She Went in Haste to the Mountain (Page 13)

Fr. Valentin poses with the visionaries.

Jacinta and Mari Cruz went together and met the parish priest, Father Valentín Marichalar.(3)
—Very alarmed, he said to them: Look here, look here! Is it true that you saw an angel?
—They answered together: Yes Father, it's true.
—Perhaps . . . Perhaps you may be mistaken.
—Smiling they said to him: No. Don't be afraid that we saw an Angel.(4)

Then they went toward their homes.
The parish priest walked around to see where he could find me.
Finding me near my home,(5) he became very nervous and said to me, Conchita, be honest. What did you see last night?
I explained everything to him . . . and he listened very closely, and finally said to me: Well, if you see him tonight, ask him who he is and why he is coming.
See what he answers.

The priest's reaction was perfectly logical. He knew that what the girls said was completely possible. God concerns himself deeply with His human creatures, especially within the church. Although His concern comes to fall almost always within what we call ordinary providence (that is, without recourse to spectacular intervention), there is no difficulty for Him to go beyond the ordinary when it suits His pleasure and is helpful to His creatures. And the angels are His ministers above all to protect and aid mankind. Father Valentín could not have forgotten those beautiful texts from the liturgy of October 2nd that set down so highly the ministry of the angels on our behalf.

3. Father Valentín resided in Cossío where he was the parish priest, but he had to go up to San Sebastián frequently since he was also in charge of that parish.

4. Although Father Valentín did not hold the same feelings as the old Israelites for whom it was impossible to see an angel of Yahweh, and not die, he certainly could not exclude the
possibility of an angel’s supernatural intervention in the village. What consequences that could cause!

5. Conchita’s house was at the extreme edge of the village, directly opposite the church and school, with a view upwards towards the Pines and downwards toward the valley where the
Molinos River flowed.