July 2nd Continued . . .

During the apparition of this very day, July 2nd, 1961, "a shower of stars suddenly began to fall from heaven everywhere on earth," probably symbolizing the rain of graces from God of which Mary is the "depository." Simultaneously, "thirty-three large Spanish letters spelling out six Spanish words, "formed a halo all around Our Lady: the seers called these the "secret of the Angel." To this day, no book has yet spoken of this, and the visionaries did not reveal it either. According to us, it is very likely related to an ultimate Marian dogma, of which the mystery of the Visitation would be its biblical basis. MARIA DEPOSITORIA DE TODAS LAS GRACIAS, such might be the very concise and formal expression of this future "definition of faith" . . .

From Her first visit, the Blessed Virgin carried the Child Jesus in Her arms. His presence was not explicitly mentioned by Conchita in her Diary for that 2nd of July, but the visionary nevertheless described Him here, always in her very concrete, vivid, even sober usual way: "He is very very small, like a newborn babe, a round face, same color of complexion as that of the Blessed Virgin, a small mouth, rather long, curly, blond hair, tiny little hands, a dress like an azure-blue tunic. He is always smiling."

"The Blessed Virgin came wearing a white dress, a blue mantle, a gold crown decorated with 12 little stars. We could not see her feet. Her arms were open and she wore the Scapular on Her right arm. The Scapular was brown. Her hair was long, dark auburn and wavy, and parted in the middle. Her face was rather long. Her nose fine and long, a very beautiful mouth with slightly full lips. Her complexion was golden . . . Her voice was enchanting. It was a very special voice . . . No other woman is like the Blessed Virgin, neither in voice nor in any other way" (Conchita's Diary, p.35). [Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, pages 45, 49.]

Wow! There is so much to meditate on in these three paragraphs . . .

The falling stars remind me that at Fatima during Our Lady's apparitions, flowers fell from the sky like snow, disappearing before they hit the ground. This was witnessed by the people who came to the Cova de Iria to be with the three children . . .

It's interesting that Jesus appeared as a newborn, perhaps to remind us of the sacredness of life! One of the horrors about the millions of babies who have been slaughtered in their mother's wombs, is the fact that each child was destined to add to God's glory and better mankind on earth! How many great minds; doctors, scientists, priests, leaders, etc., etc., have not been allowed to be born to make this a better world . . .

Why can't Jesus have blond hair as a child? Believe it or not, I had long blond hair until I was about five years old. When I got my first haircut, it started to turn brown and now I'm all gray!!! Remember, Jesus was like us in all things, except sin . . .

Isn't that the most beautiful description on what Our Lady look like! I don't remember ever reading such a concise and elegant picture! The artist Isabel Daganzo painted this image, which is used by all the Garabandal promoters and in all their books . . .

Here are some deep thoughts: . . . Our Lady is the most beautiful creature ever created by God, in the image of God . . . Jesus the God-Man, was born of the Virgin Mary with only Her genes . . . therefore He looked just like Her . . . yet She was made in His image . . . What a mystery!

Deacon John