She Went in Haste to the Mountain (Page 7)

“a very beautiful figure appeared to me”

In the language of a young village girl, poor in vocabulary and unaccustomed to the abuse of superlatives that permeates the news media, these concise expressions show extraordinary feelings. The figure that appeared, and the brilliance surrounding it, were beyond everything beautiful and impressive that could be seen here below.

The other girls, Jacinta, Loli and Mari Cruz, (later they would explain this about themselves) on seeing me in that state, thought I was having an attack, since I was saying with my hands joined together: Oh! . . . Oh! . . . Oh! . . .
As they were going to call my mother, they found themselves in the same state as I was.
And they exclaimed together: Oh, an Angel!
Then there was a short silence among the four of us, and he suddenly disappeared. (19)
And returning to normal, and very frightened, we ran toward the church—on the way passing the dance that was going on in the village.
Then a girl named Pili González said to us, How white and frightened you are! Where are you coming from?
Very ashamed in confessing the truth, we said to her, From picking apples.
And she said: For that . . . you are coming like this?
We answered together: IT IS BECAUSE WE HAVE SEEN AN ANGEL.
And she said: Is that true?
We: Yes, Yes . . .
And we continued on our way in the direction of the church; and the girl told this to the others.
Once at the door of the church, and
thinking it over better, we went behind it
to . . . CRY.

This portrait of the young girls appeals to me. Needing to express their indescribable feelings, they would find refuge behind the walls of the church in order to pour out their tears. A mysterious instinct in the Christian soul had brought them there. They could not explain what had just happened, but they sensed subconsciously that it was something very great.

19. The girl informs us as a participant in that visit from Heaven; but we are able to complete her report with some information from an observer, which we owe to the Police
Chief Juan Alvarez Seco:

«Some girls who were also playing in the area, on seeing the four girls in that strange attitude, began to throw stones at them. Then the Angel took them about 50 meters higher up in the same calleja. Once there, and while kneeling in their ecstatic position, an inhabitant of the village who was coming downhill from the mountain with a honeycomb wanted to pass between them. Seeing that they weren’t moving so he could pass, and not understanding what was happening, he became irritated by the poor training of those girls . . . After having passed by the girls in the direction of the village, the man turned to look back and was amazed to see that the girls were still there, exactly in the same position and posture as before. Mindful of this, he could hardly sleep during the night, thinking that all this was very strange. He told this to his wife, but she answered that it wasn’t important, "children’s affairs!" » (This man’s name was Vicente Mazón.)