer is associated with Ms. Christian Gallagher of the Tuam Archdiocese in Ireland. The Tuam Archdiocese does not recommend her or the House of Prayer as credible. We have also been informed that Father Gerald McGinnity, a priest of the Armaugh Archdiocese in Ireland, will accompany Ms. Gallagher to Austin. Father McGinnity has not been given permission to celebrate Mass at the House of Prayer and will not have faculties from the Austin Diocese to serve in any ministerial capacity.

Interesting article below:

As it turns out, the woman behind all this is actually Christina Gallagher (not Christian), an Irish woman who claims to have been receiving visions of Our Lady for some time now, and to have received the stigmata, which is now for the most part invisible. She circulates a photograph of her visible stigmata, and it is available online. She also claims to have received orders to construct a medal called "the Matrix Medal." She has recently bought land here to build what is planned to be a series of Prayer Houses across the U.S. Back in Ireland, she is at the center of a great deal of controversy over money and whether or not her visions are legitimate. She is backed by her spiritual adviser, a doctor of Divinity named Fr. McGinnity. I'm not sure whether he's in Texas now -- I don't believe he is. She is not, though she came out for the dedication of the house on June 23, 2006.

The land she's bought sits in unincorporated county near Leander and Cedar Park, next to a war games or survivalist facility. (A sign in the parking lot warns the reader not to park too close to the boundary line, lest one's "vehical" (sic) be damaged by flying debris. Measures have been taken to prevent projectiles from flying across the grounds, one is told.) A stone wall and metal gate, bearing the image of the Matrix Medal, have already been constructed.

A building which contains the gift shop has been built. It appears to be a home for volunteers. It also holds a temporary chapel in what appears to be a living room. A relic of St. Anthony of Padua stands on the mantlepiece. A makeshift altar stood at one end of the room, with photos of Christina Gallagher standing around a large image of Our Lady, Queen of Peace in Ms Gallagher's own style.

I visited the place less than two hours ago with my brother, justanothersean, and my mother. When we entered the temporary chapel, three women, a small child, and a man sat within. As it turns out, we knew one of the women -- a former parishioner of St. Margaret Mary's. It was just a few minutes from the five o'clock prayers, and we wanted to see the gift shop, so I headed towards the door. As it turns out, we weren't the only curious visitors who were confused about things -- the former parishioner and another women and the child got up to join us, and a man stood up and told us the other woman would open the gift shop for us. This man seemed to call the shots; we learnt nothing else about him.

We looked about the gift shop, and had the chance to chat with the other visitors and the woman, Joan. Joan told us that she is from Florida, but she spoke with a hint of a northeastern accent. It seems she was running a Marian apostolate there for some time, but she tells us she was trained in Ireland to come here. I bought a book -- Out of Ecstacy & Onto the Cross: Biography of Christina Gallagher -- and then asked her, "Why is it that the Diocese isn't involved in all this." I knew it may be a little rude, but I knew she had to have an answer.

She told us that all visionaries are disbelieved at first, and that it takes a long time for the Church to recognize them. Look at Medjugorje, she told us. From what I understand, the visionaries at Medjugorje have been condemned by the local bishop, but are supported by the Franciscan provincial in charge of the church the visionaries attended. Medjugorje has a great deal of support in the Church, including that of many priests, though it does not have the support of the Church.

Given the warnings in the bulletin, I found it ironic that the front page of St. Margaret Mary's bulletin was stapled to the sign board inside the bookstore. Joan said she now attends St. Margaret Mary's, and it will be interesting to see what relationship forms between the church and the prayer house. The pastor, Fr. Le-Minh Pham, is a big supporter of Medjugorje, and even brought back a medal for each family in the church when he went on pilgrimage there some years ago.

As it turns out, the woman from our church who was there had never heard of Christina Gallagher, which seemed to surprise and even hurt the woman at the cash register. Nevertheless, she was very uncritical of her visions, and saw the establishment of this prayer house as one in a number of foundations which would make this a more spiritual place. I'm sure the prayer house is intending to draw Catholics like her, who accept the existence of the prayer house uncritically, but can then be swayed to accept the validity of the visions -- and the agenda of the visionary.

The woman wanted a holy water bottle, but she was sold a small bottle with water already in it. I asked the woman who blessed the water -- whether it was Fr. McGinnity. She told me it was special holy water from Ireland, "blessed by Our Lady."

Baggio1

rub to da hills - welll spotted

yes bayside DO have a lot of info from those prophecies pertaning to the world now....again i tend to sit on the fence and neither say yay or ney to many of these appparitions etc, Achill? - i dont know ,,,, was there 4 times maybe not sure if it quite "felt right" but something tells me bayside is legit, and if so we're deffo living in dangerous times...
i personally believe those micro chips marks will come along a lot quicker than people realise,,,,,, calamities and disasters and war can set a panic/securty driven quick fix to many things and thats how tyrants tend to worm their way to the top....

ciao'...Baggio...

goat2

Baggio1 wrote: »

rub to da hills - welll spotted

yes bayside DO have a lot of info from those prophecies pertaning to the world now....again i tend to sit on the fence and neither say yay or ney to many of these appparitions etc, Achill? - i dont know ,,,, was there 4 times maybe not sure if it quite "felt right" but something tells me bayside is legit, and if so we're deffo living in dangerous times...
i personally believe those micro chips marks will come along a lot quicker than people realise,,,,,, calamities and disasters and war can set a panic/securty driven quick fix to many things and thats how tyrants tend to worm their way to the top....

ciao'...Baggio...

i had thought that it was uncovered as a money spinning machine, for the purchase of mansions and properties for familyi was there some yrs agoa beautiful placebut it is not the only place that has made megabucks in the name of our lord

Lorrs132

Dave! wrote: »

Cheers Michael.

I'm just wondering if it's been closed recently or what... I don't know anything about the supernatural claims! Just wondering if it was a scam or wha

It's a big scam she was just on News Week, saying about how "Our Lady" wanted her to write a book about all the people annoying her in her life. And months later she still hasn't written the book, Now "Blessed Christina" say's that "Our Blessed Virgin Mary", is BUGGING her to write the book. I'm sorry but Our Lady would have much better things to do.
BIG SCAM
SHAME ON YOU CHRISTINA.

homer911

I may have posted this before but Mike Garde over on Dialogue Ireland has kept a close watch on the activities of this (now very wealthy) lady..

http://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/

Doc Farrell

Lorrs132 wrote: »

It's a big scam she was just on News Week, saying about how "Our Lady" wanted her to write a book about all the people annoying her in her life. And months later she still hasn't written the book, Now "Blessed Christina" say's that "Our Blessed Virgin Mary", is BUGGING her to write the book. I'm sorry but Our Lady would have much better things to do.
BIG SCAM
SHAME ON YOU CHRISTINA.

The Pope has specifically condemned these charlatans this week, saying that Mary isn't working in a post office writing daily letters to these con artists. Fire up the google machine and it'll bring it up.

torrentum

Doc Farrell wrote: »

The Pope has specifically condemned these charlatans this week, saying that Mary isn't working in a post office writing daily letters to these con artists. Fire up the google machine and it'll bring it up.

The Pope didnt condemn anyone, he didnt mention the word condemn, though he did mention 'curious' christians looking for 'signs and wonders'.

homer911

Doc Farrell wrote: »

The Pope has specifically condemned these charlatans this week, saying that Mary isn't working in a post office writing daily letters to these con artists. Fire up the google machine and it'll bring it up.

Those comments seem to have been attributed to Medjugorje, not the House of Prayer
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/did-pope-francis-just-tip-his-hand-on-medjugorje-10-things-to-know-and-shar/