SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 1962:

AN OUTSTANDING "FEAST OF THE
ANNUNCIATION" AT GARABANDAL

A sheer wonder as well was this Feast of the "Annunciation" (or "Incarnacion del Senor," as it is still called, and rightly so, in Spain) in the little village of San Sebastian de Garabandal.

From 9:30 p.m. until midnight, Conchita, Mari-Loli and Jacinta, in ecstasy,sang the entire Rosary for the first time! They added several verses, that the Blessed Virgin inspired them to sing, to the traditional announcements of the different mysteries, including several short stanzas from the Ave Maria of Fatima. Always in ecstasy, the girls invited the people to join them in their singing. They rejoiced over the number of people accompanying them, and exclaimed:
"Ah, how happy the Blessed Virgin is! How she is smiling, and how she is looking at all of us!"

The stanzas 3, 4, 5 and 6 were taken, as we said, from the Ave Maria of Fatima.
The "three times" to which the children refer in the seventh stanza were obviously corresponding to the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes, at Fatima and at Garabandal. By virtue of the traits and accent proper to each of these "Three greatest public Marian apparitions," we can already observe how Lourdes is related to the Joyful Mysteries, Fatima to the Sorrowful Mysteries, and Garabandal to the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. A truly admirable "spiritual logic"!

Translation of a few stanzas sung by the visionaries in ecstasy:

O MOST BLESSED MARY,
FLOWERS, WE BRING YOU,
THE HOLY ROSARY,
TO YOU WE OFFER.
(AVE MARIA, AVE MARIA, ETC . . .)

O BLESSED MARY,
YOUR EYES ARE NOW FIXED . . .
ON EACH AND EVERY HEART
OF THIS HUMAN WORLD.
(AVE MARIA, AVE MARIA, ETC . . .)

THE FASHIONS BEAR US
TO THE FIRES OF HELL.
SO, MODESTY DRESS
IF YOU WISH TO BE SAVED.
(AVE MARIA, AVE MARIA, ETC . . .)

YOU MUST DO PENANCE,
AND YOU MUST ALSO PRAY,
FOR ALL SINNERS
PRAY FOR FORGIVENESS.
(AVE MARIA, AVE MARIA, ETC . . .)

ON THE THIRTEENTH OF MAY
THE VIRGIN MARY
CAME DOWN FROM THE HEAVENS
TO THE COVA DA IRIA.
(AVE MARIA, AVE MARIA, ETC . . .)

MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN
NOW YOU KNOW OUR MESSAGES;
THE VIRGIN MARY WANTS THEM ALL DONE
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL HOMES.
(AVE MARIA, AVE MARIA, ETC . . .)

THE VIRGIN HAS WARNED US:
WITH THIS TIME, IT MAKES THREE.
OH, SWEET VIRGIN MARY,
WHAT GRIEF DEATH GIVES US!
(AVE MARIA, AVE MARIA, ETC . . .)

MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN,
RECITE THE ROSARY,
SO IN THE OTHER WORLD,
YOU MAY FIND REST.
(AVE MARIA, AVE MARIA, ETC . . .)

[From 'Garabandal' Book, page 128]

What a powerful day for the girls and for us! There is so much truth in this apparition on the Feast of the Annunciation. Just meditating on the fact that Jesus was conceived in Mother Mary's womb on this day, His humanity began by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Mystery of the Incarnation.

When I pray this Mystery of the Rosary, I always join the two together, Annunciation and Incarnation. The Spanish are right, this Feast should be called the "Incarnacion del Senor"!

Pause a moment and re-read those stanzas. How beautiful and enlightening they are! There's some powerful lessons to be learned from these children of Garabandal!!!
Deacon John