EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS BECOME DAILY OCCURANCES

The wonderful became almost routine. Every day the girls had an apparition. At the center of extraordinary phenomena, the objects of all kinds of curiosity, of every pressure and solicitation, they nevertheless preserved their candor and simplicity. They fell into ecstasies and came out of them with an astonishing ease, and spoke of these wonders with the most perfect simplicity.

In her Diary, Conchita comments on her daily life in these words: "The belief of the villagers, of our parents and brothers increased every day . . . As for ourselves, we kept on our everyday life and we obeyed our parents."
[Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, page 58.]


It's funny how we can get used to anything! The girls were seeing the Blessed Mother everyday, and sometimes twice or more a day, thousands of apparitions before they finally ended in 1965. It became almost normal for them, like us when we start a new job or occupation, at first we have our anxieties, but they soon leave us and we become relaxed and familiar with what we are doing; until something happens to upset the apple cart. I'm sure the villagers and the seers' parents were not so relaxed, especially when Our Lady called them in the wee
hours of the night.

The children of Fatima were also relaxed with Our Lady, although She only appeared to them 6 or 7 times . . . Francisco, who could not hear what Our Lady said during the apparitions, was just satisfied and loved to look on the loveliness of the Blessed Mother as She appeared to them. After the vision, Lucia would tell him what Our Lady said. And the three seers were also very obedient to their parents . . .
Deacon John

EUCHARISTIC CATECHESIS BY THE "ARCHANGEL ST. MICHAEL"

The four children learned from the Angel how to receive Communion the correct way. When he appeared on that day, he asked them: "Lets see what beautiful teeth you have." The girls showed them to him while they were laughing . . .
The teeth receive the Body of Christ . . . Far from being irrelevant, this charming exercise was part of a catechesis that lasted about a week. It prepared the visionaries to receive their first real Communion from the Angel on the following July 16, the very day of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Until then, St. Michael had given them only hosts that were not consecrated.
[Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, page 57.]

There's a great picture on this page of the book showing the girls smiling with their teeth fully exposed! I wish I could post it here, but I couldn't find it on Google.

Yes, this is also a lesson for us! When we receive the Sacred Host, most of us grind the Body of our Lord with our teeth before swallowing Him. St. Ignatius of Antioch said: "I am God's wheat, ground fine by the lion's teeth to be made Purest bread for Christ," as he offered himself as grain to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts that he might present to God the pure bread of sacrifice. Wow! What Faith!

At each Mass I have learned to offer myself with Jesus, to the Eternal Father as a living host, in reparation for my sins and the sins of the world, and as I receive Jesus in Holy Communion, I ask Him to change me into Him, so that we could be one! We all could do this as we are the Mystical Body of Christ!

It's interesting that the Angel prepared them with unconsecrated hosts . . . Do we do that with our own children? At Fatima, the Angel also gave the three children Holy Communion before Our Lady appeared to them. Lucia received the Host and Jacinta and Francesco received the Precious Blood from the chalice the Angel held. Aren't Angels wonderful! They take care of all our needs, spiritual and temporal, thank God!

PRIESTS ARE COMING IN EVER-INCREASING NUMBERS

According to Conchita, Our Lady insisted a great deal on "the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and on prayer for priests." The very close correlation between the Eucharist and Priesthood was to be very present in Garabandal: "The Blessed Virgin spoke to us of the grandeur of the priest. She said that if we could see an angel and a priest, we should greet the priest first or even fall on our knees before him . . . Because the priest consecrates, something the angel does not do." (J. Pelletier, Le Journal de Conchita, p. 94).

Conchita asked the Vision if all the priests were good. She was very astonished to learn that not all of them were.

In 1967, the visionary wrote out a short text that we consider as a kind of charter for the priest of out time: "What the Blessed Virgin expects from the priest is first of all his own sanctification. That he be faithful to his vows for the love of God. That he bring many souls to God through his example and prayer . . . That the priest deny himself for the love of souls in Christ. That he withdraw from time to
time in silence to listen to God who constantly speaks to him. That he meditate much on Jesus' Passion so that he may be more closely united to that of the Christ-Priest, and to invite souls to do penance and sacrifice, making the cross that Christ sends to each one easier to bear.
To speak also of Mary: she is the most secure way leading us to Christ; to speak also that people may believe that just as there is a Heaven, so there is a hell.
That is what, I believe, Heaven is asking of its priests."
[Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, page 55.]

These powerful Truths of our Faith shine forth: Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the holy priesthood! The devil has spent the last 2000 years trying to destroy belief in both of these Truths of Faith. Here Our Lady is reminding us, as She did in Fatima, of Jesus True Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, and that only a priest can consecrate bread and wine so that It changes into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Years ago, many people had a special reverence for a priest, and when they greeted him, they kissed his hand, because his hands were consecrated to offer Holy Mass and bring Jesus down from Heaven upon the Altar. Today, in most places, that reverence has almost disappeared. Never mind kneeling before a priest or kissing his hand, I've stood besides holy priests who were spat upon and called every name in the book, especially at Pro-Life events . . . I felt so sad for
them, but then remembered that Jesus was spat upon, called names, and even crucified, so these priests were following their Master in imitation of Him!

What Conchita wrote about the Blessed Mother's ideals for her priest sons are good for us too! We are all called to holiness . . . We are to be faithful to our vows (marriage or single state) . . . All for the love of God . . . Save souls through prayer and example (especially our own family) . . . Deny ourselves (sacrifice for the love of Jesus) (Fatima Prayer) . . . Meditate on the Passion of Christ (Sorrowful Mysteries) . . . Sing of Mary, Our Mother . . . And as Our Lady did at Fatima, remind people that there is Heaven & hell, a major Truth of our Faith!

And remember: PRAY FOR PRIESTS! They need our prayers now more then ever!
Deacon John

TUESDAY, JULY 4, 1961:

Many priests witnessed the ecstasies

THE BLESSED VIRGIN GOES STRAIGHT TO THE ESSENTIALS: A SUPERNATURAL "MESSAGE"

Here is the first question the Blessed Virgin had asked the children on the previous 2nd of July:
"Do you know the meaning of the notice the Angel had under his
feet?"
- "No, we don't."
"It was a Message that I am going to tell you and that you will
repeat in public on October 18" (1961):

"WE MUST MAKE MANY SACRIFICES,
PERFORM MUCH PENANCE, AND
VISIT THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
FREQUENTLY. BUT, FIRST, WE MUST
BE VERY GOOD. IF WE DO NOT, A
CHASTISEMENT WILL BEFALL US.
THE CUP IS ALREADY FILLING UP,
AND IF WE DO NOT CHANGE, A
VERY GREAT CHASTISEMENT WILL
COME UPON US."

It was from this day on that Our Lady gradually initiated the young visionaries in a motherly way to the meaning and scope of this Message.
[Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, page 55.]

Unlike Fatima, Our Lady here instructs the girls to reveal the Message so there is no secret. And as we shall see, they did reveal it to a disappointed crowd, who wanted a more spectacular One. But, look at this Message! To me it's a powerful call to conversion! It also reminds me of the admonition of the Angel of Fatima who told the three children to pray and offer sacrifices to God for the sins of the world, for He was already offended too much! Here Our Lady asks us to pray, offer sacrifices, do penance, visit the Blessed Sacrament, but above all, we must be very good. See, Mother Mary is telling us, Her children to be good, as any good mother would tell their child . . . And if we aren't good, what does a good mother do? Well, some punishment, of course, till we behave. Here Our Lady is warning us: If you are not good, the Father will definitely punish us, to correct us and then, maybe, we will be good.
Deacon John

A MOTHERLY PRESENCE

Conchita offering a pebble to the Child Jesus

To amuse the Child Jesus, the girls, in a spontaneous gesture, offered Him some little pebbles off the road. He did not take them but He really smiled.
The Blessed Virgin kissed these pebbles and asked the visionaries to distribute them around. Soon the Blessed Virgin would designate precisely the persons to whom they should be given. . .
This "practice," unique in its kind, was established very soon at Garabandal. Those present would entrust to the visionaries, on Mary's indications, only objects of devotion to be kissed by Her.

The children, their hands full of rosaries and medals, not knowing whose they were, with their eyes fixed on the vision, always handed them back to the owners.
A very soft scent sometimes emanated from these objects . . . As to their value, Conchita explained this on September 14, 1965: "The Blessed Virgin said that Jesus would perform miracles through these objects and that those who would wear them with faith and trust would do their Purgatory on earth," thus sparing themselves the purifications they would have to undergo to pass into Heaven.
An important detail: never did the Blessed Virgin at San Sebastian de Garabandal bless any object or person. This is totally in conformity with the Church's Canon Law that assigns this function to priests [and deacons] only. [Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, page 50.]

As a believer in Garabandal, I always wear a "kissed object", which in my case is a tiny piece of a prayer book that was kissed by Holy Mary, and sewn into my Brown Scapular, which I NEVER take off! I have a strong faith in Our Lady's words about serving my Purgatory here on earth and believe me, I really am!!! As for any miracles, I'm a walking one cause Our Lady has turned my life around through my on-going conversion, teaching me, and leading me to Her Son, Jesus,
especially in the Eucharist!

In that last paragraph about blessings, I added "and deacons", but in the early 1960's, the Permanent Diaconate renewal had not even been discussed yet. After Vatican II, when the diaconate was brought back as a part of Holy Orders, the function of blessing people and objects was restored to deacons.

Also, I was just thinking that mothers & fathers can bless their own children, so Our Blessed Mother can certainly bless us! What do you think?
Deacon John

July 2nd Continued . . .

During the apparition of this very day, July 2nd, 1961, "a shower of stars suddenly began to fall from heaven everywhere on earth," probably symbolizing the rain of graces from God of which Mary is the "depository." Simultaneously, "thirty-three large Spanish letters spelling out six Spanish words, "formed a halo all around Our Lady: the seers called these the "secret of the Angel." To this day, no book has yet spoken of this, and the visionaries did not reveal it either. According to us, it is very likely related to an ultimate Marian dogma, of which the mystery of the Visitation would be its biblical basis. MARIA DEPOSITORIA DE TODAS LAS GRACIAS, such might be the very concise and formal expression of this future "definition of faith" . . .

From Her first visit, the Blessed Virgin carried the Child Jesus in Her arms. His presence was not explicitly mentioned by Conchita in her Diary for that 2nd of July, but the visionary nevertheless described Him here, always in her very concrete, vivid, even sober usual way: "He is very very small, like a newborn babe, a round face, same color of complexion as that of the Blessed Virgin, a small mouth, rather long, curly, blond hair, tiny little hands, a dress like an azure-blue tunic. He is always smiling."

"The Blessed Virgin came wearing a white dress, a blue mantle, a gold crown decorated with 12 little stars. We could not see her feet. Her arms were open and she wore the Scapular on Her right arm. The Scapular was brown. Her hair was long, dark auburn and wavy, and parted in the middle. Her face was rather long. Her nose fine and long, a very beautiful mouth with slightly full lips. Her complexion was golden . . . Her voice was enchanting. It was a very special voice . . . No other woman is like the Blessed Virgin, neither in voice nor in any other way" (Conchita's Diary, p.35). [Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, pages 45, 49.]

Wow! There is so much to meditate on in these three paragraphs . . .

The falling stars remind me that at Fatima during Our Lady's apparitions, flowers fell from the sky like snow, disappearing before they hit the ground. This was witnessed by the people who came to the Cova de Iria to be with the three children . . .

It's interesting that Jesus appeared as a newborn, perhaps to remind us of the sacredness of life! One of the horrors about the millions of babies who have been slaughtered in their mother's wombs, is the fact that each child was destined to add to God's glory and better mankind on earth! How many great minds; doctors, scientists, priests, leaders, etc., etc., have not been allowed to be born to make this a better world . . .

Why can't Jesus have blond hair as a child? Believe it or not, I had long blond hair until I was about five years old. When I got my first haircut, it started to turn brown and now I'm all gray!!! Remember, Jesus was like us in all things, except sin . . .

Isn't that the most beautiful description on what Our Lady look like! I don't remember ever reading such a concise and elegant picture! The artist Isabel Daganzo painted this image, which is used by all the Garabandal promoters and in all their books . . .

Here are some deep thoughts: . . . Our Lady is the most beautiful creature ever created by God, in the image of God . . . Jesus the God-Man, was born of the Virgin Mary with only Her genes . . . therefore He looked just like Her . . . yet She was made in His image . . . What a mystery!

Deacon John

SUNDAY, JULY 2, 1961:

On the Feastday of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary [traditional calendar], the two angels, who appeared one on each side of Our Lady, were St. Michael and St. Gabriel, the Angel of the Annunciation but also the Angel of supernatural dreams and prophetic revelations, more particularly those related to the divine and universal plan of the salvation of humankind. Gabriel appeared but once at San Sebastian de Garabandal.

[Isabel Daganzo, an artist painter, under Conchita's guidance, drew several sketches of these first apparitions. In one illustration of the Blessed Virgin with the two Angels, an "Eye" is drawn at the top.]

The "Eye of God" ("ayin" in Hebrew, "ophtalmos" in Greek): what a theme! This word, or expression, in its singular form rarely used in the Bible, is then applied explicitly to the divine omniscience and providence. Given the four previous manifestations of the Shekinah, the eruption of this "Eye of God" who "alone probes the loins and the hearts" and who plunges down into everything and
everyone, is not surprising.

The iconographic signal here is absolutely correct: in Holy Scripture, indeed, right prevails over left, and top over bottom. In the children's vision. the Eye, placed above Mary, effectively designates Yahweh, who dominates all creation, all times and History itself.

At Lourdes, during Her last apparition, July 16, 1858, Mary (the Immaculate Conception) manifested herself to Bernadette, "more beautiful than ever," and not without a profound reason, since it was the Feast of "Our Lady of Mount Carmel" . . .

At Fatima, it was the same, Mary having also appeared, for the fourth and the last time on October 13, 1917, under the title and the form of "Nossa Senhora do Carmo." These were undoubtedly prophetic signs of her later "manifestations" at Garabandal: consequently, a fulfilled rendezvous!
[Excerpted from "Garabandal" Book, pages 44, 45.]

As I said before, this was the link that made me believe in Garabandal immediately, "Our Lady of Mount Carmel." I started to wear the "Brown Scapular" around this time (1970) and have never taken it off! It's interesting about the two Angels appearing with Our Blessed Lady. At Fatima, just St. Michael appeared. I wonder if this was a first in the history of Marian apparitions? God has a purpose for everything so there must be a deeper meaning for this besides the fact that it related to the Feast Day! Theologians say that St. Gabriel inspires us with Godly thoughts and gives us the "Strength of God"! That's how we can combat the evil one. Of course we have to ask for these gifts, they don't just come to us. Try it! I do ask every day! But, of course, I am very devoted to the Angels anyway.
Deacon John