TUESDAY 8 - WEDNESDAY 9 OF AUGUST, 1961

Before he died , Father Luis "saw the great Miracle"

Father Luis was buried at Ona, reserved for Jesuits

FATHER LUIS MARIA ANDREU SEES THE
BLESSED VIRGIN OF MOUNT CARMEL
AND THE FUTURE GREAT MIRACLE,
THEN BECOMING HIMSELF A
PROTAGONIST OF GARABANDAL

Father Luis Maria Andreu Rodmilans was born in 1925 in Bilbao, Spain. He entered the Jesuit Scholasticate, at Ona, in 1942; he was ordained to the priesthood in 1955, then he studied at Innsbruck, Rome, Geneva and Paris.

At the time of the Garabandal "events," the Andreu family was made up of six brothers. The eldest, Jose Maria, was married and lived in Madrid. Then came four priests, all of them Jesuits: Alejandro, a missionary in Venezuela; Ramon, [who has since died. Ed.] was a missionary in California in the South American community; Luis; and finally Marcelino, a missionary in Taiwan. Rafael is the youngest.

Father Luis came back to Garabandal for the third time, on the 8th of August 1961, in order to observe once more the ecstasies. On that day, the Pastor, Don Valentin, who had to go to Santander, entrusted him with the keys of the church. The Jesuit Father celebrated his Mass
in "an admirable manner," said those who had taken part. This was to be his last Mass.

In the evening of this Tuesday, and for the third time, the visionaries fell into ecstasy in the village church. When they came out of the church, they began a long ecstatic walk that Fr. Luis followed, from the beginning to the end, up to the Pines, where himself falling into ecstasy, the priest suddenly pronounced loudly the word "Miracle!", four times. His eyes fixed on heaven, he was granted to see the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel, and also, by anticipation, the future great Miracle which is to take place at San Sebatian de Garabandal. This was a unique event, and we know that the Jesuit Father had penetrated into the visionaries' "range of vision." They would later describe him in these few words: "He was there, on his knees, beads of perspiration on his forehead, the Blessed Virgin looking at him. We had the impression that she was telling him: 'Within a short time, you will be near me'."

The ecstasy over, Padre Luis came down from the Pines and, with some of his friends, went down in a jeep to Cosio to await the arrival of some of the other persons with whom he had come, and who had preferred to walk back. It was about one in the morning. The Father was dozing in the vehicle when Don Valentin, who was just coming back to the village, joined him. Immediately, Luis spoke: "Don Valentin, what the children are saying is true! But I ask you not to repeat what I have just told you. For the Church will never be too prudent in such matters."

At about four in the morning, while they were driving on the road to Reinosa, Luis spoke to his friends: "I am filled with joy! What a favor the Blessed Virgin has granted me! How lucky we are to have such a Mother in heaven! We must not be afraid of the supernatural. The children have taught us how to speak to the Blessed Virgin. For me, there can be no doubt! Why did the Blessed Virgin choose us, yes, us? Today is the happiest day of my life!"

Then he became silent. There was a sigh. Fr. Luis' head fell forward. He was dead! He was 36 years old. Father Luis' involvement with Garabandal was far from being over. In fact, it was revealed to Conchita that "on the day following the future great Miracle, his body will be found just as he was, when he died!" [Incorrupt.]
[Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, pages 84-87.]

Another amazing event regarding these apparitions of Our Blessed Mother. Imagine, here was a brilliant young priest professor, who had a wonderful career ahead of him, snatched out of this life to enter heaven! It's mind-boggling! But God's ways are not our ways . . . St. Paul said in (2 Cor 5:4) that he was "groaning for heaven" and "But we are confident and have a good will to be absent rather from the body and to be present with the Lord. " (2 Cor 5:8) But he realized that the Lord had other plans for him, like evangelizing the world outside of Israel, and then he would give his life in martyrdom and go to heaven.

How about us? Do we think about heaven? Are we ready to be snatched up? Remember that old hymn "Swing low, sweet chariot." Lets hope that we all have a beautiful vision of Jesus & Mary coming to escort us to the Father's House in Heaven, and not have to see the evil one before we die!

There's an old Irish saying: "May you have one foot in Heaven, even before the devil knows you're dead." So be it! Hope to see you all there . . .
Deacon John