From Thomas Fahy: BEAUTIFUL, POSITIVE AND COMFORTING - GARABANDAL AND VATICAN II

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Dear Lovers of Jesus and Mary,

1. This is not a new issue of "Letters of Gold." I am still working on the next issue whenever time allows.

2. This is a very positive and comforting message about the Love of God who sent our heavenly Mother on a mission of great mercy to us in 1961 through 1965—a most critical moment in human history, because of what was to follow. She came to reassure us and to give us her merciful warnings and most helpful instructions for the salvation and sanctification of our souls—for great apostasy and great danger was at hand.

3. Below is an article just published in the Garabandal Journal about Vatican II from the perspective of Heaven and that of Bishop Nickless of Sioux City, South Dakaota. Mr. Barry Hanratty, editor of the Garabandal Journal, put this article together and has given me permission to share it with you.

4. The picture of the Fathers of Vatican Council II (see above) has been trans-located to depict the correlation of the work of the Holy Spirit with Vatican II and the mission of his Spouse, The Immaculate Mary, at Garabandal in the very same time frame.

5. At the very early stages of the Garabandal phenomenon, Our Lady spoke to the young girls, to whom She was sent to instruct us through them, about the soon coming uniting of the "churches." This will be a most monumental event, that will pave the way for the rapid diffusion and general Reign of the Divine Will on earth as in Heaven! Deo Gratias!!!

The article below will bring peace, comfort and joy to those of good will.

Respectfully yours in the Most Holy and Adorable Will of God,

Thomas Fahy
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THE MIRACLE AND THE COUNCIL

What Our Lady made known at Garabandal about the Second Vatican Council

By Barry Hanratty

Was the Second Vatican Council a good thing and much needed for our time or was it not? If we judge by what happened after the Council we would have to conclude that it was a colossal failure with thousands upon thousands of priests and religious having abandoned their vocations, an exodus of the laity from the Church in depressingly large numbers, and many of those who have stayed no longer believing in basic tenents of our Faith such as the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Added to all that, and perhaps the cause of it, has been the attempt in the name of ecumenism to change the face of Catholicism to ostensibly make it more attractive to our separated brethren, an experiment that has had just the opposite effect with a recent estimate placing the number of ex-Catholics in the United States at 30 million with many having joined Protestant Churches

But everyone does not fault the Council for the fallout. Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City, South Dakota, for example, sees the problem more in the way the Council has been implemented. In a pas­toral letter in the latter part of 2009, he draws attention to the distinction between "the spirit of Vatican II" under the guise of which so many sweeping changes have been made, and the authentic Council. He writes: "...It is crucial that we all grasp that the hermeneutic or interpretation of discontinuity or rupture, which many think is the settled and even official position, is not the true meaning of the Council. This interpretation sees the pre-conciliar and post-conciliar Church almost as two different churches. It sees the Second Vatican Council as a radical break with the past. There can be no split, however, between the Church and her faith before and after the Council. We must stop speaking of the "Pre-Vatican II" and "Post-Vatican II" Church, and stop seeing various characteristics of the Church as "pre" and "post" Vatican II. Instead, we must evaluate them according to their intrinsic value and pastoral effectiveness in this day and age.... The so-called `spirit' of the Council has no authoritative interpretation. It is a ghost or demon that must be exorcised if we are to proceed with the Lord's work."

The Bishop goes on to exhort his priests to celebrate Mass with greater reverence, to hear confessions more frequently and to foster Eucharistic adoration and Marian devotion. This is a far cry from what was going on in the 1970's. I remember one young man in his first year of seminary in a diocese which I won't mention since the situation there may be quite different now, saying that they were not allowed to say the rosary openly nor make a thanksgiving after receiving holy Communion.

Our Lady and the Council

What the Blessed Virgin said about the Council at Garabandal accords with the position of Bishop Nickless (and many others), since in her appearances she both reinforced all the Church's beliefs and time-honored practices and spoke well of Vatican II.

September 26, 1962, was, according to all available information, the first time the Virgin mentioned the Council at Garabandal, and the following words of Conchita in ecstasy on that occasion were transcribed by lawyer, Luis Navas Corillo, from a tape recording made by a Basque priest:

"The Council, is it the greatest of all? Will it be a success? How good! That way they will know you better and you will be very happy..."

Commenting on this in his book SHE WENT IN HASTE TO THE MOUNTAIN, Father Eusebio Garcia de Pesquera states that it would be good to know exactly what Our Lady said in those gaps between Conchita's questions, since we can't draw any firm conclusions. But when Conchita says: "How good!..." there can be little doubt that something positive from Our Lady elicited that response. Father Pesquera suggests that it might have been because a chapter in the Council's Dogmatic Constitution would be devoted to her. And while this was less than the full document called for in the original schema, it was substantial (although probably not enough for devotees of Our Lady).

There is, however, another possibility not mentioned by Father Pesquera which also makes sense of Conchita's "How good...!". At the close of the third Council session on November 21, 1964, Pope Paul VI proclaimed Mary "Mother of the Church." So the Blessed Virgin was not absent from the Council, which incidentally opened on the feast of the Maternity of Mary (October 11, 1962) and closed on the east of her Immaculate Conception (December 8, 1965).

But what Our Lady told Conchita on September 26, 1962, may not have had to do with either the chapter in the Constitution or her being proclaimed Mother of the Church. At four o'clock in the morning of November 18, 1962, five weeks after the opening of the Council, another recording was made of Conchita speaking in ecstasy. Here are significant excerpts:

"...shall I tell...Oh?...Good! That with the Council and the Miracle the world is going to be converted?...and afterwards the world will be forgiven? Oh, that is good...What?... and I can say that with the Council and the Miracle there will be conversion.... I'll tell it after the Council and...eh? Then I want the Council to end now.... I won't say anymore, nothing more, eh?....When the Council ends I won't say a word...oh, goodbye."

What we can take from this is that the Miracle will have far-reaching effects in bringing about a massive number of conversions and that Vatican II will play a leading role in facilitating the transition of so many entering the Church. Will this be the great unification also predicted at Garabandal and in many prophecies of old? While we can't infallibly say that, we are encouraged to think that something monumental will happen from what Our Lord told Conchita in her locution with Him on July 20, 1963. Here is some of the dialog:

CONCHITA: Why is the Miracle going to take place? To convert many people?

JESUS: To convert the whole world.

CONCHITA: Will Russia be converted?

JESUS: Yes, she also will be converted and thus everybody will love our Hearts. (emphasis added)

Vatican II

While Vatican II has been blamed by many for all the bad things that have happened over the last four decades, in going through the prophecies of saints, blesseds and other holy people that speak of the demise of the Church in our times, I have not found any that say a council would be the cause of it. Bishop Nickless, in his pastoral letter defines two interpretations of Vatican II, one of "continuity" (with the Church's ongoing tradition), and the other of "rupture" and therein lies the problem. The hermeneutic of rupture has become the dominant one and has caused confusion and division among the faithful. What's more, after four decades, it has become a tradition and so well entrenched, that the proper implementation of the Council for the entire Church cannot occur until something drastic happens. And that is exactly what has been predicted at Garabandal. Mari Loli said that as a result of the Tribulation, the Church will seem to have disappeared, and many Catholic prophecies say the same thing, that the Church will disappear for a time. When it re-emerges after the Tribulation and Warning, it will be ready for the universal and correct implementation of Vatican II, and after the great Miracle, the Council will be able to do the work it was destined to do. And if great numbers of people are going to be converted after the Miracle and enter the Church, with the Council being the reference for how to manage such a vast influx of souls, Our Lady is going to have a lot more children who will recognize her as their mother. Perhaps Conchita's "How good!..." had something to do with this. So, according to Garabandal, The Second Vatican Council's day is still to come.

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OUR LADY'S TRIUMPH

In recent times, from Bertha Petit to Fatima to Garabandal the triumph of Our Lady has been predicted. Here is another one from a bit further back in the seventeenth century by Venerable Mary of Agreda, who wrote under divine inspiration the life of Mary called THE MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD:

"It was revealed to me that through the intercession of the Mother of God, all heresies will disappear. This victory over heresies has been reserved by Christ for His Blessed Mother. In the last times, the Lord will especially spread the renown of His Mother. Mary began salvation and by her intercession it will be concluded. Before the second coming of Christ, Mary must, more than ever, shine in mercy, might and grace in order to bring unbelievers into the Catholic Faith. The powers of Mary in the last times over the demons will be very conspicuous. Mary will extend the reign of Christ over the heathens and Mohammedans, and it will be a time of great joy when Mary, as Mistress and Queen of Hearts, is enthroned."