Monday, November 28, 2011

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Two, Post 5

At the door of the church

Second Vision

I will begin to describe the second vision that I should say is in Fr. Valentín’s diary as ending at 1:10.


On these days three of the four seers were in San Sebastián de Garabandal. Conchita remained in Santander.


I took the details of this vision from Fr. Luís’ notes, according to the document that combined his notes with Fr. Cipriano Abad’s and Fr. Andrés Pardo’s.


“At 12:14 in the afternoon they fell on their knees in front of the Pines. Loli had her hands together, squeezing tightly.


L: “And, why? Yes.”

J: “Yesterday the priests prayed that there would be many converts when they went to America. They told us that you became sad.”


Note: This refers to Fr. Cipriano Abad who was going to go to Venezuela and Fr. Ramón María Andreu, S.J., who told us that he was going to Nicaragua.

Note: The sentence “there are four here” came after some words that we didn’t hear well. We don’t know if it refers to four stones, or that there were four priests here. In general the affection the girls show toward the priests is very great in the form of respect and obedience.


“Who is this one for? It’s for Trini.”

“It’s for Jacintuca.”

“It’s for a tall priest who said the last mass. This other one is for his brother. He also said mass. This is for the student.”


Note: They talked here about five stones for five people. The tall priest that said the mass is Fr. Ramón María Andreu. The brother who also said mass is Fr. Luís María Andreu and the student is Fr. Andrés Pardo who at this date had begun his fourth course of Theology at Comillas.


(Now they pray the Hail Mary, according to the new way).

“Can we pray it like this when we pray?”


Note: The scene involving the new formula for the Hail Mary was like this. Fr. Ramón was accustomed to praying the Hail Mary saying: “The Lord is with you, blessed are you among women.” It was like this that the girls heard it at the end of the masses they attended, but definitely at the last mass. During this vision they said this sentence to the Virgin: “A priest taught us the Hail Mary like this,” and they recited it. Upon finishing they said: “Again?” And they repeated it and then said this sentence: “Should we pray it like this, when we pray?” They alluded to praying the rosary with this new form of the Hail Mary, something they did like this a little after.


“Look at St. Michael the Archangel

(they sing the hymn):

Church of St. Michael Archangel in Szalowa

Image via Wikipedia

“St. Michael the Archangel,

Great warrior,

Who fought the beast,

Who conquered Lucifer.’

“Who is like God?

No one is like God!”

(They make the sign of the cross slowly).


J: “We pray the rosary and you pray with Loli and me in front.”


Note: In my notes, the appearance of Ud. does not occur in this instance. Since it was difficult to hear sometimes, it could be that there are discrepancies because each of us produced sentences from different girls in the same moment of conversation. I have it like this: Then Jacinta said: “Do we pray the rosary? I’m with you and Loli answered”—and she began to pray from—“Sometimes they pose the question of whether the Virgin prayed with the girls or not. The responses have been affirmative sometimes and negative sometimes. More than paying attention to the girls, the responses have to establish the right date on which they respond. What I have been able to observe in this sense until this date has been the following: In the beginning the Virgin prayed frequently with the girls. Other times I listened and moved my head with a slight movement of correction when one of the girls made a mistake about something. The one thing that the three girls always agree upon is that the Virgin says when it is time for the Gloria. On this occasion, upon praying they asked the Virgin why she didn’t pray and she responded that she had prayed the other times to teach the girls. An observer who was only slightly interested could call this a trick if he observed that the girls prayed responding to the vision. From that alone one can’t guess that the Virgin prayed in this case with the girls who have already prayed several times with the Angel and after August 16th, they prayed many times with Fr. Luís. It also seems very clear that they wanted to teach more when they’d prayed with the Virgin.



L: “What day is it, Jacinta?”

J: “Tuesday, Sorrowful Misteries.”

(They pray the Act of Contrition. Then they pray the rosary; Loli begins).

J: “Slowly.”

L: (Hail Mary). “A priest taught me.”


(Normal pronunciation. The eyes are looking at the exact same place as before. Jacinta pronounces the words normally, but Loli’s lips tremble sometimes. Jacinta has her arms crossed, and Loli’s arms are down with her hands together in front. They take photos half a meter away. One time Loli says: “Among all of the women.” Jacinta corrects her: “Among women.” This is in the middle of the third mystery. They don’t count the Hail Marys, not even with their fingers on the rosary, but they always say ten. In the fourth mystery Jacinta says: “Among all”—she corrects herself and says: “Among women.” The fourth and fifth mysteries end normally. Upon continuing, she says:


“Our Lady, well appeared, kissed.” (Loli continues offering. She looks).

L: “I don’t know where I have it.” (They offer the scapulars. Loli offers it with medals at the same time in the palm of her hand).


L. “Kiss the rosary.” (She offers the medals on the rosary, one by one, saying: “For this one, for this one”).

L. “I don’t think there are any more.” (She says this about the little medals on the Rosary).


L. “If I give you a stone, you’ll kiss it, right? I’m trying to find it.”

“It seems that this belongs to the one who is going with the tall priest to America.”


Note: The tall priest was Fr. Ramón María Andreu, S.J., and the one going with him to America was the seminarian Fr. Cipriano Abad. The association of these two regarding a trip to America includes the girls asking to pray for them, since they had their work ahead of them in America.


“Here! Why wasn’t it confused with my father’s.” (She kept it in the left sleeve of her sweater).

J: “I know it. Loli, you took it from me.”

“This one is for the priest who comes with the two priests and makes movies.”


Note: This is a direct allusion to Fr. Eugenio Fontaneda, who on this day and the day before filmed an extraordinary cinema graphic report in which the girls appeared as witnesses, as did their parents. There were some small moments in which the girls appeared in ecstasy. This movie has the last footage taken of Fr. Luís María Andreu, S.J., which corresponds to 8 days before his death.


“This is for the other one who was the brother of the man who filmed us.”

Note: This is an allusion to Mr. Rafael Fontaneda Pérez, who is Mr. Eugenio’s brother.

“Wait, did you find another? This is the one I came out on. They’re the same. See if you confuse me.”


“This one, it’s a square, it’s for Cirinín, my brother. Where should I put it so it doesn’t get confused?”

“Don’t go, don’t go for a little while, because you’ve only been here a short time. A minute.”


L: “Yes.”

L: “Good.”

L: “I don’t know. Why? Already—when? Ah!”

Jacinta: “And, before we eat is there another? But I have to go to the field. Oh! But I have to go to the field.”


Note: This passage alludes to the Virgin telling the girls that they were going to see her again before they ate. In fact, this took place at 3:45. Jacinta’s problem is that she had to go to the field in the afternoon. Jacinta’s field is far away, about 5 kilometers. Because of this, Loli told her mother that it didn’t make sense to stop seeing the Virgin to go to the field. In this part of the dialogue, as in other dialogues, her desire to see the Virgin appears. The sincerity of this desire is notable, as well the sorrow expressed when they couldn’t see the Virgin.

L: “And you’re going to stop seeing the Virgin to go to the field? Tell your mother to come here.”

“We come here then? Then I will not move from here. Well, I’ll stay here. In the village there is a long road.”


“It’s at 2? What time is it? It’s past 12. At 2 or 1:30. Don’t go—huh? Wait a little. You haven’t been here a minute.”


L: “You tell us how many we have seen? Three quarters of an hour? You don’t want to tell me—a lot—we’ve only been here a minute, half a minute—yes, we have been here half a minute.”


Note: The sensation that they hadn’t been there any time, or almost no time, even though it had been more than an hour, goes with the desire that it wouldn’t end. Because of this, they say things like “don’t go,” and use the argument that “you haven’t been here more than a minute.”


“Yes, what.”

J: “Oh! I’ve already forgotten who the stones were for. They took them from me. Loli, did you take them from me? You rascal—I took a lot and now I only have two. Oh! They left me. This other long one, who is it for?”


Note: The word rascal in the mouths of the girls, as in this region, has a caring meaning. In the sentence: “Oh, they left me” she is referring to the stone that they had put in the sleeve of her sweater.


“This one is for the short priest.”

Note: (This refers to Fr. Cipriano Abad).


“Let’s see if I remember who this is for.”

Note: There is an inventory. Among the different destinations of the kissed stones, she mentions that one is for the tall priest, who is Fr. Ramón, for his brother, who is Fr. Luís, the brother with the film, who is Mr. Rafael Fontaneda Pérez, and the fifth is for Mr. Eugenio.


“For the tall priest. Which one of them? (Of the stones). The third? I think so. For his brother. For his brother with the film. It was the long one.”


(She collects them on the ground. She looks at the same place as always. They sing St. Michael’s Hymn. Before the hymn she had said: “Don’t go—what?”)


L: “Yes.” (She laughs).

J: “She goes.” (She waves goodbye).


Loli: “Why are you going? Wait a little while. Why not? And, the child? He’s sleeping? He’s tired. But you’ll bring him at 1:30?”


“Will you kiss me, St. Michael? Now you, the Virgin. (She receives a double kiss at the same time and the girls return the double kiss. They sing the Hail Mary, smiling.


“We sing bad? You sing it better if that’s the case.”

J: “Will you give me the crown?”

L: “Will you give me the crown? It’s very large, you see, very large.”

J: “Give it to me.”


L: “Take it, it’s very large on me. The Child’s is small. Go and look for the Child. Oh! You’re going? You’re not going to look, you’re leaving.”


J: “The scapular, it’s very long on me, more than on Loli.”

“Kiss my hand (she offers her hand for the Virgin to kiss). Now me.” (She kisses the Virgin’s hand).


“Now on both sides of the face.”

“You’re wearing the most beautiful dress. Oh, how beautiful! White, with white flowers. And a blue mantle, blue.”

“A priest asked us what your eyebrows were like and whether we could take a picture of your face.”

Note: To be able to have an idea of what the girls saw when they saw the Virgin, we asked them some questions. We showed them images of the Virgin that were in a book of meditations called “Only Mary,” and they told me that she didn’t look like any of them. I asked several things having to do with the dress, whether she wore shoes, the color of her hair, her eyebrows, etc.


“Does she have black eyebrows—no? And her hair, what is it like? Turn around so we can see. Her hair is very long.”

“Conchita said: ‘Fr. Valentín wants to see me as a gypsy.’” (They smile).


Note: This allusion to what Conchita said is made in her absence, since Conchita is in Santander today. Fr. Valentín’s sentence refers to Conchita’s hair. Later when they wanted a point of comparision regarding the Virgin’s hair they said that was long, like Conchita’s hair before she cut her braids.


“It’s true that you said that they attended. Loli and I are going to leave it long.”

Note: The most probable interpretation of what they meant by this, “leaving it to be long” refers to their hair, which they had cut short.


“Today there were four Masses. I thought that there would be five, but one is only a student, and he still has two years until he finishes.”


Note: This refers to the masses celebrated in San Sebastián de Garabandal by Fr. Valentín, Fr. Cipriano Abad, Fr. Luís María Andreu, and Fr. Ramón María Andreu. The student was Andrés Pardo, who still had two years of study left before his ordination. He came wearing a cassock, so the girls thought he was going to say Mass.


“Oh! You took mine.”

“This is very small, but it is one.”


Note: These are allusions to the stones. At this moment, they began to make a new inventory of the stones. Upon seeing the girls begin to count the stones and trying to tell the person each stone was meant for, Andrés Pardo, who had taken his from the ground, took it out of his pocket. They drew near the other stones that the girls had and Andrés Pardo placed his among them. When they went giving the stones to be kissed, the girl was asking who it was for, and she added it to the pile of kissed stones. Andrés’s stone arrived there like this. The Vision told the girl that it had already been kissed, and that it belonged to the student. The surprise and amazement of those present was great because it was Andrés’s stone. As with all of the stones before she had repeated the name of the person it belonged to, with affirmation from those who remembered which was their stone. I remembered mine when I gave it to be kissed and after a little while, when other subjects had been abandoned, the inventory began, and when they arrived at the one I had given to be kissed, they said that it belonged to the tall priest.


L: “They took the student’s from me. (They looked for the stone for a while). (The student had placed it). “Oh! I found it. Why did you take it from me?” (She touched it with her fingers and said: “It’s kissed.” (And it was). Then who does it belong to? Was it the student’s? Oh! What foolishness.”


“Six, all together.”

L: “We didn’t take any for Fr. Valentín. This is for Fr. Valentín.”

J: “I have to take another, Loli. This is for Mr. Severino, for when he returns here. We already told him yesterday, but he forgave us the other day.”


“This is for the brother who took pictures of us.”

L: “These are of Jacinta. Take them from me (she gives them).

“This one, who is it for?”


“For Mrs. (Gapita) de Oliva. Touch it so she will be cured. Cure her!”

“This small one is for María del Carmen, my sister. Kiss it and touch it.”

“This is for whom? For no one.”


L: “This is for the tall priest. This is for—oh! See if I remember how many I have.”

J: “This is for my father, this is for my mother. Do you know who this is for? For Paquita. This is for the professor.”


“This is for Ramonín, who also asked me.”

“This is for Victori, not Consuelo’s, who told me no.”

L: “Oh. Take mine! I have such a pile of them.”


J: “Oh! Don’t go.”

L: “Who did I take one from? This is for—let’s see for sure, for Josefina.”

J: “You’re already tired of kissing. Just kiss this one, that’s all.”


L: “For Aunt Laureana. This one is bad. For Aunt Laureana, I don’t remember, cure her.”

“You’re not tired of kissing so many?”

“Take them from me again.”


Note: This sentence is directed to her companion and alludes to the stones. They were joking, giving the stones to one then the other.

At 1:10 they quieted and looked. They kissed. They blessed themselves and made the sign of the cross.

L: “Let’s pray here and now!”


After a few minutes Jacinta said:

“Oh, she left!”

“The Vision ended.”


Upon finishing this Vision we stayed at the Pines and decided to wait there. But we descended into the village and ate something. When my watch showed two o’clock we began to go up to the Pines again. We stayed there talking and joking until the next vision arrived. During this time, I asked Jacinta:


“Listen, when you have the calls, what does the Virgin say? Does she say to you: ‘Jacinta, come?’” When I finished saying this, Loli interrupted, saying: “The first call says: ‘Jacinta.’ The second: ‘Jacinta, come!’ And the third: ‘Jacinta! Run, run, run,’ but all of this is within, there are no words.” At 3:45 the 3rd vision began.

 

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 4

June 22-23, 1961

These two days correspond to Thursday and Friday. Ceferino’s paper says: “June 22—there was no vision. June 23—Vision, cuadro and Angel.”


During the first two weeks after June 18th, only the Angel appeared to the four girls. The description that the girls make of the Angel is like this: He is nine years old, does not carry a sword, he ordinarily smiles, and you can’t see his feet because they are covered by a long white tunic. His wings are a pink color, and you always see them from the front. As they appear they almost disappear from the front. The Angel revealed his age and identity when he said that he was the Archangel St. Michael.

June 24-July 1, 1961

These days go from Saturday to Saturday. Ceferino’s paper reads like this:

“June 24th—There was no vision.”

“June 25th—Vision—an Angel.”

“June 26th—Vision—an Angel.”

“June 27th—Vision—an Angel.”

“June 28th—Vision—an Angel.”

“June 29th—Vision—an Angel.”

“June 30th—Vision—an Angel.”

“July 1st—Vision—an Angel.”


The apparition took place in the same site on these first days; it seems it was in the road. It was there that a little before an apparition happened, the people from the village would make a ring in the shape of a square to defend the girls from the groups of people who began to come up to witness the phenomenon.

 

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 3

June 19-20, 1961

I have a summary from these days that includes the sentences that appeared in the paper that Ceferino, María Dolores’ father, wrote:

June 19th—There was no vision.

June 20th—They didn’t go.


These two days correspond to Monday and Tuesday. These two days are when the news that the girls had allegedly seen the Angel reached the girls.


In Fr. Luís’s 2nd notebook, Fr. Valentín said this:

“On Tuesday I went up and saw them while in a vision. I went to where the Bishop was; he told me to go up and control the situation a little.”


It’s not clear if Fr. Valentín saw them while they had the vision on the same Tuesday that he went up, or whether he saw them on Wednesday.


Mrs. Fania is one of the first to understand this. The sentence: “Are you of the Angel?” spread through the village, with which they wanted to express whether people took the girls seriously. Little by little the places where the apparitions took place extended including people who came from far away because of their curiosity about the girls when they were in a trance.


June 21, 1961

The sentence that appears on Ceferino’s paper is this one: “June 21st—Vision—Luminous Cuadro.”




In these first days the Vision stayed silent. His communication with the seers happened through images. The news that I’ve gathered about the “luminous cuadro” is very imprecise;” the girls don’t talk about it, nor does Fr. Valentín.


It has to do with red light or fire that forms a square inside of which there is a triangle, an eye, and a sign. The letters are unfamiliar and in the eastern or Arabic style. Fr. Valentín told me that he tried to reproduce them and told another priest the correct letters and sentences. The translation was: “I need you in October.” I repeat that the news I have about this luminous cuadro was very imprecise and that I am limited to reviewing the various conversations that I have obtained, without any guarantee. What seems clear is that they had a vision that day and that they saw it for the first time in the cuadro.

 

Monday, November 21, 2011

From Mark Mallett: Merciless!

Merciless!

 

IF the Illumination is to occur, an event comparable to the "awakening" of the Prodigal Son, then not only will humanity encounter the depravity of that lost son, the consequent mercy of the Father, but also the mercilessness of the elder brother.

It is interesting that in Christ’s parable, He does not tell us whether the elder son comes to accept the return of His little brother. In fact, the brother is angry.

Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. (Luke 15:25-28)

The remarkable truth is, not everyone in the world will accept the graces of the Illumination; some will refuse "to enter the house." Is this not the case every day in our own lives? We are granted many moments for conversion, and yet, so often we choose our own misguided will over God’s, and harden our hearts a little bit more, at least in certain areas of our lives. Hell itself is full of people who willfully resisted saving grace in this life, and are thus without grace in the next. Human free will is at once an incredible gift while at the same time a serious responsibility, since it is the one thing that renders the omnipotent God helpless: He forces salvation upon no one even though He wills that all would be saved.

One of the dimensions of free will that restrains God’s ability to act within us is mercilessness…

 

<a href="http://www.markmallett.com/blog/2011/11/merciless/

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 2


Conchita’s autograph:

“—We are girls from San Sebastián; we see the Angel St. Michael.”

(Notebooks, etc.)

These autographed writings are written by the girls on July 31st and August 1st of 1961.


As a summary of the previous facts and from subsequent conversations with the parish priests and with the girls we reconstructed the pertinent information from this day June 18, 1961.


The parish priest talked to the girls about the promises of the Sacred Heart on June 18, 1961. The children finally prayed an Our Father to the Guardian Angel as they were accustomed to doing. Then one of the girls said: “I don’t have a Guardian Angel.” Fr. Valentín said: “Don’t say foolish things, everyone has a Guardian Angel,” and they prayed an Our Father.

At six the children left and the four girls went to take apples. They didn’t go alone at the beginning but they stayed alone when they took the apples. According to the explanations that the girls gave, not all of them took apples. One of them said: “The good Angel is on the right and the bad is on the left.”


The apparition of the Angel was preceded by a light that always accompanied him. At the beginning they were afraid. The Angel didn’t speak. After a time he disappeared.


It’s possible that the girls believed that it was the Guardian Angel. But there were four girls and one Angel. The girls limited themselves to saying that they saw an Angel. The idea that they have about the Angel and what Fr. Valentín had said, goes with this sentence that one of the girls spoke.” The good Angel at the right and the bad Angel at the left, it seemed to be related to the Guardian Angel. As a result, it was surprising when he revealed the identity of this Angel, who did not carry a sword, but said that he was St. Michael the Archangel.

 

Friday, November 18, 2011

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notebooks - Part One


Starting today I will again be posting Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes! They are quite important and historical in regard to the truths of Garabandal! May he rest in peace!

Deacon John



Note: Since these notes could arrive in so many hands as others have before without my knowledge and to unknown people through unknown ways, I want to begin this writing with the following declarations:



1st—With special authorization from Fr. Doroteo Fernández, A.A. from Santander, on these dates and with approval from my Superiors, as well as the vice provincial from Western Castilla, as my rector, I was in San Sebastián de Garabandal several times.


2nd—I am writing about what I believed and heard to the cited Superiors.


3rd—I never gave an interpretation of the happenings that took place there.


4th—I recounted the historical facts and commented on others.


5th—The language used in these writings is used to bring memories of the facts, but that is not to say that it is taken for granted that these interpretations are accepted.


6th—The words, language, and figures of speech like Virgin, Vision, Child, etc.—serve to express determined facts, happenings, etc.—and because in some way we understand them to be the names spoken, so that is how we write them.



7th—The motive in compiling these facts and narrations is to have the memory of some facts lived by many people and in case one day they can be collectively useful, they should not be lost. For me, they will always be so, although they are a familiar aspect of interest, since they were left in my brother’s life, doubly my brother, and today, doubly loved, Fr. Luís María S.J., who I always admired and whose advice and conduct have served as an example for me many times, and who I had an advantage over in age only.

Ramón M. Andreu, S.J.


1st Diary

Month of June 1961

Summary:

June 18, 1961—the visions begin.

June 19-20.

June 21—in the Luminous cuadro.

June 22-23.

June 24-July 1.


June 18, 1961.

In order to reconstruct the scene and the other details of this day, June 18, 1961, in which the first apparition took place, it is necessary to refer to questions made to the girls, since they are the only witnesses of the vision.


To have some versions of what happened that give a first impression, it is worthwhile to question the girls’ first confidantes. The questions were made on dates closer to June 18th, that is to say, when the least time had passed from the facts to the narration of them; this is a less elaborate version that is more original.


The attached tries to reconstruct what refers to us regarding the girls. I cite some documents that I possess from a series of apparitions that took place from this date on.


In Fr. Luís María Andreu S.J.’s 2nd notebook, which corresponds to August 29th and later August 31st, there is the summary of a conversation with Fr. Valentín Marichalar Torre, parish priest from Cossío and San Sebastián de Garabandal, which says this: “Fr. Valentín says: June 18th, I am accustomed to asking people about the Commandments—it was the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; we asked the girls what the promises of the Sacred Heart were. It was to wear the scapular. They said: They already know that we have a Guardian Angel. Nothing more.


They marched at 6. That day I stayed here. On the following day they told me that they went to pick apples. We thought: “Can our Guardian Angel see us? They saw. Fr. Valentín said so. Fr. Valentín said that he didn’t want to know our foolishness. On Monday, when a mother went down to Cossío, she said that several girls had seen a Guardian Angel.


On Tuesday I went up and saw them while they were having a vision. I went to the Bishop, who told me to go up and control the situation a little.


As one can see in these lines there are sentences in a direct style, while others represent a summary or an idea we have talked about.


On July 29th, upon going up to San Sebastián de Garabandal, I received information from two women from the village who had stayed there; I have it like this in the notes I took in my notebook: “Narration of the two women: ‘the girls went to steal fruit and they saw an Angel. They interpreted this to mean that they shouldn’t steal, because of the good Angel on the right and the bad Angel on the left.’”


There is a paper on which Ceferino, father of María Dolores, made a chronology of the first days, beginning like this: “The Apparition began on June 18th.”


In concordance with what Fr. Cipriano Abad, Andrés Pardo, and Fr. Luís María did, and with the notes they took, it says this in the beginning of the second folio.


Responses from the girls

We wanted to ask the group of three girls questions to clarify some of the things they said. Loli’s father brought the three girls to his house. In one of the rooms, with Loli’s father in attendance, and with the girls in the company of Fr. Cipriano Abad and Fr. Ramón Andreu (who came at the end), the girls gave these responses to questions asked by Fr. Luís Andreu.



1st─“Did you see the Virgin from the first vision?”

R—“It was a few days before we saw the Virgin. We saw the Angel first.”

What I have in signed writing by the girls regarding the beginning of the apparitions is the following:


“Jacinta González González. Some girls see Our Lady of Mount Carmel who brings the Child. We also saw St. Michael; we are Conchita, Jacinta, Loli, Mari Cruz, and we were going to take some apples but we didn’t take them and then we sat down in a road and the Virgin smiled a lot and we remembered a priest who said that his name was Andreu and it is true that his brother who is very tall has the same name.”


(Notebook #3—Fr. Luís M. Andreu)

Autographed by María Dolores:

“—and we went to steal apples and we took them but I took a branch and Jacinta took them and then she jumped onto the road and we sat down. Suddenly we saw the Angel and he didn’t speak to us nicely.”

María Dolores Mazón González

(Fr. Andreu’s notebooks)

 

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XXVII)


CHAPTER XXVII

Locution of Conchita at Pamplona

(February 13, 1966)

(Six days after entry into the convent of the Discalced Carmelites)

On Sunday, February 13

th
, at the time of thanksgiving to God after having received Communion, I received at the same time a great joy and an even greater sorrow and a disillusion.

I heard the voice of Christ, Who said this to me:

— Conchita, you have come here to the convent to prepare yourself to be My spouse and you say you want to follow Me.

— Do you not say, Conchita, that you want to accomplish My will?

— Although now you want to accomplish your own.

— Will it be that way all your life?

— I have chosen you in the world, so that you stay there, facing the numerous difficulties you will have because of Me.

— All this I want for your own sanctification and that you offer it for the salvation of the world.

— You should speak to the world about Mary.

— Do you remember what I told you? That wherever you are, you will find the cross and suffering. Now I am telling you this again.

— Conchita, did you feel the call to be My spouse? No, because I have not called you.

I asked Him, “How does one feel Your call to be a religious?”

He told me, “Do not concern yourself about that; you will never feel it.”

I asked him, “Then, Jesus, do You not love me?”

He answered, “Conchita you ask Me that? Who has redeemed you? Fulfill My will and you will find My love.”

— Look at yourself closely.

— Think more of others.

— Do not be disturbed by temptation. If you are faithful, with My love you will conquer many temptations.

— Be intelligent with what I tell you. Intelligent spiritually. Do not close the eyes of your soul. Do not let anyone deceive you. Love humility, simplicity.

— Never think what you have done is much. Think of what you have to do and what you ought to do, not to gain heaven, but that the world may accomplish my Divine Will, that all souls prepare themselves.

— Whoever holds his soul disposed to hear Me will know what My Will is.

— I want to tell you, Conchita, that before the miracle you will suffer much. Few will believe you. Your own family will think that you have deceived them. All this I want for you — I’ve already said it — for your sanctification, and that the world accomplish the message.

— I want to warn you that the rest of your life will be a continual suffering.

— Do not be disturbed. In suffering am I and Mary, whom you love so much.

— I asked Him if Rome also would not believe me. He did not answer, but He said to me, “Don’t worry if they believe or if they don’t believe.”

— I will do everything, but I will also give you suffering. Whoever suffers for Me, I am with him.

Conchita González

 

Monday, November 14, 2011

Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XXVI)


CHAPTER XXVI

Conchita’s Locution on July 20, 1963

I was making my thanksgiving and praying for things. He answered me . . .

I asked Him to give me a cross since I was living without suffering — except the suffering of not having a cross.

And He answered: Yes, I will give it to you.

And with much feeling, I went on praying . . .

And I said to Him, Why is the Miracle coming? . . . To convert many people?

He answered: To convert the whole world.

— Will Russia be converted?

— It also will be converted; and so everyone will love Our Hearts.

— Will the Chastisement come afterwards?

(He didn’t answer me.)

— Why do you come to my poor heart, without my meriting it?

— I certainly do not come for you; I come for all.

— When the Miracle comes, will it be as if I were the only one who had seen the Virgin?

— He answered me: By your sacrifices, your patience, I will allow you to intercede for the accomplishment of the miracle.

And I said to Him: Wouldn’t it be better for me to be with all the others; or if not, that You don’t use any of us to intercede?

— No.

— Will I go to Heaven?

— You should love much and pray to Our Hearts.

— When will You give me a cross?

(He didn’t answer me.)

— What will I be?

(He didn’t answer me. He only told me that everywhere that I would be, I would have much to suffer.)

— Am I going to die soon?

— You have to stay on the earth to help the world.

— I am very small. I couldn’t help in anything.

— With your prayers and sufferings, you will help the world.

— When does one go to heaven? . . . When one dies?

— One never dies.

(I thought that we didn’t go to heaven until we were resurrected.)

I asked Him if St. Peter was at the gate of heaven to receive us; and He told me No.

While I was in this conversation, in this prayer with God, I felt myself out of the world.

Jesus also told me that now His Heart should be loved.

Concerning priests, He told me that I must pray much:

— So that they would be holy and fulfill their duties;

— So that they would make others better;

— So that they would make Me known to those who do not know Me;

— So that they would make Me loved by those who know Me and do not love Me.

 

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XXV)

CHAPTER XXV

Conclusion

1. Reflexions

For a long time Garabandal has made its way among those who believe that it is a direct intervention of God. The diffusion of the message and the facts that support them is world-wide. All this, in spite of the blind and obstinate opposition from a Commission that, charged with a very serious matter, commits the unpardonable levity of not giving to it the importance that it deserves. Because of understanding nothing about it — and it is the Commission’s own fault — it has judged superficially and with a disturbing outspokenness, that the apparitions were not objectively supernatural. Their spokesman, Bishop Puchol, has even ventured to call it an innocent “game of children . . ."

I think back to the letter that Padre Pio wrote to the visionaries in 1961:

— “When they believe, it will be too late . . .”

***

Furthermore, it would happen that the visionaries would come to doubt, contradict each other, and they themselves would deny.

Actually, I had the incredible opportunity to witness certain ecstasies in which the Virgin predicted to the girls in 1961 these future events that were so painful to them. I heard with my own ears their response to this startling warning from their Vision.

— “How can we say that we haven’t seen you, since we are seeing you at this very moment?”

***

— Yes, that would happen.

We Catholics, do we not feel ourselves corrupted by an absurd spirit of ‘false humanism’ that we dare to call Christian?

Some believe that our position in favor of the historical facts at Garabandal is destroyed when they affirm — what none of us dispute — on the contrary, accept — that Public Revelation has ended, that Jesus Christ has said the last words necessary for salvation. Yes, that is their attitude at the present time, when they brazenly choose to accept from Public Revelation what is convenient for them, and reject the rest!

The locution of Jesus to Conchita at Pamplona on February 13, 1966 might be recalled: “Yo lo hare todo.” (I will do everything.)

One could foresee the failure of those members of the Commission on that celebrated night in August, 1961 which I have reported accurately since I saw and heard it myself in the village church. Today the failure and misunderstanding of the “learned” are clear to me.

2. First Message

Conchita has repeated many times that the most important thing is to accomplish the messages of our Lady of Mount Carmel. Allow me to repeat them.

(Message of October 18, 1961)

It is necessary to make many sacrifices, perform much penance.

It is necessary to visit the Blessed Sacrament (mucho).

But first of all we must be very good.

And if we do not do this, a punishment will come upon us.

The cup is already filling up.

And if we do not change, a very great punishment will come upon us.

These words were pronounced by the Virgin before the start of Vatican II, at a time when already much more value was given to the “human” than the supernatural.

***

On October 18, 1961, the spectators were disappointed and returned home discouraged. Actually they had expected to see at Garabandal a miracle, which the visionaries had never predicted. For that day, they had only spoken of the public revelation of a message directed by the Virgin to her children on earth. Was not that enough?

The Miracle? It will come on a day determined by God, and only a few persons on earth know the exact date.

And the Message itself? It is there for us to accomplish in the soonest and best way possible.

Certainly it does not tell us anything that we do not already know. But do we not need to be reminded of the evangelical truths?

The test? Does the world practice the ancient faith? And we ourselves, even though we believe in Garabandal, what are we doing?

There can be nothing new here beside what was there at Fatima and Lourdes and the other apparitions.

Has not Public Revelation been completed? We know that as well as our adversaries. We only ask that whatever one does, one should remember it in all circumstances.

***

Sometimes one hears it said, “Garabandal. It is finished! Actum est!”

But “Roma non locuta” (Rome has not spoken) must be understood in response to this erroneous and fallacious statement.

A poorly informed bishop can err. A congregation such as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith does not err. When the latter speaks, it will be to say, “Yes. Yes.” or “No. No.”

3. Second Message

Now let us go on to the second message. This is the one from June 18, 1965, which is certainly, in my opinion, a message of the “last warnings.”

Predicted by Conchita 6 months in advance, she wrote it down on June 19 and signed it with the pen that I have in front of me on my work table. I cannot express the gratitude due to her for this inestimable gift.

The message that the Most Holy Virgin has given to the world through the intercession of the Angel St. Michael.

The Angel said:

As my message of October 18 has not been complied with and has not been made known to the world, I am telling you that this is the last.

Before the cup was filling up; now it is overflowing.

The priests: Many are on the road to perdition, and with them they are taking many more souls.

The Eucharist: It is being given less and less importance.

With your own efforts you should avoid the wrath of the Good God.

If you ask pardon with a sincere heart, He will forgive you.

I, your Mother, through the intercession of the Archangel St. Michael, want to tell you to amend your lives.

You are in the last warnings!

I love you very much, and do not want your condemnation.

Ask us sincerely, and we will give you what you ask.

You should sacrifice yourself more.

Think of the passion of Jesus.

Conchita González June 18, 1965

4. The Hour of God

I do not know the reason, but I had the good fortune to stay awake and remain until the end in Conchita’s kitchen on the night of October 10-11, 1962. Though all my companions succumbed to sleep or retired, I was able to realize my plan to see at what time in the morning on October 11, 1962, Conchita’s ecstasy would begin.

On the previous evening, on October 10, a “Nota” had appeared in the Spanish press from the Bishop of Santander, Dr. Beitia Aldazabal. He had signed it on the preceding October 7, Feast of the Holy Rosary.

Conchita went into ecstasy exactly at 8 in the morning on that October 11. At the same time the radio blared out the ringing of the bells at St. Peter’s basilica as in Rome began the procession of thousands of bishops from all parts of the world there present, headed by the Roman Pontiff John XXIII. The bells resounded throughout the universe. The ecstasy in which I was one of the few witnesses lasted some 10 minutes…

I heard the conversation — at least part of it — that the young girl had with her Vision.

Without waiting to be questioned, Conchita talked to us first.

— “I asked the Virgin why the bishop published yesterday a Nota on Garabandal.”

— “And what did she answer?”

— “She didn’t answer, she just smiled . . .”

I don’t know if this matter has been published. But for my part, I find it very striking.

If the Virgin of Garabandal smiled at the hour of the opening of the Council, it is because she knows well the hour of Providence, which has not yet come, but which will come… the hour of God and her hour…

Father J. R. G. de la Riva.

 

Friday, November 4, 2011

From Mark Mallett: ONE of the great graces of the Illumination

The Coming Revelation of the Father

 

ONE of the great graces of the Illumination is going to be the revelation of the Father’s love. For the great crisis of our time—the destruction of the family unit—is the loss of our identity as sons and daughters of God:

The crisis of fatherhood we are living today is an element, perhaps the most important, threatening man in his humanity. The dissolution of fatherhood and motherhood is linked to the dissolution of our being sons and daughters.  —POPE BENEDICT XVI (Cardinal Ratzinger), Palermo, March 15th, 2000 

At Paray-le-Monial, France, during the Sacred Heart Congress, I sensed the Lord saying that this moment of the prodigal son, the moment of the Father of Mercies is coming. Even though mystics speak of the Illumination as a moment of seeing the crucified Lamb or an illuminated cross, Jesus will reveal to us the Father’s love:

He who sees me sees the Father. (John 14:9)

It is "God, who is rich in mercy" whom Jesus Christ has revealed to us as Father: it is His very Son who, in Himself, has manifested Him and made Him known to us… It is especially for[sinners] that the Messiah becomes a particularly clear sign of God who is love, a sign of the Father. In this visible sign the people of our own time, just like the people then, can see the Father.—BLESSED JOHN PAUL II, Dives in misercordia, n. 1

 

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