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Treasures of the Church- Marian Shrines and Apparitions |
Apparitions of Our Lady in
Garabandal
by SCTJM
Introduction
Garabandal is a small village consisting of 300
habitants and located in the Cantabria Mountains
of northern Spain in the province of Santander.
Saint Sebastian of Garabandal is at the end of a
very curved road which starts from another
village named Cosio. In a solitary area, nine
pines stand out between the mountains
surrounding Garabandal. In the decade of the
60's it was a very poor village, without trains,
roads, or telephone. Most of the people were
Catholics and very faithful to Church custom.
At sunset you would find a woman walking through
the streets as she rang a bell to remind the
people to pray the Angelus for the souls in
purgatory, and at noontime the bells in the
Church would ring, and people would stop working
to pray the Angelus.
St. Sebastian lived days of peace until June 18,
1961. Since this date everything changed in this
small corner of the Cantabria mountain range:
millions of people, driven by curiosity,
devotion or hope, started to flock the area in
an interrupted manner. A journalist from Navarra
called the village the “Spanish Lourdes.” The
pilgrims responded to a very special call, a
call from heaven that our Blessed Mother made.
In the afternoon of Sunday, June 18th, 1961,
four girls said to have seen an apparition of an
angel. The girls were Conchita Gonzalez, Mari
Cruz Gonzalez, Jacinta Gonzalez, and Mari Loli
Mazon. Conchita relates the first apparition:
“We took apples not belonging to us, and we
thought the devil to be happy and our poor
guardian angel to be sad. Then we started to
pick up stones and throw them with all our
strength to the left side. We thought the devil
was there. We started to play with the stones.
All of a sudden a beautiful figure appeared with
so much brightness that it hurt my eyes. The
other girls who saw me in this state thought I
was having some kind of an attack, and they were
ready to call my mother, but then they remained
in the same state as I was and we exclaimed at
the same time:
“There, an Angel!” Later the Angel identified
himself as St. Michael the Archangel. St.
Michael appeared several times. The first time
he spoke to the girls was July 1st, 1961, and
said to them: “Do you know why I had come? To
announce to you that tomorrow, Sunday, the
Virgin Mary will appear as Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel.”
On Sunday, July 2nd about 6 pm, the girls went
to the alley which led them to the nine pine
trees, and a great multitude of people followed
them, with various priests and doctors among
them. Approaching the place, the visionaries
encountered, to their surprise, the Blessed
Virgin Mary who came accompanied by two angels.
One of them was St. Michael and the other was
unknown.
They described our Lady: “She comes with a white
dress, blue mantel, a crown with 12 golden
stars, her hands stretched out, with a brown
scapular, carrying the child in her arms: her
hair was brown and long, parted in the middle;
her face was long with a fine nose; her mouth
was very beautiful, with lips a little thick.
She appeared to be 17 years old and tall.”
The Messages
In the apparitions of Garabandal that
occurred from June 18th, 1961 to June 18th, 1965
two messages were especially given out.
The first was given by Our Lady to the girls on
July 4th, 1961; this message had already been
written on a sign at St. Michael the Archangel’s
feet in the month of June, during the
apparitions of the angel to the girls. Our Lady
of Mt. Carmel asked the girls not to make this
message public until October 18th. They did as
Our Lady requested. In the autumn of 1961, the
visionaries made known to the world the 1st
message which said:
“Much sacrifice needs to be done and much
penance, we have to visit the Blessed Sacrament
much , but before we have to be very good. If we
do not do this, a punishment will come. The cup
is being filled, and if we don’t change a
punishment will come.”
The message speaks about sacrifice and penance
and reminds us of the gospel teaching of the
prediction of St. John the Baptist: “Repent, for
the Kingdom of God is at hand.” (Mt 3:1-3) The
same Christ inaugurates his preaching saying: “
Repent, and believe in the Good News . . .” (Mc
1:15) It is the eternal message of the prophets
and was insistently reminded by the Blessed
Virgin Mary in La Sallete, Lourdes, Fatima, but
unfortunately forgotten by the majority of
people. That is why if we don’t change, a
punishment will come, manifesting that the
justice of God has consequences for the sins of
men for wrongly using their liberty.
“The cup is filling.” This is Biblical
apocalyptic language which reminds us of the 7
angels with 7 chalices of gold(15,7) full of
God’s anger.
“We have to visit much the Blessed
Sacrament.” This reminds us of the real
presence of Christ with His Body, Blood, Soul
and Divinity, in moments when even Catholics,
and even priests, have lost faith in the
Eucharist.
“But before we have to be very good.”
This means we have to live in a state of grace,
remove from our lives mortal sin with the help
of God’s grace and participation of the
Sacraments.
The Blessed Virgin communicated a “second
message” four years later towards the end of the
apparitions.
Our Lady said to Conchita on January 1st, 1965
that the Archangel Michael would appear on the
18th of June and give a message in her name to
the whole world. Through the mediation of St.
Michael, Our Lady complained that the first
message was not listened to and warned the world
that this would be the last.
The Virgin said: “Because it was not
fulfilled and my message from October 18th, 1961
has not been made known to the world, I tell you
this is the last one. Before the cup was being
filled, but now it is overflowing. Many priests
are walking through the path of perdition and
taking with them many souls. Less and less
importance is given to the Eucharist. You should
prevent God’s anger upon you with your efforts.
If you ask forgiveness with sincerity, He will
forgive you. I, your Mother, through the
intercession of the Archangel Michael, want to
tell you to amend your lives. You are in the
last warning. I love you very much and don’t
want your condemnation; ask and you will
receive. You should do more sacrifice; think
more in the passion of Jesus.”
It is clear in this message that not hearing or
obeying the messages of Our Lady have serious
consequences. She insists that the cup is
overflowing and “the priests are walking on the
path of perdition taking with them many souls.”
This phrase in the year 1965 was not all too
clear, because at this time the Second Vatican
Council concluded with great hope for the
majority of Catholics, especially for cardinals,
bishops and priests. This optimism didn’t allow
us to see the great crisis of faith and
infidelity of many consecrated souls in the
Church in the following years. In 1965 there
were over 400,000 priests in the Church, and
since then, 90,000 have left the priesthood. The
hemorrhage was provoked by a certain current of
thoughts that interpreted the teachings of the
Second Vatican Council as “liberal“ and
“progressive."
The consequences were known. The “Deposit of
Faith,” the dogmas, and Christian morals were
attacked.
Let us remember the violent universal opposition
to the teaching office of the Church over family
planning (Humanae Vitae), abortion, the
social doctrine of the Church, catechism, the
Papal authority, questions concerning the
Eucharist, penance, resurrection and many more.
Because of the situation, Pope Paul VI spoke on
January of 1976 about the “treason of the
clerics.” In another occasion the Pope said: “It
was thought that after the council a day of
sunshine for the history of the Church would
come, but on the contrary, the day of clouds
came, storm and darkness, because Satan had
intervened.”(6-29-1972)
“The Eucharist is given less importance.”
This prophetic announcement highlights the
unbelief of and infidelity to the Real Presence
of Jesus, as well as irreverence in the
celebration of the Holy Sacraments by the
priests.
The Blessed Virgin Mary comes as our Mother, confirming what Christ from
the Cross gave us: “Woman, behold your son. Son,
behold, your Mother.”( Jn 19:26). She always
comes insisting and asking us to sacrifice more
and to meditate more on the Passion of her Son.
In the Garabandal apparitions many prophetic
visions exist about the immediate future of
humanity and the Church. In the prophetic
announcement of Garabandal, Conchita speaks of a
warning, a miracle, and a punishment for
humanity.
The Warning
January 1st, 1965, Conchita had a new apparition
of Our Lady in which Mary spoke about the
“warning,” a warning for the world to amend
itself.
Conchita tells us: “I cannot say in what it
consists, she has not ordered me to say it. She
has not told me when it will be. Therefore, I
don’t know. I do know that it will be visible
for the entire world; it is a direct work of God
and it will occur before the miracle. I don’t
know if people will die. They can only die from
the impression they see.”
In one of her letters she speaks about the
warning:
“This warning,” she said, “is like a punishment,
for the good and for the bad: for the good so
they can draw closer to God and for the bad to
tell them the end of times is near. This is to
be the last warning.”
The warning will be the fruit of God’s justice
and of his Mercy. Of His justice, because it is
going to purify us of our sins; of His Mercy,
because it will give us an opportunity of
greater conversion in our spiritual life.
This warning will be a direct work of God’s
intervention.
The warning that will come to the world will be
external to us and will happen in the sky; a
luminous flame of ardent fire, felt on the
entire earth. Most importantly, interiorly we
will see our conscience before God’s justice -
what we have done wrong and what we have not
done. In short, it will be like a particular
judgment but wile still living. As well, the
conscience of the world will be corrected - a
purification before the miracle - to see if by
the warning and the miracle we convert.
The Miracle
The girls asked insistently to Our Lady for a
miracle. Like in Fatima, she said: “I will do a
miracle for all to believe.”
In a note Conchita wrote:
“About the miracle, Our Lady only told me. She
had prohibited me to say what it is about. I
cannot say the date, until eight days before.
What I can say is that it will coincide with a
Church event and with a feast day of a Saint, a
martyr of the Eucharist. It will be at 8:30 pm
on a Thursday and be visible for all who are in
town and around the mountains. The sick who are
present will be healed and the unbelievers will
believe. It will be the greatest miracle Jesus
has done for the world. There will be no doubt
that it comes from God and for the good of
humanity. A sign of the miracle will stay for
ever, near the pines. It can be filmed and
televised."
We can signal out essential aspects of the
miracle, according to what the girls related in
interviews and letters, especially Conchita.
• Conchita knows the exact date, and
communicated it to Pope Paul VI, to his
confessor and to Cardinal Ottaviani, who was
Pre-perfect of the Holy Oder, known today as the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
• Conchita will announce it to the world 8 days
before the date.
• There will be one year between the warning and
the miracle.
• It will last between 10 minutes and 1/4 of an
hour.
• It will occur on Thursday at 8:30 pm in the
afternoon.
• Between the 6 - 16 in one of these three
months: March, April & May.
• This day will not be a Marian Feast day.
• It will coincide with the feast day of a
martyred saint in relation with the
Eucharist.
• It will also coincide with an important, rare,
singular event for the Church as well as for all
Christianity - a happy and fortunate event.
• It will the greatest miracle Jesus has done
for the world.
• It will be visible in Garabandal and in the
mountains around the area; it cannot be touched,
but it will be able to be filmed and televised.
• It will not be necessary for the girls to be
present at the moment of the miracle.
• The sick present will be healed and the
unbelievers will believe.
• The Pope will see the Miracle “where ever he
may be.”
In the first days of June 1963, the bells in
Garabandal started to ring. Conchita, who was in
the kitchen of her house with her mother Aniceta,
immediately exclaimed:
“The bells are ringing for a deceased. Surely it
is for the Pope (John XXIII had died). Now there
is only three Popes left.” Her mother,
surprised, asked her what she said and Conchita
responded that the Virgin told her after this
Pope only three will be left. Her mother asked
her if the “end of the world” will come.
Conchita responded: “not the end of the world,
but the end of times.” Aniceta asked if that did
not mean the same. So Conchita responded: “The
Virgin said to me: “After this Pope only three
are left: and later, the end of times.”
(Diary of Conchita from 5-6-63)
The end of times should not be confused with the
end of the world; the end of times coincide with
the final era that, after the purification of
humanity and renewal of the Church, will prepare
for the beginning of the era of the glorious
reign of Jesus Christ. This will be an era of
holiness and grace. We have to remember the end
of times started with the first coming of
Christ.
The blind man Joey Lomangino will have new eyes
the day of the miracle. Joey Lomangino was born
in Brooklyn on June 27th, 1931. In June 1947,
while inflating a tire, it blew up and a 10 inch
fracture between his eyes resulted. Also, his
optic nerves and olfactory senses were divided.
The same year of the accident, through the help
of his friends, Joey converted. One night soon
after he was sleeping when a voice woke him up
and asked him to pray the rosary.
In 1963, Joey traveled to San Giovanni Rotondo
to see Padre Pio, and recovered his sense of
smell even though he had no physical possibility
of it. Joey asked Padre Pio if it is true the
Virgin appeared to four girls in Spain. Padre
Pio responded: “Yes.” Joey then went to
visit Garabandal and returned there many times.
In one of Conchita’s ecstasies the Virgin
blessed Joey’s Miraculous medal with a kiss on
March 19th, 1964, the feast day of St. Joseph.
Conchita had a locution and the Virgin said to
her that Joey would receive new eyes the day of
the Great miracle . . . that he will see the
same day of the Miracle . . and the voice he
heard in 1947 was her voice, the Blessed Virgin
Mary’s.
We recall what the Second Vatican Council said
about miracles in the Decree Ad Gentes, no. 12,
“Christ healed all types of illness and
ailments, as a sign of the coming of the kingdom
of God . . .”
The day after the Miracle the body of the
deceased Father Luis Maria Andreu will be
unearthed and it will be incorrupt. The death of
Father Luis Maria Andreu is one of the important
reference points in the history of Garabandal.
Father Luis was a professor of theology in the
school that the Company of Jesus had in Burgos.
He was 36 years old when he died. He and his
brother Ramon arrived in Garabandal to
investigate if the apparitions were authentic.
August 8th, 1961 during an ecstasy of the
visionaries, Father Luis appeared to be very
moved and emotional and four times repeated the
word “Miracle! Miracle!” According to the girls
Father saw the great miracle announced by Our
Lady. After remarking that it was the happiest
day of his life, he assured everyone he was very
happy because Our Lady had given him a gift, and
he insisted that he was well and not tired.
However, he died that same evening in the car
without the slightest movement and with a sweet
expression on his face. Father Andreu died of
happiness.
An important event about this miracle is that
Father was buried August 10th, 1961 and fifteen
years later, in the beginning of 1976, the
seminary where Father Luis had been buried was
transformed into a psychiatric hospital. As a
result, Father Luis’s body had to be exhumed and
it was totally corrupted in a skeleton state.
Through this, Divine Providence wanted the body
of Father Luis Andreu to be found decomposed and
verified in an irrefutable manner. Does God want
to leave us a sign of hope, within the
eschatological context of the apparitions,
through the incorruption of a body previously
decomposed? “The dead will resurrect incorrupt
and we will be transformed” ( 1 Cor 15, 52 ).
The Punishment
The punishment was announced by the girls in the
first message of October 18th, 1961. The girls
narrated the punishment as best they could
according to what they saw the night of June 19
- 20, 1962.
“It was similar to rivers transformed into
blood. Fire came down from heaven and worse
things; a great heat, scorching thirst, and
water that evaporated. Men were chained and in
desperation trying to kill one another; but due
to lack of strength they either fell into the
flames, while others threw themselves into the
ocean. However, the water seemed to boil
and activate the flames.”
Conchita narrates in one of her writings:
“The punishment is dependent on whether or not
humanity listens to the messages of Our Lady and
the miracle. In the case that it does occur, I
know in what it will consist because I have seen
the punishment. I can reassure that if it does
come, it is worse than if we were wrapped in
fire; worse than if we had fire on top and fire
underneath. I don’t know the time that will pass
before God sends it after the miracle has
occurred.”
The punishment of Garabandal reminds us of
Sacred Scripture: it is the revelation to man of
his sinful condition, of the narrow relationship
between sin and punishment, of a God who judges
and saves; punishment is nothing other than a
healing medicine that seeks to restore the
straight path. For some it will be an dead-end
and eternal condemnation; for others, it will be
an invitation to “return” to God. The Blessed
Virgin in Garabandal did not come to preach
punishments; she came to give us the means to
avoid them: “I don’t want your condemnation,”
Our Lady said in her message.
But if we do not obey the call of God to
conversion, if we continue to willfully reject
God and His healing love, the remission will end
and the punishment from our sins will fall upon
us . . . this will be the announced punishment.”
The Miracle of Holy Communion
The girls received Holy Communion frequently
from St. Michael the Archangel. Many pictures
can be seen of the visionaries receiving the
invisible host. But on one occasion the girls
asked the Angel to do a miracle for the people
to see and believe. St. Michael responded that
God was going to perform a miracle through his
intercession and the girls. The miracle would
occur on June 18th, 1962. On this day at 1:30
am, Conchita entered into ecstasy and a visible
host suddenly and mysteriously appeared on her
tongue. A person present with a camera took the
picture of this miracle.
The Sacrament of the Eucharist is one of the
basic pillars of the message of Garabandal. The
Virgin calls us to visit Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament, and in some messages she told
Conchita that she was sad because Conchita did
not spend time with Jesus. “Why don’t you go
more frequently to visit my Son in the Blessed
Sacrament? Why are you driven by your laziness,
not going to visit Him when He is waiting day
and night?” (last message of the Virgin to
Conchita, Nov. 13th, 1965). The Blessed Virgin
reminds us that Jesus waits for us to speak with
Him, to repair, and to console his Pierced
Heart.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred
Heart of Jesus
It is very interesting how these apparitions in
Garabandal are also related to the Hearts of
Jesus and Mary.
On June 30th, 1961, Jacinta had a vision of the
Sacred Heart. She described Him as dressed in
white with a red stole; His Heart was luminous
red, visible on the left side of His body, and
it emitted white golden rays.
Jesus didn’t speak to her, but His left hand was
pointed to His Heart, and His right hand invited
the child to go to Him. Jacinta narrated that
Jesus didn’t say anything, but He had a look of
love and she felt He was saying to her: “I’m
with you, and will always be with you.”
In the last apparition of the Virgin Mary to
Conchita on November 13th, 1965, the Blessed
Mother said:
“Remember what I said to you on your birthday
that you will suffer much on earth? . . . I tell
you this again. Have confidence in us and you
will offer it with joy to Our Hearts, for the
good of your brothers and sisters. In this way
you will be more united to us.” The Virgin
continued: “Conchita, I don’t come only for you.
I come for all my children, with the desire to
bring them closer to Our Hearts.”
We should work, sacrifice and do every thing to
fulfill the wishes of our Mother. Everything she
desires is the same as the desires of Her Son,
of God. They desire the salvation of the world,
and we should all draw closer and love the
Immaculate Heart of Mary who will take us
directly to the Heart of Jesus.
The doctrine of spiritual life is condensed in
the devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and
Mary: redemption, co-redemption, passion and
Eucharist. It is a call that demands our
concrete response.
We should pray for the reign of the Two Hearts
in us and in the entire world.
The Church’s position
On July 8th, 1963, the Bishop of Santander,
Mons. Beitia Aldazaba, declared: “we have not
found any material for ecclesiastical censure or
condemnation, neither in doctrine or in the
spiritual recommendations promulgated. They
contain exhortations to prayer, sacrifice and
devotion to the Eucharist, devotion to Our Lady
in traditional forms, and to holy fear of the
Lord, offended by our sins . . .”
From January 12 - 19th, 1966, Conchita,
visionary of the principal prophesies and
messages, was asked to go to Rome by the Prefect
of the Faith, Cardinal Ottaviani. She was
questioned for two hours by the same Cardinal
and other members of the Sacred Congregation.
From that meeting, Conchita requested an
audience with Pope Paul VI. The audience took
place and the Pope said to her: “Conchita, I
bless you and with me the whole Church.”
The Pope granted the Apostolic Blessing to the
work of diffusion or promulgation of the
Garabandal messages on June 12th, 1967.
It was also said that an audience was given to
the Jesuit Priest Fr. Javier Escalada. The
priest said to the Vicar of Christ : “there is
much opposition in believing the apparitions of
Garabandal.” Pope Paul VI responded: “It doesn’t
matter. Tell the people it is the Pope who wants
to publicize the messages and with great
urgency.”
In 1967, during the abrogation of Canon 1399 and
Canon 2318, it was permitted to publish
information about manifestations and to visit
the places of such manifestations, without fear
of any kind of ecclesiastical censure, always
and when it agrees with the teachings of the
Church on Faith and Christian Morals.
The Garabandal apparitions definitively passed
the test.
To this date, the Church cannot declare anything
about the manifestations in Garabandal, until
the prophesies are fulfilled: the warning, the
miracle and the permanent sign. During this time
of waiting, all Catholics can visit and learn
about the events of Garabandal.
The Church can only recognize the apparitions
and messages of Garabandal as authentic when the
prophesies are fulfilled, then the Church and
the world will also recognize the events as
direct work of God. Garabandal will give proof
of its own authenticity.
Conclusion
In the last apparition of the Virgin Mary to
Conchita, Conchita said to the Virgin: “I am so
happy when I see you. Why don’t you take me with
you now?” The Virgin responded: “Remember what I
said to you . . .in order to present yourself
before God you have to show your hands full of
works done by you in favor of your brothers and
for the Glory of God and, right now, your hands
are empty.”
The Virgin did not want to “take” Conchita
because her hands were empty of good works: may
we all meditate this phrase and receive from God
the necessary grace to fill our hands and stay
on earth to gather the merits we are permitted
in this world with the satisfaction and joy of
knowing we have done the will of God.
The Virgin Mary comes for all humanity and for
all her children, and she has all of us under
her mantle. She loves all of us and she desires
our salvation. The warning will be sent by God
so that no one will doubt the miracle and so
that the miracle will have the maximum response
possible from the people; the miracle is the
last effort to convert sinners and avoid, in all
ways possible, the punishment from heaven.
The essence of the Virgin’s messages is
summarized in the idea of centering our lives in
the fulfillment of our duties. Each one of us,
according to our state in life and condition,
should repent for our faults and make an effort
to be perfect. This perfection requires effort,
sacrifice, and carrying our cross with joy.
This is the idea of penance referred to in the
messages. Also, Lucia from Fatima eloquently
clarified this after the locutions from Our
Lord: "The sacrifices Our Lady asks from us are
not extraordinary; the sacrifices Our Lady asks
from her children are simply the fulfillment of
our duties, each one of us according to our
state and condition.
From an article written by Jose Maria Sanchez
Ventura about suffering:
“To Our Lady: We live in a valley of tears.
But I know these tears are not a symbol of
bitterness, but rather the price of happiness.
Men sometimes forget that You also cried, that
the thorns of pain also penetrated your Virginal
flesh without blemish. We forget that with your
tears You cooperated in the work of redemption
of Your Son, and we, with our tears, are to
clean the dirt of so many nearsighted looks in
order to reach the pure vision of God.
"Suffering is the fountain of wisdom among men
and of grace before God. Suffering is the thorn
of the rose, the price of health, the contrast
to happiness, the peace of the war, the tribute
of grace, the security of redemption. To
suffering we owe all that is good in men, all
that gives sense to life. To suffering we owe
piety, heroism, virtue because underneath the
flagellation of this master it has produced all
progress in men.
"Yes, “ happy fault” was the tragedy of our
fallen nature, happy suffering will also be
ours, if by offering it in recompense for so
many weaknesses will lead us to the way of
perfection.
"That is why, My Lady I know my offering is not
sad, and the flowers of my anguish do not cover
the beauty of this day of celestial fulfillment.
I know that among all my efforts to obtain a
dignified, pleasing homage for you, none will
please you more then the offering of my
sufferings. I also know that life has no
sufferings for those who understand with time
its significance.
"And because in the eternal battle of the thorn
and the rose, this teaching is not rejected, but
it is in magnificent harmony of what is
contrary. I hear and admire the lesson of the
rose: Suffering also gives joy; suffering is not
to cry; this is not suffering. Suffering is not
to step on the thorns of the rosebush with
rebelliousness. It is to conquer the
difficulties and bless the thorns with a kiss!"
We have to have faith and confidence in Jesus
and Mary who are carrying out the will of God in
this world offended by sin. This is the design
from God for the Virgin Mary to come to the
world in order to help His children.
The Virgin loves us and desires to present us to
the Merciful Father. The warning, the miracle,
and the punishment were revealed, but our Mother
does not want us to live in fear. On the
contrary She desires that we truly live the
messages. Praying (especially the Holy Rosary),
fasting, wearing the scapular, frequent
Eucharist, confession and reflection on the
Passion of Christ will obtain the graces from
God we need to avoid sin and be converted into
true Christians, holy Christians on the path to
Eternal Life.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
Copyright © 2006- SCTJM
