Irish soldiers and the Angel of Mons
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Maggie:
Angels are mentioned in the Holy Books of all the major Faiths....and they are especially a part of Celtic Culture.
Angels are messengers....and sometimes more than that.
In 1997, I went on a Pilgrimage & humanitarian mission to Bosnia-Hercegovina.
It was just after the war there had ended, although there was still conflict and killing going on.
Part of our mission was to take food, water and medical supplies to the
many refugees in the mountains. It was a life-changing experience for me,
and a deeply spiritual one. Our little group of 20 was a mixed bunch of different ages
and backgrounds. There was a couple in their 70s called Maureen and John,
he was a Military retiree. They lived in Sun City Center, SW Florida.
After dinner one night the conversation turned to a book John was writing.
It was about supernatural phenomena experienced by Military personnel.
This was a difficult subject, because nobody in the Military wants to admit such an experience,
at least not while they are still serving….they might be ridiculed, or deemed unfit for service.
He told me he was fascinated by the story of the Angel of Mons in August 1914.
He was ecstatic when I told him my Uncle was in the Royal Munster Fusiliers and had
actually witnessed the angelic phenomenon!
I promised to help John with research for his book. On my way back from Bosnia, I was to spend 2 weeks in England and Ireland.
I went to the Imperial War Museum in London and asked if they had anything on the Angel of Mons.
My request was treated in a courteous and professional manner.
I was asked to complete an application to see the archives, and I could come back the following day.
This was before everything was on the Internet. Upon my return to the Museum, I was amazed!
A very nice gentleman led me up a spiral staircase into a tower full of library shelves, and he showed me
where all the "Angel of Mons" material was, several shelves full of it.
I collected copies of many accounts and sworn statements, from high-ranking officers,
and men of both sides of the conflict.
There are many accounts of troops on both the British and German side who saw angels
defending the retreating British and Irish troops on 23rd August 1914.
The Germans saw them as bowmen about to cut them down.
The horses of the German officers were terrified, they reared up and bolted.
Many of them had to be shot by their riders.
The French soldiers who were there saw one of the Angels as Joan of Arc, in shining armour.
The Irish troops swore on oath that it was Saint Michael the Archangel, leading two other angels.
He was in armour, wielding a fiery sword.
This was not the only time St Michael had come to the aid of soldiers in battle,
which is why he is the Patron Saint of the Military.
Whoever the Angels were, they stopped the German offensive long enough for the British troops to reach safety.
There are reports that the appearance of the Angel made believers out of several non-religious soldiers,
including some Sikhs fighting for the British Empire.
Many of the witnesses would not give testimony at the time, as they were afraid of being thought insane,
and discharged from the Army. So it gave the skeptics plenty of time to ridicule the accounts.
But my Uncle Billy knew what he had seen, he was confident he would one day be able to thank Saint Michael personally…
..…and I'm sure he did.
Three years after Mons, Uncle Billy was in the 3rd Battle of Ypres in 1917,
where he lost both legs and survived against all odds. He told his siblings later that, as he lay bleeding
in the mud, he had prayed to Saint Michael who he had seen at Mons. Having lost so much blood,
he should not have survived….but he did.
I remember visiting him as a child, he was always smiling and so cheerful.
John was delighted…..he finished his book, and I received a signed copy, in which I got a "thank you". :)
One year later I saw Maureen, she was alone. John had died peacefully in his sleep.
She said "well, now he knows for sure!"
My uncle, Billy Ryan: (Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam)
Here is a news clipping from a British newspaper at the time:
SusanZ:
WOW!! Absolutely fascinating. I most definitely believe in Angels and believe that they can manifest themselves in many different shapes and forms.
Zee
Maggie:
Quote from: SusanZ on January 17, 2011, 01:34PM
WOW!! Absolutely fascinating. I most definitely believe in Angels and believe that they can
manifest themselves in many different shapes and forms.
Zee
Yes Sister Zee, I am certain of it.
There are times in my life I have felt the presence of angels very strongly.
I have seen them only once.....I "died" during a surgical operation, and had what some call a "near-death experience".
I was only 18 and had never heard of such a thing.
I was whisked up along a tunnel with people on all sides of me.....I started to recognize some of them as relatives.....
my grandparents, aunt Nellie, uncle John Clarke.....all smiling and there was a great atmosphere of love and welcome.
I was rushing along towards a brilliant light, unlike anything I have ever seen....I heard beautiful music.
I noticed the people around me had changed.....they had glorious, luminous faces and....yes, wings!
And oh - their voices - but I could not tell what they were saying.....
Suddenly I was back in the hospital room, up in the corner of the ceiling looking down....
I could see a doctor pumping my chest and someone else attaching a tube.
Then I was back in my body......feeling disappointed. I wanted to go back to that glorious place.
The Doctor, who was also Irish, said "What's the matter? Wouldn't Saint Peter let you in?" and he laughed.
He had seen this before, and understood.
My journey to Bosnia in 1997 turned into more of an adventure than I expected.
Our Group of 20 met at Frankfurt Airport, to fly to Zagreb, Croatia. I was not a US Citizen then, so I was using my Irish Passport.
As a result, the rest of our group who were American, had to get a Visa stamped in their Passports, I didn't need one.
At the same time they got the Visa they were given their Boarding Passes. So I didn't get one.
I was turned away from the departure Gate and went back to the desk....but there was no Boarding Pass
for me and I missed the flight.
I had to wait 9 hours which meant I would not arrive in Split until midnight. My Group did not know where I was,
and I had no clue how to get to Medjugorje, the little Village where we were staying.
I took out my Rosary in the middle of the Airport, and began to pray, surrounded by Communists and heavily armed guards.
I honestly feel all of that was meant to happen.....I don't have room for the whole story here, but it was amazing!
When I got to Split at 12:20am, there was a Bosnian guy (Jon) with his small son, holding a sign with my name on!
He was the cousin of Vicka, the lady we were staying with. They had guessed I would arrive on the next plane.
We had a precarious and dangerous 3-hour drive along the Adriatic Coast, on cliff-tops and bombed-out roads.
War damage all around us. My driver Jon did not speak English, but indicated I should lie down on the back seat,
where there was a blanket and pillow.
Later I was suddenly awakened by a bright light in my face, and an unfriendly voice shouting.
I squinted at the light, then saw the muzzle of an AK-47 pointed at me. They were demanding my passport.
I told Jon I would let them look at it, but I would NOT let go of it.
This angered the Guard, but I stared right into his eyes and thought "they will have to chisel my Irish Passport,
and my Rosary, out of my cold dead hands!" Behind the Guards I could see a large poster of Slobodan Miloševic,
their Marxist Leader, who was later convicted of war crimes and genocide....
...oh great, I was in the hands of the bad guys! ::)
I thought this might be my last moment on earth....I closed my eyes, made the sign of the Cross and prayed.
I felt very calm, wrapped in a friendly presence. Yes. I'm sure it was my Guardian Angel, who I have tested many times!
I guess one of the guards had a Catholic Mother, he said something in Serbo-Croat to my driver,
who put me in the car and drove quickly away. Jon and his son breathed a huge sigh of relief!
We arrived in the Village at 3:30am, and the next day my story had spread throughout our Group.
Jon had told Vicka I was a crazy lady! So.....what's new? :D :D :D
That was not my only encounter with an angel, or with danger, while I was in Bosnia....
The Quiet Man:
As a long-time student of military history I've heard this legend too. I'm certainly familiary with the concept of visions during times of religious fervor or stress. It goes all the way back to pagan times.
I dunno how much stock to put in any of this, though I'd like to believe it. However, fact and faith don't go together, and since there is a good chance that a lot of these stories are either lies spread at the time to whip up religious fervor or gilding added later to make the cause seem more righteous, I have a hard time with them.
Frankly, the details here, that the English saw phantom archers, a la Henry V and his men from Agincourt, that the French saw Joan of Arc among the angels, and that the Irish saw St. Michael, all seem coincidental, then again if you are going to accept angels then why not go a step farther? These were desperate soldiers fleeing from almost certain death, a lot of them hadn't slept for days. Isn't it just possible that this was some kind of mass hallucination?
Then again, it's a matter of faith. If you believe the angels and saints and ghosts of Agincourt really stepped in to help the allies that day, nothing will shake that. If you don't believe, nothing will make you believe. Maybe the Huns really decided to leave Paris alone because of the prayers of a young shepherdess, and maybe it was just the sight of the cIty's formidable defenses. Maybe that was just a local traveller who pointed the Christian kings in the right direction to catch the Muslims off-guard at Las Navas, and maybe it was St. James in disguise. Maybe Constantine just made up the story of the cross in the sky because he knew Christianity was an idea whose time had come, and maybe God actually told him that in letters of fire on that night before he faced Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge.
Maggie:
Quote from: The Quiet Man on February 15, 2011, 03:23PM
As a long-time student of military history I've heard this legend too. I'm certainly familiary with the concept of visions during times of religious fervor or stress. It goes all the way back to pagan times.
I dunno how much stock to put in any of this, though I'd like to believe it. However, fact and faith don't go together, and since there is a good chance that a lot of these stories are either lies spread at the time to whip up religious fervor or gilding added later to make the cause seem more righteous, I have a hard time with them.
.................Then again, it's a matter of faith. If you believe the angels and saints and ghosts of Agincourt really stepped in to help the allies that day, nothing will shake that. If you don't believe, nothing will make you believe.
Yes indeed....a matter of Faith.
There is a saying about proving the existence of angels, and the existence of God.....
To people of Faith, no explanation is necessary, to those without Faith, no explanation is possible.
I happen to believe in Angels.....I accept that others do not believe.
Regarding the Angel of Mons, I went to the Imperial War Museum and did hours of research,
just to help a friend with his book.....and also because I had a personal interest in the story.
The Museum had amassed an enormous amount of material on the subject.
I have no doubt that a lot of it was propaganda, useful for keeping up the morale of the troops.
There were other cynical, almost mocking, accounts, too.
I can not say without a doubt that angels appeared that day....I wasn't there.
However, I heard the eye-witness account of my Uncle Billy, and I can say without a doubt that he believed absolutely
that he saw Saint Michael the Archangel there at Mons, and that St Michael had everything to do with their survival.
He told my Dad and his other siblings that most of the soldiers would not give their testimony,
for fear of being thought insane, and shot.
His bottom line until the day he died was "I know what I saw, and nobody will make me say otherwise."
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