YouMad.GIF Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5giDL2o00-9Sb65kNuoajZVMwHmaw?size=l link to pic it's hilarious someone threw a rag and some rosaries on a tree stump and people are worshiping. It'll be even better when it starts bleeding sap! DUBLIN (AP) — Thousands of Irish Catholics have flocked this week to a County Limerick church to pray at the stump of a recently cut willow that many observers say, has the silhouette of the Virgin Mary. The phenomenon at St. Mary's parish church in Rathkeale, population 3,000 or so, harkens back to decades when Catholic devotion and pilgrimages were the dominant feature of rural life in Ireland. Some are tying the fervor for Rathkeale's "Holy Stump" to Ireland's stunning economic decline over the past year. "People have been crying out for something good to happen. And this is all good for the soul," said Noel White, who has been overseeing a church project to cut down trees dangerously overhanging the neighboring school playground. When one willow was felled near the church entrance Monday, he said, a major branch cracked off and made "a funny shape." One worker cut through the stump at a near-vertical angle, revealing a wooden relief that inspires some to see the Virgin Mary. "One lad beside the one who'd made the cut immediately saw the outline of Our Lady and blessed himself. It really is unreal. Every one of us could see it," he said. The workman who made the cut, Anthony Reddin, said he doesn't see the Virgin Mary. "I see it as the grain of a tree myself," he said. Nonetheless, word of mouth brought about 100 to inspect and pray at the stump that first night. Numbers swelled to several hundred the next night. By Wednesday, more than a thousand came and went as a makeshift shrine of candles, rosaries and miniature statues of Mary grew. The praying continued past 2 a.m. Thursday. The parish priest is away on vacation. His summer replacement, the Rev. Willie Russell, is not impressed. He says locals are letting their imagination run wild and threatening to violate the commandment, "Thou shalt not worship a false God." "It's just a tree. You don't worship a tree," Russell said. The priest said he saw no harm in saying Hail Mary prayers at the spot — so long as the faithful don't actually find themselves praying to the stump itself. "I don't believe in idolatry. That would be the danger," he said. The County Limerick diocese of the church said it viewed the stump with "great skepticism." "While we do not wish in any way to detract from devotion to Our Lady, we would also wish to avoid anything which might lead to superstition," the diocese said in a statement. White said he didn't understand the church's distinction between its age-old love of statues and this natural discovery. "We pray in front of statues which are marble and chalk. What's the difference if it's timber?" he said. Not all find what they come to see. Sometimes, the crowds prove too great to get a good look. Others wonder if the lighting has to be just right, or the wood dry and not damp. Irish Catholics saw images of the Virgin Mary during Ireland's last recession in the mid-1980s, when thousands prayed at village statues believed to gesture, nod or even hover. The stump has proven a boon for the local economy, with the curious traveling from neighboring counties to light votive candles and say rosaries — and sample the local pubs and shops. Rathkeale shopkeeper Seamus Hogan is leading a petition drive to deter village authorities from uprooting and removing the stump, as they originally planned to do Wednesday. The petition has more than 2,000 signatures — and White's tree-cutters have gotten the message. "We won't be removing the stump. We'd remove it at our peril," White said. Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil_spenty Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 first oh yeah and im half irish. but not retarded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OL'DIRTYGeEEZER Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Aren't you that nigga that blacked out on heroin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil_spenty Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 half retarded* i'll give you that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viperface Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 badass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANGELDUST Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRUNKEN-ASSHOLE-ONER Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 *CATHOLIC PEOPLE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritably Clean Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 IRISH PEOP... damn it man you can't do that as a thread name you asshole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watson Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 religion makes people fucking insane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earl broclo ESQ Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Is she putting a bag of dust on there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrChupacabra Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ginger Bread Man Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 fanatics at their best. remember grilled cheese mary? and anus jesus? taken from 10 religious sightings and please dont call catholics, christians; they are far from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRUNKEN-ASSHOLE-ONER Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 and please dont call catholics, christians; they are far from it. Catholics see the virgin Mary in every fucking thing and flock from all over the world to worship it like it's some type of golden cow from the bible. Other Christians are the craziest bunch of selfrighteuous, hipocritical douchebags on the planet. I'll bet Jesus is so ashamed of his own followers, that that's why he hasn't showed his face in 2000 years. Nigga probably gave up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Knight Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Apparently none of you are irish catholic, but It's nothing like what you guys are saying at all. Irish are really lax about their religion, and don't take it much further than weekly mass (if even that. I haven't been to church in a year or two). Drouling over mary is more of an italian type of thing. Irish people, at least the majority i know, aren't religious at all. They just go to church for traditional reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebradrips Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 my life will not be complete until i see a virgin mary shaped cum stain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watson Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 1. fuck a bitch on her period 2. pull out 3. grab a white linen sheet 4. wipe off bloody dick 5. virgin mary will be there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRUNKEN-ASSHOLE-ONER Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Apparently none of you are irish catholic, but It's nothing like what you guys are saying at all. Irish are really lax about their religion, and don't take it much further than weekly mass (if even that. I haven't been to church in a year or two). Drouling over mary is more of an italian type of thing. Irish people, at least the majority i know, aren't religious at all. They just go to church for traditional reasons. That's how my grandparents were. The way you're talking about. /yesIrish My mom somehow turned into a raving lunitic evangelical wackjob though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERIZENO Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I'm of Irish descent ... as well grew up catholic .... this is funny !!! DAO's comment on the Chritians made me fall out of my chair. I have a bias against evangelical christians grown out of my only personal experiences as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRUNKEN-ASSHOLE-ONER Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Holly shit... I just gave a nigga two tic-tacs with one prop! [ATTACH]114973.vB[/ATTACH] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil_spenty Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 jesus = lie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ask4about2me Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 i like to drink in excess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice Nerves Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Red faced people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_gacy Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biccY_iVYgw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SystemFailure Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 RELIGION RELIGION RELIGION IS A FRAUD RELIGION RELIGION RELIGION IS A FRAUD AND THE MYTH YOU REFER TO AS GOD But seriously, this shit is hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRILLionare Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 are all gingers irish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRUNKEN-ASSHOLE-ONER Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 are all gingers irish? I think most gingers are Scottish. Most mics aren't gingers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thblock monsta Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Apparently none of you are irish catholic, but It's nothing like what you guys are saying at all. Irish are really lax about their religion, and don't take it much further than weekly mass (if even that. I haven't been to church in a year or two). Drouling over mary is more of an italian type of thing. Irish people, at least the majority i know, aren't religious at all. They just go to church for traditional reasons. ..................................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Knight Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 That's how my grandparents were. The way you're talking about. /yesIrish My mom somehow turned into a raving lunitic evangelical wackjob though. Those re the ones you have to watch out for. Crazy bastards are like a cult. What's that documentary called that's about evangelicans? The scariest film i have ever seen by far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morton Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 The evangelical movement is more of a US thing. As a second generation Irish immigrant to the US, I have noticed that some in this country embrace their Irish heritage, although many generations removed, in a way that seems to me to be little more than embracing the color of their skin. I would not discount the negative influence of the Catholic Church in Ireland, but in some ways at least they follow tradition instead of bending the interpretation of god to the whim and fancy of the extreme leading toward further oppression. Poorly worded I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil_spenty Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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