WHAT IS GARABANDAL?

New Garabandal Book [Fiction But Has a Message for All]

2012-01-25T13:27:00.001-05:00

Warning Miracle is the first book of the Right in Front series by John Klee. It is a futuristic story based on the Apparitions of our Lady of Carmel in Garabandal, Spain and her messages to 12-year-old Conchita Gonzalez from 1961 to 1965. [N.B.: This apparition has not received Church approval. There are documents about it at EWTN here and here.]
During that period the blessed Virgin of Carmel appeared many times, gave Conchita messages, and performed miracles in an effort to convince the “doubting Thomases” of all times about their need to live their lifes according to Jesus’s teachings.
The author uses four main characters to tell the story: Dexter Griffith, an entrepreneur, robotic engineer, and owner of Grobotics; Thad Rankin, a zealous believer and taxi driver; Cheryl Hoffman, a chemical engineer working at Rohbear Foods; and Kevin Conaway, the quarterback of the Ohio State University football team.
As the story unfolds each of the four will have to overcome obstacles and tribulations, but they will also enjoy some success while trying to live the American dream under Chinese rule.
The Warning Miracle described by the author was a very creative variation of the original miracle of the Host that occurred in 1961. This was my favorite part of the book as it will allow each reader to examine their conscience and evaluate their life styles.
Warning Miracle by John Klee is an informative book about the apparitions in Garabandal, Spain and its devastating implications for our lives and those of future generations.

Thanks to: reviewed by Tannia Ortiz-Lopes
http://www.catholicfiction.net/

Update on Garabandal Conference

2012-01-24T18:53:00.001-05:00

It seems that this Milwaukie is in Oregon. Here's a link to their Web Site:

http://www.sjbcatholicchurch.org/

Att: Milwaukie: Garabandal presentation is Jan. 27-28

2012-01-24T14:49:00.001-05:00

Image by theroamincatholic via Flickr

MILWAUKIE — An upcoming Garabandal presentation will investigate the question, “Did the Blessed Mother Appear in Garabandal, Spain in 1961-1965?”

Maria Saraco, an expert on Garabandal, will give a video presentation and answer questions about the apparitions of Garabandal at St. John the Baptist Church at 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 27, and again at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 28. The church is at 10955 S.E. 25th Ave. For more information call the Marian Prayer Center at 503-786-9600.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 16

2012-01-23T16:54:00.001-05:00

First Manifestation

This atmosphere of expectation lasted several long minutes until, suddenly, the commotion of the public that inundated the narrow streets of the village indicated that the girls were moving toward the fence or hoop that was in the road. The gesture of so many arms moving in the air indicated for us the direction of the place where the girls had begun the trance.

We ran through the road, jumping over the stones, and when we arrived there was a great group encircling the girls.

With difficulty, the priests attained an open road until they arrived next to Jacinta and Loli, who were the two that were thrust into the stony ground.

The aspect of the girls was the following: the head slightly raised. The eyes open. The glance of both fixed in front of them. Their faces were natural. The hands varied in attitude according to the different movements they made. The lips moved, pronouncing words. In front of one of the girls was a man with a knife, a doctor by profession, and it seemed that when he took the girls’ pulses he said this word: “Normal.”

A priest who was unknown to me took notes while kneeling next to the girls. During a few minutes he tried to understand what the girls said, but the noise that the people produced while pushing in a violent manner impeded hearing what the girls were saying in a low voice.

The noise made the falling of some stones that formed a little wall louder, where the public was trying to ascend.

The brigadeer of the Civil Guard and a number of other Civil Guards tried to impose silence. In the middle of the confusion Lolita’s father, always nervous, indicated that they shouldn’t go so near the girls and suddenly, exasperated, with a great voice he said: “Be quiet, please, but what is this?” “It cannot be like this, we don’t know what this is, or where we are.”

The reaction was that the silence was extended, even though it was still incomplete. In the middle of all of this tumult, the girls were completely away from it and they acted normally like a person talking alone with another person.

The sentences that those of us who were closer could match were small words and made almost no sense since we didn’t hear everything. It was more or less the following: “I already know—yes—no—I remember about the doctor. He wore a brown habit like the other day—no—yes—why? Yes—I don’t know anything—let’s go—yes—why are you smiling? Don’t go—huh? You haven’t been here any—yes—I didn’t know—you tell us so we know and so we don’t forget—I don’t know—what a shame! We do it worse—don’t go—wait a little.”

These sentences are incomplete because we can’t understand the majority of the things they said. Accompanied by the sentences, there were gestures: among the others they offered to kiss the rosaries that they had been given.

Suddenly, they returned to the normal state without a transition and getting up tranquilly, the two girls said at the same time that the Virgin had told them to go to the Pines. They said their parents, the priests, the religious, and the guards could go as well. They said that they could be in the Pines but far away. Everyone else had to be far away, very far away.

The movement to the Pines took place, during which the normality and tranquility of the girls was absolutely synchronized with their security in indicating the site where they should put the public, as well as the guards, priests, religious, and their parents.

When María Dolores was done going up the hillside where the Pines are, she returned and signalled with an arm gesture toward a trail on the hillside. She said: “Put them here.” The guards contained the multitude in a way that obeyed orders without exceptions.

Upon arriving at the Pines, the girls explained more clearly what they were going to do, and responded to our questions. We should put ourselves in the (?). In reality we were 20 or 30 meters away from the girls. The children had told the girls that we could see, but not hear. The same girls, Jacinta and Loli, looked absolutely natural and simple. There was no one there who formed a group of people that attended. Those who could witness the revelation were the parents of the girls, the priests, the guards, and the religious.

The Witnesses

Jacinta and Loli said in the moment that they returned to the normal state that they should be situated next to two girls, Mari Carmen and Sari. These two girls appeared to be 6 years old. The people of the village and the pastor said that they were “witnesses.” This wasn’t the first time that this happened. The “witnesses” were playing with Jacinta and Loli while they waited for the manifestation. The game was to run a little in an infantile manner, as if they were watching to see if one of the people who were not supposed to do so would come near. In reality the impression was that they had taken a pledge to complete an order that they had received. They controlled everything with their looks, collected small stones and put them on the ground next to the place where they should be displayed.

The seers demanded the presence of the child witnesses several times in the first weeks. It was always María del Carmen and Sari, two 6 year olds. On one occasion they wanted to switch these girls for older ones, 12 year olds, and the Vision said no, that she had said the younger ones should come.

We asked the “witnesses” what the “seers” had said and they repeated some words that they had heard, but they couldn’t understand the complete meaning of the conversation. This corresponded to the days on which the Virgin manifested the secret to the girls.

The interpretation is that it seems that Fr. Valentín could have some remote control over what happened in the trance, but without knowing what the girls were talking about. He knew that the conversation was about good things, but secret things. It seems that this corresponded to days and occasions on which the Vision was manifested to the girls in an oral manner as well appearing visually. The girls should make the message public on October 18, 1961.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 15

2012-01-16T18:35:00.001-05:00

Diario 4

4th Diary

July 29, 1961

Summary:

Ascent to the mountain. First manifestation. The witnesses.

Second manifestation. Third manifestation.

Fourth manifestation: according to Fr. Luís María Andreu, S.J.’s text. The same thing worked with Fr. Cipriano Abad’s notes and those of Fr. Andrés Pardo; they added clarifying notes.

Ascent to the Mountain

This day, July 29th, is the first day that I was in San Sebastián de Garabandal. Two days before I had received very vague news about what was happening there. When they invited me to go up, I responded that I didn’t have time to lose. Then the invitations were reiterated as was the pastor’s desire to find someone to tolerate the varied impressions that the phenomena were deriving, so I decided to accept. We went up in a group of four priests who were: Fr. Rufino, the pastor of San Sebastián del Valle (Vizcaya), Fr. Cipriano Abad, priests in Venezuela, my brother Fr. Luís, and I. Fr. Andrés Pardo came with us (he was a seminarian then) and some members of the Fontaneda family from Aguilar de Campoo.

During the somewhat laborious ascension we mixed points of humor, alluding to the apparitions. We finally arrived at the same place in San Sebastián de Garabandal. During the ascent, upon seeing our humor, an old man who was going down said: “Go up, go up, you will see how they already go down.” He seemed emotional.

After situating ourselves and waiting a little while at the edge, around 7:30 we felt a movement; there were around 500 people there who carried the news that two of the girls, Jacinta and Loli, had left the balcony where they had been playing quickly. We went up past the stones in the road where we waited, and after a few seconds our fellow priest, Fr. Rufino arrived, as did others. We asked him: “What has happened?” The answer was: “I was talking with a boy in the group and with two Carmelites and three countrymen about the events of the day. While we spoke, we watched Jacinta and Loli, who were playing with rosaries that we had entrusted to them for the Virgin to kiss. Suddenly, we observed that the girls disappeared from the balcony.” Some women corroborated what Fr. Rufino told us and added: “It had been the first call. There are two or three before the revelation.”

Among the people who went up, there was a member of the Civil Guard who brought a young girl with Down’s Syndrome. Another young person also carried a child whose legs were paralyzed and deposited him in the hoop. The paralyzed boy’s mother said that one of the girls had told them to go up. When the mother asked to where the girl responded: “We don’t know where we will go.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 14

2012-01-13T20:15:00.001-05:00

Conchita in Santander

Before reconstructing what happened to Conchita in Santander, I’m going to cite what Fr. Luís wrote in his 2nd notebook, which represents a summary of what Fr. Valentín said:

“When Conchita went to Santander she told me two or three times when I asked her: ‘Whatever you prefer, stay or go’—‘I prefer to stay, but if you, my mother, the bishop, or my uncle the priest wants me to go, I’ll go.’

“When Fr. Luís and Conchita’s uncle who was a politician came, they went to begin the departure, but the others stayed in the vision and the uncle said: ‘Well, stay now,’ and she stayed and was docile.”

“When they left they went through the front door of the house, in my opinion, so the parents wouldn’t bother the girls.

What refers to the incident of the departure of Conchita to Santander can be summarized like this:

“Two doctors and two priests, one of them a canon, went up to San Sebastián de Garabandal around July 18th. The graphic report came into my hands, and it refers to these days, and shows in a photograph of the girls in a state of trance, with two priests standing with them, their arms crossed, observing, and the two doctors inclined over the children. According to the references that I have, a movie exists from this day on which they filmed, among other things, the moment in which the girls pass from one state to the other. According to what some doctors told me, the transition lasts a fraction of a second; we know this from relying on this numbered notebook and the film.

It seems in order to facilitate the observation of the girls and to find the origin of these phenomena, they thought of isolating the oldest of the four girls, Conchita, who was 12 years old, because according to the hypotheses that they formulated in the beginning, she was the strongest influence over the three younger girls.

The simplest way, it seems, to make the transition to Santander for the observation of the girl and her relationship to the other three, was to call Fr. Luís, her uncle and a priest. So they did this.

I don’t possess the exact information about what happened in Santander, only some of the happenings. One of the two doctors who had gone to San Sebastián de Garabandal around July 18th told me that he had performed a test on the girl to observe if they were compensating or if the columns they made reference to were the result of hysteria. He also told me that the girl left running and fell into a trance in the street. The same girl told me that she had gone to the beach, and that she had heard the Virgin without seeing her in the house on another occasion.

Other news that refers to Conchita’s time in Santander was given to me by Fr. Valentín and the brigand of the Civil Guard when I arrived in Cossío and San Sebastián de Garabandal for the first time on July 29th.

The first was Fr. Valentín. This was the first time I saw him. In Cossío, before I knew more than vague facts about what was happening in San Sebastián de Garabandal, he told me:

“Do you know the latest things that have happened?”

I didn’t know anything. He told me with emotion that Conchita had had an ecstasy in Santander and that at the same time the Vision had told this to the three remaining girls in San Sebastián de Garabandal. These girls became very happy and there are people who heard them.

One time in San Sebastián de Garabandal the brigand of the Civil Guard told me the story again, adding that the Civil Guard in Santander had called them to tell them that Conchita was having an ecstasy in the street in front of the Church—It was at the same time, he told me, that the three girls in San Sebastián de Garabandal had their ecstasies. The sentence the girls said was this:

“Oh, how wonderful, Conchita is also seeing in Santander!”

In the same line of references, Conchita knew that: “I saw the Virgin once and another time she spoke to me but I didn’t see her. She told me that she wouldn’t appear to me again because I went to the beach.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 13

2012-01-09T14:21:00.001-05:00

“It’s the Joyful mysteries”—in the trance, she announced it smiling, as if it was a demonstration for someone that she doubted knew it.

“Medio entre dientes dijo algo de ‘secreto’ pero no pudo entenderse la frase.”

“Between her teeth she said something about a ‘secret’ but no one could understand the sentence.”

Mari Cruz also talked a lot, almost always accompanied by Conchita. The other two took part in the conversation, but with great intervals of silence.

In a certain moment, one of the attendees, an older person, censured one of the priests for smiling when he heard one of the festive expressions that the girls used. As though she’d heard it, Conchita said: “I don’t like the serious people, I prefer those who smile—they are kind—what is kind?”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 12

2012-01-06T16:21:00.001-05:00

The ending of the trance was abrupt and spirited, as if the current had been cut suddenly. The four girls lowered their eyes at the same time, recovered their normal attitude and voice (before they whispered) and they said at the same time: “We are going to pray the Rosary.” They did it like this upon continuing, the multitude in a chorus. During the trance, they did not stop speaking in a low voice, and above all Conchita spoke constantly without lowering her head, always with her mouth up and looking fixedly at the circle.

“I think I remember that at the beginning of them said: ‘Why haven’t you brought the Child?—What a shame!’ Then they talked about some priests who were present there or known to them, festively commenting about what had happened to them. That the pastor made circles in the sacristy, that they were good, and that the pulpit was very bad and almost fell.”

“Sometimes they laughed sincerely. They said that the pastor had scolded Conchita for wearing her long hair down (ordinarily she wore it in braids). Lolita commented: ‘Long hair like yours?—Michael’—or—‘Long hair like Michael’s.’ This could have seemed bad to the pastor, ‘Your name is Michael—my brother has the same name, but without the ‘St.’ My mother’s name is Aniceta—what an ugly name, she’s black,’ (her mother, who was at my side, is very dark) and she smiled when she heard Conchita—‘She only has two teeth—I see it when she eats.’”

Note: What is seen in this paragraph are some of the things the girls said during their trance. Not all of the things are put down with the same degree of certainty; there is some doubt about what she said about the long hair, about Michael, etc. We have to say these things about those allusions:

1st—On one occasion, one of the girls—I don’t remember which—told me, alluding to another: “That one has a brother named Michael, like the Angel, but he’s missing the “St.” She told the Virgin this and the Virgin laughed.

It’s possible that she was alluding to this occasion or that she had said this on other occasions as well.

2nd—A few days after this scene they cut off Conchita’s braids.

“Some people had a conversation about a movie they had seen ‘and what is a movie theatre?’ Conchita said—‘I’ve never been in a movie theatre.’ ‘Well! In Torrelavega I passed one—it’s a house.’”

“I’m from San Sebastián de Garabandal”—Conchita said—“but not from Vizcaya.” Lolita corrected: “Guipuzcoa.” “San Sebastián de Garabandal—think about it, it has a surname.” “It’s not like this?” (San Sebastián de Guipuzcoa). “Have you seen it?—Of course!—you’re in all parts—me, no. I am only here, and in the photos.”

“San Sebastián is very high, and it is difficult to go up—the sky is also high and everyone wants to go there.” (Conchita).

“At the beginning of the trance: ‘We are alone and grown up.’”

“She insisted several times. In reality they were squeezed into a large group with one row and among them there were several priests, but the leif motiv of the conversation was the following:

Note: There has been a frequent worry that the girls have always been in the presence of priests, and in general terms, they have always rejoiced to have them there and have had a special sympathy towards them, as for all religious.

“While talking about the priests present or known, Conchita remembered the Dominican—‘There is a priest who isn’t dressed like the others; he wears a white shirt—the neck isn’t like the others—he wears shoes with holes in them—but it’s an adornment—he’s very serious—he never laughs—the most he does is this (she smiles). I don’t know who this priest is—but he is very good.’ She repeated this with variations many times. During one of them she exclaimed, ‘oh!—Dominican!’ She seemed very satisfied at having solved the puzzle. She laughed. ‘Figuring it out was difficult—but in the end we got it!’ She said this to her interlocutor.

Time and time again she returned to the topic of the ‘Dominican.’ She seemed very satisfied. After a lot of idleness, “Well, I don’t remember anything else about the Dominican!” But she returned to it from time to time. Mari Cruz smiled: “She’s remembering the Dominican again.”

Note: This Dominican priest was also occasionally a topic of their conversations while having a trance. When I arrived on the 29th of the same month, the girls who stayed in Garabandal, the three, since Conchita was in Santander, had already talked about the Dominican priest as on the 31st of July and the 1st of August.

When she said: “She is thinking of the Dominican” it could be simply that she smiled or because she’d thought about him a lot, or because the Vision indicated a Dominican, or because the others had been thinking about him. So these girls laughed and said that the other had been thinking. On one occasion I saw them do this as a game, and when I reach this day I’ll explain it.

“I seem to believe that he is very far from here (the Dominican priest) when in reality he is a meter in front of her. Suddenly she was startled, ‘Oh, how fat! What was here? Were you hearing me?’ She repeated this variations at intervals: ‘And now, how do I return the rosary?’ She worried about this for a little while. Finally she said: ‘Good, I will put it in front of you and I will give it to you.’ When the trance ended, she gave it naturally and immediately.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 11

2012-01-03T11:27:00.001-05:00

“Conchita didn’t move her arms on her own. She was in the position described before for a long time; after that, her arms were down and rigid. In order to change posture, they had to ask for Lolita’s help several times; she was at their side: ‘Cross my arms—you crossed them backwards—put them like they were before.’ This ‘like before’ was a position analogous to that of a priest during the majority of mass. Lolita, without looking and with extraordinary ease, put their arms in the desired position. They seemed rigid and she posed them like dolls, by hitting them with her hand, and after that they stayed completely fixed in the same position.”

Note: Days before this we observed a phenomenon in which the girls, while in a trance, were only sensible of their fellow seers, even though they weren’t in trance. This sensibility extended to questions referred to them, even mental questions, and to changing the position of their arms, etc. They seemed rigid to the rest of the people.

In this narration it seems that there is an allusion to one of the seers in a trance who called to another, who was also in the trance, so that she would change the position of her hands.

“In those postures, more or less invariable, but always on their knees (except Jacinta who on one or two occasions was as we have described), staying there for an hour and twenty-five minutes. The one who wrote this, although he was almost sitting, needed to change his posture at least twice in this same amount of time. Upon finishing the trance, they prayed the rosary without moving from the place or giving any sign of fatigue. The ground of the road was full of rocks as roads are in mountain villages; with natural rocks, that are well-traveled (that have unequal surfaces that cause the inexperienced to trip). Mari Cruz had a wedge of rock about 5 centimeters wide under her left knee. Towards the end of the apparition, the girls made a visor with their hands, as though they were contemplating something that was becoming brighter and brighter.

Note: The manner in which the girls say that the Vision disappears is “as though she dissolved.”

“They made gestures of goodbye by opening and closing their hands, lifting them forward. In this moment they also gave kisses in the air repeatedly. There were various endeavors of saying goodbye: “Stay a little longer”—“Only half a minute has passed”—“It hasn’t been half a minute.”

Several times it seemed like they were arguing with the Vision: “An hour already?—No!—half a minute—an hour and fifteen minutes?—no, half a minute—but it has to be an hour and fifteen minutes because the Virgin can’t lie.” On these occasions the priests next to them went forward to say the time that had passed in a low voice even though they couldn’t be heard. When a little after this, they began to affirm that it had only been half a minute, no one said anything about the time that had passed—Conchita said: “An hour and twenty-five minutes?” This was exactly the amount of time that the trance had lasted. “Almost an hour and a half,” Conchita added.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 10

2011-12-26T16:42:00.001-05:00

3rd Diary

July 27, 1961

Summary:

Narration of one of the visions.

The four girls intervene.

Some of the sentences that they said.

Conchita in Santander.

July 27, 1961

These events that took place on July 27th are in a report that was given to me by the Marquis of Santa María. It was given directly to him by R.P. Lucio Rodrigo, S.J. That report was written by a priest, an old student, who was in the Seminary in Comillas and who went up to San Sebastián de Garabandal when Fr. Rodrigo told him it was worthwhile to see what was happening.

The title of the three hurried folios that were typewritten, which I have, said this:

“Facts observed on July 27, 1961 in San Sebastián de Garabandal (Santander).”

I put down the text and added some notes that could indicate relationships between these events and the ones that occurred on other days.

“An ‘apparition’ had already taken place in the morning. The girls had announced another for around 8 at night. ‘Today is before,’ they had said. A multitude of more than 500 people (there are some who say it was 1000), waited for the ‘seers’ in the place the previous apparition had occurred.”

“Among the people there were seven priests, and among the priests were the pastor of the village, a relative of one of the girls (Conchita) and a young Dominican priest (from the Laboreal University of Córdoba) who had arrived rather early and had given a rosary to the girls for them to present to the ‘apparition.’”

“At eight, almost on the dot, the multitude that was waiting made a clamor because they had distinguished the four girls walking on the poorly paved road above, toward the place of the previous ‘apparition.’ But upon arriving in the middle of the road, the girls fell on their knees, and stayed there, two in front, and two in the back, (about fifty centimeters behind) almost in the same line. The order of their placement from left to right was: Jacinta, Mari Cruz, Conchita, and Loli. Conchita was looking up for almost the whole time; the other three looked in front of them, with their eyes looking upward a little.

“Mari Cruz had her arms crossed almost the whole time, and with her hands interlaced she held onto several rosaries people had given her. For the majority of the time, Conchita’s left arm was down, and her right arm was bent, pinching a sweater on her left to the height of her elbow.

“Mari Cruz shed some tears that fell from the exterior part of her eye (not from the tear canal) and they coursed down her cheeks. All of them had moist eyes.”

“The expression on their faces was generally one of peace; sometimes they smiled and they laughed sincerely. In these cases, a grimace wrinkled Conchita’s nose and arched her upper lip on the left side. In these moments she seemed to be yearning.

“On occasion they went forward simultaneously, with their arms in an attitude of reaching for something. Other times they presented the rosaries as though for someone to touch.

“On a certain occasion they all took out medals at the same time which they carried around their necks and gave them to be kissed or blessed: ‘this is from a man who told me you should kiss it very hard,’ Conchita said.

Note: It doesn’t seem that the Vision had blessed the medals, at least the sense of making the sign of the cross in the form that the priests were accustomed to doing it. She did kiss them. When, on some occasions, they have presented objects that don’t have any religious meaning, or that are only meaningful as adornment, like rings, the Vision has not kissed them. When this happens in particular cases, I give the date. The wedding rings have been kissed many times and returned to their owner’s hands, on the finger and in the manner that they wear them, if there is more than one ring on a particular finger.

“They looked at one another, expressing fear that one of the girls was going to fall. (The two smallest girls were on the ends). Oh! Jacinta is going to go badly—‘We hope that Jacinta doesn’t fall,” Mari Cruz said and reached to hold her so she wouldn’t fall. Then on another occasion she reclined lightly, staying half lying down on the floor—then, “Should I bring a chair tomorrow?”

Note: Since I still hadn’t gone on this day, I couldn’t observe the phenomenon of the oscillation that is alluded to here. I did observe it on August 1st and after that on many other occasions. This oscillation ended in a fall. The sentence ‘she goes badly’ had already been spoken by them days after when a girl who was in a trance began to oscillate. The other girls said it while they were also having a trance about the girl who was oscillating. Upon asking them after why they said that she was going badly, they responded to me: “It’s because she gave it badly.” The idea that I took away from this is that they were made dizzy or fainted, or something like that.

“Several times they made the Sign of the Cross at the same time that they were expressing their desire to do so: We are going to make the Sign of the Cross,” all of this unanimously.

Note: The manner of making the Sign of the Cross at the same time expressed that they knew their intention was to make it correctly when they were in the state of a trance. Sometimes she corrected the manner in which their index fingers and thumbs joined to make a cross. They made this correcting after ‘seeing’ the hand gesture that the Vision made. In the film from August 1st we see two of the girls in ecstasy making the Sign of the Cross. We can see how they do it together simultaneously. We can see how they direct it so they can see and how the rest of the people bless themselves next to the girls without the same rhythm. This film was recorded by Mr. Eugenio Fontaneda Pérez.

The sentence: “We’re going to make the Sign of the Cross,” could be a question or a response, or simply a comment. The person who wrote this document that we are transcribing and commenting upon, could indicate to us the impression that he obtained from what he remembers.

“In some moment one of the girls (maybe all of them) lifted a hand as though giving it to be kissed. One of the girls said: “What more if it is the left.” Then she said something that also expressed a desire that the ‘apparition’ would kiss it.”

“Two or three times, at least two of the girls reached to take the crown from someone who was situated much higher than them. Conchita said when she took it off: “A star hit this ear.”

Note: In the drawing that one of the girls made in a very elementary way, reproducing the colors of the mantle, the outfit, the hair, and the scapular, she laughed because of the way she painted the crown, in an open hoop with brilliant stars, and with the point of one of the star near the opening where it could hurt Conchita’s ear when she removed the crown. (This drawing is with the Marquis of Santa María because Conchita gave it to him as a gift).

“While they made the crown stay around their heads, they all smiled in a satisfied way as they saw how it was placed. They never did it two at the same time: when one of the girls took it off, another would put it on. This lasted a little while.

Note: Sometimes they have made comments about the crown. They say that it is small on them or large on them, etc. I have never seen them put the same crown on at the same time. If two girls have put the crown on at the same time, it has been two different crowns. One belonged to the Virgin and the other to the Child. We know that they tried different crowns because of the size. We noted this in the gestures they make and the comments they say and also because in the end they switch crowns.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 9

2011-12-19T11:47:00.001-05:00

Receiving the Sacrament from the Angel’s Hands

In Fr. Luís’s 2nd notebook it says: “When Fr. Valentín is here they don’t receive communion. On the other days the Angel gives them the sacrament.”

Through some interrogations of the girls, we have obtained the information that these communions have taken place from the beginning—during the month of July and some other occasions. The Archangel gave them communion, but not on the days that they received the sacrament from Fr. Valentín.

The Actions of the Pastor in the First Weeks

Fr. Valentín Marichalar took serious notice of what happened and when he established these phenomena for himself from what he could see, and he went to inform the Bishop in Santander. At this time the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese was his Excellence the Reverend Fr. Doroteo Fernández, who had been the Auxiliary to Fr. José in his last years of life.

I have heard him refer to Fr. Valentín, but I’m going to cite lines from Fr. Luís’s 2nd notebook.

“On Tuesday, I (the pastor) went up and saw them having a vision. I went to the Bishop, and he told me to go up and control the situation a little.”

He went to the Bishop with the matter of the secret. He returned to the Bishop when the girls were seeing a vision in two places. The Bishop told him that they should ask for a clear sign from the Virgin.

Fr. Muñoz from Comillas was there and said: “I can’t be sure that this is supernatural, but to say that it isn’t extraordinary would be imprudent. I’ll write to him in Latin so that he’ll be calm.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 8

2011-12-17T12:26:00.001-05:00

Anesthesia

Regarding the pain, the anesthesia is complete in the trances. They have made tests from the beginning. For example, pricking the girls, pinching them, and lifting them from the ground then letting them fall. They have not complained of any pain at all.

Many people have seen the girls hit their knees hard when they fall and they have always observed that they show no feeling of pain. I have seen them stay on their knees for over an hour on many occasions without complaining of exhaustion or pain. I have witnessed how they fall on their knees many times, including from one or two stairs high, and they do not show the slightest sign of pain. The most spectacular thing in this sense was when María Dolores was on her knees one night and fell forwards, hitting her neck very hard against the edge of the stairs. It made a very loud noise, and her head resisted; the girl ended up sitting on the floor. An exclamation went through everyone who was there, and there was fear in their faces. The girl laughed once she was sitting on the floor and she continued talking about an object with the vision as she had been doing before the fall. When she turned, you could see a bump on her head, where it had been hit. I asked the girl if she was in pain. She didn’t understand what I was alluding to. When I explained what had happened, she told me that there was a moment in which she’d felt a cramp that went through her whole body, and it must have happened then.

Reflexes

The girls have cried while in a trance. Sometimes they were silent tears and other times they were sobs. At the same time they added words like: “How sad, etc.”

We saw them smile or laugh more frequently. One time we saw one of them yawn. With respect to the reflections in their pupils and corneas, we didn’t see anything, since they appeared almost deadened.

Entrance and Exit of the Trance

The entrance into the trance is instantaneous. They stay with their heads placed like they are nailed to something initially, absorbed in the normal words in order to live in a different reality. The return to normality is also instantaneous and is preceded by saying goodbye to the person with whom they are communicating.

Transformation

During the trance we observe an embellishment in their faces that is of a very sensitive style.

[video] Conchita and Children

2011-12-15T15:10:00.001-05:00

Apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Garabandal - Conchita and ...
For more information on the Church's official position, messages, and historical overview ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLR19TIisZo

New Garabandal Website

2011-12-12T22:40:00.001-05:00

Apostolado Garabandal

Dear friends,
I want tell you that the parish of Garabandal already has its own website.

San Sebastian de Garabandal - Página Oficial de la Parroquia

www.garabandalparroquia.com

http://www.garabandalparroquia.com/?mid=5507529

Sitio Oficial de la Parroquia de San Sebastian de Garabandal. Actualidad de Garabandal. Horario de M...

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 7

2011-12-10T11:23:00.001-05:00

The Calls

It has been established that the phenomena of the calls took place from the beginning. The most probable is that they took place after the first vision. The girls called it a “call.” It’s an expression that corresponds to ordinary language. They told their parents and the others who were related to them: “I have already been called once, twice.” They also said: “I have had one call,” or, “I have already had the second call.”

August 1st, while in the Pines with the girls I asked Jacinta:

“When the Virgin calls you, does she say ‘Jacinta?’”

Upon hearing this question, Jacinta smiled and Loli responded: “The first time she says, ‘Jacinta.’ The second time: ‘Jacinta, come.’ The third time: ‘Jacinta, run, run, run.’ But all of this is within, without words.”

On another occasion, one of the girls tried to explain it by saying that it was a cool feeling, something like eating a mint candy, but within, so not the same.

The phenomena of the calls take place in an unconfusing way and is different for each girl, even though the calls frequently coincide and happen at the same time, as they especially did at the beginning.

In a dialogue that I had with three of the tour girls and that I saved on a tape, I asked them this question:

P—“And, how many times?”

The three—“Three.”

P—“Three?”

L—“Yes, Sir.”

P—“And how much time is there between the first and third?”

L—“Between the first and the second, there is little, from the second to the third, there is more; a lot between the second and the third.”

These three calls or occasions of happiness represent special characteristics that establish a difference in the state of trance in the following form:

1st—the call the girl feels can dissemble in such a manner that she doesn’t fall nor does she count those who are with her. It does not isolate her from reality. In the state of trance, she is isolated from reality.

2nd—the call is an internal sensation without words or vision. The trance has a vision, at least full of light and a locution that the girls hear with sentences composed of syllabic words.

It seems that the three calls are not equal, since they have a greater intensity the further along in order they are.

I will tell about an interesting fact, something that happened to me. One day I found myself with three priests who were friends of mine. Two of the girls were with us, Loli and Jacinta. One of the girls told me that she had had a call. The same girl told me she’d had another. The girls were playing next to us, each one on her side and after a moment one of them told me in a low voice the word “two.” I looked at the other girl and saw that she was not looking while she signed “two” to me with her fingers as well. In that same moment I communicated this to my friends and left with one of them to go to Conchita’s house. It took two minutes for us to arrive there. When we arrived I asked Conchita: “How many calls have you had?” And she responded: “Two, father.” Then I asked Mari Cruz the same thing and she responded, “None, father.”

It is rare for them to have a call that is not followed by two more and a vision. It is even more unusual for them to have two calls, but not the third or the vision.

Sometimes the vision happens suddenly without warning. The girls feel happiness that becomes greater until the third call when they fall into the trance. I have observed that the third call lasts several seconds. The girls begin to feel it and even warn some people. It seems that it has gone on for more than two minutes and on some occasions the third call continues until the trance begins.

The beginning of the third call is determined when the girls say things like: “I have two calls and something else.” “I have two and a half calls.” “I have almost three calls.”

On one occasion I was writing and one of the girls said to me: “Hurry, Father, there’s time to write a line and a half.” I asked her: “How do you know?” She responded to me: “Because I have two calls and a little more.”

Since I asked them to warn me about how many calls they had, they did it. They usually fell into the trance a few seconds after they told me.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 6

2011-12-09T16:19:00.002-05:00

In another interview with the girls they also asked some questions with the desire to obtain descriptive facts about what they saw. This time there were also three girls: Mari Cruz, Mari Loli, and Jacinta. It was July 31st or August 1st.

P—“And how does she appear?”

R—“She appears on her feet, on a wreath or in the air. Always on her feet, like this, near.” (Makes a gesture).

P—“Había muchos ángeles?”

R—“Había cinco ángeles con San Miguel.”

P—“Are there many angels?”

R—“There are five angels including St. Michael.”

P—“Como lo sabéis?”

R—“Ella nos dijo que era la Virgen (Reina) de los Angeles.”

P—“How do you know?”

R—“She told us that she was the Virgin (Queen) of the Angels.”

From these questions, as from other questions that they asked the girls on different occasions, we can obtain an approximate description of the Virgin that they see, as with the Angel or the Child. I put in summary the facts that they make concrete and I have to combine:

The Archangel

It is the first of the figures that they see. He appears to be about nine years old. He doesn’t carry weapons. They can’t see his feet because they are covered by a robe. He has wings that fall to the ground. The wings are a rosy color. The robe is blue and so is the mantle. The hair is long, and grows from the top like a mane. The Angel’s hair is different from the Virgin’s.

Generally, he smiles and puts his hand on the girls’ heads with a certain frequency and shook it a little in an affectionate salute.

The Virgin

The description that the girls made of the Virgin is one of great beauty. She is about 18 years old, and very tall. She is always standing. She held her hands in different positions, according to whether she brought the Child. Frequently, she held her hands with her palms toward the girls. Her hair was black and long, and fell in waves almost to her waist. Her eyebrows were the same color. Her dress is white with white flowers. It seems that she has something like a sash on her side. The mantle is blue. The adornment of her head is complete with a crown that is secured to her head like a diadem. Sometimes she gives this crown to the girls; it has small, brilliant stars.

The girls see the Virgin from the front, like other people. If they move from one place to another, they ordinarily do it without moving their feet, and the Virgin stays in front of the girls. The Virgin turned around on one occasion to show the girls her dress. The wind moved her hair sometimes.

The Child

He is so small that he isn’t even a year old. He doesn’t speak but he does laugh. His robe covers his feet. On occasion, he is given to the girls to hold. The Virgin, the Archangel, and the Child have all kissed the girls and have received kisses from them.

They Offer Stones

Almost from the beginning of this month of July it has been observed how the girls take little stones from the ground and lift them up so that the vision will kiss them. After this they hide them in their sleeves, their pockets, or place them in groups on the ground. These stones, upon being offered to be kissed, are dedicated to certain people. The girls say this when they offer them. “This is for Andrés—this one is for Milán.” After they return them to the person they are meant for, the trance ends.

The Tablets

Two tablets exist in two boxes on which the girls write their names and add some sign. They correspond to this month of July. Upon seeing the girls, the Virgin stood up on a stone and they wanted to have a weaker pedestal. They brought two boxes that Mr. Ceferino had in his house. On these two boxes the girls wrote their names in small letters in red. They also wrote the name “Carmel” alluding to what the Virgin had said, that she was Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. They added a picture of a rosary and some knives that they joined.

Kisses

It’s normal upon finishing the trance that the girls say goodbye by giving kisses on the cheeks and that they offer their own cheeks to be kissed. It frequently happens that they add a hand gesture to say goodbye then bless themselves or make the sign of the cross.

Medals

From the first days they came together, the pious and the curious, and they gave holy objects to the girls for the Virgin to kiss. The girls did this, admitting a number of rosaries that didn’t surpass the limit that the pastor put up on some occasions. With the motive of giving these religious objects to be kissed like this, also when they made it with stones, we observed that they frequently recognized objects that had already been kissed. The people made some tests in which they gave a medal or a rosary to one of the girls so she would give it to the vision to kiss. Days later they would give the same object to another girl and when she would offer it to be kissed we would hear her say, as a response to something the Virgin said: “Oh! It has already been kissed! Well, kiss it again.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 5

2011-12-06T17:22:00.001-05:00

2nd Diary

July 1-27

Summary:

July 2nd—The vision speaks; something about the secret.

There are descriptive dialogues. The Archangel. The Virgin. The Child.

They offer stones. They are even. Kisses.

Medals. The calls. Anesthesia. Reflections.

They enter and leave the trance. Transformation.

They receive the Sacrament from the hands of the Angel. The pastor’s behavior in the first weeks. Conchita is in Santander.

July 2, 1961

This July 2nd, Sunday, represents the beginning of a new phase in the rhythm of the apparitions for the four girls. Ceferino’s paper has the last sentence with these words:

“July 2nd: “The Vision speaks.”

Between these references that I could obtain directly from the girls, they say “the other Sunday we saw the Virgin and she talked to us.”

In the document which Fr. Luís Andreu, S.J. coordinated his notes with the ones taken by Fr. Cipriano Abad and Fr. Andrés Pardo, he points out an interview that they made of the girls, with these two responses:

“Did you see the Virgin from the time of the first vision?”

R—“We didn’t see the Virgin for a few days; first we saw the Angel.”

Something about the Secret

P—“They said that the Virgin changed a secret that the Angel had told you, adding some things.”

R—“First we talked about the Angel’s secret and then the Virgin’s secret, but there are two secrets: the Angel’s and the Virgin’s. We never talk amongst ourselves about the secret because one time they heard us.”

(This interview with the girls corresponds to July 31^st and August 1^st).

From this part of the first dialogue it seems that it is necessary to arrange the principal themes.

1st—The Angel told us that he was St. Michael the Archangel. One of the girls laughed when she heard this comment.

2nd—This seems to be the first day that they began to receive the message. The impression it gives, upon talking with the girls about the message, is that they received it in several visions. At least the Vision repeated it in different ecstasies. The manner in which they received it is not only oral, but they also show it. The sentence in which the message appears: “The cup is already filling up,” corresponds, in its visual effect, to this day, or to the following days.

The girls have not talked about this since October 18th passed, so the oral references that I have, I received directly from the girls on October 19th. They told me that they saw a large cup. Drops fell around this cup that could have been blood or tears. The girls could not see to what point the cup had filled. While they saw this the Virgin was very serious, “We have never seen her that serious since, she spoke in a low voice when she said very slowly: ‘The cup is already filling up.’”

The girls didn’t understand the meaning of the sentence: “The cup is already filling up.” They couldn’t ask anyone because that would be revealing the secret that should say hidden until October 18th. Nevertheless, one of the girls, it seems María Dolores, asked the Virgin before this time. María Dolores told the other girls.

On October 19th, Conchita asked me in the morning: “What does ‘the cup is already filling up’ mean?” I told her: “When it is full, the punishment will come.” She responded “This is the same thing the Virgin—(I think she said Loli).”

She responded to my question about the punishment saying: “It will be very large, if it comes, it will be for everyone, for us as well.”

The news that they kept with me in this month of July isn’t as precise as it was in other determined days and hours. I didn’t have news about what happened in San Sebastián de Garabandal until the last days of July arrived. Then I gathered facts directly from the girls, the pastor, and from some neighbors from the village. I pursued some things that could help me to arrive at a clearer understanding of the facts that I saw in the next months, and of the documents that I possess.

(See other notebook for this dialogue)

In an interview that was recorded on a tape, there were three girls who responded to questions made with the idea of obtaining concrete descriptive traits of what the girls saw. The girls were: Jacinta, María Dolores, and Conchita.

(See other notebook for this dialogue).

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Two, Post 5

2011-11-28T11:02:00.001-05:00

At the door of the church

Second Vision

I will begin to describe the second vision that I should say is in Fr. Valentín’s diary as ending at 1:10.

On these days three of the four seers were in San Sebastián de Garabandal. Conchita remained in Santander.

I took the details of this vision from Fr. Luís’ notes, according to the document that combined his notes with Fr. Cipriano Abad’s and Fr. Andrés Pardo’s.

“At 12:14 in the afternoon they fell on their knees in front of the Pines. Loli had her hands together, squeezing tightly.

L: “And, why? Yes.”

J: “Yesterday the priests prayed that there would be many converts when they went to America. They told us that you became sad.”

Note: This refers to Fr. Cipriano Abad who was going to go to Venezuela and Fr. Ramón María Andreu, S.J., who told us that he was going to Nicaragua.

Note: The sentence “there are four here” came after some words that we didn’t hear well. We don’t know if it refers to four stones, or that there were four priests here. In general the affection the girls show toward the priests is very great in the form of respect and obedience.

“Who is this one for? It’s for Trini.”

“It’s for Jacintuca.”

“It’s for a tall priest who said the last mass. This other one is for his brother. He also said mass. This is for the student.”

Note: They talked here about five stones for five people. The tall priest that said the mass is Fr. Ramón María Andreu. The brother who also said mass is Fr. Luís María Andreu and the student is Fr. Andrés Pardo who at this date had begun his fourth course of Theology at Comillas.

(Now they pray the Hail Mary, according to the new way).

“Can we pray it like this when we pray?”

Note: The scene involving the new formula for the Hail Mary was like this. Fr. Ramón was accustomed to praying the Hail Mary saying: “The Lord is with you, blessed are you among women.” It was like this that the girls heard it at the end of the masses they attended, but definitely at the last mass. During this vision they said this sentence to the Virgin: “A priest taught us the Hail Mary like this,” and they recited it. Upon finishing they said: “Again?” And they repeated it and then said this sentence: “Should we pray it like this, when we pray?” They alluded to praying the rosary with this new form of the Hail Mary, something they did like this a little after.

“Look at St. Michael the Archangel

(they sing the hymn):

Image via Wikipedia

“St. Michael the Archangel,

Great warrior,

Who fought the beast,

Who conquered Lucifer.’

“Who is like God?

No one is like God!”

(They make the sign of the cross slowly).

J: “We pray the rosary and you pray with Loli and me in front.”

Note: In my notes, the appearance of Ud. does not occur in this instance. Since it was difficult to hear sometimes, it could be that there are discrepancies because each of us produced sentences from different girls in the same moment of conversation. I have it like this: Then Jacinta said: “Do we pray the rosary? I’m with you and Loli answered”—and she began to pray from—“Sometimes they pose the question of whether the Virgin prayed with the girls or not. The responses have been affirmative sometimes and negative sometimes. More than paying attention to the girls, the responses have to establish the right date on which they respond. What I have been able to observe in this sense until this date has been the following: In the beginning the Virgin prayed frequently with the girls. Other times I listened and moved my head with a slight movement of correction when one of the girls made a mistake about something. The one thing that the three girls always agree upon is that the Virgin says when it is time for the Gloria. On this occasion, upon praying they asked the Virgin why she didn’t pray and she responded that she had prayed the other times to teach the girls. An observer who was only slightly interested could call this a trick if he observed that the girls prayed responding to the vision. From that alone one can’t guess that the Virgin prayed in this case with the girls who have already prayed several times with the Angel and after August 16th, they prayed many times with Fr. Luís. It also seems very clear that they wanted to teach more when they’d prayed with the Virgin.

L: “What day is it, Jacinta?”

J: “Tuesday, Sorrowful Misteries.”

(They pray the Act of Contrition. Then they pray the rosary; Loli begins).

J: “Slowly.”

L: (Hail Mary). “A priest taught me.”

(Normal pronunciation. The eyes are looking at the exact same place as before. Jacinta pronounces the words normally, but Loli’s lips tremble sometimes. Jacinta has her arms crossed, and Loli’s arms are down with her hands together in front. They take photos half a meter away. One time Loli says: “Among all of the women.” Jacinta corrects her: “Among women.” This is in the middle of the third mystery. They don’t count the Hail Marys, not even with their fingers on the rosary, but they always say ten. In the fourth mystery Jacinta says: “Among all”—she corrects herself and says: “Among women.” The fourth and fifth mysteries end normally. Upon continuing, she says:

“Our Lady, well appeared, kissed.” (Loli continues offering. She looks).

L: “I don’t know where I have it.” (They offer the scapulars. Loli offers it with medals at the same time in the palm of her hand).

L. “Kiss the rosary.” (She offers the medals on the rosary, one by one, saying: “For this one, for this one”).

L. “I don’t think there are any more.” (She says this about the little medals on the Rosary).

L. “If I give you a stone, you’ll kiss it, right? I’m trying to find it.”

“It seems that this belongs to the one who is going with the tall priest to America.”

Note: The tall priest was Fr. Ramón María Andreu, S.J., and the one going with him to America was the seminarian Fr. Cipriano Abad. The association of these two regarding a trip to America includes the girls asking to pray for them, since they had their work ahead of them in America.

“Here! Why wasn’t it confused with my father’s.” (She kept it in the left sleeve of her sweater).

J: “I know it. Loli, you took it from me.”

“This one is for the priest who comes with the two priests and makes movies.”

Note: This is a direct allusion to Fr. Eugenio Fontaneda, who on this day and the day before filmed an extraordinary cinema graphic report in which the girls appeared as witnesses, as did their parents. There were some small moments in which the girls appeared in ecstasy. This movie has the last footage taken of Fr. Luís María Andreu, S.J., which corresponds to 8 days before his death.

“This is for the other one who was the brother of the man who filmed us.”

Note: This is an allusion to Mr. Rafael Fontaneda Pérez, who is Mr. Eugenio’s brother.

“Wait, did you find another? This is the one I came out on. They’re the same. See if you confuse me.”

“This one, it’s a square, it’s for Cirinín, my brother. Where should I put it so it doesn’t get confused?”

“Don’t go, don’t go for a little while, because you’ve only been here a short time. A minute.”

L: “Yes.”

L: “Good.”

L: “I don’t know. Why? Already—when? Ah!”

Jacinta: “And, before we eat is there another? But I have to go to the field. Oh! But I have to go to the field.”

Note: This passage alludes to the Virgin telling the girls that they were going to see her again before they ate. In fact, this took place at 3:45. Jacinta’s problem is that she had to go to the field in the afternoon. Jacinta’s field is far away, about 5 kilometers. Because of this, Loli told her mother that it didn’t make sense to stop seeing the Virgin to go to the field. In this part of the dialogue, as in other dialogues, her desire to see the Virgin appears. The sincerity of this desire is notable, as well the sorrow expressed when they couldn’t see the Virgin.

L: “And you’re going to stop seeing the Virgin to go to the field? Tell your mother to come here.”

“We come here then? Then I will not move from here. Well, I’ll stay here. In the village there is a long road.”

“It’s at 2? What time is it? It’s past 12. At 2 or 1:30. Don’t go—huh? Wait a little. You haven’t been here a minute.”

L: “You tell us how many we have seen? Three quarters of an hour? You don’t want to tell me—a lot—we’ve only been here a minute, half a minute—yes, we have been here half a minute.”

Note: The sensation that they hadn’t been there any time, or almost no time, even though it had been more than an hour, goes with the desire that it wouldn’t end. Because of this, they say things like “don’t go,” and use the argument that “you haven’t been here more than a minute.”

“Yes, what.”

J: “Oh! I’ve already forgotten who the stones were for. They took them from me. Loli, did you take them from me? You rascal—I took a lot and now I only have two. Oh! They left me. This other long one, who is it for?”

Note: The word rascal in the mouths of the girls, as in this region, has a caring meaning. In the sentence: “Oh, they left me” she is referring to the stone that they had put in the sleeve of her sweater.

“This one is for the short priest.”

Note: (This refers to Fr. Cipriano Abad).

“Let’s see if I remember who this is for.”

Note: There is an inventory. Among the different destinations of the kissed stones, she mentions that one is for the tall priest, who is Fr. Ramón, for his brother, who is Fr. Luís, the brother with the film, who is Mr. Rafael Fontaneda Pérez, and the fifth is for Mr. Eugenio.

“For the tall priest. Which one of them? (Of the stones). The third? I think so. For his brother. For his brother with the film. It was the long one.”

(She collects them on the ground. She looks at the same place as always. They sing St. Michael’s Hymn. Before the hymn she had said: “Don’t go—what?”)

L: “Yes.” (She laughs).

J: “She goes.” (She waves goodbye).

Loli: “Why are you going? Wait a little while. Why not? And, the child? He’s sleeping? He’s tired. But you’ll bring him at 1:30?”

“Will you kiss me, St. Michael? Now you, the Virgin. (She receives a double kiss at the same time and the girls return the double kiss. They sing the Hail Mary, smiling.

“We sing bad? You sing it better if that’s the case.”

J: “Will you give me the crown?”

L: “Will you give me the crown? It’s very large, you see, very large.”

J: “Give it to me.”

L: “Take it, it’s very large on me. The Child’s is small. Go and look for the Child. Oh! You’re going? You’re not going to look, you’re leaving.”

J: “The scapular, it’s very long on me, more than on Loli.”

“Kiss my hand (she offers her hand for the Virgin to kiss). Now me.” (She kisses the Virgin’s hand).

“Now on both sides of the face.”

“You’re wearing the most beautiful dress. Oh, how beautiful! White, with white flowers. And a blue mantle, blue.”

“A priest asked us what your eyebrows were like and whether we could take a picture of your face.”

Note: To be able to have an idea of what the girls saw when they saw the Virgin, we asked them some questions. We showed them images of the Virgin that were in a book of meditations called “Only Mary,” and they told me that she didn’t look like any of them. I asked several things having to do with the dress, whether she wore shoes, the color of her hair, her eyebrows, etc.

“Does she have black eyebrows—no? And her hair, what is it like? Turn around so we can see. Her hair is very long.”

“Conchita said: ‘Fr. Valentín wants to see me as a gypsy.’” (They smile).

Note: This allusion to what Conchita said is made in her absence, since Conchita is in Santander today. Fr. Valentín’s sentence refers to Conchita’s hair. Later when they wanted a point of comparision regarding the Virgin’s hair they said that was long, like Conchita’s hair before she cut her braids.

“It’s true that you said that they attended. Loli and I are going to leave it long.”

Note: The most probable interpretation of what they meant by this, “leaving it to be long” refers to their hair, which they had cut short.

“Today there were four Masses. I thought that there would be five, but one is only a student, and he still has two years until he finishes.”

Note: This refers to the masses celebrated in San Sebastián de Garabandal by Fr. Valentín, Fr. Cipriano Abad, Fr. Luís María Andreu, and Fr. Ramón María Andreu. The student was Andrés Pardo, who still had two years of study left before his ordination. He came wearing a cassock, so the girls thought he was going to say Mass.

“Oh! You took mine.”

“This is very small, but it is one.”

Note: These are allusions to the stones. At this moment, they began to make a new inventory of the stones. Upon seeing the girls begin to count the stones and trying to tell the person each stone was meant for, Andrés Pardo, who had taken his from the ground, took it out of his pocket. They drew near the other stones that the girls had and Andrés Pardo placed his among them. When they went giving the stones to be kissed, the girl was asking who it was for, and she added it to the pile of kissed stones. Andrés’s stone arrived there like this. The Vision told the girl that it had already been kissed, and that it belonged to the student. The surprise and amazement of those present was great because it was Andrés’s stone. As with all of the stones before she had repeated the name of the person it belonged to, with affirmation from those who remembered which was their stone. I remembered mine when I gave it to be kissed and after a little while, when other subjects had been abandoned, the inventory began, and when they arrived at the one I had given to be kissed, they said that it belonged to the tall priest.

L: “They took the student’s from me. (They looked for the stone for a while). (The student had placed it). “Oh! I found it. Why did you take it from me?” (She touched it with her fingers and said: “It’s kissed.” (And it was). Then who does it belong to? Was it the student’s? Oh! What foolishness.”

“Six, all together.”

L: “We didn’t take any for Fr. Valentín. This is for Fr. Valentín.”

J: “I have to take another, Loli. This is for Mr. Severino, for when he returns here. We already told him yesterday, but he forgave us the other day.”

“This is for the brother who took pictures of us.”

L: “These are of Jacinta. Take them from me (she gives them).

“This one, who is it for?”

“For Mrs. (Gapita) de Oliva. Touch it so she will be cured. Cure her!”

“This small one is for María del Carmen, my sister. Kiss it and touch it.”

“This is for whom? For no one.”

L: “This is for the tall priest. This is for—oh! See if I remember how many I have.”

J: “This is for my father, this is for my mother. Do you know who this is for? For Paquita. This is for the professor.”

“This is for Ramonín, who also asked me.”

“This is for Victori, not Consuelo’s, who told me no.”

L: “Oh. Take mine! I have such a pile of them.”

J: “Oh! Don’t go.”

L: “Who did I take one from? This is for—let’s see for sure, for Josefina.”

J: “You’re already tired of kissing. Just kiss this one, that’s all.”

L: “For Aunt Laureana. This one is bad. For Aunt Laureana, I don’t remember, cure her.”

“You’re not tired of kissing so many?”

“Take them from me again.”

Note: This sentence is directed to her companion and alludes to the stones. They were joking, giving the stones to one then the other.

At 1:10 they quieted and looked. They kissed. They blessed themselves and made the sign of the cross.

L: “Let’s pray here and now!”

After a few minutes Jacinta said:

“Oh, she left!”

“The Vision ended.”

Upon finishing this Vision we stayed at the Pines and decided to wait there. But we descended into the village and ate something. When my watch showed two o’clock we began to go up to the Pines again. We stayed there talking and joking until the next vision arrived. During this time, I asked Jacinta:

“Listen, when you have the calls, what does the Virgin say? Does she say to you: ‘Jacinta, come?’” When I finished saying this, Loli interrupted, saying: “The first call says: ‘Jacinta.’ The second: ‘Jacinta, come!’ And the third: ‘Jacinta! Run, run, run,’ but all of this is within, there are no words.” At 3:45 the 3rd vision began.

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Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 4

2011-11-23T13:49:00.001-05:00

June 22-23, 1961

These two days correspond to Thursday and Friday. Ceferino’s paper says: “June 22—there was no vision. June 23—Vision, cuadro and Angel.”

During the first two weeks after June 18th, only the Angel appeared to the four girls. The description that the girls make of the Angel is like this: He is nine years old, does not carry a sword, he ordinarily smiles, and you can’t see his feet because they are covered by a long white tunic. His wings are a pink color, and you always see them from the front. As they appear they almost disappear from the front. The Angel revealed his age and identity when he said that he was the Archangel St. Michael.

June 24-July 1, 1961

These days go from Saturday to Saturday. Ceferino’s paper reads like this:

“June 24th—There was no vision.”

“June 25th—Vision—an Angel.”

“June 26th—Vision—an Angel.”

“June 27th—Vision—an Angel.”

“June 28th—Vision—an Angel.”

“June 29th—Vision—an Angel.”

“June 30th—Vision—an Angel.”

“July 1st—Vision—an Angel.”

The apparition took place in the same site on these first days; it seems it was in the road. It was there that a little before an apparition happened, the people from the village would make a ring in the shape of a square to defend the girls from the groups of people who began to come up to witness the phenomenon.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 3

2011-11-22T15:43:00.001-05:00

June 19-20, 1961

I have a summary from these days that includes the sentences that appeared in the paper that Ceferino, María Dolores’ father, wrote:

June 19th—There was no vision.

June 20th—They didn’t go.

These two days correspond to Monday and Tuesday. These two days are when the news that the girls had allegedly seen the Angel reached the girls.

In Fr. Luís’s 2nd notebook, Fr. Valentín said this:

“On Tuesday I went up and saw them while in a vision. I went to where the Bishop was; he told me to go up and control the situation a little.”

It’s not clear if Fr. Valentín saw them while they had the vision on the same Tuesday that he went up, or whether he saw them on Wednesday.

Mrs. Fania is one of the first to understand this. The sentence: “Are you of the Angel?” spread through the village, with which they wanted to express whether people took the girls seriously. Little by little the places where the apparitions took place extended including people who came from far away because of their curiosity about the girls when they were in a trance.

June 21, 1961

The sentence that appears on Ceferino’s paper is this one: “June 21st—Vision—Luminous Cuadro.”

In these first days the Vision stayed silent. His communication with the seers happened through images. The news that I’ve gathered about the “luminous cuadro” is very imprecise;” the girls don’t talk about it, nor does Fr. Valentín.

It has to do with red light or fire that forms a square inside of which there is a triangle, an eye, and a sign. The letters are unfamiliar and in the eastern or Arabic style. Fr. Valentín told me that he tried to reproduce them and told another priest the correct letters and sentences. The translation was: “I need you in October.” I repeat that the news I have about this luminous cuadro was very imprecise and that I am limited to reviewing the various conversations that I have obtained, without any guarantee. What seems clear is that they had a vision that day and that they saw it for the first time in the cuadro.

From Mark Mallett: Merciless!

2011-11-21T15:00:00.001-05:00

Merciless!

IF the Illumination is to occur, an event comparable to the "awakening" of the Prodigal Son, then not only will humanity encounter the depravity of that lost son, the consequent mercy of the Father, but also the mercilessness of the elder brother.

It is interesting that in Christ’s parable, He does not tell us whether the elder son comes to accept the return of His little brother. In fact, the brother is angry.

Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. (Luke 15:25-28)

The remarkable truth is, not everyone in the world will accept the graces of the Illumination; some will refuse "to enter the house." Is this not the case every day in our own lives? We are granted many moments for conversion, and yet, so often we choose our own misguided will over God’s, and harden our hearts a little bit more, at least in certain areas of our lives. Hell itself is full of people who willfully resisted saving grace in this life, and are thus without grace in the next. Human free will is at once an incredible gift while at the same time a serious responsibility, since it is the one thing that renders the omnipotent God helpless: He forces salvation upon no one even though He wills that all would be saved.

One of the dimensions of free will that restrains God’s ability to act within us is mercilessness…

<a href="http://www.markmallett.com/blog/2011/11/merciless/

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 2

2011-11-21T11:24:00.001-05:00

Conchita’s autograph:

“—We are girls from San Sebastián; we see the Angel St. Michael.”

(Notebooks, etc.)

These autographed writings are written by the girls on July 31st and August 1st of 1961.

As a summary of the previous facts and from subsequent conversations with the parish priests and with the girls we reconstructed the pertinent information from this day June 18, 1961.

The parish priest talked to the girls about the promises of the Sacred Heart on June 18, 1961. The children finally prayed an Our Father to the Guardian Angel as they were accustomed to doing. Then one of the girls said: “I don’t have a Guardian Angel.” Fr. Valentín said: “Don’t say foolish things, everyone has a Guardian Angel,” and they prayed an Our Father.

At six the children left and the four girls went to take apples. They didn’t go alone at the beginning but they stayed alone when they took the apples. According to the explanations that the girls gave, not all of them took apples. One of them said: “The good Angel is on the right and the bad is on the left.”

The apparition of the Angel was preceded by a light that always accompanied him. At the beginning they were afraid. The Angel didn’t speak. After a time he disappeared.

It’s possible that the girls believed that it was the Guardian Angel. But there were four girls and one Angel. The girls limited themselves to saying that they saw an Angel. The idea that they have about the Angel and what Fr. Valentín had said, goes with this sentence that one of the girls spoke.” The good Angel at the right and the bad Angel at the left, it seemed to be related to the Guardian Angel. As a result, it was surprising when he revealed the identity of this Angel, who did not carry a sword, but said that he was St. Michael the Archangel.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notebooks - Part One

2011-11-18T11:04:00.001-05:00

Starting today I will again be posting Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes! They are quite important and historical in regard to the truths of Garabandal! May he rest in peace!

Deacon John

Note: Since these notes could arrive in so many hands as others have before without my knowledge and to unknown people through unknown ways, I want to begin this writing with the following declarations:

1st—With special authorization from Fr. Doroteo Fernández, A.A. from Santander, on these dates and with approval from my Superiors, as well as the vice provincial from Western Castilla, as my rector, I was in San Sebastián de Garabandal several times.

2nd—I am writing about what I believed and heard to the cited Superiors.

3rd—I never gave an interpretation of the happenings that took place there.

4th—I recounted the historical facts and commented on others.

5th—The language used in these writings is used to bring memories of the facts, but that is not to say that it is taken for granted that these interpretations are accepted.

6th—The words, language, and figures of speech like Virgin, Vision, Child, etc.—serve to express determined facts, happenings, etc.—and because in some way we understand them to be the names spoken, so that is how we write them.

7th—The motive in compiling these facts and narrations is to have the memory of some facts lived by many people and in case one day they can be collectively useful, they should not be lost. For me, they will always be so, although they are a familiar aspect of interest, since they were left in my brother’s life, doubly my brother, and today, doubly loved, Fr. Luís María S.J., who I always admired and whose advice and conduct have served as an example for me many times, and who I had an advantage over in age only.

Ramón M. Andreu, S.J.

1st Diary

Month of June 1961

Summary:

June 18, 1961—the visions begin.

June 19-20.

June 21—in the Luminous cuadro.

June 22-23.

June 24-July 1.

June 18, 1961.

In order to reconstruct the scene and the other details of this day, June 18, 1961, in which the first apparition took place, it is necessary to refer to questions made to the girls, since they are the only witnesses of the vision.

To have some versions of what happened that give a first impression, it is worthwhile to question the girls’ first confidantes. The questions were made on dates closer to June 18th, that is to say, when the least time had passed from the facts to the narration of them; this is a less elaborate version that is more original.

The attached tries to reconstruct what refers to us regarding the girls. I cite some documents that I possess from a series of apparitions that took place from this date on.

In Fr. Luís María Andreu S.J.’s 2nd notebook, which corresponds to August 29th and later August 31st, there is the summary of a conversation with Fr. Valentín Marichalar Torre, parish priest from Cossío and San Sebastián de Garabandal, which says this: “Fr. Valentín says: June 18th, I am accustomed to asking people about the Commandments—it was the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; we asked the girls what the promises of the Sacred Heart were. It was to wear the scapular. They said: They already know that we have a Guardian Angel. Nothing more.

They marched at 6. That day I stayed here. On the following day they told me that they went to pick apples. We thought: “Can our Guardian Angel see us? They saw. Fr. Valentín said so. Fr. Valentín said that he didn’t want to know our foolishness. On Monday, when a mother went down to Cossío, she said that several girls had seen a Guardian Angel.

On Tuesday I went up and saw them while they were having a vision. I went to the Bishop, who told me to go up and control the situation a little.

As one can see in these lines there are sentences in a direct style, while others represent a summary or an idea we have talked about.

On July 29th, upon going up to San Sebastián de Garabandal, I received information from two women from the village who had stayed there; I have it like this in the notes I took in my notebook: “Narration of the two women: ‘the girls went to steal fruit and they saw an Angel. They interpreted this to mean that they shouldn’t steal, because of the good Angel on the right and the bad Angel on the left.’”

There is a paper on which Ceferino, father of María Dolores, made a chronology of the first days, beginning like this: “The Apparition began on June 18th.”

In concordance with what Fr. Cipriano Abad, Andrés Pardo, and Fr. Luís María did, and with the notes they took, it says this in the beginning of the second folio.

Responses from the girls

We wanted to ask the group of three girls questions to clarify some of the things they said. Loli’s father brought the three girls to his house. In one of the rooms, with Loli’s father in attendance, and with the girls in the company of Fr. Cipriano Abad and Fr. Ramón Andreu (who came at the end), the girls gave these responses to questions asked by Fr. Luís Andreu.

1st─“Did you see the Virgin from the first vision?”

R—“It was a few days before we saw the Virgin. We saw the Angel first.”

What I have in signed writing by the girls regarding the beginning of the apparitions is the following:

“Jacinta González González. Some girls see Our Lady of Mount Carmel who brings the Child. We also saw St. Michael; we are Conchita, Jacinta, Loli, Mari Cruz, and we were going to take some apples but we didn’t take them and then we sat down in a road and the Virgin smiled a lot and we remembered a priest who said that his name was Andreu and it is true that his brother who is very tall has the same name.”

(Notebook #3—Fr. Luís M. Andreu)

Autographed by María Dolores:

“—and we went to steal apples and we took them but I took a branch and Jacinta took them and then she jumped onto the road and we sat down. Suddenly we saw the Angel and he didn’t speak to us nicely.”

María Dolores Mazón González

(Fr. Andreu’s notebooks)

Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XXVII)

2011-11-16T11:01:00.001-05:00

CHAPTER XXVII

Locution of Conchita at Pamplona

(February 13, 1966)

(Six days after entry into the convent of the Discalced Carmelites)

On Sunday, February 13

^th

, at the time of thanksgiving to God after having received Communion, I received at the same time a great joy and an even greater sorrow and a disillusion.

I heard the voice of Christ, Who said this to me:

— Conchita, you have come here to the convent to prepare yourself to be My spouse and you say you want to follow Me.

— Do you not say, Conchita, that you want to accomplish My will?

— Although now you want to accomplish your own.

— Will it be that way all your life?

— I have chosen you in the world, so that you stay there, facing the numerous difficulties you will have because of Me.

— All this I want for your own sanctification and that you offer it for the salvation of the world.

— You should speak to the world about Mary.

— Do you remember what I told you? That wherever you are, you will find the cross and suffering. Now I am telling you this again.

— Conchita, did you feel the call to be My spouse? No, because I have not called you.

I asked Him, “How does one feel Your call to be a religious?”

He told me, “Do not concern yourself about that; you will never feel it.”

I asked him, “Then, Jesus, do You not love me?”

He answered, “Conchita you ask Me that? Who has redeemed you? Fulfill My will and you will find My love.”

— Look at yourself closely.

— Think more of others.

— Do not be disturbed by temptation. If you are faithful, with My love you will conquer many temptations.

— Be intelligent with what I tell you. Intelligent spiritually. Do not close the eyes of your soul. Do not let anyone deceive you. Love humility, simplicity.

— Never think what you have done is much. Think of what you have to do and what you ought to do, not to gain heaven, but that the world may accomplish my Divine Will, that all souls prepare themselves.

— Whoever holds his soul disposed to hear Me will know what My Will is.

— I want to tell you, Conchita, that before the miracle you will suffer much. Few will believe you. Your own family will think that you have deceived them. All this I want for you — I’ve already said it — for your sanctification, and that the world accomplish the message.

— I want to warn you that the rest of your life will be a continual suffering.

— Do not be disturbed. In suffering am I and Mary, whom you love so much.

— I asked Him if Rome also would not believe me. He did not answer, but He said to me, “Don’t worry if they believe or if they don’t believe.”

— I will do everything, but I will also give you suffering. Whoever suffers for Me, I am with him.

Conchita González

Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XXVI)

2011-11-14T16:17:00.001-05:00

CHAPTER XXVI

Conchita’s Locution on July 20, 1963

I was making my thanksgiving and praying for things. He answered me . . .

I asked Him to give me a cross since I was living without suffering — except the suffering of not having a cross.

And He answered: Yes, I will give it to you.

And with much feeling, I went on praying . . .

And I said to Him, Why is the Miracle coming? . . . To convert many people?

He answered: To convert the whole world.

— Will Russia be converted?

— It also will be converted; and so everyone will love Our Hearts.

— Will the Chastisement come afterwards?

(He didn’t answer me.)

— Why do you come to my poor heart, without my meriting it?

— I certainly do not come for you; I come for all.

— When the Miracle comes, will it be as if I were the only one who had seen the Virgin?

— He answered me: By your sacrifices, your patience, I will allow you to intercede for the accomplishment of the miracle.

And I said to Him: Wouldn’t it be better for me to be with all the others; or if not, that You don’t use any of us to intercede?

— No.

— Will I go to Heaven?

— You should love much and pray to Our Hearts.

— When will You give me a cross?

(He didn’t answer me.)

— What will I be?

(He didn’t answer me. He only told me that everywhere that I would be, I would have much to suffer.)

— Am I going to die soon?

— You have to stay on the earth to help the world.

— I am very small. I couldn’t help in anything.

— With your prayers and sufferings, you will help the world.

— When does one go to heaven? . . . When one dies?

— One never dies.

(I thought that we didn’t go to heaven until we were resurrected.)

I asked Him if St. Peter was at the gate of heaven to receive us; and He told me No.

While I was in this conversation, in this prayer with God, I felt myself out of the world.

Jesus also told me that now His Heart should be loved.

Concerning priests, He told me that I must pray much:

— So that they would be holy and fulfill their duties;

— So that they would make others better;

— So that they would make Me known to those who do not know Me;

— So that they would make Me loved by those who know Me and do not love Me.