WHAT IS GARABANDAL?: July 2024

Friday, July 12, 2024

UP DATE FROM GARABANDAL, SPAIN

Compiled by Ann Ellison

July 11, 2024

HELLO FROM GARABANDAL!
The Village of Our Lady!

Dear Family,

I have no idea where to begin to tell all of you what all has been happening in the last couple of months! It has been a whirlwind of events and I am not sure I have really kept up! Exhaustion is not even in the equation…its much deeper than that, and yet full of joy, love, and encouragement of which I don’t think I have ever experienced before.

We continue to be thrilled with the many pilgrims and multiple retreats and conferences our DWIRC has been hosting and overseeing in Garabandal this Spring! To just recap a bit: Triumph Pilgrimages Debbie Womack from St. Augustine, brought Father Stan Fortuna, O.F.M. and a wonderful group of pilgrims in early April; Laurena Rafferty from Ireland brought a delightful and large group in late April; our marvelous Guy Murphy of Totally Yours Pilgrimage, with Mother Gabrielle Marie brought dozens of beautiful pilgrims along with a magnificent new Divine Will priest that we are absolutely in love with: Father Theophile Hostia (who is from Congo and is finishing his PHD in Sacred Liturgies in Rome soon) for an awesome Retreat in May; our amazing Greg Dunne brought multitudes of Divine Will pilgrims from Ireland and America in June; Nisha Cook brought a lovely group from London also in June and we have more Retreats and Pilgrims scheduled for this year and next as well!

Our Blessed Mother is obviously calling many of Her dear children to Her Village and to enter more deeply and powerfully into this Gift of Gifts: Their Adorable Divine Will! Along those lines, I am so grateful to Our Lady for arranging Anne and Marc Weigel to move to Garabandal 3 years ago! They are doing an awesome job of overseeing, encouraging and coordinating the myriad of details involved with all these groups, retreats and pilgrims that desire to come to our beloved Garabandal and stay at our lovely DWIRC. Please contact Anne if you desire to visit at her email: annarhdwgarabandal@gmail.com.

We are excited to share with you the next wonderful Divine Will Retreat and Spiritual Exercises Conference in Garabandal that will be from September 19-26, 2024! The dynamic speakers and organizers include Derek Williams, Anne Weigel and Father Theophile along with Guy and the great Totally Yours Pilgrimage Staff! It is not too late to sign up. There are still places available! Below is a flyer and schedule as well as a link to contact Totally Yours Pilgrimage for further information: www.MEDJ1.com phone number 630-279-8424. We would love to have you, like so many other pilgrims, participate in an unforgettable experience and one to bring you ever closer to God and Our Lady! Be sure to watch the 5 minutes inspiring testimony video from pilgrims on the recent Retreat in May on the Totally Yours Pilgrimage Website.

Additionally, we are exploring the possibility of a Divine Will pilgrimage to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Opening of the Divine Will Institute and Retreat Center (DWIRC) in Garabandal which will be next June 1, 2025! It might consist of an approximate 2-week tour that would include Garabandal of course and other interesting and nearby Marian Shrines in France, etc. How does that sound to you? Also, we hope to have a Divine Will Conference in Florida again next Fall, 2025. We are so docile to Our Lady’s promptings as this window of opportunity to gather is still available to us! How powerful it is for the Body of Christ to come together in person!

Garabandal and Divine Will continue to be ground zero right now in the world. The prophecies of Garabandal have been spreading like nothing you have ever seen! There will even be the first of its kind a “Congress on Our Lady of Garabandal” this October 17-19, 2024 with hundreds of pilgrims from all over the world participating! The knowledge of the Divine Will, the Greatest Gift that God can give to His beloved creatures combined with these amazing presence of Our Lady in Garabandal as our Queen and Mother are exactly what is needed at this time in human history!

________________________

Always remember we love you all so very much and keep each of you in our daily prayers! Please keep us in yours especially as Felicia and I travel back home to Canada and the States respectively next week. Fiat always!

UPDATE: THE CHURCH"S POSITION ON GARABANDAL

The magazine "Garabandal Journal" has updated some information regarding the village of Garabandal, the current Bishop and Pastor.
For many years, while never being condemned, the Garabandal events were under a dark cloud as some of the first bishops (but not all) opposed the events. But the tide started to change with Bishop Juan Antonio del Val Gallo (1971-1991). While he at first did not believe in the apparitions he took a more open position. In 1981, he became a believer and during his reign, he lifted the ban on priests going up to the village and allowed them to celebrate Mass in the village church with the permission of the village pastor. The next bishop, Jose Vilaplana Blasco, was a non-believer, but left in place the positive changes made by Bishop del Val. In 2006, he was transferred to another diocese in southern Spain and Archbishop of Oviedo, Carlos Osoro Sierra, was made Apostolic Administrator of Santander. The Archbishop, building on the positive measures taken by Bishop Del Val, allowed priests visiting Garabandal to celebrate Mass in the village church even if the pastor was not there (he ministered to a number of other villages and was not always in Garabandal). The Archbishop also gave visiting priests faculties to hear confessions.
In 2007, Ed Kelly from the United States, wrote to the Archbishop requesting the current status of Garabandal and received a letter from the prelate, under his own stationary and signed by him dated May 7, 2007, in which he said: "I respect the apparitions and have known of authentic conversions. In light of these events, how can we not always feel the need to open our heart to our mother Mary to tell her that we need her protection, help, spirit, desire, hope and love! I encourage you to continue maintaining this devotion to our Mother."
In 2011, two 50th anniversaries were celebrated in Garabandal (1) for the first appearance of St. Michael on June 18, 1961, and (2) the first vision of Our Lady on July 2, 1961. The celebrations were conducted under the auspices of the Santander Diocese represented by the village pastor Fr. Rolando Cabeza (also dean of the area). During the celebrations, another ban was lifted when Fr. Cabeza, spoke of the apparitions from the pulpit, and read the two formal Messages of Our Lady at Garabandal.
On May 6, 2012, current Bishop of Santander, Vecente Jimenez Zamora (installed in 2007) celebrated a Mass in Garabandal in commemoration of the completion of a restoration project of the village church. In a refreshments period after Mass, he was open and most cordial with all the villagers and visitors. On May1, 2013, the Bishop again celebrated Mass in the village church of Garabandal and prior to the Mass, kissed a crucifix belonging to villager David Toribio that was kissed by the Blessed Virgin at Garabandal. We don't know if the Bishop knew that but we suspect he did.
Bishop Jimenez's Masses in Garabandal were firsts, since no Bishop of Santander had ever said Mass in the village church from the time the apparitions began in 1961.
Deacon John

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Friday, July 12, 2024

UP DATE FROM GARABANDAL, SPAIN

Compiled by Ann Ellison

July 11, 2024 HELLO FROM GARABANDAL! The Village of Our Lady!

July 11, 2024

HELLO FROM GARABANDAL!
The Village of Our Lady!