Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 63

First Ecstasy 12:00-12:40—Mari Loli

We were in the kitchen of Ceferino Mazón’s establishment in Garabandal at about 11:30 at night on January 26th. Some people from Segovia arrived at Garabandal and were with us for about an hour. Señora Andreu with her daughter, Begoña, the Alfonsos, my wife, and I were there. We were all speaking normally with Mari Loli and her mother when the child communicated that she was going to have a call. After a little while, at 12 exactly (midnight) she entered into ecstasy and in that state she fell from the bench on which she was sitting to the floor, and was there on her knees. She sat up and went upstairs in this state. She took medals and rosaries that were there on a little table, and she lifted them and gave them to the Vision to kiss.

She always held them up, and she arranged various chains with medals on them and gave them to their owners without making any mistakes. She lifted some holy cards and when she lifted one of them she said: “You don’t want to kiss it?—Why? Kiss it! No?—What a shame!” This holy card was a memento from a lady who had passed away only a few days before. Her granddaughter was there and had given the holy card. It is an interesting fact that the young girl was very impressed by this and spent the night praying, from what they told us. The next day, the holy card had been kissed twice by the Vision.

As I said, the girl continued giving medals and rosaries to be kissed; one of them had been given to her by my wife. She said: “For Fr. Andreu.” According to what we found out later, this rosary belonged to Fr. Gómez, a Jesuit who was residing in Valladolid. The previous summer he had been in Garabandal and had given the girl his rosary so that the Virgin could kiss it. This priest had to leave Garabandal while the girl was having a trance, and although he left a note saying to give the rosary to Fr. Andreu, no one had done it in all that time—everyone supposed it was lost. I gave it to him myself in Valladolid, and I am a witness to the emotion and the happiness that this priest felt upon receiving it.

Jacinta was present at this time and was in a completely normal state. Since the girls communicate to each other and see each other in and out of the field of vision, some women from Segovia asked Jacinta to tell Mari Loli to ask the Virgin if she was happy with them. Mari Loli responded when she left the trance that she could not say anything, but later she confided in my wife: “The Virgin said that they should pray more and be better.” When this sentence was said to these women, they became emotional, and according to what we’ve heard, these were the exact words that Fr. Andreu had said to these girls when they finished the Spiritual Exercises. Fr. Andreu confirmed this during my interview with him in Valladolid. In this moment, I was situated behind the girl who was still and speaking in a very low voice to the Virgin with the crucifix in her right hand. She said: “Jacinta is very sad because she hasn’t seen you since the 18^th—she sees you so little—only a little—it makes the days very long even though they are not—at least make the days shorter.”

I asked for confirmation with fervor, thinking of the tranquility that it would give me—and in that moment, without turning, she reached her right arm backwards, turning her hand which held the crucifix and put it exactly to my mouth so I could kiss it. After, in the natural posture, she continued giving the crucifix to kiss. Then she fell on her knees two or three times, falling suddenly. She went downstairs backwards with her head lifted upwards. She reached the kitchen and sat on the bench, in the same position as when she’d begun the ecstasy. She blessed herself and returned to the normal state, and asked: “Who has brought me here?”—She told us later that the Virgin had told her she would return to visit her at four the same morning.