Kathleen Kilbane - In the Presence of a Holy Child

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CAQzNBfgD/
Link from the Fb page 'Kathleen Kilbane and Other Child Saints'

It's a film about the short life of Kathleen Kilbane 'The Little Saint of Achill Island'
(8th September 1933 - 7th October 1947).

 

Thank you! I learned a bit about Kathleen last year. I will watch this.

 

Thank you PF....when I was posting it I recalled you saying recently thst your young daughter has a devotion to Little Nellie and was wondering if you knew about Kathleen too. To be honest, I'm just learning more about her myself.

 

Chapter from the book shown above:
The 'Little Saint' of Achill Island by
Victor Kennedy and Allan Worthy.

25: You Have Made A Real Friend For Life By Victor Kennedy

Dear reader, as you get to know more about Kathleen's life you will find yourself wanting to visit her grave in Achill. I think you will find it a very moving experience. Talk to her about all your troubles. Spend some time with her and you will find a peace come over you.
And while you’re there you could visit the little roofless church just across the road in the other part of the cemetery. You will notice a stone Altar and on that Altar there are many pebbles left there by people over the years, in memory of those who perished of hunger during the Irish famine of 1847. A lot of their graves are dotted all around the church, marked by large stones. There are also graves under the floor of the church. People, sometimes, when they visit a grave and they have nothing to leave, they leave a little stone pebble, perhaps even a coin, as has been left at Kathleen’s grave.
Even as I write this, thoughts of little stone pebbles remind me of the early 1960’s, the cold war was at its height, a dark cloud hung over the world. Within the walls of the Vatican in Rome, plans were underway with great anticipation to prepare a new Vatican Council.
Against this background a Heavenly visitor came to a little remote village high up in the Cantabrian mountains in Northern Spain in the village of San Sebastián de Garabandal. That visitor was Saint Michael the Archangel. He had come to four young children, all girls, three of them still alive today, to tell them to be prepared for a visit by the Mother of God. The rest is history. Grave warnings were given to the children concerning the world and the Church.
Among them the fact that ‘less and less importance is being given to the Eucharist.’ That was 56 years ago and you don’t need me to tell you the state of the world today. I like to dwell on the many beautiful things that happened there. Such as the nice way the girls blessed themselves, a joy to behold – all caught on film. Of how the children, having nothing to offer the Holy Mother, picked up little stone pebbles and offered them up to her to kiss, which she did according to the children. Again, all caught on film.

Amongst the items left on a table by the people present for the girls to offer to the Holy Virgin to kiss, were Rosary beads, wedding rings and a ladies powder case. How could the Holy Mother kiss such an item of vanity? She could because it was learnt afterwards that the powder case was used to transport the Holy Eucharist during the Spanish Civil War. Priests there took note that while the children in ecstasy were saying the Rosary, they added the words, ‘and Our Mother’ after ‘Holy Mary Mother of God.’ Even now I add in these words when I say the Rosary. For Mary is not only the mother of Jesus, she is our Mother also. Having been a Protestant for the first 24 years of my life, I never really heard Mary’s name mentioned, unless it was the name of my girlfriend Mary who then became my wife, and for whom I converted to Catholicism. How beautiful is the Catholic faith.
So if you arrive at Kathleen’s grave and you don’t have a white rose or a blue ribbon with you, just leave a little stone pebble in the wooden box set there for that very purpose. And Kathleen, being a simple girl, will be more than pleased with you.
And as I said in the very first film we made about Kathleen, ‘You have made a real friend for life.’

 

Extract from the book shown above.
The writer is speaking about the year
1947, when Kathleen died.

"I was nine years of age at the time. At the rear of the house was a large sloped field and people came with their sledges to enjoy themselves. My brother and I made a crude sleigh out of a sheet of corrugated iron. Remember 1947 was just two years after World War 2, shortages were everywhere. I saw children like myself going to Dundonald School in their bare feet and pouncing on a crust of bread thrown away by another child. Look at the state of the world today, could it happen again? In the last 3,500 years there have only been 230 years of peace. God has been cast aside.
In 1947 a little girl left this world, no one cared because so many children perished in the war. She was only known to her family and the patients in the Sanatorium, where she brought a ray of light into that sorrowful place. They thought the world of her, so much so that they made wreaths for her, prayed for and to her when she died, touched her hands or her forehead with their beads or prayer books or holy pictures, which they treasured afterwards as relics. Jesus said to Saint Faustina in her early years, “How long are you going to keep putting me off?” Now 70 years after Kathleen's death let us not put her off any longer, by doing what she done, always helping people and by praying to her and asking for her help."



Kathleen at Creagh Sanatorium with Br. Conway's dog, Roscoe

The piece highlighted above struck me, given the situation in the world, especially the Middle East, at the moment.

Kathleen, Little Saint of Achill Island, pray for us.

 

A curious thing happened earlier today, after sharing the post above.
Since retiring at the end of February, I've been able to attend morning Mass in our local church. On Tuesdays, there's a prayer service instead of Mass. I had intended to go over to the service but for various reasons would have been late getting there, so I decided to see if there was another church in the locality with a later service or preferably Mass to attend.
There is a Dominican Priory not too far away and when I checked there was Mass at 1pm.

I went over to catch a bus nearby and while waiting I saw a guy who was out jogging, coming towards me. He slowed down to check something on his phone and I could see the writing on the front of his T-shirt. It read: "Achill 10k Run", with smaller text below.
It could be fanciful thinking on my part but it could also be a small sign of approval from Kathleen that we are thinking of her and asking for her help.

 

Little nudges. Whether from Jesus, Mary, one of the saints, or my guardian angel, the Communion of Saints should be an integral part of our daily lives.

 

https://kathleenkilbane.com/
Attached link to a website dedicated to Kathleen, the Little Saint of Achill Island.
The website is by Victor Kennedy, one of the authors of the book shown above.

"This website is dedicated to Kathleen Kilbane the ‘Little Saint’ of Achill Island. Kathleen died of Tuberculosis in a Sanatorium in County Mayo, Ireland in 1947. While there she was befriended by Christian Brother Maurice Anselm Conway. After Kathleen passed away Br. Conway wrote down her story. He was very impressed with Kathleen’s generosity, her devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her willingness to help others even though she suffered herself. He wrote of Kathleen, “It is nice to remember these evenings of long ago when one felt so close to a saint.”

Br. Conway wrote out by hand several copies of Kathleen’s story which he gave out to friends, but it wasn’t until 2003 when Father Brian McKevitt published his story, 21 years after Br. Conway’s passing, that Kathleen’s story reached a wide audience.

That book, which is called, No More Tears In My Eyes – The Story of Kathleen Kilbane, is now sadly out of print. But I have posted the book here on this website (The Story Of Kathleen Kilbane) until such time when it goes back into print, so people can still get to read Kathleen’s story.

It is the most heart-rending book I have ever read. I can promise you that you will cry when reading it. But that is a good thing, it is cathartic. No matter how dissatisfied you may be with your own life, or if you are suffering from depression, or you are just too cynical and think you don’t need to read Kathleen’s story, I beg you to do so as it will change you, it will make you appreciate more what you have. And after you have dried your eyes Kathleen will remain with you for the rest of your life."

 

You're right Mario, the Communion of Saints is one of the wonderful aspects of the Catholic faith. The help and guidance which is always available to us. May our hearts and minds always be open to request and receive their Saintly assistance.

 

I always cry when I read about Kathleen asking for a young mother to hug her. I wish I could go back in time and adopt her myself.

I know she's so happy now, but probably hopes for more people to learn about her, love her, and ask for her help. I've thought often about what a joy it must be in Heaven for someone on earth to talk to you and ask for your help.

 

Yes PF, it would be wonderful to be able to go back and meet Kathleen and give her a big hug. She sounds like a very caring and lovable young girl despite her difficult early life and the later suffering she endured.
The more I learn about her the closer I feel to her.
May she be close to us and pray for us.

 

Earlier today I saw that there's a group on Facebook for Kathleen Kilbane's Story.
I joined and was happy to see that Brother Anselm Conway's book 'No More Tears in my Eyes' is available again.
This is the info provided to order the book, if interested:

Great to see 'No More Tears in My Eyes' the story of Kathleen Kilbane available once again. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the book or the prayer card email:

Fr Brian McKevitt for orders in the Republic of Ireland: alivepaper@gmail.com
Or
Allan Worthy for orders in the UK:allan1967@btinternet.com

 

Great thread. I just asked for Kathleen’s intercession. I pray she will hear me and come through. I will let you know.

 

Thanks HH. That's wonderful to hear that you asked Kathleen for her help.
I also pray that she hears you and answers your request. Look forward to hearing how things work out.

 

Thank you so much for your backup prayers, Dave. It means a lot to me. I’ll keep in touch.

 

"Great to see 'No More Tears in My Eyes' the story of Kathleen Kilbane available once again. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the book or the prayer card email:
Fr Brian McKevitt for orders in the Republic of Ireland: alivepaper@gmail.com"

Another little nudge (see Mario's post above) is that Fr. Brian McKevitt, the contact given for obtaining the book about Kathleen, is based in the Dominican Priory where I (unusually) went to Mass the other day. He is the editor of 'Alive', a free Catholic newspaper which has been around for many years but I wasn't aware of Fr. Brian until now. Curiouser and Curiouser....

 

Report of a talk given by Fr. Brian McKevitt, in Medjugorje, back in 2018:

'Alive editor rails against Fake Gospel and Perverted Teachings'

https://www.catholicireland.net/alive-editor-rails-fake-gospel-perverted-teachings/

 

Proof that you are traveling in Kathleen’s circle of friends.

 

I read the book “No More Tears in my Eyes” last night online. I had plenty of tears in my eyes.
How beautiful.