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):

“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.