CHRIST MANIFESTS HIMSELF TO JACINTA

We continue our story of Garabandal . . .

TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1961

It was 8:30 p.m. when the Angel appeared to the four girls . . . When she slightly turned her eyes to the side, Jacinta saw Christ appear before her, a little above the ground: He was of an unparalleled majesty, "the most handsome of men," would the visionary say eventually. His gaze pierced her through "as if He were going to
wrench my soul from my body," Jacinta pointed out. She added that she would have been unable to bear this vision for more than a few moments it seems to have lasted.

(Christ) JESUS, "Yahweh saves," is the fourth visible manifestation of the Shekinah, the very "Face of God," the refulgence on His glory (Heb. 1: 1-4) in the "divine Word made flesh," supreme expression of God's commitment in the history of the world and of each one of us.

Christ, as He revealed Himself to Jacinta, was wearing a white tunic, and a wide, bright red "sash of dignity" was falling from His right shoulder (cf. Is. 9:4). . . Such a charismatic appearance of Christ was given only in Garabandal, just as in the whole previous history of Christian iconography and hagiography there seems to have been only one other apparition of Jesus wearing such vestments of dignity. It occurred with the "Miracle of Bordeaux," on Sunday, February 3, 1822: during the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, some ten faithful suddenly saw, instead of the Host in the middle of the monstrance, a bust of Christ dressed in this way. Several persons even heard at the same time, these words: "I Am He who is"!

Shortly after the revolution, the Venerable Servant of God [Who should soon be beatified.] Fr. Pierre Noailles (1793-1861) founded, in 1820, with his sister, Mother of the Trinity, the "Institute of the Holy Family of Bordeaux." He was not there personally when the miracle occurred in the very modest chapel of his community. But the fruits soon came . . . Today, the Congregation has spread to twenty-two countries, one of his Houses being in . . . Santander!

The mystery of the Church sheds light on Garabandal in a fundamental and constant way. It was in this month devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but yet more precisely on the very day of the solemn Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, that Christ appeared to Jacinta wearing the colors of His supreme authority. With His left hand He pointed to His Heart. It was, notably, not encircled with thorns nor
surmounted with a cross, but from it there emanated white and golden rays, the colors of the Pope, Vicar of Christ on earth, and of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. What a significant and distinctive trait on this 29th of June, as had been the case of the previous original great manifestations granted to St. Marguerite-Marie Alacoque and St. Sister Faustina. It was then at Garabandal, in fact, that Christ, the Lord of Glory, meant to manifest Himself as the Spouse of His people and Leader of all Shepherds. The One, who, henceforth, is the "Master of times and history," who constantly sends His spirit of holiness for the sanctification and salvation of the world, and thus continues His mission in and through His Church - through its ministers and the faithful themselves. These are perspectives that will be confirmed, even explained in several subsequent moments, truly remarkable ones, more particularly ecclesial ones of great impact (see, for example, August 1, 1961, the exceptional "addition" that the four young
visionaries in ecstasy made in the "profession of Christian faith" - the CREED). Let us add this last detail that neither the Angel not the Virgin of Carmel were within Jacinta's sight during the three manifestations of Christ that she would be given at San Sebastian de Garabandal: once more, a profound spiritual "logic!"
[Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, pages 40, 41.]

I'm typed this on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, so it is a wonderful revelation that Jesus appeared to Jacinta with His Heart all aglow! At Fatima, Our Lord didn't appear until the last apparition on October 13, 1917. At Garabandal, He appeared even before Our Lady appeared for the first time on July 1st! Again it seems to be a connection . . . Fatima first, then Garabandal . . .

Deacon John