THE "Illumination" will be an incredible gift to the world. This "Eye of the Storm"—this opening in the storm—is the penultimate "door of mercy" that will be open to all of humanity before the "door of justice" is the only door left open. Both St. John in his Apocalypse and St. Faustina have written of these doors…
<a href="http://www.markmallett.com/blog/2011/10/the-doors-of-faustina/
Mari Cruz
Here I would like to make particular mention of Mari Cruz, since the opinions about her have not always been very fair.
She has suffered very much. She is very obedient and very virtuous. Outside of the ecstasies, her modesty conferred upon her special attractiveness; all the more, during the ecstasies did she have a special charm. She was very humble. In July, 1969, Conchita was still telling me that she was very good, extremely good . . . “Oh yes, very good!”
For my part, I can state that what could be said of her kindness and Christian charity only reflects partially the truth. And what could be said of her moral suffering, since even in her name she carries the cross!
She was as childlike as she was withdrawn. And how gentle, humble, courteous! Extremely courteous. She was especially obedient to her mother Pilar, whom she had to obey more than once with tears in her eyes. Was she not observed sometimes, through obedience, prevented from seeing the Virgin? The Virgin had advised the young girls to obey their parents and their ecclesiastical superiors before obeying She Herself.
Let us mention this particular episode. If the parents told their children to go to bed, even though the Virgin had announced her visit for an early hour in the morning, the child would ask for permission to stay up. However if this was refused, she cried, but went to bed. The desire to see the Virgin was great, but the child obeyed and offered up the sacrifice.
If at the time foretold by the Virgin the child was in bed, but awake, the Virgin came to her and the girl fell into ecstasy. Sometimes she stayed in bed in ecstasy, or else, still in ecstasy, she got up, got dressed, went out into the village, conversing with the Virgin or reciting the rosary.
If, at the time foretold the girl was asleep, the Virgin respected her sleep and did not wake her up.
On numerous occasions, Mari Cruz was not able to attend the rendezvous set by the Virgin because of obedience to her mother. The father of the family stayed in the pastures and the mother was alone to watch over her daughter. She acted thus to preserve the health of her daughter, who worked in the fields according to her strength.
***
With regard to the religious spirit of the Mari Cruz’ family, a fair judgment should be made in order not to fall into inconsiderate exaggeration. That would actually be lack of charity and also lack of justice.
It cannot be said that it was a family that seldom practiced; let us say that it was above all a poor family where it was necessary to work much in order to support the household.
It was a practicing family, no less. The father, being ill, could not come down from the pastures because of his state of health; instead he used the hours of work to the maximum, since there was no abundance of workers in the family.
But if he happened to come down to the village on Sunday, he was seen at Mass, also were his wife and daughter.
These opinions are not mine, they come from Aniceta, Conchita’s mother, but I willingly second her point of view.
Light in the Darkness
(Conchita’s spiritual martyrdom)
The penances of Conchita — even though she was still a child — were not limited to mere external acts . . . Conchita passed through the test of the “Dark Night” — as St. John of the Cross describes it — a test of true anguish which had, as a consoling balm, the sweet presence of the Virgin herself, as we shall see shortly.
In the year 1962, at the Piedrajita that I have just mentioned, I had the occasion to share the terrible spiritual test that Conchita was undergoing. She confided to me then the true martyrdom that was tormenting her virginal soul.
Expressionless, without raising her eyes from the ground, as we mowed the dry hay, the child revealed her affliction little by little.
— “I have profound doubts concerning the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist,” she told me. In addition, “I often ask myself how God could exist for all eternity . . . These and many other doubts are for me a real martyrdom.”
Persons who read this and have some experience in these things know that those souls, who are undergoing such a moral martyrdom, are incapable of understanding the reasons that one can give them to lead them out of the darkness into the light. One can only suffer with them, and await the day the Lord has reserved for the fall of the veil that darkens the peace of the soul. One day the storm will calm; the Lord will do everything.
On that same day Conchita revealed to me that the Virgin was aware of her doubts. During her visits, her first words were: “Conchita, how are your doubts?” This gave her consolation and peace, which only lasted as long as the Virgin was with her.
Last Supper Discourses.
1* “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith* in God; have faith also in me. 2In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3* And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.a 4Where [I] am going you know the way.”* 5Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth* and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.b 7If you know me, then you will also know my Father.* From now on you do know him and have seen him.”c 8Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father,* and that will be enough for us.”d 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?e 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.f 11Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.g 12Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.h 13And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.i 14If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it."
This chapter from Saint John's Gospel changed my whole outlook about God and removed my doubt 100%. I was so grateful to the Holy Spirit, who came to my rescue and to Mother Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel de Garabandal, whom we were honoring that night in prayer, leading me and teaching me about her Divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with the Holy Spirit is One God with the Father! I can honestly say that after that night, for over 40 years, that doubt never returned and I have grown spiritually in my love and belief in the Blessed Trinity! I also have been helped by my reciting the Fatima Prayers which are all Trinity oriented:
Revelation Illumination
Conversion of St. Paul, artist unknown
THERE were many great graces poured out during our time in Paray-le-Monial. Chief among them, at least for me, was healing grace. The fire of Christ’s Sacred Heart pierced many of us, and we were overwhelmed with His goodness and mercy, even though for some, that fire also illuminated areas needing repentance.
That grace is coming to the whole world in what may be the most singularly astonishing event since Pentecost.
THE ILLUMINATION IN PROPHETIC REVELATION
Mystic and stigmatist, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, who was revered by popes for the accuracy of her prophecies, referred to it as an "illumination of conscience." St. Edmund Campion referred to it as "the day of change" when "the terrible Judge should reveal all men’s consciences." Conchita, an alleged visionary in Garabandal, called it a "warning." The late Fr. Gobbi called it a "judgment in miniature," while Servant of God, Maria Esperanza, called it a "great day of light" when the consciences of all will be shaken—"the hour of decision for mankind."1
St. Faustina, who proclaimed to the world that we are living in a prolonged "time of mercy" based on revelations given to her directly by Jesus, may have witnessed in a vision the actual event:
Before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort:
This vision is similar to what an American seer, who goes by the pseudonym of "Jennifer," allegedly saw in a vision. She calls this event "the warning":
The sky is dark and it seems as though it is night but my heart tells me it is sometime in the afternoon. I see the sky opening up and I can hear long, drawn out claps of thunder. When I look up I see Jesus bleeding on the cross and people are falling to their knees. Jesus then tells me, "They will see their soul as I see it." I can see the wounds so clearly on Jesus and Jesus then says, "They will see each wound they have added to My Most Sacred Heart." To the left I see the Blessed Mother weeping and then Jesus speaks to me again and says, “Prepare, prepare now for the time is soon approaching. My child, pray for the many souls who will perish because of their selfish and sinful ways." As I look up I see the drops of blood falling from Jesus and hitting the earth. I see millions of people from nations from all lands. Many seemed confused as they were looking up toward the sky. Jesus says, "They are in search of light for it should not be a time of darkness, yet it is the darkness of sin that covers this earth and the only light will be that of which I come with for mankind does not realize the awakening that is about to be bestowed upon him. This will be the greatest purification since the beginning of creation." —see www.wordsfromjesus.com, September 12, 2003
A REVELATION ON REVELATION?
While preparing to go to Mass in Paray-le-Monial—that little French village where Jesus revealed His Sacred Heart as a "last effort" to reach mankind—I had a "word" suddenly enter my mind like lightning out of the clear blue. I heard interiorly that the first three chapters of Revelation are essentially an "illumination of conscience." After Mass, I picked up my bible to begin reading the Apocalypse in that new light to see what was meant by that…
The book of Revelation (or "apocalypse", which literally means "unveiling") begins with St. John greeting seven churches and quoting the prophet Zechariah:
Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him. Yes. Amen. (Rev 1:7)
John then describes the vision he had of Jesus appearing in the midst of these churches in a gleaming apparition where "his face shone like the sun at its brightest."2 John’s response was to fall down at His feet "as though dead."3 This scene invokes a similar illumination that St. Paul had. Before his conversion, he was persecuting Christians, having them put to death. Christ appeared to him in a bright light:
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts 9:4)
Suddenly, Saul (who took the name Paul) was "illumined" and realized that he was not as righteous as he thought. His eyes were covered over with "scales," a symbol of his spiritual blindness. Thus, his sight was turned inward as he came face to face with the light of truth.
After St. John’s powerful vision of Christ, he hears the Lord say…
Do not be afraid… (Rev 1:17)
…and immediately Jesus begins to illumine the conscience of the seven churches, calling them to repentance, praising their good works, and pointing out their spiritual blindness.
I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth… Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. (Rev 3:15-16, 19)
THE GLOBAL ILLUMINATION
Then John is taken up to Heaven where he now begins to view things from a divine perspective.
After this I had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpetlike voice that had spoken to me before, saying, "Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards." (Rev 4:1)
That is to say that the illumination that John just witnessed will now be placed in the context of not just the universal Church (symbolized by the "seven churches" where the number "7" denotes fullness or completeness), but of the entire world as it approaches the end of the age, and eventually, the end of time. Another way to put it is that the illumination of the Church culminates in a global illumination.
For it is time for the judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, how will it end for those who fail to obey the gospel of God? (1 Pet 4:17)
Could we not say that the illumination of the Church has indeed already begun? Haven’t the forty years since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (the "charismatic renewal") and release of the documents of Vatican II led the Church through a profound season of pruning, purification, and trial leading up to 2008, "the year of the unfolding",4 forty years later? Hasn’t there been a prophetic awakening, led chiefly by the Mother of God, as to the threshold that we now stand upon?
Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)
The judgment announced by the Lord Jesus [in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 21] refers above all to the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. Yet the threat of judgment also concerns us, the Church in Europe, Europe and the West in general. With this Gospel, the Lord is also crying out to our ears the words that in the Book of Revelation he addresses to the Church of Ephesus: “If you do not repent I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." Light can also be taken away from us and we do well to let this warning ring out with its full seriousness in our hearts, while crying to the Lord: “Help us to repent! Give all of us the grace of true renewal! Do not allow your light in our midst to blow out! Strengthen our faith, our hope and our love, so that we can bear good fruit!” —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Opening Homily, Synod of Bishops, October 2nd, 2005, Rome.
So too, at the end of the Israelite’s forty years in the desert, a profound illumination came upon them that led them into a spirit of repentance, thereby ending their exile from the promised land.
…read aloud in the house of the LORD this scroll that we send you:
…We have sinned in the Lord’s sight and disobeyed him. We have not listened to the voice of the LORD, our God, so as to follow the precepts the Lord set before us… For we did not listen to the voice of the Lord, our God, in all the words of the prophets he sent us, but each of us has followed the inclinations of our wicked hearts, served other gods, and done evil in the sight of the Lord, our God. (cf. Baruch 1:14-22)
Just the same, the illumination that is here and coming is to prepare the Church to enter into the "promised land" of an era of peace. So too, the letter to the seven churches were written upon a scroll, publicly revealing their shortcomings.8
"Afterwards," St. John sees the Lamb of God take a scroll in His hands to be begin unsealing the judgment of the Church and the nations. This includes a global illumination in the sixth seal.
THE FIRST AND SIXTH SEALS
In a mysterious word that, admittedly, I haven’t fully understood until now, I heard in the autumn of 2007:9
The seals are about to be broken.
But the Lord was saying "six seals," and yet in Revelation Ch. 6 there are seven. Here is the first:
I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode forth victorious to further his victories. (6:2)
[The Rider] is Jesus Christ. The inspired evangelist [St. John] not only saw the devastation brought about by sin, war, hunger and death; he also saw, in the first place, the victory of Christ.—POPE PIUS XII, Address, November 15, 1946; footnote of The Navarre Bible, "Revelation", p.70
That is, the first seal appears to be the beginning of the illumination of the Church that John foresaw at the beginning of Revelation. 10 This Rider upon the white horse11 prepares the remnant to cross the threshold of hope into the "promised land," an era of peace and justice that St. John later denotes symbolically as a "thousand year" rule with Christ.12 Can we not describe the quiet and often hidden formation of this little army of God,13 especially the laity,14 as the furthering of Christ’s victory and triumph over evil? Indeed, we see later in Revelation that this Rider upon the white horse is now followed by an army.15
The approach of a universal "illumination of conscience" is signaled by the hard labor pains that follow the first seal: peace is taken away from the world (second seal); food shortages and rationing (third seal); plague and anarchy (fourth seal); and a minor persecution of the Church (fifth seal).16 Then, as the sixth seal is broken, it seems the entire world experiences the vision of the "lamb of God", the paschal sacrifice, the crucified Lamb (though clearly, this is not the Final Return of Christ in glory):
Then I watched while he broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth and the whole moon became like blood. The stars in the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind. Then the sky was divided like a torn scroll curling up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military officers, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in caves and among mountain crags. They cried out to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come and who can withstand it?" (Rev 6:12-17)
Just as in the vision of Faustina and others, the sky is darkened and the ensuing vision of the Lamb announces that "the great day of their wrath has come." There is a "great shaking".17 It is the hour of decision for the world to either choose the path of darkness or the path of light, which is Christ Jesus, before the earth is purified of wickedness.18 Indeed, the seventh seal marks a period of silence—the calm in the storm—before the wheat is separated from the chaff. For we read that those who choose to follow the Lamb are sealed upon the forehead.19 But those who refuse this moment of grace, as we read later, are marked with the number of the beast, the Antichrist.20
The stage is then set for the final confrontation between the last armies of this age…
FURTHER READING
The Eye of the Storm
The Illuminating Fire
Are you ready for the Illumination? Read Prepare! and Weekly Confession
The Seven Seals of Revolution
After the Illumination
Watch: Great Shaking, Great Awakening
Now in its Third Edition and printing!
Your donation at this time is greatly appreciated!
The Girls’ Penances
“It is necessary to do much penance…”
(First message of October 18, 1961)
“The Most Holy Virgin wants us always to do penance.”
(Conchita’s Diary)
Here is a chapter which will forever remain incomplete. Who can completely describe all the little girls’ penances? We well know that they were performed, that they were many, but how many? Of what type? Many remain forgotten, hidden to mortal view. God alone knows the number and the details…
I want to relate here the history of a “cilice” (a wire girdle with sharp metallic points to irritate the skin) of which Conchita was the heroine, and of which I was the eyewitness.
This was a part of the story of Garabandal that was totally spontaneous. Conchita, in her love for the Most Holy Virgin, inspired by a desire to follow her counsels, went on to perform this type of penance to the point of blood.
In the summer of 1962, I was passing some time in Garabandal, and I was lodged with Maximina, the aunt and godmother of Conchita.
In the morning I got up and went to the bathroom. Maximina thought that I had left for church and went into my room to clean it. On the night table, I had placed a cilice — made up of metallic points — which is worn around the waist. Maximina had never seen or held in her hand such an object, but she had heard it spoken about. She was somewhat surprised. About the same time, Conchita came to the house of her aunt, who said to her, “Look Conchita, this is what one must do to become a saint…”
I was unaware of all this conversation. I finished washing, returned to my room, and then left to accompany Conchita to the pastures. I used to accompany the girls — one day one, another day another, and the members of their families — to help them as I could, in the gathering of hay.
That day, I had to go with Conchita to a place called “Piedrajita” located about 5 kilometers northeast of Garabandal. Over a small bridge we crossed the Vendul river and began the ascent to the Piedrajita. Conchita carried on her shoulders a wicker basket as the mountain people are accustomed to use in the valley of Pas (province of Santander). She was carrying lunch for all those who worked in the fields that day.
To me it seemed somewhat ungallant to permit a 13-year-old girl to carry 20 to 25 kilos of food and dinnerware, so I asked her to hand me the basket. She was about to give it to me without any discussion, when she laughed and said to me:
— “No, you can hurt your waist…”
At that time I didn’t know the reason for this remark, but Conchita’s words got me thinking. We took some rest on the way, for the pasture was rather far away and the sun was beginning to be felt. I don’t remember any more the exact words of our conversation; but I know that Conchita tried very skillfully during the course of it to lead me to the subject which interested her. Thus she was talking to me about certain priests who performed penance by wearing around their waists types of belts made of iron wire with protruding sharp points, doing this for mortification. She said to me then:
— “You want to carry the basket?”
Gladly I answered affirmatively, but she:
— “No, you will hurt your waist.”
I knew then that she was aware of something and I asked her:
— “Who told you about it? The Angel, the Virgin, or your aunt Maximina?”
Very surprised, she answered, “My aunt Maximina told me.”
Then she recounted to me how she had learned about it, as I have previously described. Then she asked me in a very confidential way to give her the cilice. But I told her that I would bring her a new one on my next trip to Garabandal. She insisted on having the same one that she had seen. On returning to the village, I gave it to her and she was very happy.
On the first trip I made after that to Garabandal, I brought several new cilices with me. My intention was to take back the one Conchita wore, to keep it as a souvenir, but it was not easy to obtain. Conchita showed a very unusual intuition and it turned out to be very difficult to fool her.
I asked her to make an exchange of the new cilice for the one which she was wearing, but she responded that she preferred the former one. Then I made the remark that it was desirable, for reasons of hygiene, that she have a new one. She told me that she cleaned it every day with alcohol…
I was about to admit myself defeated, and I did not know what more to say to achieve my aim, when she decided suddenly to give me the cilice without more problems.
From this cilice, there only remain a few fragments, which I conserve carefully. The remainder has been distributed in France for souvenirs.
I am certain that Mary Loli also used the cilice that I gave her. Jacinta’s mother forbid her to wear one. I did not give any to Mari Cruz since she was younger, smaller, and in less robust health.
I pointed out to Conchita that these penances were not the best, that interior penances were preferable. Nevertheless, she afflicted herself often with this type of mortification in her desire to obey the Most Holy Virgin because She “wants us always to do penance” as Conchita reports in her diary.
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CHAPTER XX
The Most Holy Virgin at Garabandal
This chapter has exceptional importance since it concerns the Most Holy Virgin, the Envoy of Christ in this village specially cherished by God.
I will limit myself to excerpting some quotations from Conchita’s Diary — the manuscript — that relate with marvelous simplicity all that we can know of Our Mother of Heaven at Garabandal.
It was on the first of July, the eve of her first apparition, that Conchita tells us for the first time of the Virgin. That day the Angel said:
“I come to announce to you a visit by the Virgin under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who will appear to you tomorrow, Sunday . . ."
“I will return tomorrow with the Virgin . . ."
The Virgin appeared to us with an Angel on each side.
That day, we talked much with the Virgin and she talked with us. We told her everything. We told her that we walked to the pastures, that we were tanned, that we gathered the hay into stacks.
And she laughed.
We said the rosary while looking at her. And she prayed with us in order to teach us to pray well.
When we had finished the rosary, she said she was leaving.
And we told her to stay a little while, since she had been there only a very short time.
And she laughed, and told us she would return on Monday.
When she left, we were sad.
That is how Sunday, July 2, ended.
A very happy day, because we saw the Virgin for the first time.
For we are always with her, whenever we want to be.
Conchita then gives us an admirable description of the Virgin.
The Virgin comes in a white cloak, a blue mantle, a crown of little golden stars.
The feet are not seen; the hands are open and there is a scapular on the right one: the scapular is brown.
Her hair is long, a dark chestnut brown color, wavy, parted in the middle;
The face somewhat elongated;
The nose also somewhat long, and fine;
The mouth, very beautiful with lips a little full;
The color of her face tan, much lighter than that of the angel, different.
The voice very beautiful, a voice very unusual.
I don’t know how to explain it.
There is no other woman who resembles the Virgin, either in the voice or in anything.
Sometimes she carries the Baby in her arms.
He is very small, like a newborn baby, with a round face the same color as the Virgin’s.
He has a very small mouth, and hair slightly long.
He is dressed in something like a blue tunic.
Conchita recounts with simplicity the apparition of the Virgin and the Child Jesus that took place on the next day, July 3, 1961. The girls played with the Child, but the Virgin did not let them hold Him.
As soon as we arrived at the Cuadro, the Virgin appeared to us with the Child Jesus.
But the angels did not come.
She came with a broad smile, and the Child was smiling too.
And the first thing we said was, “Where is St. Michael and the other Angel?
And she smiled even more.
The people and our parents who were there gave us articles so that we might present them to be kissed.
And she kissed them all.
And since we liked to make up games for the Child Jesus, we picked up pebbles.
And I put them in my braids, Loli put them in her sleeves, and Jacinta gave them to Him.
He did not take them; He only smiled.
----------
And she said many things to us.
But she didn’t allow us to tell these things.
----------
The apparition started at 7:30 and ended at 8 o’clock. Then she said, “Stay in God and in me also.”
That made us sad.
We said, “Adios!”
The last thing she said,
— “Tomorrow you will see me again.”
----------
The 4th of July came . . .
The Virgin was smiling as usual.
And the first thing that she said was,
— “Do you know the meaning of the writing the Angel carried beneath him?”
We spoke out together, “No, we don’t know.”
Then she said to us,
— “It gives a message that I am going to explain to you so that you can tell it to the people on the 18th of October.”
And she told it to us.
----------
On the following day she told us she would explain it later.
Later she explained what the message meant and how we had to say it.
She indicated to us that we had to say it at the door of the church.
And that on October 18th we should tell it to Fr. ValentÃn, so that he could say it at the Pines at 10:30 at night.
The Virgin told us to do it this way.
On August 17, 1961, something took place which we are going to mention, which shows us the Virgin’s kindness for her four angelic little girls. Conchita wrote:
On the next day and at the same time as the previous day, the Most Holy Virgin appeared to the four of us.
And for several minutes she was smiling very much.
And she didn’t say anything to us.
After a few minutes, darkness came upon us, and we heard a voice call us.
Then Mari Cruz said, “Tell us who you are; if you don’t we will go home.”
While we were hearing the voice, it was very dark.
And we didn’t see the Virgin.
But afterwards she came.
And it became very light.
And she said to us, “Don’t be afraid.”
And she spoke to us for a while.
And that night was the first night that she kissed us, one by one.
And then she left.
In the last part of Chapter VII, I mentioned how the little girls kissed the Virgin tenderly on each cheek at the end of the ecstasies. The Virgin never stopped being a mother in showing signs of maternal affection.
It is in this passage that I just quoted that Conchita mentioned the Virgin’s first kiss to the young girls in ecstasy.
Conchita continues.
The next day, (August 18th) almost at the same hour, the Virgin appeared to us again. The first thing that she told us was to recite the rosary.
Since we had never led it, she told us: “I’m going to lead it and you answer.”
She prayed very slowly.
Coming to the “Salve,” she told us to sing it, and we sang it.
When we finished the rosary she kissed us, and before leaving she said, “I will come back tomorrow.”
The following day, (August 19th), as she had foretold, she came and she told us the same thing as on the previous day, “Recite the rosary.”
And we began the rosary.
And that night we went to the places where the Virgin had appeared to us at the beginning.
And after our ecstasy the people said that we had gone up to the Pines, and that we had gone from pine to pine on our knees, praying.
Conchita then reveals to us an important detail.
Up to then, in all the ecstasies, we have been the four together. Jacinta, Mari Cruz, Mary Loli, and myself.
But then we started to have ecstasies separately, each one in her home.
And so the Most Holy Virgin called us even though we were not together but separated. But we always saw the Most Holy Virgin in ecstasy.
Another sign of maternal tenderness to note:
And during that ecstasy, while we were seeing the Virgin, Mari Cruz, who had seen an apparition earlier, was in bed.
And we told the Virgin that she should tell us a song to sing to Mari Cruz.
We would compose some words, and the Virgin would aid us with others.
The songs were the following:
Get up Mari Cruz!
Here comes the good Virgin
With a basket of flowers
For her little child.
Mari Cruz, Mari Cruz!
How sad you make us.
Pray hard to the Virgin,
So that she will return to you.
Mari Cruz, Mari Cruz!
Do you smell the lilies?
The Virgin has brought them for you,
So that you will be better.
That night the Most Holy Virgin stayed with us from nine in the evening until 7 o’clock in the morning.
That night, we played Los Tios (hide and seek) with the Virgin. Two of us hid and the other two searched.
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The Most Holy Virgin commanded the four: Loli, Jacinta, Mari Cruz and myself to recite the rosary at the Cuadro.
We went some days at 6 o’clock in the morning; and some days later.
Jacinta and Mari Cruz went at 7 o’clock in the morning.
Loli did not have an hour fixed.
As Mari Cruz did not get up so early, she decided it was better to go at 8 o’clock.
Jacinta went at 6 o’clock, accompanied by her mother and people from the village who always accompanied us.
During Holy Week, I was ordered to go at 5 o’clock in the morning, which I did, since the Most Holy Virgin wants us always to do penance.
***
It might be mentioned here — to emphasize Conchita’s remarks — that when the children were asked why the Virgin came at such late hours, they answered that the Virgin told them that it was at that time most of the sins of the world were committed and that they should do penance . . . And for them it was a penance, and not the smallest, to stay up until the Virgin came to visit them, late in the night, or very early in the morning. They performed this penance because the Virgin wanted it and also because they wanted to see her again.
They stayed awake then, or else they slept on a chair or stool, leaning against a wall or a table, but out of bed. Unless, of course, their parents had decided otherwise, since the Virgin had told them that they ought to obey their parents above all.
***
From the beginning of the apparitions, the Virgin adapted herself to the children to capture their attention and gain their confidence, achieving her planned purpose that way. A mother does not stop being a mother when she plays with her young children; that is even one of her duties.
Some of the priests and faithful saw reasons in this to deny the supernatural character of the actual happenings.
Afterwards, the Virgin concerned herself with their spiritual life, teaching them the life of grace, and certain virtues, always adapting her instruction to their level of understanding.
***
The Virgin always performed the role of a priest in regard to “extraordinary” instruction when the priest did not perform his ministry or could not perform it. She watched maternally over the spiritual life of her young children.
CHAPTER XIX
Levitations
I know of many cases of levitation that took place at Garabandal.
One case was photographed, and its copy on slides has been spread throughout the entire world. It is interesting to note that the photographer noticed the actual phenomenon only after the film was developed.
Another levitation took place at the very small bridge — now gone — which was in front of the church. On that day, the brook that it crossed was full. The four girls, in ecstasy, were holding arms. The bridge was not wide enough to permit the passage of the four girls abreast, which is what they did nevertheless; one or two of them consequently had to pass outside of the bridge on the water, without, however getting their feet wet.
Another time I was in Conchita’s kitchen, with 2 priests, a young Mexican, the well known commander of the Civil Police at Puentenansa, Dr. Celestino Ortiz from Santander, and Aniceta.
In ecstasy, Conchita had an obvious levitation, properly observed. She was stretched out on the ground, her whole length, her arms a little extended from her body, the palms of her hands pointing upwards.
We saw her rise up to the height of about ten centimeters (4 inches) while holding the same stretched-out position. After that she made three movements of balancing, from front to back and from back to front, as if to show us that she was really separated from the ground.
After a minute and a half — we checked the time — she started to descend very slowly, her body always completely and modestly stretched out until she came down to the ground.
We all signed a report of this extraordinary fact and we gave it to Father ValentÃn for him to send it to the Bishop of Santander.
CHAPTER XVIII
Feigned Ecstasies
It appears to me that what might be called the “faked ecstasies” deserves a special chapter.
Conchita mentions these ‘ecstasies’ in her diary and it is good to cite extensively what she wrote:
At times the three of us wanted to be together. As our parents didn’t allow us to be out of the house at night, sometimes when we went outside after the rosary — having already had two calls — we looked upwards as if we were seeing the Virgin.
And so we went together down the street with our parents and the people. And later, the Virgin came and we were together. We always ended up seeing the Virgin.
We never faked the entire ecstasy.
We are coming to a definite fact that I would like to point out.
We are in 1961 when I think no one would have suspected such actions. One day, I remember it well, I was in a state of consternation. I had the impression that Jacinta and Loli had pretended to be in ecstasy — during a part at least — although during the day the other ecstasies had been real.
Here is how I became aware of this. While the children were running very fast, a youth with a good sense of humor, through his jokes was making everyone laugh, including the visionaries!
I noticed another unusual thing. He and I sometimes were talking in a loud voice. If he said, “They should turn to the right.” And I advised them to turn to the left, the girls would always listen to my advice. My companion was amazed. He could not have been aware of how I was hurt by what I was observing. He even said to me, “How did you guess that?” I wanted to say to him, “If you would pay more attention, you would understand.” But I kept quiet, waiting for the right time to come.
It did not take long.
This “ecstasy” finished, the two visionaries and I were at Mari Cruz’ home.
She was sitting on her bed with a cold. Her mother Pilar was at the foot of the bed. Loli and Jacinta were sitting on the bed; Jacinta on my left, Loli on my right. Taking a place in front of them and looking into their eyes, when they least expected it, I told them point blank:
— “Today you faked the last ecstasy!”
Instantly becoming red as a beet, hiding her face in her hands, her elbows on her knees, Loli exclaimed:
— “Oh! What a thing!”
Jacinta started crying:
— “I’m going to tell my mama that you don’t believe that we are seeing the Virgin.”
“It isn’t that,” I said to them. “Yes, I believe that you are seeing the Virgin; but right now you have pretended to be in ecstasy . . . Because of your age, that doesn’t have too much importance, since you aren’t aware of the harm that you can cause.
“But suppose that some day a theologian or an important doctor would come here to study the events. And if he would see you — as I have just seen you — pretending an ecstasy, and if he could not come to see you later, no one could affirm that there were real ecstasies here, for a person could not be convinced of the opposite of what he would have seen with his eyes!
“I could have been fooled today, but I don’t think so. I know this time you have been faking. And it is not necessary to be a fox to recognize it.”
Mari Cruz’ mother also scolded them for their conduct and quickly left her daughter’s room.
Three months later I was with Loli and I knew that during the interval one could sometimes still recognize one or another simulation.
— “Then, Loli, have you been faking with Jacinta?”
— “Do you know what Jacinta said when you left Mari Cruz’ house?”
— “No.”
— “What a rascal! How he caught us!”
***
I mentioned at the start of the chapter that Conchita informed us about the faked ecstasies in her diary.
She gave me other reasons or explanations on this subject; here are some of them:
— “During one of the pretended ecstasies, God punished me. While coming down from the Pines, I had a terrible fall. I thought I was going to die of pain. I don’t think I could have suffered more by dying. I hid the pain and no one noticed it. After that fall the Virgin came for real. I was really fallen into ecstasy.”
— “Father, we only pretended an ecstasy before persons we knew and residents of the village.”
— “We only did it if we knew for certain that the Virgin was going to come later.”
— “We only did it a half hour before the apparition. The Virgin would punish us by coming later than the hour set, and she would always reproach us severely for our conduct.”
— “She knew that if we sometimes pretended, it was because of the irresistible desire we had for the joy of seeing her.”
 |
| Written by Barry Hanratty |
Saint Michael is one of those amazing spiritual beings, created by God, that we call angels. They are of a higher order than humans, and not limited by space or distance, have far greater powers. And while angels number at least in the billions, they are all individuals with their own personality. At one point in their existence, their fidelity to God was put to the test and those who would remain faithful looked to one of their number to lead them—Michael. So who is this mighty angel whom billions of angels followed? How much do we really know about him, and why should we have devotion to him? What the Fathers Say Saint Michael is commonly referred to as "Prince of the Heavenly Hosts" implying that he outranks all other angels, however, the Fathers of the Church did not all agree on that point. Saint Thomas Aquinas considered him only as the leader of the angels, the lowest of the nine choirs, (1) while Saint Bonaventure saw him as chief of the Seraphim, the highest choir. But Saint Basil and the other Greek Fathers as well as Saint Robert Bellarmine and other Latins, place Saint Michael over all the angels. They explained that he is called archangel because he is above the rest, in the same sense that an archbishop is above a bishop. This position of primacy for Michael among the angels is reflected in the Roman liturgy. He is the only angel mentioned in the unchangeable parts of the (Traditional) Mass and the Prayer to Saint Michael is included in the prayers said by the priest and people directly after low Mass. The Greek Liturgy calls him Archistrategos, "highest general." For Christians, Saint Michael's renown comes chiefly from the Book of Revelation, chapter 12:
As the mighty warrior angel who led the good angels in their ferocious battle against Lucifer and his cohorts, Saint Michael has been forever revered. And his name which means "Who is like God?" has come down to us as testimony of his submission to God while Lucifer's "I will not serve" recalls that great former angel's primal act of disobedience and revolt against God. The Jews also had great veneration for Michael. It is mentioned in the Book of Daniel that Michael, the great prince (a name in the old testament for angel) was Guardian of the People under the Old Law. Naturally for Christians, he became Guardian of the Church under the new dispensation. Michael is mentioned four times in holy scripture: twice in Daniel, once in Revelation and once in the Letter of Jude where he contends with the Devil over the body of Moses and says to his adversary: "May God rebuke you," words which appear in the great Prayer to Saint Michael composed by Leo XIII: "Saint Michael the Archangel defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him…" But the Fathers see Saint Michael in other passages of scripture as well even though he is not specifically mentioned by name. They say he was the cherub who stood at the gate of paradise, "to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24), the angel through whom God issued to his chosen people the Decalogue, the angel who stood in the way against Balaam (Numbers 22:22 seq.), the angel who routed the army of Sennacherib (IV Kings 19:35). Following these Scriptural passages, Christian tradition gives to Saint Michael four offices:
Saint Michael at Garabandal What we have seen thus far from Scripture and the Fathers is that Saint Michael is an angel of important events. His appearing at Garabandal then indicates the critical nature of those happenings, and resonates with that passage from the Book of Daniel, chapter 12:
While the above quote, which deals with the end of the world, may not necessarily refers to Saint Michael's appearance at Garabandal, there is one point worth considering. In all the times the Blessed Virgin appeared throughout the Marian era, which began in the mid-nineteenth century, she was never accompanied by Saint Michael—until Garabandal.  |
One day he asked us to go to the Pines in the morning without eating anything... When we reached the Pines, the Angel appeared to us with a goblet that looked like gold. He said to us: "I am going to give you Holy Communion but this time the Hosts are consecrated. Recite the I Confess." We recited it and then he gave us Holy Communion. Afterwards, he told us that we should give thanks to God. When we had done this, he told us to recite with him the prayer Soul of Christ. This we did also.
