We are Her Children

Dear Friends,

Just a few short days ago, July 2, we commemorated the anniversary of the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Garabandal. With the angel four years of graces began, a story of love. With the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin a precious time started, to which we can only respond by saying: thank you!

The Blessed Virgin came to show herself as Mother. There is a hymn to Our Lady from the ninth century with the words “Monstra te esse Matrem” (show yourself as Mother). In Garabandal She did this to an extraordinary extent, even from the very first apparition. Such was the closeness that She showed that the girls remember how they told her everything with simplicity, with confidence, and that She was “like a mother who, when her daughter hasn’t seen her in a long time, tells her everything … She was our mother from heaven!”

Mother of the Church

In 1964, four years after the first apparition, the dogmatic constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium was published, an important part of which is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the mystery of Christ and the Church. At the end of the Council Pope Saint Paul VI proclaimed Mary “Mother of the Church.” We are seeing a maternal act of the Mother of God towards the members of the mystical body of her Son, towards us. The Blessed Virgin is not far from us, but rather is very close; She is our Mother. Jesus gave her to us from the cross and the Church ratifies this motherhood over us. The Council says, “The Son whom she brought forth is He whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, namely the faithful, in whose birth and education she cooperates with a maternal love” (Lumen Gentium, 63). Curiously, at the same time that the apparitions in Garabandal were taking place, which are notable for this closeness, this maternity where She teaches, guides, educates her children, the Church—in one of the most important documents of the Council—teaches the Christian people that She is certainly Mother. She cooperates with her yes to the generation and education of the members of the Church. She exercises over us a true maternity, “She is our mother in the order of grace,” the Council will say. This is because “She conceived, brought forth and nourished Christ. She presented Him to the Father in the temple, and was united with Him by compassion as He died on the Cross. In this singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Savior in giving back supernatural life to souls” (Lumen Gentium, 61).

Mediatrix

The Council also states that Mary’s motherhood “sustained without wavering” and that “taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continued to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation” (ibid., 62). The Council understands well, and also clarifies, that Christ is the sole Mediator, and that calling Mary “Mediatrix,” “Help,” or “Helper” in no way detracts from Christ and His unique mediation. It is understood that She continues to do for her children what She did at the wedding at Cana (cf. Jn 2:1–11): She intercedes, She points out to Jesus, “They have no wine,” but it is Jesus, who is God, who performs the miracle. Indeed, the Council states, “unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source.” And who better to cooperate than his Most Holy Mother, the Virgin, the purest, the Immaculate, the Ever Virgin?

We are her children

If she is our Mother, we are her children. This truth is a source of comfort. I have a Mother in Heaven—and not just any Mother, but Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of Heaven and Earth. After Christ, she occupies the highest place and is the closest to us. Her exalted dignity does not cause her to distance herself from us as someone unreachable; on the contrary, because She is so holy and so close to the Lord, we must draw closer to her. Like a good mother, She wants to guide us: “Do this,” “Don’t do that”—when will we listen to her?

Sixty-five years have passed since the Virgin’s first apparition, but her presence, her messages, and her teachings remain relevant today. Let us take time to reflect on all of this. I encourage you to read the chapter on the Virgin Mary in Lumen Gentium and marvel at the greatness of this Mother who has drawn so close to us.

May God bless you,

Team Garabandal.it

https://www.garabandal.it/

AN EXPERIENCE IN GARABANDAL

 

José María Pemán and Garabandal

 

 

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Román Martínez del Cerro was an eyewitness of the apparitions at San Sebastián de Garabandal during eleven days in July 1962. His father, Miguel Martínez del Cerro, was a good friend of the prestigious, Spanish writer who cultivated all literary genres: José María Pemán. Both professors worked together in the summer classes at the University of Seville in Cádiz. In this article, Román relates the moment in which his father told José María Pemán about his experience in Garabandal. José María Pemán never stated his opinion publicly on the topic, however it is likely that his friendship and appreciation for Miguel Martínez del Cerro inclined him toward an openness to the possibility of the supernatural character of the events, awaiting the Church’s final statement.

If I had to summarize in one sentence the sensations I perceived at San Sebastián de Garabandal during those eleven days I spent there in July 1962, I would say: “Our Blessed Mother’s happy and delightful visit.”

Continue reading this article here:

https://www.garabandal.it/en/documentation/interviews-and-testimonies/jose-maria-peman-and-garabandal

An interview with Conchita.

Garabandal y la Virgen del Carmen.

  ·

(Excerpt from an interview with Conchita. )

P. Did you "see" the Miracle or were told about it?

R. The Virgin told me and made me understand exactly what it will consist of.

P. Were you alone or with the other girls when Our Lady told you about the Miracle?

R. I don't remember. [Note from the editorial board: According to the notes of Father Valentin Marichalar, priest of Garabandal at that time, Conchita was alone when she received this message. ]

P. What will the Miracle be like?

R. Even if I tried to explain it, I couldn't get it right. It's better to wait and see.

P. Would you like to repeat the information relating to the months during which we can expect the Miracle to happen?

R. From March to May.

P. Some say that the way you will announce a Miracle will itself be a "Miracle". Could you explain it?

R. I think the way it will be announced will be another miracle, because it is a big responsibility for me and it will take me a miracle to say it.

P. If I am far from the village, in the mountains, but I can see the pine trees, will I clearly see the Miracle? If I'm sick, will I heal at that distance?

R. You will be able to witness the Miracle clearly, and God willing, you will be healed.

P. It has been said that elsewhere in the US. and Europe, other Marian sanctuaries can be visited and healed that day. What do you know about that?

R. The Virgin didn't tell us anything about this matter.

P. Those who firmly believe that the Miracle will occur but cannot attend due to their circumstances, for example, for being priests and religious of closing, will they receive any special grace on that day?

R. Personally, I don't know. It depends on the people, their desires, their faith, their sacrifice and obedience.

[Many years ago, Conchita's grandfather planted the pines on a slope that dominated the village of Garabandal. Our Lady told Conchita that after the Miracle, there would be a permanent and supernatural sign in the Pinar that could be seen, photographed and televised but not touched. ]

 

 

The Pines. 

 Conchita today.

 

Conchita's prayer for the new year

 From https://www.garabandal.it/en/

 

Conchita González, one of the Garabandal visionaries, wrote this prayer in her Diary on January 1, 1967. This simple prayer can also become our petition as the new year begins. There are so many things that we can ask Our Lord, but we also have so much to be thankful for.
Let us do the same as Conchita. May we have a grateful heart that asks for what it needs with trust. Notice that she prays for everyone that spreads the message. We cannot keep the message of Our Blessed Mother to ourselves. We have to spread it and make it known so that it may be lived.

Let us pray this prayer.

CONCHITA’S PRAYER—JANUARY 1, 1967

Mother, I pray that this new year
That I not be vain.
I ask you also for sincerity, gratitude and
Love for You.

Lord, this is what I ask of you this year:
Give me the spirit of sacrifice, of prayer.
Let me receive Communion with more fervor,
And visit the Blessed Sacrament more often.

Forgive me, Lord.
Thank you for all of the good that you have given us.
Thank you for all of the good that you have given my family and
Forgive us for not always doing what you ask.
Lord, thank you for this new year and forgive me for last year.

Lord, I pray for all those whom you have commended to me.
Above all for those who need you most.
Lord, I also pray for the souls in Purgatory.
I pray for all of the sick.
For those who spread the message;
And for those who don’t want to know anything about the message.
I pray for everyone.

I also pray for those who write to me now,
And for all who have written to me telling me about their needs.
Lord, I tell You about them,
Although I cannot tell you about all of them,
Lord, you already know.

Mother, listen to all of us,
Tell your Son
And help and give them what they pray for,
If it is for your greater glory and Jesus'
And for the good of our souls.

Lord, forgive those you have entrusted to me.
Lord, I pray so that your message will spread more and more
And that all who spread the message
Will do it for You.
Lord, thank you for them.
Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Hail, Mary Most Pure,
Conceived without sin.

Amen.

 

GARABANDAL PROPHECIES 2026 : CONCHITA's Clues that Reveal the Date of the GREAT MIRACLE [video]

 

Don’t Fall Asleep!

 

This Advent we offer you a word to listen to and to live: Wake up.

We are often asleep in our practice of faith, charity, and hope. We have nearly forgotten that the Lord told us to keep watch because we do not know the day nor the hour of his return. Advent arrives to remind us of this. Christ promised that He would return, but we do not know when. Meanwhile, He has told us to keep watch and pray. We can take seriously these words of Christ, and really make an effort to put them into practice and not waste time this Advent.

In Garabandal, we know that many times the girls, and all those who were with them, used to wait for the apparition late into the night. They stayed awake and waited for the Virgin Mary. Maria Jose Alvarez, witness of the apparitions, gives us this information: “After going from house to house where apparitions were going to take place, we sat on a bench in front of the window of Conchita’s house. The kitchen was full and the door open. The Rosary was being prayed and we answered from outside. At 6:00am the people who were in the kitchen decided to go outside so that we could go in case we were cold.
Conchita and her mother were sitting at both sides of the fire. Aniceta was more awake of the two, and I said to her: “Why don’t they go to bed, knowing that the Virgen Mary won’t come until later?” Aniceta answered me, “Knowing that the Blessed Virgin is coming, the least we can do is stay up to wait for her.”

This is the attitude that we should have now and always before the Lord’s coming: remain interiorly awake, that is, be prepared.

“The exhortation to watch and pray so as to be ready to meet the Lord sounds as vibrant and timely as ever” (Homily of St. John Paul II, 1st Sunday of Advent, 1997).

The Lord is coming and hopes to find the doors open. When he comes to our heart, may what happened on the day of his birth not be repeated: “There was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). “Open the doors to Christ, your Savior” (St. John Paul II).

We ask the Virgin Mary for her aid. “Turn your gaze to Mary. Her whole life tells you that nothing is impossible for God. By imitating her and constantly invoking her, you will be able, like her, to bring joy and love” (St. John Paul II).

From  https://www.garabandal.it/en/

Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory

 

Here we offer you an old prayer to the souls in Purgatory that the now elderly at San Sebastian de Garabandal learned from the lips of their elders. Generation after generation has prayed to aid the souls of their relatives and friends suffering in Purgatory. Hopefully this prayer helps us to interiorize the important teaching that each one of our words, actions, and omissions has eternal consequences. No one enters heaven without having purified him or herself perfectly. Moreover, it is a spiritual work of mercy to pray for the souls in Purgatory. Let's spread this prayer. One day we might need others to pray it for us.

 

As in all the Catholic Church's tradition, at San Sebastian de Garabandal it was a very ingrained custom to pray for the souls in Purgatory. The Virgin Mary herself would take the girls to the cemetery to pray for the dead during the ecstasies. The witnesses remember very moving scenes, like the time when Conchita and Mari Loli walked upon the holy grounds and laid the crucifix they were carrying upon each tomb and then gave it the Virgin Mary to kiss. They also remember when Conchita put her cross through the iron gate giving the impression that she was offering the cross to be kissed by souls that only she could see. "The hardest hearts were moved," Maximina Gonzalez remembers.

The Spanish Civil Guard brigadier, Juan Alvarez Seco, notes in his memories of the Virgin Mary's apparitions at San Sebastian de Garabandal: “The inhabitants have very religious customs. They never forget, under any circumstances, to pray the Angelus as soon as the clock strikes noon. In the afternoon, they pray the holy rosary, led by the parish priest, or in his absence, by the schoolmistress or Maximina, a widow. Upon nightfall, Simon’s wife (Jacinta’s mother) goes out through the village with a lantern and rings a bell to remind everyone to say the last prayers of the day.”

Among these last prayers mentioned by the Brigadier, there was a very special memory for the souls in Purgatory in all of the homes. We have retrieved one of these prayers from the lips of Manolita Mazon. It is a truly beautiful catechesis about Purgatory and the very close connection we ought to have with the souls who dwell there. The ancient principle, "Lex orandi, lex credendi," is right. It means that what we pray is what we believe in, because prayer instills in us the eternal truths that our lips proclaim. "The Church believes how she prays," the Catechism of the Catholic Church says in number 1124.

Here we offer you an old prayer to the souls in Purgatory that the now elderly at San Sebastian de Garabandal learned from the lips of their elders. Generation after generation has prayed to aid the souls of their relatives and friends suffering in Purgatory. Hopefully this prayer helps us to interiorize the important teaching that each one of our words, actions, and omissions has eternal consequences. No one enters heaven without having purified him or herself perfectly. Moreover, it is a spiritual work of mercy to pray for the souls in Purgatory. Let's spread this prayer. One day we might need others to pray it for us.

 

Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory
Prayed at San Sebastian de Garabandal for many years.

Very dear spouses of the Lord,
enclosed in the prison of Purgatory,
you who suffer unspeakable pains while in want of God's presence
until purified, like gold in the crucible,
of the remains of your faults.
How rightfully do you cry out to your friends
from those voracious flames, begging for mercy!

I sympathize with your pain
and would like to supply enough [merits]
to satisfy for you before the Divine Justice.
Yet, being poorer than you,
I appeal to the piety of the just,
the prayers of the blessed,
the unfathomable treasure of the Church,
the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
and the infinite price of the Blood of Jesus Christ.
Grant, oh Lord, these poor souls
their longed for consolation and rest.

I also trust, grateful souls,
that I will have powerful intercessors in you,
who will obtain from the Lord [for me]
grace to detest my sins,
advance in virtue,
subdue my passions,
and reach the eternal beatitude
for all eternity. Amen.

From  www.garabandal.it