"THE CALLS"

Conchita is resting while awaiting for the last call . . .

MOST PARTICULAR AND TYPICAL PHENOMENA OF GARABANDAL

The "calls", "llamadas" in Spanish, began as early as July 2, 1961. They always preceded and announced the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin, but not those of the Angel. The children would then experience, in three successive yet very distinct moments "a kind of interior voice," a kind of intimate summons, or 'mystical calls.'

A feeling of joy accompanies the first call. One or two hours later, the delight felt by the visionaries signaled the second call. "As if they had been guided," they would set out towards the site where the ecstasy was to take place. The third "llamada" gave them yet a more intense joy, which would increase until they would effectively fall into ecstasy a few minutes later.

Ecstasies occurred more and more frequently during the night, sometimes lasting until morning. This was to make them more discreet, but also because the symbol of night evokes the evil that men commit at that time. It then becomes necessary to double the efforts in prayer and supernatural enlightenment. Significant also is the fact that the ecstasies never occurred to the little girls when at school, or during liturgical ceremonies, more, even when carrying out domestic duties!

It happened almost every day that several apparitions would occur on the same day or evening, but never at school, or during the liturgical ceremonies. Only the first apparition was preceded by the three calls. At the end of the ecstasy, the Virgin directly announced her first visit to the visionaries: "In a moment I will come back," "At such an hour . . .," etc.

When the girls waited in the evening for an apparition that finally did not occur, they had to make up for lost sleep. On the other hand, they did not at all experience the need to make up for the sleep they lost during the vision.
[Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, pages 72, 73.]

These are some of the amazing mysteries that sets Garabandal in a class by itself. These "calls" were quite mysterious and sometimes the girls waited a long time before Our Lady appeared to them. I guess it was a sort of test of their endurance and faith. Imagine sitting up all night waiting for an apparition. I probably would have gone to bed and missed everything!

See how the Blessed Mother respected their everyday duties. She didn't bother them when they had to go to school or do chores. And when she kept them up late at night, or sometimes all night for an apparition, they weren't tired the next day and just continued on as if they had a good nights sleep! The girls never doubted the "llamadas", they insisted they were calls from God. They felt a mysterious joy and restfulness inside them, which grew stronger, as they awaited the apparition. And they tried to hide these feelings from those around them, even their family members. Sometimes they had to help each other arouse themselves in the wee hours of the morning to go out in the cold for the meeting with Our Blessed Mother. If this was not real, do you think they would have deprived themselves of sleep or go out into the cold, cold night. No way, Jose! All this little phenomena builds up the case for the authenticity of these apparitions at Garabandal! And there is a lot more as we shall see!

Roman Catholic Deacon