Different “Messiah” than Obama in fishing village of Tignish

Tignish, PEI-It was perhaps living the life of a journalist that kept me away for decades from visiting Tignish, P.E.I., where my Mother’s sister, Angie turns 94 today. To my delight all these years later, I learned that my Mother’s family are descendants of the Acadians. (No wonder why (other than Churchill and Thatcher), I have this lifelong “Watch the Brits” thing). Loaded with pastoral charm, Tignish is a fishing village, population 900 souls, including the lively Angie, sons, daughters, et al. So you can imagine my disdain when my intelligent cousins Marie and Jean turned out to be fans of “The Messiah”, Marie who spends half of the year with hubby Richard in Florida, saying she would have voted for Obama if only she could have.

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My cousins’ interest in Canada Free Press seemed to wane when I registered my disdain. When they asked why I was against the man who professes he is Barack Hussein Obama, I answered: “It’s because he’s on a mission to take down the greatest nation earth”. Given the time and the encouragement, I would have thrown in, too that Obama also believes in partial birth abortion, but had this sinking sensation that even that would not have turned the cousins off of “The One’”. In Toronto, I see Obama’s pictures everywhere, even on bumper-stickers on the cars passing me out on the road. Of course I already know that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, a close friend of Obama’s Director of the White House’s National Economic Council Larry Summers, is coming down the Canadian pike anytime soon. But in Tignish, PEI, I didn’t expect to run into impenetrable Obama adulation. My long-held impression of salt-of-the-earth Maritimers is that they are the last to buy into a bill of goods. In short, I resented finding Obama in an otherwise pristine fishing village on the Canadian coast. Out on an Island tour with Cousin Marie yesterday afternoon, I was happy to see that there were no signs of Obama at the North Cape, where the mighty Northumberland Strait meets the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Only the day before horse drawn wagons were out collecting sea moss there. There was no sign of the “Pocket Messiah” in the beautiful St. Simon & St. Jude Church, known colloquially as “Tignish Church”. It is perhaps most famous for its widely publicized for “Apparition of Jesus” event.

Jesus apparition

In March 2006, something would occur at the church that would have thousands of visitors attend the church. Local woman Angela Callaghan was kneeling before the altar when she noticed something odd about the crown of thorns on display at the rear of the church. To her astonishment, she believed that she could see the face of either Jesus or the Virgin Mary within the cloth[1]. Within the day, local news stations including CTV and CBC flocked to the church to document the event. It also appeared in all Prince Edward Island newspapers, including the West Prince Graphic and The Guardian. Many claimed to be "transformed" due to the vision, and the then–current pastor, James Willick, said he had no explanation of the event and was quoted to say "We shouldn't try to decide all the meanings or signs this might be. We can get into danger by doing that. Best for us to pray about it and maybe see it as a blessing".[wikipedia]

The restored church ceiling with its bright shining field of stars is breathtaking and a sign of hope for all. But it was the visit to Rita Perry, 90 years young, who rid me of the ghost of Obama. Even at age 90, Rita retains a girlish persona. She lithely runs about arranging flowers and mock butterflies on the kitchen window sill, from which she peers everyday and baking pies for her beloved husband, Joe. It was Rita Perry who found Marie and Angie for me when I telephoned her from Ontario all because she had the same family name. Marie had promised to bring me ‘round to meet her when I arrived on the Island. Rita and Joe have been married for 68 years. When Marie commented on her youthful looks, Rita told of how she looks forward to greeting each new day. “The flowers grow, the sun shines and tomorrow is another new day,” she said with a smile that would delight anyone who saw it. Meanwhile, life goes on and it’s the dawning of another day in exquisitely beautiful Tignish, P.E.I. where flowers grow and Joe’s pie is being baked with or without a politician called Obama.

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