Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 68

(Extract of a letter)

Reverend Father Andreu: When I returned from the Exercises I found this community more ardent in its enthusiasm, if possible, towards Garabandal.

Superior of the Religious of María Reparadora

Segovia, January 28, 1962

(Extract of a letter)

“Yesterday, the 27th, my thoughts and my heart were in Garabandal. I received inspiration from the Most Holy Virgin. I don’t know if I can write since I have not received anything from them. This is difficult. The most important thing for us is to believe, as a result of many reactions that we have to hear, some more favorable than others, we can’t miss this. There were stupendous miracles in the Gospel that didn’t leave any room for doubt, yet people still took different positions. Raising Lazarus was the motive for the Jews to kill Jesus. Our incredulity and lack of delicacy hurts the Most Holy Virgin. It would be better if we didn’t argue, but she always finds living faith in our souls after all that happened at Garabandal. This faith depends upon what happens next. We have been given a purely free grace by being invited to believe in Her, but now we are responsible for increasing that faith. The marvels we have witnessed are very great, and we know this. We have been there and we have lived in times in which the divine mixes with the human. God in his providence has chosen us so that we will believe in these marvels that have been proven so that we know He loves us.

María del Santa Cristo de la Victoria

Segovia, 28 de enero, 1962

(Religiosa de María Reparadora)

What a shame that we don’t return this affection with unlimited faith and trust! It would be wonderful and for God nothing is impossible. Our Lady of Garabandal comes under this title to take a very active part in the next Eccumenical Council.”

María del Santo Cristo de la Victoria

Segovia, January 28, 1962

(Religious of María Reparadora)

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 67

Other ecstasies on the same day

Mari Loli and Conchita had shorter ecstasies that night which were very beautiful and the Vision promised to return to them on the following day, Sunday the 28^th, the day we had to go home.

In this ecstasy, Mari Loli spoke about Fr. Ramón, asking the Vision for at least a year in the village—and after she said—“If it cannot be a year, at least let him come.” After the trance ended, Fr. Andreu wrote a letter that I delivered. I know the contents, but naturally, I cannot comment on it.

I don’t remember any more details, and it’s possible that I have not described what happened strictly in order, but I have the security that it is absolutely true.

Many people went up that day, given the time of year. People came from Madrid, Segovia, Santander, Cabezón de la Sal, etc. All of these people were so impressed and so certain of the reality of the apparitions, that they were visibly emotional.

For example, I am going to talk about a case that I can verify:

When the mechanic who drove Señora de Pérez de Mendoza’s Jeep (she was the mother of a bullfighter with the same last name called “Josechu”) arrived at the village of Garabandal with the Jeep, he asked permission to return to Cossío saying that he was not interested in these spectacles—when he arrived at Cossío he made several comments in very bad taste about the children of Garabandal and those who went to see them.

The following day, the 27th, the mechanic went up to the village again to bring a telegram for the woman from her son “Josechu,” who had had a bull fight in America the previous afternoon. He stayed and asked one of the women who had traveled from Segovia in the Jeep, the one named Carmen Cossío, to give the girls a medal that his wife had given him—Our Lady of the Pillar. In the middle of the ecstasy, Conchita went near the mechanic and she gave the crucifix to be kissed twice, and then she placed the chain with the medal of Our Lady of the Pillar on him. I saw this man cry and afterwards I asked if he was going to give away the medal, and he said: “Not for anything in the world. My wife will have to get another, because I’m not going to take this off while I live.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 66

Mari Loli’s ecstasy and Mari Cruz’s first ecstasy

6:00-8:20

I didn’t see the first part of these ecstasies because I was in Conchita’s kitchen as I said before. I went out to the street and followed Conchita, and then when Mari Loli and Mari Cruz crossed our paths, I followed these two. They went toward the Church with their arms linked, looking at the sky with their heads thrown back. They arrived at the door of the Church where they knelt and spoke with the Virgin; they prayed for the sick. Afterwards, they returned, going toward the village in the same way and entering various homes where the sick were. They gave the crucifix to be kissed. They also went to the house where we were staying. They went to the bedrooms and made the sign of the cross over the pillows in the beds where the Alfonsos, Pilar Andreu, Begoñita, Rosario, and I slept. They went to the street once again and they went toward Conchita’s house, where many people were waiting for Conchita. She signed for everyone but a Mexican woman (the one with the green scapular) to leave the kitchen. Before they left through the door, they returned, entered the kitchen once again, and gave the Crucifix to the Mexican woman only to kiss. Then she left and went up the road to the Pines until she reached the place called the cuadro. She fell on her knees there, gave the crucifix to be kissed and returned to the village where she returned to her normal state. Mari Cruz and Mari Loli continued having ecstasies for awhile.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 65

Conchita’s First Ecstasy: 6:25-8:15

On this day, the Vision’s visit to Conchita had been announced since December 8th, when she hadn’t had a Vision. The girl had been impatient since the previous night when we had visited. She was anxious to see the Virgin or VIGEN, as the girl sometimes calls her.

In the afternoon, at about four, the same set of people who had witnessed Mari Loli’s ecstasy the night before was in Conchita’s kitchen. Dr. Ortiz had just arrived—we have referred to him on other occasions. In the afternoon a Mexican woman arrived (the one with the green scapular) with her son and daughter-in-law. I repeat, we were all sitting in the kitchen when they came to tell us that Mari Loli and Mari Cruz were in ecstasy. I stayed in the kitchen a little longer since I saw that Conchita was very nervous and restless as I knew she was before she was going to have an apparition.

At 6:25 Conchita went upstairs and sat on her bed, where she entered the trance. She went downstairs in ecstasy and entered the kitchen again. She fell on her knees, then stood up and gave a medal for all who were present to kiss. After that, she began to collect rosaries and medals and lifted them, always giving the first part to be kissed since some of the medals had two sides. She put the medals that had chains around the necks of the owners and when she put the chain around the neck of a woman from Segovia she said: “It’s broken—I can’t—you put it on!” This woman showed me the chain, which has a very strange clasp and a safety that makes it difficult to put it on under any circumstances and much more difficult if you have no idea what a safety is, like Conchita—but—she put it on. Afterwards, she went out to the street and crossed paths with Mari Loli and Mari Cruz, who were also having ecstasies. They went toward the Church and stayed in the doorway. Then they walked backwards rapidly toward the road and went up to the pines, stopped, gave the crucifix to be kissed, and went up toward the pines at great speed.

After a little while, she descended backwards very quickly and went to her house. She entered the kitchen again, and it was full of people. Among these people was a married couple from Madrid with their four year old daughter. Conchita went towards them and knelt in front of the girl. She gave her the crucifix to kiss and replaced the wedding rings on her parents’ fingers. Rather than being frightened, as would be logical at this age, the girl smiled with such an extraordinary smile that to me it seemed like she must have seen something as well. Her parents cried and hugged even though they had been rather skeptical of the whole thing. When Conchita put the wedding ring on her, the woman had fallen on her knees, then had been lifted up by Conchita. When they’d offered their rings, there had been another ring there. Conchita threw this ring to the ground after saying about the Vision: “Oh! You won’t kiss it?” This ring belonged to a woman from Santander who had come for the first time and was a little incredulous. When she saw what happened, she became very emotional and since she didn’t have any medal or religious object, it occurred to her to give her ring to be kissed, without realizing that wedding rings represent a Sacrament and they are blessed, so they aren’t the same as any other ring. This woman told us later that her father was very sick and she’d asked the girl to intercede with the Virgin to heal him, as Conchita had asked. She fell on her knees several times, injuring her knee, which was already swollen. When she fell on her knees, she left blood on the tiles in the kitchen. This is very interesting because the following morning, when we said goodbye to Señora Andreu, this woman asked the child about her wound, and the girl said: “What wound—it doesn’t hurt even though it’s been swollen many times.” When we looked at the knee, we could all verify that there was a little line on the skin, similar to the scar left when a wound or cut heals. This was only a few hours after she’d been hurt and had bled on the floor. After what was described, she always knelt in ecstasy and fell backwards in a posture that was very moving. She spoke with the Virgin, prayed for the blind, the paralyzed, and those who don’t believe. Then she would get up and sit on the bench, bless herself, and return to the normal state, saying that she would have another Vision later in the day.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 64

2nd Ecstasy—4:00-4:30AM—Mari Loli

All of us as mentioned before continued sitting in the kitchen. The girl lay on the bench near the stove but she didn’t sleep. She constantly asked for the time in her anxiety for the moment to arrive when she would see the Vision. One of the women who was there put her wristwatch on the girl with a little golden chain. The girl kept looking at it. She spoke very normally and laughed a lot, until around four when she removed the wristwatch and returned it to its owner with these words: “The Virgin doesn’t like me to wear things like this.” She knelt on the floor and added: “We’re going to pray a Station.” She began the prayer and all who were present answered. After she said the Hail Mary, she blessed herself, and when she finished she put her thumb to her mouth to kiss it. She fell into ecstasy with her arm raised and her thumb stayed near her mouth for a while. She stood up, lifted several things to be kissed, went out to the street and went toward the Church. She walked backwards at great speed and entered the house once again. She went up to the second floor, fell backwards on the floor with her head and upper back supported. Her toes were on the floor and her body was completely arched in the air. I demonstrated this by passing a cane underneath her. She spoke with the Vision: “If the Fontanedas come—and today Begoñita and her mother and also the Santa Marías—tell me something to say to her brother.” (She was having a conversation with Fr. Luís). “Why have you only stayed a short time? Kiss the cross before you go—but I can’t see you, so I won’t know if you’ve kissed it—have you kissed it already?” She spoke again with the Virgin and repeated—“Why have you stayed such a short time? There is a painter here who wants to know if you like the medal he’s made. He made you very ugly. Why do they make you so ugly on the holy cards when you are so beautiful? Oh! You like the medal! There is a woman here who is praying for her father who is sick. Don’t go. You have only been here half a minute! Stay another half minute and then it will be one minute.” She sat up and fell on her knees several times, hitting her knees very hard. She went downstairs and left the ecstasy smiling and she told us that she would see the Virgin again “later.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 63

First Ecstasy 12:00-12:40—Mari Loli

We were in the kitchen of Ceferino Mazón’s establishment in Garabandal at about 11:30 at night on January 26th. Some people from Segovia arrived at Garabandal and were with us for about an hour. Señora Andreu with her daughter, Begoña, the Alfonsos, my wife, and I were there. We were all speaking normally with Mari Loli and her mother when the child communicated that she was going to have a call. After a little while, at 12 exactly (midnight) she entered into ecstasy and in that state she fell from the bench on which she was sitting to the floor, and was there on her knees. She sat up and went upstairs in this state. She took medals and rosaries that were there on a little table, and she lifted them and gave them to the Vision to kiss. She always held them up, and she arranged various chains with medals on them and gave them to their owners without making any mistakes. She lifted some holy cards and when she lifted one of them she said: “You don’t want to kiss it?—Why? Kiss it! No?—What a shame!” This holy card was a memento from a lady who had passed away only a few days before. Her granddaughter was there and had given the holy card. It is an interesting fact that the young girl was very impressed by this and spent the night praying, from what they told us. The next day, the holy card had been kissed twice by the Vision.

As I said, the girl continued giving medals and rosaries to be kissed; one of them had been given to her by my wife. She said: “For Fr. Andreu.” According to what we found out later, this rosary belonged to Fr. Gómez, a Jesuit who was residing in Valladolid. The previous summer he had been in Garabandal and had given the girl his rosary so that the Virgin could kiss it. This priest had to leave Garabandal while the girl was having a trance, and although he left a note saying to give the rosary to Fr. Andreu, no one had done it in all that time—everyone supposed it was lost. I gave it to him myself in Valladolid, and I am a witness to the emotion and the happiness that this priest felt upon receiving it.

Jacinta was present at this time and was in a completely normal state. Since the girls communicate to each other and see each other in and out of the field of vision, some women from Segovia asked Jacinta to tell Mari Loli to ask the Virgin if she was happy with them. Mari Loli responded when she left the trance that she could not say anything, but later she confided in my wife: “The Virgin said that they should pray more and be better.” When this sentence was said to these women, they became emotional, and according to what we’ve heard, these were the exact words that Fr. Andreu had said to these girls when they finished the Spiritual Exercises. Fr. Andreu confirmed this during my interview with him in Valladolid. In this moment, I was situated behind the girl who was still and speaking in a very low voice to the Virgin with the crucifix in her right hand. She said: “Jacinta is very sad because she hasn’t seen you since the 18^th—she sees you so little—only a little—it makes the days very long even though they are not—at least make the days shorter.”

I asked for confirmation with fervor, thinking of the tranquility that it would give me—and in that moment, without turning, she reached her right arm backwards, turning her hand which held the crucifix and put it exactly to my mouth so I could kiss it. After, in the natural posture, she continued giving the crucifix to kiss. Then she fell on her knees two or three times, falling suddenly. She went downstairs backwards with her head lifted upwards. She reached the kitchen and sat on the bench, in the same position as when she’d begun the ecstasy. She blessed herself and returned to the normal state, and asked: “Who has brought me here?”—She told us later that the Virgin had told her she would return to visit her at four the same morning.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 62

The Pines

Notes about the happenings in San Sebastián de Garabandal on January 27, 1962

Notes taken directly by the Marquis of Santa María for Fr. Ramón’s information

Various Notes:

Sentence: While she was in the normal state, we spoke with Mari Loli: “When I speak with Fr. Luís (who is dead) I laugh as though he were in the house—and when I ask him where he saw the Virgin—in the pine with the branch in the middle.”

Couplets: invented by the girls.

“Men, women, and children,

You already know our message,

The Virgin wants us to fulfill it,

For the good of our homes,

Christians, follow the Virgin,

With humility and fervor,

Pray that she makes a place for us,

In her celestial mansion.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 61

Copy of the happenings in San Sebastián de Garabandal

on January 28, 1962 by Fr. Valentín

“At seven in the evening Mari Loli left her house in ecstasy, went to the Church, and when she was there she gave the vision medals and rosaries to kiss. From there she went to Conchita’s house and then went back toward the Church. After a little while, Conchita left her house in a state of ecstasy and met Mari Loli in the entrance of the Church; they talked a little among themselves. Conchita went toward the door of the Church and stayed there for a minute. Then Conchita returned and took Mari Loli by the arm and the two girls left together and sang the rosary throughout the village.

They went to Antonio and Matilda’s house. The two were eating, and Jacinta, who was in the natural state, said: “try,” and Conchita, who was in ecstasy, said: “What do you mean try? Are they eating in my house?” “No, they are eating in their house,” Jacinta, who was still in the natural state, responded.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 60

Copy of the happenings in San Sebastián de Garabandal

on January 27, 1962—reported by Fr. Valentín

“At 6:05 in the evening, Mari Cruz and Loli were at the place called the cuadro. After praying a few Our Fathers they fell into ecstasy, went toward the Church and stayed there for a minute, giving medals to be kissed that had been given to them. Afterwards, they went toward Mari Cruz’s house and took a crucifix and gave it to those who were in the house to kiss.

Then they went to Conchita’s house and the gave the crucifix to all who were there except one woman. They left the house and returned immediately to give it to the woman they had missed. It ended at 8:30 P.M.

Conchita entered into ecstasy in her house at 6:30 in the evening, and she went toward the Church where she gave the vision medals and rosaries to be kissed that had been given to her. She then returned the items to their owners without making any mistakes. It ended at 8:30P.M.

Mari Loli’s second apparition, according to what they inform me (I was in bed) began at 2 in the morning and ended at 2:30 A.M. Before, while in the natural state, they had told the girl that there was a painter there named Señor Calderón, who wanted to paint the Virgin. During the vision the girl said: “There is a painter here who wants to paint you, but you are so beautiful that no matter what he paints, it will be ugly in comparison.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 59

Third Ecstasy, 3 in the morning until 4 on the 14th—Mari Loli

1962. After the ecstasy in the afternoon, Mr. Castro Pérez de Arévalo, Secretary General of the Civil Government of Burgos, his wife, his sister Señora de Muerza, and her eleven year old daughter arrived. The child had been suffering from infant paralysis since she was two months old, and she wore an orthopedic apparatus on her right leg and had two canes to help her walk. These people had not found a way to go up to Garabandal from Cossío by car. They had come on foot. It rained, and they were only able to find a donkey for the child. The child’s mother, Señora de Arévalo, who was far along in pregnancy, had had lung surgery, and had pains in her leg because of the operation, made the journey painfully as it rained. The ground was covered in mud, and according to what her husband said “it was like they pushed her,” this is the literal sentence.

All of us from before met again in Ceferino’s kitchen (except the Mexican woman and her son who had already left) with the addition of the Arévalos, who had just arrived. Mari Loli was sitting on the bench in the kitchen with Señora de Alfonso at her side because she had been showing the girl her wristwatch. The girl had been playing with it and she put it on her wrist. The girl said: “I want to sleep so that the time will pass faster,” and she lay on the bench in the kitchen and then sat up right away, nervous. Señora de Alfonso had taken off her watch so that the child could see the time. At three exactly, Mari Loli fell into ecstasy.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 58

Second Ecstasy: 6:00-6:30—Mari Loli

We were the same as before, in Ceferino’s tavern, commenting on the happenings of the morning with a Mexican woman and her son, who had just arrived in Garabandal. This woman gave Mari Loli a packet that held various rosaries and medals and some notebooks with thread, and also scapulars held together with green tape. We were as I said before, talking with this woman and her son, and then Mari Loli entered into ecstasy at six exactly. She was sitting in a low chair and then she threw her head back, went toward the stairs and ascended, and then she fell on the floor again. She took a handful of objects that the Mexican woman had given to her before, and she lifted them in the usual way to give them to the Virgin to kiss. She gave a wedding ring and the notebook with green tape to the Mexican woman’s son, since the two objects were in fact his, and the green tape is the Green Scapular that represents one of the most widespread devotions in Mexico.

The girl continued offering objects to the Vision and gave them one by one to the Mexican woman. In that moment, Ceferino signaled to the woman that she should change places, and she did. The girl asked the Vision, very perceptively: “Where is she?—show me,” and she turned slowly until she was in front of the woman once again, and then she continued giving her objects.

The girl went downstairs backwards and when she reached the bottom floor she went out into the street with the Crucifix in her hand. She gave it to the people to kiss and passed over some people (as happened to me). After that, she retraced her steps and gave the crucifix to kiss to those she’d passed.

In the street, she went toward the house where the Alfonsos and my wife and I were staying. The owner of this house was named Epifania Mazón. The girl pushed the door (which according to the owner had been locked, though I’m not sure of this detail), and she entered and went up the stairs. She went into the room that my wife and I were occupying. She went to the right of the bed and made the sign of the cross over the pillow. Then she went to the left side and did the same thing there. She left the room and went toward the stairs but then she changed directions and went toward the other room where the Alfonsos were sleeping. She entered and made the sign of the cross over their marriage bed twice, in the same way she’d done it before. She left that room and the house, keeping the crucifix in her hand. She crossed the street and entered another house through the front door. She went up the stairs and made the sign of the cross on the wall of a bedroom before going out to the street once again. The owner of this house told us that the place on the wall where Mari Loli had made the sign of the cross corresponded exactly to the place where her husband’s picture was located, who had died a while ago.

The girl went to two other houses, but I didn’t enter so I couldn’t see what she did. She went to the street and went to the road to go up to the place called “The Pines” and there she fell on her knees, got up, went down to the village and entered in her house. She sat in the same chair where she’d entered ecstasy and she blessed herself before she returned from the ecstasy smiling. She told us that the Virgin had announced that she would return to see her at night, but very late—at three in the morning.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 57

I think I have detailed what happened accurately, but it is possible that the order of things happening was changed, but I am sure that it happened like this. I also could have omitted something, and now I remember that there was an omission. When Loli was in ecstasy, I don’t remember the moment well, she went toward Eustaquio’s daughter, gave her the ring, and then stayed there for a moment, consulting with the Virgin. She said very perceptibly: “Oh, it isn’t hers—it’s her mother’s? Well, she’ll give it to her!”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 56

She fell again like lead on her knees, and stayed there for a time. Then she got up and went towards the stairs. She went downstairs, went to the street, and entered a house (I don’t know whose). She went to the wall where there was a crucifix on a chain hanging on a nail and a chain with a medal. She took the chain with the medal, gave it to be kissed and then hung it again. She touched the crucifix, but she didn’t take it down or offer it. The owner of the house exclaimed: “The medal belongs to José Javier, and he left it here the other day so it would be kissed; the Crucifix is already kissed.” She returned to her house, went upstairs, took the crucifix and gave it to the people to kiss. She blessed the seminarian I mentioned before, my wife, and Eustaquio’s daughter, and then she left with it and went out to the street where she gave it to be kissed. She returned to her house, went upstairs, looked for something on the table that she didn’t find and told Jacinta, who was next to her: “My notebook from school,” and she looked in the notebook and took a letter from it, which she gave to be kissed. She went downstairs again and went out to the street once more and gave the crucifix to be kissed. When she entered the house, she went to the kitchen and sat in the same place where she was when the ecstasy began. She made the sign of the cross and awoke from the ecstasy smiling. She told us: “This afternoon, I will have another Vision.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 55

Before these last actions by Mari Loli, I had put my wife’s rosary in the child’s hands; the Virgin had already kissed it on another occasion and it was the same rosary that “bloomed with roses” in the Chapel of the M.M. Mercedarias on the feast day of Our Lady of Loreto. This rosary slipped through Mari Loli’s arms until it was in the middle of her forearm and the girl did not realize. It stayed like that while she offered the last objects to be kissed and when she finished, she carried all of the objects my wife had given to her. (I had put it there, I insist again).

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 54

First Ecstasy. 12 until 12:48. Mari Loli

She was in the kitchen of her house and was sitting on the bench next to the stove at my side. She seemed very nervous and was tapping her hands on her face, as though alone. Then she concealed her laughter and threw her head back as she entered into ecstasy in the way that all of the girls do. In this position, she slipped from the bench onto the floor and slowly, with an expression of intense enjoyment on her face, she left the kitchen and went toward the stairs. She went up the stairs until she reached the upper floor where she knelt, and her knees made a sound on the floor (it was impressive). She stood up, went near a little table that was in the corner where all of the objects that had been given to her the night before were resting. She took my rosary and others and gave them to be kissed, holding the Cross up high and then the medal on two sides. Then she separated the rosary from the head of Jesus Christ and gave it to be kissed, turning it so the skull could be kissed also. She fell on her knees once again and came towards me (not realizing that she was going backwards). She stood up and lifted my rosary, then blessed me with the crucifix on the rosary and then putting it to my lips. She gave me the rosary and then put it on the little table again, taking one of the handfuls of medals and crucifixes and separating some of them, she gave them to be kissed. She always turned them so that both sides were kissed on the crucifixes and the medals. She gave the medals to Rosario and deposited the handful of crucifixes on the little table once again. She took another handful of rosaries and medals and gave them to be kissed, then gave them to Pili and Alfonso. She returned to the little table and took a new handful of crucifixes and a statue of the Virgin of Pilar, which my wife had given her. She gave these things to be kissed (surely those that hadn’t been kissed before), including the Virgin of Pilar and then she went directly to give them to Rosario, my wife, who had given her the Virgin and the crucifixes in the first place. Then she took a handful of medals and four crucifixes and when she gave this last handful to be kissed she said clearly: “—from Fr. Andreu.” In that moment, I put a momento from Fr. Luís that I carried in my wallet on the table. Jacinta or Mari Cruz (I think it was Mari Cruz) took it to Mari Loli, saying: “Take this holy card.” Mari Loli’s father went near them in this instant and said to Mari Cruz: “Ask her if she knows what it is.” Then Mari Loli said very clearly (there is no way she could have seen the memento in the position she was in) “It is from Fr. Andreu—who is dead,” and she put it on the table after she gave it to be kissed. Pili Alfonsa gave Mari Loli her wedding ring through Jacinta’s mediation, and Mari Loli held it up for a long time so that it could be kissed and then she was very happy, and with true joy in her face, she went toward Pili Alfonso and put it on her finger. According to what Señora Alfonso told us later, she had the idea to give her ring to the girl as a way of asking for help for a very serious conflict in her marriage. She saw clearly in Mari Loli’s expression when she returned the ring after holding it up for the Virgin to kiss, she saw the answer to her prayers. After this, Mari Loli returned to the little table, took a rosary, and showed it to the Virgin. Then she carried it to its owner, Pili Alfonso, blessed her with it, and gave it to her.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 53

Fr. Valentin and Conchita

Another note

Upon arriving in Cossío on the afternoon of the 12^th, Fr. Valentín came to receive us. We asked him to take us up to San Sebastián on the following day because we wanted to hear Mass and receive Communion there. He rejected this idea because he didn’t want to be in Cossío at all the following day, indubitably because it was the day that Mari Loli had indicated that she would see the Virgin. He made all manner of excuses and finally told me that it wasn’t a good day and that we could make a Spiritual Communion. Suddenly, at the end of the conversation and without any of us insisting again, he said when he was leaving: “Tomorrow I will go up to San Sebastián de Garabandal to say Mass so you can receive Communion.” The change was extraordinary, and it truly impressed us.

On the 13th he said Mass at 10, and he gave us Communion. When we left the Church he said goodbye to us very quickly, saying that he had only come up for this purpose and then he returned to Cossío.

At two in the afternoon, after Mari Loli’s ecstasy, she came to see us in the tavern, where Emilio, Alfonso, and I had entered to shave. She said to me: “I think it is wonderful how you are going to know this girl and about the medal that the Pope kissed. (Afterward we will refer to this detail). He told me that you have not seen anything and that you went to Cossío and he told you everything.

After Mass on the 13th, which as usual, was at eleven in the morning, we went to Mari Loli’s house, entered into the kitchen and we met Mari Loli’s parents and brothers and sisters. It was my wife and I, Pili and Alfonso, who had come from Madrid, Eustaquio’s daughter from Garabandal who had recently come from Mexico, and a seminarian from Bilbao that I had met previously in the Church while hearing Mass. I don’t remember anyone else, and I don’t think anyone else was there.

Mari Loli seemed nervous, but when Rosario, my wife, questioned her about whether she’d had a call, she said no. The night before, when we’d arrived at the village, my wife and I had given her a handful of 30 medals, 4 crucifixes, attached with tape, and then another handful of 33 crucifixes also attached with tape, various rosaries and a little box containing some medals from Colonel Prieto. Pili and Alfonso gave a handful of medals and rosaries, also attached with tape and I gave a Carthusian rosary with a medal from my mother’s first Communion next to the Cross. It had a double layer of marble or bone on one side that represented the face of Jesus Christ and then there was a skull on the other side. This little head was attached to the rosary with tape and it belonged to a Sister of Charity for her whole life. She had been a good friend of mine and she’d died after fifty years as a nun. Eustaquio’s daughter had brought a wedding ring and a medal.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 52

Notes about the happenings in San Sebastián de Garabandal on January 13, 1962.

Notes taken by the Marquis of Santa María for the information of Fr. Ramón Andreu, S.J.

Various Notes

Sentence: While showing a holy card of the Virgin to Mari Loli, she said: “How beautiful!” and then, “But she is ugly compared to what we see!”

The priest Fr. Amador questioned Conchita. He is here temporarily substituting for Fr. Valentín: “It was very good with us and I loved them very much, and he taught us a lot. He didn’t tell us, but the people did—that he didn’t believe—he was sly.”

Ceferino, Loli’s father, told us that sometimes he didn’t believe, and that the girls caught him in a lie once. For example: that Conchita had said (and in a way she made it clear) that there were two messages or two secrets—and that she confessed to him when he pushed her to tell the truth, that she didn’t have anything. Then his daughter Mari Loli told him that she had not had a vision that day, so she didn’t know anything about Conchita.

Another day Mari Loli warned her father that she would have an apparition, but she didn’t have one. He scolded her, saying that she had lied. After a few days Mari Loli entered into ecstasy in her house without having warned anyone. Her father asked her why she hadn’t known before as on other occasions and the child answered: “I didn’t want to tell you since it might not happen.” He told the child’s father: “The day she didn’t see, she should have, but she had done something wrong and the Virgin was punishing her.”

When Fr. Amador, who was mentioned before, left the village, the four girls accompanied him to Cossío and when they were saying goodbye, they said the following sentence (it isn’t literal, but it’s the same meaning): “You don’t believe that we are different, but the Virgin has chosen us as she has chosen others.” After, in the village of Puentenansa, he commented: “These girls are worthy of the suffering that awaits them.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 51

(Dr.) C. Ortiz Pérez

Santander 11 enero 1962

(Extract from a letter)

“The notes made during our time in San Sebastián on last December 8^th: María Dolores announced that she would see on Thursday, January 13^th. Mari Cruz and Jacinta will have an apparition on the 16^th and Conchita on the 27^th. We found out about Conchita when she was going down to the calleja to say the rosary on December 9^th, something she’d been doing since the previous October, and she said to my wife: “It is so long until the 27^th, but after that I will continue to see!” This “continue to see” makes us suppose that she knew this from her last vision.

(Dr.) C. Ortiz Pérez

Santander January 11, 1962

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 50

Padre Valentín Marichalar Torre

(Extract of a letter—Cossío, December 30, 1961)

“Finally the Bishop has found it opportune for me to return to take charge of San Sebastián like before.

I have already said Mass for Christmas and the priest who was in charge here has left with his luggage, “have a good trip.”

Valentín Marichalar Torre

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 49

Jacinta entered ecstasy at 5:47 in her house and left for the street during the first apparitions. She knelt there and didn’t hear anything. She went down at 6:03 in the evening and went toward the Church. When she arrived at the atrium she blessed herself and went to the door, where she blessed herself again. We didn’t hear her. At 6:10 she went to her house, entered her room and gave several medals, objects, etc. to be kissed—which were on the table. She left at 6:15 and went around the village several times. At 6:22 she went to Conchita’s house, and gave several objects to be kissed there, which she had brought. She looked fixedly at a holy card of the Virgin. Then she gave it to be kissed, lowered her hands, gave it to be kissed again, and laughed. She said: “You won’t kiss this?” She stood on her tiptoes, gave it to be kissed and laughed loudly. She went to the street and the ecstasy ended at 6:41. Fr. Amador asked her:

“Have you seen the Virgin?”

J—“Yes, Father.”

P—“What has she told you?”

J—“I can’t say.”

P—“Not even to your parents?”

J—“No, Father. I don’t know when I’ll be able to tell.”

P—“What does the Virgin look like?”

J—“She’s young.”

P—“How is she dressed?”

J—“She wears a blue mantle and a white dress.”

P—“How does she hold her hands?”

J—“Like this.” (She bends her arms and puts her hands together like she is praying).

P—“Where have you been?”

J—“Here.”

P—“Have you given objects to be kissed?”

J—“Many.”

P—“If you haven’t moved from here, then where are the objects?”

J—“They took them from me.”

P—“Are you warm or cold?”

J—“Warm.”

P—“Have you prayed for the Bishop?”

J—“Yes, Father.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 48

Many priests came to Garabandal

Report from San Sebastián de Garabandal made by Matutano—Dec. 16, 1961

It has been about a month since the parish priest was changed. The new priest, Fr. Amador, is 35 years old and is a good psychologist. He is very concerned about the girls, not only during the apparitions when they run, but also when they are in the normal state.

His opinion is that there is nothing supernatural about these apparitions, but he is also convinced that the girls are not playing games. As a result, he believes that they are suffering from a psychological illness. He tells the girls, and he also says in his sermons to the village something that has caused disturbance in the village—that it is impossible for the Virgin Mary to descend on the earth, and for that reason the girls don’t see the Virgin, but an image. This happened when Jacinta said that the Virgin appeared with her hands together (like Fatima) and Fr. Amador said that the apparition was the same as the image of the Virgin in the parish. He said that the girls were obsessed with this image even though they always said that the Virgin appeared with her arms extended downward.

I asked if there would be a concrete, verifiable miracle produced by the girls, because then the Church would have to admit to the reality of the apparitions. They answered that the miracle would happen but that it would not prove anything. It would be done by God as a result of the faith of those who ask for it. I asked what the Church needed to give faith in the apparitions and he answered that nothing would do it.

He is convinced that Loli, Jacinta, and Conchita suffer from neurosis (he has only seen Jacinta, Conchita, and Mari Cruz having apparitions), and he is very enthusiastic about Mari Cruz (I am also) and he told me that if she was the only one having apparitions, he would be predisposed to believe in something supernatural. He negates the visions because the three girls are very vain, and this does not correspond at all with the Virgin.

He said during a sermon in the parish that the Virgin is like any another Saint and that the only path to achieve glory is through Christ. This seemed bad. He tells them that they are hypocritical and superstitious. All of this, as is logical, is said with good manners and sympathy. He works a lot, as I said before, and he teaches the young girls and boys of the village to sing Christmas carols. He teaches them to accompany him during Mass and gave them some pamphlets in Latin so that they can follow the Mass. I note that the girls listen and see during the apparitions, and the rigidness that was first apparent in their limbs has disappeared. This agrees with the reports done by the doctors of the Commission sent by the Bishop. But I think they turn their heads and I confessed as much when I asked: “How do you cure this illness?” And he told me: “I don’t know and neither do the doctors.” I asked: “How can you diagnose an illness if you are ignorant of the causes and the remedies?” He said: “I think something has to be diagnosed,” and I said to diagnose a supernatural origin. He answered: “We can’t.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 47

Extract of a letter

Aguilar, November 27, 1961

“From October 18^th until November the apparitions continued the same as always. In one of Conchita’s apparitions, seconds before she fell into ecstasy in the street, in a moment of the day in which there were so many stars they didn’t seem to fit in the sky, a light was seen which seemed to fall over the village. In that moment, Conchita fell into ecstasy. Afterward, she told the people that she had seen a light in which the Virgin had arrived.

The people saw this light from different locations in the village.

The Virgin has told them to pray many rosaries until she returns to them on the same dates that she told Conchita. They have to pray many rosaries, make visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and make many sacrifices. When the people of the village asked Jacinta why she woke up at six in the morning instead of praying the rosary at another time since this was a great sacrifice, Jacinta answered: “The many sacrifices we do are not enough.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 46

Ascension of Luís Sagrado

Wednesday—October 18, 1961—In the morning, I went to Mass to receive Holy Communion and the girls were there also, receiving Communion. It was impressive to see the fervor of the people at Mass.

The day was the same. The people didn’t stop praying or singing Hail Marys despite the rain. The Rosary in the Church was also extraordinary. It was an unforgettable day, full of fervor and sacrifice. I cannot say that there is any great comfort in the village; to sleep on straw is considered good luck, and we had the fortune to do this. The majority of the people stayed in the street.

At ten o’clock at night, we made the ascent to the Pines to hear the Message, which was impressive. We all went up praying impassively. All of us wanted to be there that night in the rain. Not everyone could hear the message, but it traveled among the people.

Later, after we’d descended, I saw Loli walk through the village in ecstasy, and they told me that the four girls were in ecstasy.

The girls had told me before that after they told the Message they would be called by the Virgin and would stay at the Pines in ecstasy. This happened as the girls had said. The girls heard the word of the Virgin, and so it happened.

I returned to Burgos very satisfied.

The Ascension of Luís.

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 45

Catalina (Catherine) receives First Holy Communión

from the hands of Padre Ramón María Andreu S.J.

A Short History of Chonde Luís

“On July 25, 1961, I went to spend a few days in Santander, invited by a friend. It can be said that I went because I was obligated because I didn’t want to miss a day with Catherine, the French girl without a religion, whom it seemed God had put in my path since the previous year. I had a true obsession with her conversion, and from the beginning, I saw in her a true interest in the Virgin’s work, which occurs in providential cases through the mediation of the Virgin of Fatima.

I didn’t want to separate myself from Catherine, whose vacation was as short as it had been the previous year, and I recognized my great responsibility in her conversion. This trip weighed on me because I felt obligated to accept that it was providential. In Santander, I learned of the apparitions, and I felt great emotion thinking that if this was true, it would be the final step in Catherine’s conversion. I was completely sure that if the Virgin was appearing to these girls she had a true interest in manifesting herself to them.

Immediately, I returned to Burgos to continue my apostolate for a month and a half, always with the concern that when Catherine returned to Paris and the cold environment of her family, her Protestant mother and Jewish father and two brothers with no religion, she would suffer a reversal as she had last year. As a result, when I heard of the events that were taking place, I thought immediately of Catherine.

In Burgos, no one knew anything about Santander. I thought that it could be nothing, but I also thought that it could possibly result in Catherine’s conversion.

Some time passed and I didn’t learn anything more. Catherine received a letter from her parents saying that on August 25th they would wait for her in the French countryside for her to accompany them on an excursion, and that they would return to Paris on September 1st. We commented that the trip would be wonderful, but a little later, she appeared in my room and told me that she had written to her parents to say that she would prefer to stay in Burgos for a few more days and that she would meet them in Paris on September 1st. Catherine told me that the real reason she was doing this was because there would be a Sunday in the middle of the trip when she wouldn’t be able to go to Mass. She was prepared this year, but I was still afraid what would happen in Paris. However, she offered these five days to God, and she went to Mass on Sunday. As a reward, we found out what was happening in San Sebastián de Garabandal. We decided to make a trip, which she considered the happiest of her life.

After writing to her parents, we went shopping. I wanted to give her a gift, and I asked what she wanted, and among all of the little things in the shops, she asked for a Cross to wear with her medal. We entered a jewelry shop and the owner told me: I would like to be with you. In Santander, you were so interested in the apparitions that I asked you brother-in-law, who had gone several times and was impressed. Santí told us what he had seen and he took a great interest in planning a trip for us since Catherine is only in Spain for a few more days. At that moment, I hadn’t thought that we could still go, but after praying a Rosary that night, Catherine told me: “How sad that he’s not taking us.” When we finished the Rosary, they called us on the phone to say that they would take us the next morning.

Sunday. August 27, 1961. We went to San Sebastián de Garabandal. We didn’t see anything; an ecstasy happened in Loli’s house and we couldn’t enter. There was a man in the doorway who was very nervous and kept repeating that the noises that they heard were not supernatural, but preternatural, diabolical. Later we learned that he was a Salesian dressed as a layman, but after this Catherine didn’t lose her confidence (this may have been the first time that she had heard of the power the devil has). When the ecstasy ended, Fr. Valentín left Loli’s house and the Salesian went to him, and they left.

We went into Cossío and waited for the next day when Santí and his family would come from Suances so we could be reunited with them.

Monday—August 28, 1961. We went up with Santí and his family and met Fr. Valentín, to whom we explained the French girl’s situation. After speaking with them, we went to see Conchita, and her mother told us that she was in the river doing laundry, and we could find her there. We asked her to pray to the Virgin for Catherine (Catalina). She asked questions, and it made me excited to see the two girls together, talking about things. We gave her several medals to give to the Virgin to kiss. Conchita told Catherine about the first apparitions, and she also told us about Fr. Luís’s death and that she’d spoken with him even though they hadn’t seen him. Then she told us that they already knew the Message, and I asked her if the apparitions would end on October 18^th and she answered no, that they would continue for three years and that there would be two more messages. Conchita asked Catherine when she would be baptized and we told her that Catherine was only 19, so it would be better to wait until she was 21, but Conchita continued asking her questions about why her parents wouldn’t let her be baptized and other questions.

Conchita also told us that they had spoken with Fr. Luís in four languages, that he had said the Hail Mary in Greek, and that she had spoken with him in French. Then she told Catherine to speak in French a little, and she said that she would like her parents to convert. We asked Conchita if she knew what Catherine had said, and the girl answered yes, that Catherine wanted her parents to convert.

In the afternoon the four girls prayed the Rosary, and they didn’t stop looking at Catherine. For them, it was something special that they were going to dedicate to the Virgin that day.

Later, they told us in Jacinta’s house, and Lolita was there too, that they had a call from the Virgin. I already knew from Conchita that before the Virgin came, the girls received three interior calls. Loli’s father went to the street and said: “Let the French girl come up.” The two of us went up, and there were three other women, Jacinta’s parents, Loli’s parents, and also a young boy who was making notes in a book of what the girls were saying in ecstasy. The girls were sitting and awaiting the last call. We spoke with them and we gave them our medals that we had taken from Conchita’s house since she’d told us that she wouldn’t have a call that day.

I asked Loli and Jacinta how many calls they had and they told me a little less than three. I asked them what a little less than three meant and they laughed, but they didn’t answer me. They asked if Mari Cruz, another of the girls, was still having an ecstasy, and then I understood that Mari Cruz was in ecstasy in the window of her house and I imagined that this “a little less than three calls” was waiting for Mari Cruz’s ecstasy to finish. It was that, because as soon as Mari Cruz finished, Fr. Valentín went to her house, and the other girls had just entered the ecstasy.

A little before entering the ecstasy, Loli said: “I’m going to get holy water, because they tell me it is the devil.” She entered the room and took a flask of holy water. She sat next to another girl and put the water behind her chair. A little later, the two girls entered into ecstasy. They were sitting with the same look as always in the same place as always and with their heads lifted. They spoke, but we didn’t hear anything and then they said: “It was the Salesian, it was the Salesian.” They repeated this and afterward the girls laughed and were very happy, then they said: “She isn’t Catholic, she isn’t Catholic. She is only 19 years old, she has to wait for two years. She is not Catholic, she isn’t baptized, her parents, her parents,” repeated the girls.

They gave medals to be kissed and when they arrived at Catherine’s, Loli said: “It is hers, it is hers,” and she elevated my rosary insistently (I had told her before her ecstasy that the French girl had said her first prayers on that rosary) it was connected to another, and they raised it twice and then, separating mine from the other, said: “This, this, her first prayers.” Loli found Catherine’s medal once again without looking for it and the girls said that it was a little cross. Fr. Valentín asked me which medal she was looking for, and I said that it was a group of medals, all together, and that Catherine’s was among them. The girl put her hand behind her chair where she had placed the holy water before the ecstasy. She took the medals and lifted them again, saying: “This is hers, this one, this one.” She took the flask and threw the little water it contained in such a way that it fell on Catherine even though she was not standing in front of the girl.

Catherine was excited at that moment threw her head back. I, upon seeing the movement of Catherine’s head, looked and her and knew perfectly why all of the water that the flask contained had fallen on her. I was sure that none of the holy water had fallen on me, and I was next to the girls, almost pressed up to them.

When the ecstasy ended, I asked Catherine why she had pulled away when the holy water had fallen on her and she said that she was impressed by how the holy water had fallen over her head, and when she’d moved it had dampened her dress as well. All of this happened with a flask of water so tiny that it is impossible that it could contain the amount of water that fell on Catherine.

I didn’t remember that I had also given the girls a small image of Our Lady of Lourdes—which I had given to Catherine the previous year. Lolita found this image that I had given to Jacinta. She was very insistent and seemed nervous, as though the Virgin had indicated where it was, she found it on one side. With her feet to Jacinta—they were all as always with their heads thrown back and they were looking at a fixed point—she took the little Virgin, lifted it, stood up, lifted her arms and forced them as though she wanted to lift the image higher. Then, Jacinta was in the same position (sitting) as Loli in ecstasy. She held Loli’s knees and lifted her to follow her. Both of their head were thrown back and rigid and they were looking at the same place, always high. Jacinta held Loli as though she was a feather, without the least effort. When Jacinta put her down, Loli said: “I want to give it to her.” She went to Catherine, found the pocket of her jacket and said: “Here is the pocket,” and then put the Virgin in her pocket. The two girls inclined in front of us and looked like they were going to fall. Afterward, Loli inclined in such a way in front of Cahterine that we thought she was going to fall. It was so much that Fr. Valentín put his hand between Catherine and the girl, indicating that we should be careful so the girl wouldn’t fall.

The two girls sat down and talked in low voices. Then they prayed a Station to Jesus in the Sacrament and they kissed the Virgin, laughed, and said: “Don’t go, stay a little longer.” The two girls blessed themselves at the same time and then repeated it several times with the same precision.

When they returned to the normal state, Loli was very happy and told us: “We have told the Virgin that they said that she was the devil and she laughed.”

When we returned to Burgos we found a holy card from Lourdes that Catherine’s parents had sent from there. Catherine had never been there, but her parents travel often and her mother was very close. They said that Lourdes was very beautiful and that they liked it very much. This impressed Catherine, who had never heard her parents talk about religion at all in the home.