Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XX)

CHAPTER XX

The Most Holy Virgin at Garabandal

This chapter has exceptional importance since it concerns the Most Holy Virgin, the Envoy of Christ in this village specially cherished by God.

I will limit myself to excerpting some quotations from Conchita’s Diary — the manuscript — that relate with marvelous simplicity all that we can know of Our Mother of Heaven at Garabandal.

It was on the first of July, the eve of her first apparition, that Conchita tells us for the first time of the Virgin. That day the Angel said:

“I come to announce to you a visit by the Virgin under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who will appear to you tomorrow, Sunday . . ."

“I will return tomorrow with the Virgin . . ."

The Virgin appeared to us with an Angel on each side.

That day, we talked much with the Virgin and she talked with us. We told her everything. We told her that we walked to the pastures, that we were tanned, that we gathered the hay into stacks.

And she laughed.

We said the rosary while looking at her. And she prayed with us in order to teach us to pray well.

When we had finished the rosary, she said she was leaving.

And we told her to stay a little while, since she had been there only a very short time.

And she laughed, and told us she would return on Monday.

When she left, we were sad.

That is how Sunday, July 2, ended.

A very happy day, because we saw the Virgin for the first time.

For we are always with her, whenever we want to be.

Conchita then gives us an admirable description of the Virgin.

The Virgin comes in a white cloak, a blue mantle, a crown of little golden stars.

The feet are not seen; the hands are open and there is a scapular on the right one: the scapular is brown.

Her hair is long, a dark chestnut brown color, wavy, parted in the middle;

The face somewhat elongated;

The nose also somewhat long, and fine;

The mouth, very beautiful with lips a little full;

The color of her face tan, much lighter than that of the angel, different.

The voice very beautiful, a voice very unusual.

I don’t know how to explain it.

There is no other woman who resembles the Virgin, either in the voice or in anything.

Sometimes she carries the Baby in her arms.

He is very small, like a newborn baby, with a round face the same color as the Virgin’s.

He has a very small mouth, and hair slightly long.

He is dressed in something like a blue tunic.

Conchita recounts with simplicity the apparition of the Virgin and the Child Jesus that took place on the next day, July 3, 1961. The girls played with the Child, but the Virgin did not let them hold Him.

As soon as we arrived at the Cuadro, the Virgin appeared to us with the Child Jesus.

But the angels did not come.

She came with a broad smile, and the Child was smiling too.

And the first thing we said was, “Where is St. Michael and the other Angel?

And she smiled even more.

The people and our parents who were there gave us articles so that we might present them to be kissed.

And she kissed them all.

And since we liked to make up games for the Child Jesus, we picked up pebbles.

And I put them in my braids, Loli put them in her sleeves, and Jacinta gave them to Him.

He did not take them; He only smiled.

----------

And she said many things to us.

But she didn’t allow us to tell these things.

----------

The apparition started at 7:30 and ended at 8 o’clock. Then she said, “Stay in God and in me also.”

That made us sad.

We said, “Adios!”

The last thing she said,

— “Tomorrow you will see me again.”

----------

The 4th of July came . . .

The Virgin was smiling as usual.

And the first thing that she said was,

— “Do you know the meaning of the writing the Angel carried beneath him?”

We spoke out together, “No, we don’t know.”

Then she said to us,

— “It gives a message that I am going to explain to you so that you can tell it to the people on the 18^th of October.”

And she told it to us.

----------

On the following day she told us she would explain it later.

Later she explained what the message meant and how we had to say it.

She indicated to us that we had to say it at the door of the church.

And that on October 18^th we should tell it to Fr. Valentín, so that he could say it at the Pines at 10:30 at night.

The Virgin told us to do it this way.

On August 17, 1961, something took place which we are going to mention, which shows us the Virgin’s kindness for her four angelic little girls. Conchita wrote:

On the next day and at the same time as the previous day, the Most Holy Virgin appeared to the four of us.

And for several minutes she was smiling very much.

And she didn’t say anything to us.

After a few minutes, darkness came upon us, and we heard a voice call us.

Then Mari Cruz said, “Tell us who you are; if you don’t we will go home.”

While we were hearing the voice, it was very dark.

And we didn’t see the Virgin.

But afterwards she came.

And it became very light.

And she said to us, “Don’t be afraid.”

And she spoke to us for a while.

And that night was the first night that she kissed us, one by one.

And then she left.

In the last part of Chapter VII, I mentioned how the little girls kissed the Virgin tenderly on each cheek at the end of the ecstasies. The Virgin never stopped being a mother in showing signs of maternal affection.

It is in this passage that I just quoted that Conchita mentioned the Virgin’s first kiss to the young girls in ecstasy.

Conchita continues.

The next day, (August 18^th) almost at the same hour, the Virgin appeared to us again. The first thing that she told us was to recite the rosary.

Since we had never led it, she told us: “I’m going to lead it and you answer.”

She prayed very slowly.

Coming to the “Salve,” she told us to sing it, and we sang it.

When we finished the rosary she kissed us, and before leaving she said, “I will come back tomorrow.”

The following day, (August 19^th), as she had foretold, she came and she told us the same thing as on the previous day, “Recite the rosary.”

And we began the rosary.

And that night we went to the places where the Virgin had appeared to us at the beginning.

And after our ecstasy the people said that we had gone up to the Pines, and that we had gone from pine to pine on our knees, praying.

Conchita then reveals to us an important detail.

Up to then, in all the ecstasies, we have been the four together. Jacinta, Mari Cruz, Mary Loli, and myself.

But then we started to have ecstasies separately, each one in her home.

And so the Most Holy Virgin called us even though we were not together but separated. But we always saw the Most Holy Virgin in ecstasy.

Another sign of maternal tenderness to note:

And during that ecstasy, while we were seeing the Virgin, Mari Cruz, who had seen an apparition earlier, was in bed.

And we told the Virgin that she should tell us a song to sing to Mari Cruz.

We would compose some words, and the Virgin would aid us with others.

The songs were the following:

Get up Mari Cruz!
Here comes the good Virgin
With a basket of flowers
For her little child.

Mari Cruz, Mari Cruz!
How sad you make us.
Pray hard to the Virgin,
So that she will return to you.

Mari Cruz, Mari Cruz!
Do you smell the lilies?
The Virgin has brought them for you,
So that you will be better.

That night the Most Holy Virgin stayed with us from nine in the evening until 7 o’clock in the morning.

That night, we played Los Tios (hide and seek) with the Virgin. Two of us hid and the other two searched.

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The Most Holy Virgin commanded the four: Loli, Jacinta, Mari Cruz and myself to recite the rosary at the Cuadro.

We went some days at 6 o’clock in the morning; and some days later.

Jacinta and Mari Cruz went at 7 o’clock in the morning.

Loli did not have an hour fixed.

As Mari Cruz did not get up so early, she decided it was better to go at 8 o’clock.

Jacinta went at 6 o’clock, accompanied by her mother and people from the village who always accompanied us.

During Holy Week, I was ordered to go at 5 o’clock in the morning, which I did, since the Most Holy Virgin wants us always to do penance.

***

It might be mentioned here — to emphasize Conchita’s remarks — that when the children were asked why the Virgin came at such late hours, they answered that the Virgin told them that it was at that time most of the sins of the world were committed and that they should do penance . . . And for them it was a penance, and not the smallest, to stay up until the Virgin came to visit them, late in the night, or very early in the morning. They performed this penance because the Virgin wanted it and also because they wanted to see her again.

They stayed awake then, or else they slept on a chair or stool, leaning against a wall or a table, but out of bed. Unless, of course, their parents had decided otherwise, since the Virgin had told them that they ought to obey their parents above all.

***

From the beginning of the apparitions, the Virgin adapted herself to the children to capture their attention and gain their confidence, achieving her planned purpose that way. A mother does not stop being a mother when she plays with her young children; that is even one of her duties.

Some of the priests and faithful saw reasons in this to deny the supernatural character of the actual happenings.

Afterwards, the Virgin concerned herself with their spiritual life, teaching them the life of grace, and certain virtues, always adapting her instruction to their level of understanding.

***

The Virgin always performed the role of a priest in regard to “extraordinary” instruction when the priest did not perform his ministry or could not perform it. She watched maternally over the spiritual life of her young children.

 

Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XIX)

CHAPTER XIX

Levitations

I know of many cases of levitation that took place at Garabandal.

One case was photographed, and its copy on slides has been spread throughout the entire world. It is interesting to note that the photographer noticed the actual phenomenon only after the film was developed.

Another levitation took place at the very small bridge — now gone — which was in front of the church. On that day, the brook that it crossed was full. The four girls, in ecstasy, were holding arms. The bridge was not wide enough to permit the passage of the four girls abreast, which is what they did nevertheless; one or two of them consequently had to pass outside of the bridge on the water, without, however getting their feet wet.

Another time I was in Conchita’s kitchen, with 2 priests, a young Mexican, the well known commander of the Civil Police at Puentenansa, Dr. Celestino Ortiz from Santander, and Aniceta.

In ecstasy, Conchita had an obvious levitation, properly observed. She was stretched out on the ground, her whole length, her arms a little extended from her body, the palms of her hands pointing upwards.

We saw her rise up to the height of about ten centimeters (4 inches) while holding the same stretched-out position. After that she made three movements of balancing, from front to back and from back to front, as if to show us that she was really separated from the ground.

After a minute and a half — we checked the time — she started to descend very slowly, her body always completely and modestly stretched out until she came down to the ground.

We all signed a report of this extraordinary fact and we gave it to Father Valentín for him to send it to the Bishop of Santander.

 

Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XVIII)

CHAPTER XVIII

Feigned Ecstasies

It appears to me that what might be called the “faked ecstasies” deserves a special chapter.

Conchita mentions these ‘ecstasies’ in her diary and it is good to cite extensively what she wrote:

At times the three of us wanted to be together. As our parents didn’t allow us to be out of the house at night, sometimes when we went outside after the rosary — having already had two calls — we looked upwards as if we were seeing the Virgin.

And so we went together down the street with our parents and the people. And later, the Virgin came and we were together. We always ended up seeing the Virgin.

We never faked the entire ecstasy.

We are coming to a definite fact that I would like to point out.

We are in 1961 when I think no one would have suspected such actions. One day, I remember it well, I was in a state of consternation. I had the impression that Jacinta and Loli had pretended to be in ecstasy — during a part at least — although during the day the other ecstasies had been real.

Here is how I became aware of this. While the children were running very fast, a youth with a good sense of humor, through his jokes was making everyone laugh, including the visionaries!

I noticed another unusual thing. He and I sometimes were talking in a loud voice. If he said, “They should turn to the right.” And I advised them to turn to the left, the girls would always listen to my advice. My companion was amazed. He could not have been aware of how I was hurt by what I was observing. He even said to me, “How did you guess that?” I wanted to say to him, “If you would pay more attention, you would understand.” But I kept quiet, waiting for the right time to come.

It did not take long.

This “ecstasy” finished, the two visionaries and I were at Mari Cruz’ home.

She was sitting on her bed with a cold. Her mother Pilar was at the foot of the bed. Loli and Jacinta were sitting on the bed; Jacinta on my left, Loli on my right. Taking a place in front of them and looking into their eyes, when they least expected it, I told them point blank:

— “Today you faked the last ecstasy!”

Instantly becoming red as a beet, hiding her face in her hands, her elbows on her knees, Loli exclaimed:

— “Oh! What a thing!”

Jacinta started crying:

— “I’m going to tell my mama that you don’t believe that we are seeing the Virgin.”

“It isn’t that,” I said to them. “Yes, I believe that you are seeing the Virgin; but right now you have pretended to be in ecstasy . . . Because of your age, that doesn’t have too much importance, since you aren’t aware of the harm that you can cause.

“But suppose that some day a theologian or an important doctor would come here to study the events. And if he would see you — as I have just seen you — pretending an ecstasy, and if he could not come to see you later, no one could affirm that there were real ecstasies here, for a person could not be convinced of the opposite of what he would have seen with his eyes!

“I could have been fooled today, but I don’t think so. I know this time you have been faking. And it is not necessary to be a fox to recognize it.”

Mari Cruz’ mother also scolded them for their conduct and quickly left her daughter’s room.

Three months later I was with Loli and I knew that during the interval one could sometimes still recognize one or another simulation.

— “Then, Loli, have you been faking with Jacinta?”

— “Do you know what Jacinta said when you left Mari Cruz’ house?”

— “No.”

— “What a rascal! How he caught us!”

***

I mentioned at the start of the chapter that Conchita informed us about the faked ecstasies in her diary.

She gave me other reasons or explanations on this subject; here are some of them:

— “During one of the pretended ecstasies, God punished me. While coming down from the Pines, I had a terrible fall. I thought I was going to die of pain. I don’t think I could have suffered more by dying. I hid the pain and no one noticed it. After that fall the Virgin came for real. I was really fallen into ecstasy.”

— “Father, we only pretended an ecstasy before persons we knew and residents of the village.”

— “We only did it if we knew for certain that the Virgin was going to come later.”

— “We only did it a half hour before the apparition. The Virgin would punish us by coming later than the hour set, and she would always reproach us severely for our conduct.”

— “She knew that if we sometimes pretended, it was because of the irresistible desire we had for the joy of seeing her.”

 

Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XVII)

CHAPTER XVII

Returning the Kissed Articles

The girls frequently returned rosaries, medals and chains, crucifixes, holy cards, etc. to their owners during the ecstasies. They also put wedding rings on married people, on the proper finger.
One day, I left a white metal crucifix on the little table where Loli had placed the articles to give to the Virgin. Since she was not able to observe this, she searched all day to find the owner. On this subject, she questioned one of my friends from Cataluña, who could not answer her since she had not seen me either.
That evening, I was sitting in Conchita’s kitchen. Once again, Loli came in ecstasy, accompanied by her father and other visitors. She knelt down on the floor and held out her crucifix to kiss. She came toward me and she did the same, using the crucifix that she held in her hand. She remained in front of me, trying to give me something else.
Because of my poor vision and being more attentive to her face than her hands, I didn’t notice her intention.
“Father,” Ceferino said to me then, “She’s giving you another crucifix.”

It was the metal crucifix that I left in her home that morning without being seen by anyone. The young woman from Cataluña, astonished likewise, cried out in speaking to Loli, as if the girl could hear her:
— “Oh, see then to whom the cross belongs that has concerned her so much all day!”
That was one of the most moving moments of my life.

Memoirs of a Spanish Country Priest (Chapter XVI)

CHAPTER XVI

The Priests and the Visionaries

I have noticed and can testify that the girls had a great respect and actual admiration for the priesthood.

Generally, when they were in ecstasy in the houses, they knelt in front of the priests in order to hold the holy crucifix to their lips.

Sometimes they carried this politeness even further.

It was on July 3, 1962 . . .

After the recitation of the rosary, the four young girls were together in ecstasy. We went up to the Pines and made some walks around them. This was done in total darkness, by flashlight. Now I have poor vision. At the time of coming back down again to the village, I stayed behind the last person in order to walk undisturbed, clinging to the stones and high bushes. I was not concerned that the girls and their numerous following were getting far away from me. Certainly I would not be the first one down, but I knew that I would finish by actually arriving there.

Abruptly, the entire procession stopped, permitting me to rejoin it. Then it started up again, going away from me again. It stopped. I came up to it a second time. Soon the procedure began again and there was a third stop.

As I was rejoining the group, I saw people coming toward me. Thinking that the four visionaries were going up again to the Pines, I stepped aside to let them pass.

Not at all. The visionaries were coming to find me . . .

— “Father,” Ceferino said to me then, “They want you to kiss the crucifix.”

I heard a woman who confirmed this, since she had heard these things well:

— “Oh, the girls are waiting for a priest . . . ”

The girls never failed to show an attitude of respect, reverence, politeness, and preference for the priesthood.

***

Even more, one or another priest was at times heard by the girls during an ecstasy.

Ordinarily, in similar cases, the girls did not speak with persons around them. The girls did not hear the people speaking to them. They only heard their companions and only spoke with them, even if these were not in ecstasy. The latter were given the task of speaking to the girls in ecstasy if that was necessary or useful to the spectators.

Nevertheless, on several occasions, the girls responded directly to the questions and thoughts of Father Valentín. And this happened once to me.

It was in Conchita’s kitchen, on the day of the episode with Loli’s crucifix. Loli in ecstasy in the kitchen, went to the window to present the cross to be kissed. As she passed in front of me, I said to her,

— “And not to me?”

Lightening struck. Since she could not have appeared more amazed. She turned around swiftly, laughed loudly, And answered my request.

***

The visionaries obeyed the priests willingly and directly. Better than that, while smiling.

I was at Jacinta’s house. Loli and her sister, Amaliuca, had returned an envelope to me containing 2 postcards that I did not have the time to look at. I knew only that they had been dedicated and I intended to have them kissed by the Virgin . . . to have a relic.

Mari Cruz was at my side in the normal state. I used the opportunity to send her to meet Jacinta, who was in the village in ecstasy;

— “Tell her that she should come home to present my holy cards for the Virgin’s kiss.”

Jacinta did not wait. She came into the kitchen, fell on her knees, made her way toward me, still on her knees. She gave me her crucifix to kiss. She got up, took one of the two cards in her hand, raised it up high, as the visionaries had the custom of doing when they held some object to the Virgin’s lips. I saw her drop her arm. She raised it up again, dropped it down again, and for a third time made the same gesture.

— “She doesn’t kiss this one,” she whispered.

She offered the second and the Virgin kissed it.

Surprised by this, I finally looked at the two cards and understood immediately. The first, (this may have belonged to Loli’s sister Amaliuca) was not religious, while the other one was a picture of St. Pascal Baylon. I gave these two cards to Father Morelos, a Mexican priest, so that he would have the joy of possessing at least a souvenir from the Virgin of Garabandal.

The Great Prince: St. Michael and Garabandal

Written by Barry Hanratty

Saint Michael is one of those amazing spiritual beings, created by God, that we call angels. They are of a higher order than humans, and not limited by space or distance, have far greater powers. And while angels number at least in the billions, they are all individuals with their own personality. At one point in their existence, their fidelity to God was put to the test and those who would remain faithful looked to one of their number to lead them—Michael. So who is this mighty angel whom billions of angels followed? How much do we really know about him, and why should we have devotion to him? What the Fathers Say Saint Michael is commonly referred to as "Prince of the Heavenly Hosts" implying that he outranks all other angels, however, the Fathers of the Church did not all agree on that point. Saint Thomas Aquinas considered him only as the leader of the angels, the lowest of the nine choirs, (1) while Saint Bonaventure saw him as chief of the Seraphim, the highest choir. But Saint Basil and the other Greek Fathers as well as Saint Robert Bellarmine and other Latins, place Saint Michael over all the angels. They explained that he is called archangel because he is above the rest, in the same sense that an archbishop is above a bishop. This position of primacy for Michael among the angels is reflected in the Roman liturgy. He is the only angel mentioned in the unchangeable parts of the (Traditional) Mass and the Prayer to Saint Michael is included in the prayers said by the priest and people directly after low Mass. The Greek Liturgy calls him Archistrategos, "highest general." For Christians, Saint Michael's renown comes chiefly from the Book of Revelation, chapter 12: Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. As the mighty warrior angel who led the good angels in their ferocious battle against Lucifer and his cohorts, Saint Michael has been forever revered. And his name which means "Who is like God?" has come down to us as testimony of his submission to God while Lucifer's "I will not serve" recalls that great former angel's primal act of disobedience and revolt against God. The Jews also had great veneration for Michael. It is mentioned in the Book of Daniel that Michael, the great prince (a name in the old testament for angel) was Guardian of the People under the Old Law. Naturally for Christians, he became Guardian of the Church under the new dispensation. Michael is mentioned four times in holy scripture: twice in Daniel, once in Revelation and once in the Letter of Jude where he contends with the Devil over the body of Moses and says to his adversary: "May God rebuke you," words which appear in the great Prayer to Saint Michael composed by Leo XIII: "Saint Michael the Archangel defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him…" But the Fathers see Saint Michael in other passages of scripture as well even though he is not specifically mentioned by name. They say he was the cherub who stood at the gate of paradise, "to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24), the angel through whom God issued to his chosen people the Decalogue, the angel who stood in the way against Balaam (Numbers 22:22 seq.), the angel who routed the army of Sennacherib (IV Kings 19:35). Following these Scriptural passages, Christian tradition gives to Saint Michael four offices: • To fight against Satan. • To rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death. • To be the champion of God's people, the Jews in the Old Law, the Christians in the New Testament; therefore he was the patron of the Church, and of the orders of knights during the Middle Ages. • To call away from earth and bring men's souls to judgment. (2) Saint Michael at Garabandal What we have seen thus far from Scripture and the Fathers is that Saint Michael is an angel of important events. His appearing at Garabandal then indicates the critical nature of those happenings, and resonates with that passage from the Book of Daniel, chapter 12: At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation until that time. While the above quote, which deals with the end of the world, may not necessarily refers to Saint Michael's appearance at Garabandal, there is one point worth considering. In all the times the Blessed Virgin appeared throughout the Marian era, which began in the mid-nineteenth century, she was never accompanied by Saint Michael—until Garabandal.

Fulfilling His Role

Even during the Garabandal apparitions themselves, Saint Michael showed himself to be an angel of important events. He was the first to appear and thereby "opened" the events—with the all-important Message, most likely in Latin, beneath his feet.

He prepared the way for Our Lady's coming, announced when she would appear and then, with another angel whom Jacinta said was Saint Gabriel, accompanied her on her first visit.

He fulfilled in these events another office that the Church gives him— Guardian of the Eucharist. After instructing the seers on the proper way to receive Communion using unconsecrated hosts, He brought them Holy Communion as this excerpt from Conchita's Diary shows:

One day he asked us to go to the Pines in the morning without eating anything... When we reached the Pines, the Angel appeared to us with a goblet that looked like gold. He said to us: "I am going to give you Holy Communion but this time the Hosts are consecrated. Recite the I Confess." We recited it and then he gave us Holy Communion. Afterwards, he told us that we should give thanks to God. When we had done this, he told us to recite with him the prayer Soul of Christ. This we did also.

These mystical Communions, invisible to onlookers, became a regular feature at Garabandal although the Angel usually only came to give the seers Communion when there was no priest available in the village to do so. On one occasion, the Host Conchita received from Saint Michael did become visible to spectators. This "Little Miracle" as Conchita called it, which occurred on the night of July 18-19, 1962, had been announced to Conchita by the great Archangel 19 days in advance.

One month prior to the Miracle of the Host, Saint Michael was again on the scene at a critical time when he appeared by himself to the visionaries— but not to give them Holy Communion. His sudden presence should have been a warning. It was June 18, 1962, the anniversary of his first appearance at Garabandal, and it was the eve of two visions at Garabandal that can only be described as shattering. On those two "Nights of Screams" (June 19-20, 1962), the visionaries screamed in terror as they saw scenes of the communist persecution to precede the Warning, and the Chastisement that will come if the world does not change.

Yet another important event in which the Archangel had a hand, was the announcement of the great Miracle. It was he, and not Our Lady, who on January 15,1963, revealed the date to Conchita.

On June 18, 1965, Saint Michael completed his role of being there for important events. It was four years to the day and in the same place, la calleja, where he first appeared with the Message beneath his feet. This time he had another Message, the second and last one, which he delivered to Conchita on behalf of Our Lady.

Why Should We Have Devotion to Him?

From the moment we are conceived in our mother's womb, we have an enemy. Some never even make it out of the womb, at least not alive, and the practice of abortion can only be attributed to the work of the Devil.

Against this malignant spirit who throughout our lives tries to lead us away from the sure path to Heaven, God sets Our Lady—and Saint Michael, the one who drove him out of heaven. Because of the ever presence of Satan, we should not hesitate to call upon Saint Michael to "defend us in battle" against him. And the mighty Archangel can and will help us in our daily struggles. And let us not forget his other role as heavenly physician. Since God has given us such a powerful advocate, we should take advantage of this universal Guardian.

It was at Garabandal that Our Lady for the first time in her many earthly appearances, asked that a chapel be built to someone other than herself—and it was to Saint Michael.

When the Virgin first appeared, Saint Michael announced her coming. When he himself first appeared, his coming was announced by a clap of thunder, a sign that this manifestation of the angel of important events, the Great Prince and Guardian of the Church, was the herald of momentous happenings.

Saint Michael the Archangel pray for us.

Barry Hanratty is Editor of Garabandal Journal, PO Box 1796, St. Cloud, MN 56302-1796, U.S.A. This article was republished with permission from the Journal. 

Notes

(1) Summa la. 113.3.

(2) Catholic Encyclopedia.