Tom and Susan’s Garabandal Pilgrimage Day 3

Tom and Susan’s Garabandal Pilgrimage Day 3 | WHAT IS GARABANDAL?



Tom & Susan’s final day in Garabandal.

Hola Amigas & Amigos:

We got up this morning to see the Sun out and it appeared it was
going to be a beautiful day.  We both woke together and packed up a bit
and then we went down for our Cafe Con Leche & Toast to dunk in it. 
We weren’t in the dining room for 15 minutes and we came out … we could
hardly see across the street.  A very heavy fog had moved in to
Garabandal and, when you are in the mountains and in the clouds, it
gives a whole new meaning to the word “fog”.

 

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As Father Rolando had announced to us the evening before, Mass
today was at 10:00 A.M.  So we headed to the Church to, hopefully, get
in our Morning Prayers together before Mass (we had slept in a little
late this morning and had packed and brought some of the luggage down to
the car).

We arrived at the Village Church and saw Father Rolando on the
front patio and on his cell phone.  I told Susan … “he’s probably
hearing a confession since he is so busy” … and then he actually did go
into the Church to hear Confessions before Mass.



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Again, at the beginning of Mass, Father greeting us in English at
the Opening Prayer and at the Sign of Peace.  He had Michael not only
read the First Reading in English, but he motioned to him after he had
proclaimed the Gospel … for Michael to read the Gospel in English as
well!  (Michael told us later he had no idea that was going to happen.)

After Mass, we went back to the Sacristy once again … this time
Roberto accompanied us so that he could translate if need be.  We
exchanged our feelings in both English and Spanish (through Roberto) to
each other before our departure … it was a bittersweet moment to bid
farewell to Father Rolando … he has been very special to us since our
first visit to Garabandal.  We promised him that we will return in
“approximately one year” and that, next time, we will remain in
Garabandal for a longer stay.  Father then departed for his next Mass in
another village.

We stood in front of the Village Church and spoke about so many
things with Roberto before leaving.  He is originally from Mexico and
had moved to Amsterdam.  He was in Garabandal on a spiritual retreat.  A
very young and nice man who has a great loved of Our Blessed Mother,
Jesus and our Catholic Faith.

After bidding farewell to Roberto, we headed across the street to
the Garabandal Pilgrim Center where we once again met Michael as
promised.  Susan and I had brought a “tablet” with us on this trip that
had The Mystical City of God book on it.  The two of us decided to
“gift” Michael with the tablet so that he could read The Mystical City
of God at his leisure.  I knew he was going to give me a hard time
accepting such a gift, but when he said … “well, I will accept it as a
loaned gift and will give it back to you when you return to
Garabandal”.  We laughingly agreed to appease him (ha-ha, Michael!).  He
is savvy enough to figure out the tablet, but I took a little time to
teach him how to bookmark his page, etc.

 

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We then purchased a few things from the Foundation to bring home
with us.  Michael gave us two relics on medals that Our Lady had kissed
with the visionaries when she was here.  We bid farewell to our “new
friend” and we know that he will see him again.

We returned to Sari & Papa’s to finish loading the car, pay our
tab and bid farewell until next time.  Susan was in no hurry to leave …
hoping that the fog would lift and the sun would come out.  So,
reluctantly, she hopped in the car and we made our way down and up and
down the mountain toward our next stop … Our Lady of Bien Apareicida and
the Miraculous Cross at Limpias, Spain which was about 10 minutes away.

We were the only two people, unfortunately, at Our Lady of Bien
Apareicida.  It was a beautiful Shrine where an exquisite statue of Our
Lady (although very small), sits high and perched above the Altar.  This
is a favorite destination for many and place of pilgrimage for many
people … just not today, I suppose.  That was “okay with us” so that we
could enjoy and Pray.  The two of us lit a candle for your Special
Intentions and sat in the Church Praying our Rosary.  I realized that it
was close to 3:00 P.M. … time for Divine Mercy.  I really wanted to
Pray our Divine Mercy Prayers at Limpias and in front of the Miraculous
Cross of Christ.  So, we left Bien and agreed to finish our last decade
of the Rosary at Limpias as well … for today was the Decade of the
Sorrowful Mysteries and we felt it appropriate.

We made it to Limpias at 3:00 P.M. on the dot and we are now “two
for two”!  IT WAS LOCKED AGAIN!  We have been to Limpias 4 times … we
have been lucky enough to have been into the Shrine only twice!  Very
Sad.

So the two of us sat in our car directly in front of the Shrine and
finished our Rosary and Prayed Divine Mercy … keeping Christ company
from outside.  We then began our treck to our next B&B in the Basque
Country of Spain.  Our stomach’s were once again growling since it was
3:00 + P.M. in the afternoon and we had only had coffee and some
bread-fast in the morning.  The drive, which was mainly on the highway,
went through numerous big cities in Spain and I wanted to beat rush hour
and traffic.

We were two minutes away from our apartment B&B and we opted to
drive 6 miles further to get to a “Supermarche” (grocery store),
knowing that we had to eventually eat.  We didn’t even have time for a
photo op in the store because we ran through the store and grabbed
anything we could find that looked appetizing (including a frozen
pizza).

We arrived at our next B&B around 6:00 P.M. and “Rosa”, the
owner, was waiting to greet us and happily showed us to our very small
room (LOL:  See Photos).  This was/is “heaven” and we weren’t sure if we
would ever get in the car again!

Dutifully, we managed to get out a Trip Report, had our pizza and
some cheese, Chorizo, bread and a large glass of wine.  We were already
in our “jammies” so, shortly thereafter, we were in our bedroom. 
There was only one problem when we went to retire.  There were two
pillows.  Unfortunately, each of them were about 5 feet long and the bed
was a bit of an oversized queen bed.  As we tried to figure out how to
position the two of us and negotiate our pillows, it felt like there
were two other bodies in our bed … I don’t know what happened because,
two seconds later, I was fast asleep and I think Susan followed me
shortly thereafter.

Buenos Noches

 I love thee, most lovable Lady, By the love which I bear thee, I promise ever to serve thee,

and to do as much as I can, that thou be loved by others also. I put all my hopes in thee,

all my salvation. Receive me as thy servant and cover me with the mantle of thy protection,

thou the Mother of mercy!

Amen. 

Love

Susan & Tom