Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XII)

CHAPTER XII

The Calls, Prediction and Accomplishment of the Miracle

On July 2, 1962, I went up to Garabandal, intending to stay four days. That’s what I did, not returning to Barro until the evening of July 5th.
On the afternoon of July 2, I was with the visionaries at the Pines. They were playing around the trees and I was seated near to them, very content to observe their joyousness. They were playing with all their hearts, as normal in that as they were in everything else, at school, in the church, in their work in the fields, at home, in everything.
Their joyousness at that time was equal to that which they felt, but tried to hide, when they had their famous “calls” about which I should say a few words before proceeding further.
The “calls” were mystical announcements, which were felt in the interior of the girls. In order not to show them exteriorly, so that those around them would not be suspicious, they tried to hide them, to disguise the mysterious effects which they caused in them. But those who had some experience in the ecstasies because of going frequently to Garabandal, understood perfectly what was happening. They were not unaware that there were three “calls,” nor that at the last one, the ecstasy was imminent, almost immediate. It is certain also that sometimes the children specially confided in chosen persons, even advising them of the time. “I’ve had a call”; or again, “The second call has come.”
One can easily see this type of joyous excitement, the happiness of the “calls” on an 8 millimeter film of the early apparitions, at a time when few recognized these “mystical premonitions”. On it can be seen the two Andreu brothers, the Jesuit priests. It appears to have been taken on the day, or rather the evening of the morning of the death of one of the two, Father Luis. There are many copies of this film throughout the world. In spite of their efforts to hide it, the interior joy of the young girls reflects externally. Though they were not yet in ecstasy, their exterior appearance foreshadowed it since they looked altogether different than in their normal life.
I’m returning now to the scene up above at the Pines, after this digression which is only the half of it because the joyfulness of the children was similar to that of the “calls.”
Suddenly, Conchita left the group, came up to me and without an introduction spoke unexpectedly:
— “Father, I am going to tell you in what the Miracle of the Angel consists!”
Certainly curious, but refusing to show my feelings, I responded:
— “Conchita, if it is a secret, you shouldn’t reveal it to me…”
Then I saw her return to the other three girls, as if to consult them.
— “Shouldn’t he be told?”
All three, without leaving the place where they were playing, (the area that was called the Virgin’s Pine) agreed.
— “Yes, someone should tell him.”
Then I got up and said to them:
— “All right. But you are going to talk individually. Come here one at a time.”
Conchita spoke first, then her companions. One after the other. They all told me the same thing.
— “They are going to see the ‘Host.’”
In other words: “Up until now, when the Angel gives us Communion, no one ever sees the Host on the tongue. At that time, it won’t be that way. They will see It.”
Without anyone telling me that only Conchita would be the object of this favor, or giving me the exact date, (although no one yet knew what comprised this “milagrucu” — little miracle — as Conchita said) without expecting it in the least, I was informed of the secret of the four seers. I knew that a day would come when the spectators would see with their eyes a consecrated Host on the tongue receiving It.
This happened on July 2, 1962, in the afternoon at the Pines. At that time Conchita herself did not yet know the exact date. She didn’t tell me anything more, although I had to leave Garabandal on the July 5 to arrive that evening at my parish in Barro. Although I was the first one to be advised of the nature of the miracle of the “Host” I did not know more about it and I was not able to be at the rendezvous of the Angel on the night of the 18th to 19th of that month.

***

Coming down from the Pines, Loli revealed the news about the nature of the miracle to her father, Ceferino. Conchita heard about it and was very irritated.
— “Now,” she said to her mother in their kitchen, “There certainly won’t be a Miracle because Loli has told it to her father…”

***

The “milagrucu” (little miracle), in spite of Conchita’s disappointment at the time, happened anyhow. Reading the report in her Diary:
When the 18th of July came, the village was filled with people. Everyone wanted to see the miracle. That day was the village feastday. A dance was taking place near my house, but in two neighboring houses, groups of people were reciting the rosary.
Some people, during this time, tried to stop the dance. They said if the dance continued, there would not be a miracle. One of those who wanted to stop the dance, Ignacio Rubio, asked me if I wanted the dance stopped. I answered him.
— “With the dance or without the dance, the miracle will take place.”
Then there was no further discussion on the subject of the dance.
The evening having come, people were restless because it was getting late. On the contrary, I was not afraid since the Virgin and the Angel had said that the miracle would take place; for never had the Virgin or the Angel announced something to me that did not happen exactly.
At 10 o’clock at night, I already had a call. At midnight, another call. Then at 2 o’clock in the morning, the Angel appeared to me in my room at home. At the time I was in the company of my mother, my brother Aniceto, my uncle Elias, my cousin Luciuca, and a young girl from Aguilar del Campo, María del Carmen Fontaneda.
And the Angel was with me for a while. And he told me, as on other occasions: “Pray the ‘I Confess’ and think of Whom you are going to receive.” And I did this and afterwards he gave me Communion.
And after giving me Communion, he told me to recite the ‘Anima Christi’. And to make my thanksgiving, and to hold out my tongue with the Sacred Host until he left and the Virgin would come. And I did it like this.
And when the Virgin came, she told me, “They all still do not believe.” And she told me to pray the rosary, and I prayed it.
This was a “big” miracle. There were numerous eyewitnesses on that memorable night. A dozen of them gave their names and their addresses, offering to be called to give their testimonies. It sufficed to interview on this matter for example, Father Valentín or Dr. Ortiz from Santander. In reality, among those who had “really seen,” there was not a person at that time who would affirm the contrary.

***

Conchita had written to the Bishop to tell him that he should be present in the village on that day, also the Abbot Odriozola, one of the members of the Commission. Neither the one nor the other responded to the invitation and the delegate who replaced them did not see the miracle with his eyes because of the mob that prevented him.
Who would be surprised? God, alone, can make the conditions. Those who were called to the miracle by name were not present. Those who ought to have been there were absent: the door of the Bishop was closed to the light . . .
Also, after this extraordinary “event” some ecclesiastics spread the news that everything was a fraud, and the most absurd explanations were spread abroad everywhere . . .
We defy anyone to contradict the qualified eyewitnesses of the Miracle of the Host. They were there at the place, they “saw with their eyes,” they made their reports, they are ready to be burned alive to testify to the truth of the “event”.