Thursday, April 30, 2009

A LETTER FROM CONCHITA

Conchita of Garabandal 10Image by garabandal archives via Flickr
 This Letter from Conchita was dated 26th May 1972 and was previously published in Needles Magazine

Ave Maria
Dear Workers of
the Blessed Virgin
Although these words are
only mine, accept them on faith
as representing the wish of the
Blessed Virgin for each one of
us. Fulfill and make others fulfill
the Message by your example,
prayers and words. We are now
nearing the last times.
God’s Messages to us are not
(only) things to remember and
admire. We must fulfill them
and spread them. The harvest
is great and the time very short.
Christian unity is necessary
among the workers. Through it,
you receive more graces from
God.
He who seeks God will
always find Him. One can find
Him in church as well as at
a dance, in a drunken person
and a drug addict as well as in
a priest. It only depends upon
the love and confidence that the
person feels for God.
Do you want to be happy?
Then retire alone with God for
a few minutes. Place yourself
in the presence of God and
of your own soul. Then with
utter sincerity, recognize your
faults. Ask God for the grace
to overcome them and try with
all your strength day after day,
moment by moment, to correct
them. Then you will begin to
feel completely happy. Your
faults are the only things that
will make you feel miserable
and unhappy. Also, in your
moments of intimacy with God,
remember the qualities that God
has given you. Put them to good
use, and give Him thanks. I
assure you whoever reads these
lines that you will be happy.
Remember that this life is a
journey where the trail we must
follow has been blazed by the life
of Christ. Do you suffer? Fine,
Christ goes before you. Carry
your suffering with joy because
when you suffer, God is closer
to you. Are you happy? That is
fi ne, too. It provides a rest on
your journey. You have to reach
the goal in this way, walking
and resting. Walking is to suffer,
and resting is to be happy. The
goal is heaven, the house of the
Father where the Blessed Virgin
waits with outstretched arms to
receive you and admit you very
quickly. She will not let St Peter
detain you very long. She, with
her mother’s heart, will quickly
obtain the eternal happiness you
seek.
Give God your will and
ask the Blessed Virgin never
to permit you to do anything
contrary to God’s designs for
you. Ask her also to teach you
to be happy and to smile in your
suffering. Pray for me.
“Walking is to suffer …. resting is to be happy”

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Hymn to Our Lady of Garabandal



Dear Lady of Garabandal we heard
Your message of sorrow and fear
We pilgrims have come from across the sea
To answer with penance and tears.
Chorus:
Ave, Ave Maria
A world that is selfish and blind
Beg the sweet mercy and blessings
Of Jesus on all of mankind.
At Garabandal you repeat again
With Motherly love and with pain
The need of our prayers and our sacrifice
If peace in the world is to reign.
(Chorus)
Dear Lady of Carmel we promise
To heed every word and obey
And visit the Most Blessed Sacrament
Where Jesus awaits us each day.
(Chorus)
By: Rev. John Szantyr
[From Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Hymn and Prayer Book]
God saves me, Jesus enlightens me, the Holy Spirit is my life, thus I fear nothing.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

CONCHITA’S DIARY- 15


DOCUMENTS
CONCHITA’S PRAYER—JANUARY 1, 1967
Mother, I ask you for this new year,
Not to 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 that 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 the greater glory of you and Jesus
And good for 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 to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Hail, Mary Most Pure,
Conceived without sin.

Amen.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Interviews with Mari-Loli regarding the Warning.

 
A recent photo of Mari-Loli Mazon Lafleur 
May she rest in peace!



Compiled by the staff of "Garabandal" and originally published in a 1990 Special Edition by The Workers of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, P.O. Box 606, Lindenhurst, NY 11757-0606, U.S.A. 
Mari Loli
July 27, 1975 (F)
Q. You have said that you know the year of the Warning. Can you tell us if it will occur in the next few years or is it still in the distant future?
A. No. I can't say anything.
 Q. Did the Blessed Mother tell you not to speak about the Warning?
A. No, she didn't , but, because the Warning and the Miracle are within the same year, I feel it inside not to say anything.
 Q. How do you know the Warning and the Miracle are within the same year"
A. During an apparition-I don't remember just when- the Blessed Virgin told me.
 Q. Reportedly, you have said that when the Warning occurs everything will stand still, even planes in the sky. Is this true?
A. Yes, but just for a few moments.
 Q. You mean that everything will stop at a given moment and at that moment the Warning will occur?
A. Yes.
 Q. When was this information revealed to you?
A. During an apparition the Blessed Virgin told me all this.
 Q. Was all the information given you during one apparition, or did Our Lady tell you this over several apparitions?
A. She told me all of this during one apparition. I don't remember now if she spoke about the Warning during any other apparition.
 Q. Do you know how long the Warning will last?
A. Jest a few minutes.
 Q. Are you afraid of the Warning?
A. Yes. Like everyone else, I have faults, and the warning will show me my faults and this makes me afraid.
 Q. Can you tell us anything else about the Warning?
A. All I can say is that it is very close and that it is very important that we prepare ourselves because it will be a terrible thing. It will make us feel all the wrong we have done.

February, 1977 (D)
Q. Have you ever discussed with Conchita the dates of the Warning of which you know the year, and the Miracle which she knows?
A. I have never talked to Conchita about these dates.
 Q. Have you any words of advice for the people in order that they might prepare for this event?
A. To do much penance, make sacrifices, visit the Blessed Sacrament every day that we are able to, and to pray the holy rosary daily.
 



September 29, 1978 (G)
Q. Since you are the one who knows the most about the Warning will you tell us if this event is to take place before the Miracle promised through Conchita Gonzalez?
A. ..Everyone will experience it wherever they may be, regardless of their condition or their knowledge of God...It will be an interior personal experience. it will look as if the world has come to a standstill,...however, no one will be aware of that as they will be totally absorbed in their own experience.
 Q. About the nature of the Warning, how do you sense it:
A. It is going to be something like and interior feeling of sorrow and pain for having offended God. God will help us to see clearly the harm we are causing Him and all the evil things we do. He will help us to sense this interior pain because often when we do something wrong we just ask the Lord's forgiveness with our lips, but now (through the Warning) He will help us sense physically that deep sorrow.

 
October 19, 1982 (H)
Q. Do you remember what the Blessed Mother said about the communist tribulation that is to precede the Warning?
A. It would look like the communists have taken over the whole world and it would be very hard to practice the religion, for priests to say Mass or for the people to open the doors of the churches.
 Q. Is that what you meant when you said that it would seem as though the Church had disappeared?
A. Yes.
 Q. It would be because of the persecution and not because the people would stop practicing their religion?
A. Yes, but I guess a lot of people will stop. Whoever practices it will have to go into hiding.
 Q. Will this only be in Europe or do you think it will be here in the United States as well?
A. I don't know because for me at that time, Europe was the whole world. I just assumed it was that way. The Blessed Mother didn't specify in what place. To me it looked like it was everywhere.
Q. Approximately 67% of the earth's land is now dominated by communism. Do you think that's sufficient to fulfill Our Lady's prophecy?
A. I really don't know. It sounded to me like it would be more that.
 Q. In other words you think it will be worse that it is now?
A. That's what I thought from what she said but I really don't know exactly. To me it looked more like it was every place out there, the places I saw in my mind. In a lot of countries in Europe you can still practice your religion.
 Q. So, the situation in the world is not bad enough for the Warning to happen?
A. The Warning is not going to happen yet so it's probably going to get worse.
 Q. You said that it would be very difficult for priests to say Mass. Was this something that the Blessed Mother told you or was it something that you thought yourself because of the communist tribulation?
A. From what I remember, it was something she said.
Q. And the Virgin said that it would seem as though the Church had disappeared?
A. Yes.
 Q. Did the Blessed Mother ever say anything about the Holy Father having to leave Rome at the time of the Warning?
A. No, But what it looked like to me-maybe at this time I was confusing in my mind what I was seeing and what the Blessed Mother was saying to me because it's been so many years- but what it looked like to me was that the Pope couldn't be in Rome either, you know what I mean, out in the open. He was being persecuted, too, and had to hide just like everybody else.
 Q. You said that when the Warning comes, the planes would stop in the air and that all engines would stop. is this what the Blessed Mother told you?
A. She said that everything, everywhere, for a moment would stop and the people would just think and look inside themselves.
 Q. Will there be any noise with the Warning like a wind blowing?
A. The way I saw it at the time, it was more like a big silence, like a sense of emptiness. Everything was very silent. That's the way I saw it.
 Q. Seven years ago you said that the Warning was soon. Many people thought it would have happened by now. What would you say today?
A. It is soon. Everything looks soon to me because time goes by so fast.
 Q. You're the only one who knows the year of the Warning. Did you ever tell it to anyone else, like a priest for example?
A. No.
 Q. Will people be fighting with one another when the warning comes?
A. (no answer)

Friday, April 24, 2009

CONCHITA’S DIARY- 14


DOCUMENTS
Part of the original text of some of Conchita’s notes.
“I would talk to you the whole day... but I would bore you. In the darkness of this silent night, and looking at the blue sky, I see your creation; the stars, the moon… all of these things that you have made for our good. I feel very united with you when looking at the sky… I want those who don’t know you and who are separated from you to accept my prayers and for you to accept my prayers this night, and also my timid and miserable sacrifices—so that these souls might be nearer to you, Jesus, and to Mary, Mother of the Church, especially for those that don’t know you.”
“Why have you chosen me, knowing what I am, to tell your sorrowful messages? It is a very great grace, and you know, my Jesus, that I realize the responsibility that I have. How will I fulfill it, Jesus? I cannot enter within the message and make them fulfill it, and some people believe that I have invented this! Why do you let this happen? You already know, that it cannot be completed like this, with them doubting. Oh, my Jesus, we meditate on your five wounds so that we can offer sacrifices happily. Forgive us Lord, because we are joined to you…”
“I would like to visit you more. I want to be your little light that calls and lights up for you and grows brighter to give light to souls that want to come where you are. I also want to be the part within the door of the tabernacle so I can be more united with You. I want to be so much, but I am nothing, nothing, nothing. But since I am the daughter of Mary, the Mother of God, I am redeemed with the Blood of Christ Crucified, and because of that I am something.”

Thursday, April 23, 2009

FROM PEWSITTER.COM:

Mari Loli, Seer From Marian Appartion at Garabandal Dies



By James Todd
Pewsitter.com



The picturesque village of Garabanal, Spain. site of the apparations which occured between 1961-1965
April 23, 2009 - Mari Loli Lafleur, better know to many as Mary Loli, one of the four Garabandal visionaries has died at the age of 60.  Joey Lomangino, the founder of the U.S. based apostolate for Garabandal issued a brief statement on April 21 announcing her death.  No specific date of death was given in this announcement but from the text in appears to have been on April 20th.  Attempts to contact Mr. Lomangino and the Garabandal Center for more information have been unreturned.   Information posted on several websites suggests that Mari Loli had been ill for sometime, having been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and Lupus back in 2002 at a hospital in Boston area hospital.

The Garabandal apparitions occurred between 1961 – 1965 in Garabandal Spain, a small village 55 miles southwest of Santander. There has been no official statement, issued from Rome, regarding the Church’s opinion on the events of Garabandal. The local Spanish Bishops have been predictably skeptical. However, in his  “Official Note” of July 8, 1965 Bishop Eugenio Beitia of Santander wrote, “We point out, however, that we have not found anything deserving of ecclesiastical censorship or condemnation either in the doctrine or in the spiritual recommendations that have been publicized as having been addressed to the faithful, for these contain an exhortation to prayer and sacrifice, to Eucharistic devotion, to veneration of Our Lady in traditional praiseworthy ways, and to holy fear of God offended by our sins. They simply repeat the common doctrine of the Church in these matters.”

At this juncture in time the apparitions have neither been condemned nor approved.

The Garabandal Prophecies predicted four supernatural events:

  • A worldwide warning to be experienced by everyone on earth. Its purpose would be to call humanity to amend its behavior and return to God.
  • A great miracle that will occur in the late winter or early spring within one year after the warning.
  • A Permanent sign that will remain for all time at a pine grove near Garabandal.
  • A terrible chastisement or punishment that is conditional to some extent, based upon how well mankind heeds the messages of Garabandal.
Mary Loli was the only seer, who knew the year of the warning. However, it is Conchita, one of the other visionaries, who knows the nature of the great miracle as well as the exact date – and she has been charged with announcing this to the world eight days before it happens. The "miracle," it was claimed, would occur within a year of the "warning".
More information about the Garabandal Apparition can be found here.  There are several video's on Youtube explaining the appartion.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

FROM SPIRITDAILY.COM:

 
SEER'S DEATH PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON DRAMA OF 'APPARITIONS' IN VILLAGE OF GARABANDAL
By Michael H. Brown
It is with sadness and respect that we note the passing of a well-known seer, Mari-Loli Lafleur, originally from the tiny mountain hamlet of San Sebastian de Garabandal in north-central Spain, but for decades now a resident of Boston.
It is the second death of a major visionary in a month, following that of Josyp Terelya in Toronto.
Mari Loli was sixty and one of four girls who claimed apparitions that started with a dazzling angel on June 18, 1961 and were followed -- on a nearly daily basis -- by apparitions, they alleged, of the Blessed Mother, 55 miles southwest of Santander.
Like Medjugorje, there were hundreds of appearances. There was also a similar stony path up to the site where apparitions were seen high up in the Cantabrian Mountains -- one of the most beautiful vistas in Europe, with literally the sensation of standing on the roof of the world. Like Medjugorje -- and apparitions that preceded Garabandal during the 1930s (at Ezkioga) -- there were prophecies that foresaw a great miracle, a warning, and chastisements for sins of the world.
One difference: where Garabandal saw a central, earth-stopping-like "warning," at Medjugorje the seers have spoken about a series of at least three events that will come to warn the world.

Mari-Loli Mazon Gonzalez LaFeur May 1st 1949 - April 21st 2009 RIP+

 
1979

MARI-LOLI AND HER FAMILY ARE
PRESENTED TO POPE JOHN PAUL II

In this Marian year 1987-1988, the couple and their children made a pilgrimage to the main shrines of the Blessed Virgin, with the purpose of "checking out" young Francis's vocation to the priesthood. They were arriving in Rome from San Sebastian de Garabandal where, a few days earlier, July 16, on the very Feastday of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Maria Dolores and Melanie had received their First Communion from the hands of the present pastor, Don Juan Gonzalez himself!
Fr. Robert Francis Lee Graves had previously arranged the stay of the LaFleur's in Rome, and especially their meeting with the Pope. A member of the High Anglican Church, the latter, then a cadet of nineteen years at the prestigious Military Academy of West Point (New York, U.S.A.) had converted to Catholicism on Good Friday 1974.
Because of her role as one of the main protagonists of Garabandal, Mari-Loli was apprehensive about the interview with the Holy Father. But Mother Teresa of Calcutta once again had intervened to comfort the visionary, promising to pray for a positive outcome of her initiative . . . 
Ordained priest in June 1987 in St. Peter's Basilica by John Paul II himself, Fr. Lee Graves, on this July 23, 1988, presented Mari-Loli and her family to the Pope, addressing the Sovereign Pontiff in these words: "Your Holiness, a special blessing for the smallest of your children who come from San Sebastian de Garabandal." John Paul II then exclaimed: "GARABANDAL!" Then he kissed straight away the two little girls, Maria Dolores and Melanie, blessed the young Francis, and thereafter opening out his arms as if to embrace the whole family!
Without endorsing Garabandal openly, the Pope's attitude, might we presume, was expressing here at least some form of a positive spiritual discernment, just like acting also 'personally,' as he had already done the previous year, when receiving Joey Lomangino and his family during their own stopover in Rome on the occasion of the same Marian Year.
[From 'Garabandal' Book, pages 244-245]

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Just received these emails regarding the passing away of Mari-Loli!


Dear Garabandal member,

Since our last email advice to you on the medical condition of Mari-Loli, we have now received the sad news of her death. We understand that she passed away sometime on Monday 21st April. The National Centre will prepare an article to be included in our next Magazine (July-September 2009). In the meantime, we will distribute, by email, any further information that we receive.

Could you please pass this sad news on to all other members and friends who may not have an email address.

Please keep Mari-Loli's family in prayer at this sad time. Remember Our lady's request to her to pray Rosaries on behalf of Priests. Perhaps we can continue the tradition on behalf of Mari-Loli.

In union of prayer,

Francis and Patricia Seymon
Secretaries




The Workers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Garabandal
It was with great sadness that we were informed late last night of the death of Garabandal visionary Mari Loli Lafleur in Boston after a long illness. She was very much loved by everyone involved in the promotion of Garabandal. We ask your prayers for Mari Loli and her family and close friends.
Joey and Marilynn Lomangino
The Workers of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel de Garabandal
Lindenhurst NY USA
Please note: We have no further information at this time.
P.O. Box 606, Lindenhurst, NY 11757-0606
www.Garabandal.us






CONCHITA’S DIARY- 13


DOCUMENTS
OFFICIAL BULLETIN
FROM THE BISHOP OF SANTANDER
OFFICIAL NOTE FROM THE BISHOPRIC OF SANTANDER ABOUT THE HAPPENINGS OF SAN SEBASTIÁN DE GARABANDAL (1965).
We write this NOTA as part of our Pastoral duty. The name of GARABANDAL and the news of the happenings produced during these years in this small mountain village in our Diocese has arrived to us through the means of social communication, as well as to the whole country and the European continent. International agents have divulged graphic information and special reports. They talk of apparitions of Our Lady, the Virgin Mary, and of spiritual messages communicating the Most Holy Virgin’s desires. At the same time they ask us to authorize these happenings so that they can be united with other venerable Marian devotions that are universally known.
The Bishop of Santander has gathered an ample amount of documents during these years about all that has occurred. He has not closed the “file” on this matter. He will always write politely on all elements of judgment that are sent to him. There have been THREE official NOTAS at this point, and all have tried to orient the judgment of the faithful. This NOTA will be the fourth. His conclusion to this point regarding the facts is that there is no reason to modify the judgment that has already been given. That is, his opinion is that the supernaturality of these phenomena is NOT EVIDENT; it has been carefully examined.
Consequently, it follows that this diocesan authority renews the measures taken so that the atmosphere of confusion will not increase because of the massive propaganda that exists outside of the spirit and letter of the sacred canons and is promoted through news, newspaper articles, magazines, graphic information, reviews in itineraries, and other similar methods.
We remember that according to Canon 1,309 Number 5: “By the same Law, books and pamphlets that refer to new apparitions, revelations, visions, prophecies, miracles, or that introduce new devotions are prohibited if they are published without observing the prescriptions of the canons.” We make known that at the present moment we have not granted “Imprimatur” any book, pamphlet, article, or review on this matter. We extend this prohibition as far as our diocesan authority reaches on the publication of articles or information that has not been submitted to the censor of the Diocese of Santander.
We ask all of the faithful Christians to abstain from worsening the atmosphere in San Sebastian de Garabandal with their presence. This atmosphere has been created by these apparitions and spiritual communications. We want to make clear that we have not found anything deserving of ecclesiastical censure with regard to condemning either the doctrines or the spiritual recommendations that have been promulgated because of the events of Garabandal in so far as they are directed to faithful Christians. On the contrary, they contain exhortations to prayer and sacrifice, to Eucharistic worship, to devotion to Our Lady under traditional praiseworthy forms, and to the holy fear of God offended by our sins. They simply repeat ordinary Church doctrine in these matters. We recognize the good faith and the religious fervor of the persons who go up to San Sebastian de Garabandal, and who merit the greatest respect. We want to support their religious fervor so that, trusting completely in the Church’s Hierarchy and its Magisterium, they might comply exactly with our publicly reiterated recommendations.
Regarding the priests, as a result of the special importance that their intervention can have in the active form of their participation and collaboration in the development of these facts, as well as in the form of simple presence as a spectator, we PROHIBIT in an explicit and formal matter their attendance without express license, to be obtained personally in each case, from the diocesan authority. We declare that the licenses are suspended “ipso facto” in the Diocese of Santander for those who violate our formal warning. The Supreme Holy Congregation of the Holy Office has had contact with the Diocese of Santander to obtain the proper information in this serious matter.
Santander, July 8, 1965
EUGENIO, Bishop A.A. of Santander

Monday, April 20, 2009

CONCHITA’S DIARY- 12



DOCUMENTS
Testimony of the Reverend Fr. Ramón María Andreu.
Regarding his visit to Garabandal on October 18, 1961.
Question: On October 18, 1961 you were in Garabandal. Could you tell us what happened during this visit and the circumstances accompanying it?
Father: I would be happy to do so. I arrived in Garabandal on October 17th. During that day and October 18th, I saw an immense multitude of people arrive in the village. This presented much taking into account the difficulty of the way and that the day was an actual deluge. The distance from Cossío, which I traveled on foot, is about six kilometers.
That day I was happy and tranquil. I didn’t have any reason to be any other way. During the months of August and September, and including what had happened in October, I had been a witness to many events in the mountain village. I had many happy memories from those months. Everything seemed good to me.
Question: How were your relations with the Bishop of Santander?
Father: My relations with the diocesan authority was excellent. Fr. Doroteo Fernández, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese, had authorized me to go up to Garabandal to say mass, to preach, and to hear confession as well. I had the opportunity to visit the Bishop on various occasions. On these visits I could disclose my personal opinions. The same thing as it refers to me, happened also with Fr. Eugenio Beitia Aldazabal to my brothers, Fr. Alejandro and Fr. Marcelino.
Question: What was the most pressing motive for your visit to Garabandal on October 18, 1961?
Father: You know that the girls had announced that the proclamation of the message would be on this day. I supposed that this would be important. Many people must have thought this because in spite of the difficulties of this day of deluge, there were about five thousand people who assembled in the village that day.
Question: Conchita says in her diary that this immense multitude went up to the Pines around 10 o’clock at night to hear the message. Did you ascend also?
Father: Yes, I ascended; I was among the last making this laborious ascent. It was necessary to travel 500 meters up the mountain, and on this day it was wet and muddy. After awhile, I was covered in mud. Some flashlights made light in front and on the sides. The water ran down every part of the mountain.
During the ascent, I slipped continually, and I fell several times. This happened to almost everyone.
I was halfway there when I suddenly felt a brutal, intense inner bitterness. It was a mixture of these sad feelings that was difficult to define. In that moment, everything seemed to crumble away for me. It was an extreme impression of intense loneliness. The four girls were nothing more than sick children. I asked myself: Why am I here? My brother had died, and that was all that was definitively true. This painful internal state worsened for a few moments. I can say truthfully that never in my whole life had I felt such intense desolation.
I thought about abandoning that which had not yet happened; I felt like it was nothing more than a sad village joke.
I was still for a little while. Sometimes I looked at the sky. I know that at that moment I would have liked for the miracle that the girls had announced to happen. My deception was absolute.
I changed places and stayed there for awhile; I cannot say how long it was that I was alone, feeling people pass me going up to the Pines in the darkness. It was dark and silent. I have never felt more alone.
Suddenly, a lantern shone in my direction. A friend who was descending from the Pines recognized me. He came to where I was.
This is marvelous, he said to me.
I let him say this while I thought to myself that tomorrow he would understand how absurd all of this was.
I descended to the village with him, without showing anything of what I was thinking. We entered a house where they were already waiting for us. After a little while, Amaliuca, Loli’s sister, entered. She came towards me and two others and said to us:
Loli says that you, you, and you should come.
I heard her, but I didn’t want to go. Finally, I said: I will do a work of mercy; I’ll visit the sick. And I decided to say goodbye definitively.
Question: And did you go to Loli’s house?
Father: Yes. I went up to the attic of Ceferino’s house. There were a number of people there, it was a group of 12 or 14, and Loli was with them. The girl seemed content, even happy. I was thinking about the thoughtlessness of this girl and the others when Loli smiled and said to me:
Sit down.
There was no chair. But there was a type of cot in the corner. I sat automatically on the end of it. Loli sat next to me. She was 12 years old but she led the conversation, which will live in my memory forever.
Among the three of you, there is one who does not believe. She said: Do you know who it is?
Yes, I told her. Do you?
Yes, I know, she answered me. The Virgin told me.
When?
Just now, when I was coming down from the Pines.
Tell me who it is, I insisted.
I don’t dare, was her response. If it was one of the other two…
Yes, it’s me, I affirmed. I don’t believe any of it.
A smile of intelligence appeared on Loli’s childlike face and she added:
The Virgin told us: The Priest is doubting everything and is suffering very much. Call him and tell him not to doubt, that it is true and it is I, the Virgin, who is appearing. And so that he will believe you, tell him: “When you went up you were happy, when you came down you were sad.”
I was stupefied; I looked at Loli, unsure of what to say. And she added:
She talked a lot about you to Conchita.
In that moment I got up; I was confused, but I understood then that I had not arrived at my final goodbye.
I took my two friends who were looking fixedly at my face while they said to me:
What did she say to you? What happened?
Without responding to these questions, I pushed them saying:
Let’s go to Conchita’s house.
Aniceta opened the door. My greeting was this question:
Can I see Conchita?
She is already in bed, Aniceta said, but you can go up.
There were no doors to open. I went up the few stairs and I arrived at her room and called to her there, where Conchita was in bed with her cousin Luciuca. Conchita was 12 and her cousin was 11.
As soon as she saw me she said before I could open my mouth:
Father, are you happy, or are you still sad?
I didn’t know how to respond. I answered, Loli told me that the Virgin spoke about me to you.
For at least fifteen minutes, she answered.
And what has she told you?
I can’t say, was her response.
Then I will remain the same as before, I commented in a loud voice.
Conchita smiled and said to me:
There is something that I can tell you: “When you ascended, you were happy, and when you descended, you were sad. The Virgin told me everything you were thinking and when you were thinking it. You thought, now I’m going to America. And in another place, now I don’t want to know anything about so-and-so and so-and-so. And that you suffered a lot. She told me to say this and also to warn you that all of this has happened now so that you will not doubt again.
I was left without words. The next day Conchita showed with her finger on a photograph the exact spots on the mountain where I had been thinking each one of these things. It was something important for me. All that Conchita had said was true. She told me for the Virgin: “All of this has happened in advance so that you will not doubt again.”
I have experienced other moments of doubt, but none has been as anguished as the one on October 18th. Frequently, I have been given the news—including official decisions—which have ended the matter. But I have seen time and time again the same questioner stay open to it.
The experience of October 18, 1961 has served me in many ways: to question how the girls, especially Conchita, could know so much detail about an internal experience of mine, and then tell it to me with such clarity and sureness.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

CONCHITA’S DIARY- 11




1961-1963
Principal points in the history of Garabandal from 1963 to 1966
CONTRADICTIONS AND RETRACTIONS
From the beginning of the Apparitions, the Vision had announced to the girls that there would come a time when they would contradict themselves and that they would also deny that they had seen her. The girls repeated this frequently.
To be more precise, we will transcribe some of the the texts in which they announce the future retractions, and it is perfectly explicit: on page 60 of the manuscripted diary of Conchita, the following passage from 1963 reads like this:
“From the first days of the Apparitions, the Virgin had told the four of us, Loli, Jacinta, Mari Cruz, and I, that we would contradict each other and that our parents would not get along. She told us that we would even DENY that we had seen the Virgin and the Angel. All of this happened in January…We wondered about this, of course, because she had told us…”
In a letter addressed to William A. Nolan (from the United States), dated March 22, 1965, Conchita wrote:
“Besides the Message, the Virgin told us many other things about the message. She also told us that we would contradict each other very much.”
According to a locution that Loli had in November of 1965, the Virgin announced a period of doubts in these words:
“She told me that I have to suffer much in this world and that I will have many trials; she said that I will doubt all that I have seen and that this will make me suffer more than anything else.”
In a locution on February 13, 1966, about which we have already spoken and given the complete text, Our Lord warns Conchita in the following manner:
“I repeat that you have much to suffer from now until the Miracle; few will believe you. Your own family will believe that you have deceived them. But it is I who wants this, as I have told you, for your sanctification and so the world will fulfill the Message. I want to warn you that the rest of your life will be a continual suffering.”
What has been accomplished with regard to these announcements as of now?
Conchita writes in her diary about Mari Cruz: “Mari Cruz continues saying that she has not seen the Virgin.” This retraction goes back to 1963.
It is said that Conchita denied for the first time at the age of twelve years old, when she was brought to Santander at the end of July in 1961. It is said that on this occasion, she signed a paper which stated that she had not seen the Virgin. We do not have any document or anything with greater detail about this first denial. It is possible to think beforehand that it has very little importance compared to what follows.
Loli and Jacinta, at the same time as Conchita, confronted two periods of doubts and contradictions: the first was in January of 1963, and the second happened in 1966.
I have here what it says in Conchita’s diary about the first period: “In the month of January of 1963, all that the Most Holy Virgin told us happened. We have come to contradict each other. At first we began contradicting each other, but then we began denying that we had seen the Most Holy Virgin. We even went to confession. Yet inside, we knew that the Archangel and the Most Holy Virgin had appeared to us.” And later: “I wonder that I said all of this, because my conscience is perfectly at peace since I know that I have seen the Virgin.”
The second period of doubts began, at least for Conchita, during Lent in 1966. This began with strong tempations against her faith in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. This was not the first time. But, at the beginning of Holy Week, these temptations became so violent that Conchita stopped receiving Communion.
The religious who were responsible for the child’s education at the school, persuaded her to overcome these temptations and receive Communion again by saying that to be tempted is not a sin. Conchita consented to receiving daily Communion, but then she began to feel a force that impeded her from going near the Eucharist; she had to be violent with herself in order to persevere.
According to her own words, she expressed herself like this:
It seemed to me that they simply gave me a little piece of bread.
These temptations against the Faith were followed by doubts about the objective reality of her Visions. Conchita questioned whether it had not all been a trick of her imagination, or whether she had been a victim of some psychological or mental disorder. At the same time, Loli and Jacinta were in different places, kilometers from Conchita, and were suffering from the same anguished interior phenomena about the reality of the apparitions.
These doubts increased during the following months. Before this, the three girls had met in Garabandal. In the middle of August, they decided to go and communicate their doubts and fears to the priest. I have a letter from Conchita here, written to Fr. Morelos, dated October 13, 1966, in which she tells of the difficult test that is happening to her:
The interview mentioned in this letter between Conchita and the Bishop of Santander (Fr. Vicente Puchol) was very long: it lasted seven hours, two in the morning, and five in the afternoon. Conchita was very happy with the way the Bishop treated her. She declared that all she had written in her diary was true “except the fact that she had seen the Virgin and the Angel.”
She explained that all that had happened during the years of the Apparitions was like a series of dark coincidences to her. She also said that the “calls” were true because she remembered the sensation perfectly.
This visit from the Bishop of Santander to Pamplona took place in the first days of September of 1966.
There was another interview between Conchita and the Bishop, but this one was in Santander. Conchita said that on this occasion she had the intention of telling the Prelate the date of the announced Miracle. But at the moment she wanted to say it, she forgot it completely, and then as soon as she crossed the threshold of the Episcopal Palace, the date of the Miracle returned to her with total clarity.
These interviews between Conchita and the Bishop of Santander ended with the Bishop asking her to sign her declarations. The parents of some of the girls said that they couldn’t sign the declarations until they explained what had happened during these phenomena that they had observed in the girls during three years. This attitude of the girls’ parents is very understandable since they are simple mountain people accustomed to seeing everything clearly.
After this, many people had the opportunity of speaking with the girl.
When, for example, Fr. Gustavo Morelos was present in January 1967, he showed Conchita an image made in Mexico by the painter Octavio so that the messages given by the Virgin in Garabandal might be known. Upon seeing it, Conchita made a gesture that she liked it, and took it in her hands. She began to make detailed observations to the priest; for example: that She didn’t wear a crown, that the stars that circled her head were interwoven to form what we would call a crown. That she didn’t wear a sash on her waist, that her face looked straight ahead, that she carried the scapular in her right hand like a maniple… The next day, Fr. Morelos accompanied Loli and Jacinta to their respective schools and, with the same image above her desk, Loli consulted the priest; she took it in her hands and said:
Father, the Virgin that we saw did not wear a crown, and her head was not tilted to one side. She didn’t have a sash and she carried the scapular in her right hand like a maniple.
These observations made by a different girl kilometers away is an eloquent proof that the girls, even in a period of doubts and denials, carried within them an image of the Most Holy Virgin that captivated their senses and their consciences.
They also questioned Conchita about what she called her “denials.” We have reproduced a particularly interesting dialogue:
Question: When you said that you saw the Virgin, were you lying?
Conchita: No, I told the truth.
Question: And now when you say that you haven’t seen her, are you lying?
Conchita: No, I’m telling the truth.
Question: Is your conscience really tranquil about this matter?
Conchita: Yes.
Question: And when you said that you saw the Virgin, was your conscience clear then?
Conchita: Yes, of course.
Question: In which of these two instances was your conscience the most tranquil.
Conchita: When I said that I saw the Virgin. Then my conscience was completely peaceful. Now, of course, I am peaceful, but at the same time I have “something deep within my conscience.”
Question: Why do you say now that you have not seen the Virgin?
Conchita: Only the Most Holy Virgin knows why. She made things this way…
In a letter that Conchita wrote in November of 1966, this passage can be read:
“I continue thinking the same thing about my retractions, and I accept all of this as a cross that Our Lord has sent to me. Sometimes I think: if all of this has not been true, then it is not a cross, or anything at all.
In closing, we will cite from the writings of another Spanish Theologian, the Reverend Father Lucio Rodrigo, about the retractions and doubts of the girls.
This note is dated August 10, 1966. This writing describes the moment in which Loli and Jacinta reached the low point of their doubts. Of course, the author of this note could not know about Conchita’s culminating moment, which happened a little later, around August 15th: “All that believe in the reality of the supernatural and divine regarding the facts of Garabandal should not let their Faith be affected by the fact that some of the girls say that these phenomena have been nothing more than a marvelous comedy, capably executed by them as a game of sweet illusion caused by a sickness from the devil.
The reason is the following: if we have concluded that we believe in the supernatural and divine character of these phenomena, it has not been because we have based it upon what the girls have told us about their Visions in those moments, whether it be during the moments of ecstasy or after, without considering it in conjunction with the phenomena that we have attended, or that others who have Faith affirm that they have seen. We have submitted this unity of facts to a severe critical analysis and we have arrived at the conclusion that these phenomena were not and could not have been invented by the girls, nor could they have resulted from their imaginations with a pathological or demonic origin. This does not exclude that some occasional fact or isolated situation might have been the fruit of their imaginations or an illusion.
We add that this reasoning must always be valid, although Conchita affirms that the other girls did it, but that all that happened to her was nothing more than an able simulation performed by her, or a game of illusion.
For that reason, if our conclusions and our beliefs in the supernaturality of the phenomena of Garabandal have not been founded in what the girls said during the time of the Apparitions, but rather in the concrete facts and real evidence seen by me and by other witnesses, it simply diminishes what really happened or what happened in these Apparitions. No one has a right to destroy these facts or what the girls might say in the future.
They are having an illusion now, but we are not.”
Comillas, August 10, 1966
Fr. Lucio Rodrigo S.J.

Friday, April 17, 2009

CONCHITA’S DIARY- 10


1961-1963
Prinicipal points in the history of Garabandal from 1963 to 1966
Conchita’s Locution
with Our Lord in Pamplona
February 13, 1966 and the trip to Rome
This is the reproduction of part of a letter from Conchita written to the Reverend Fr. Gustavo Morelos, in which she relates this event:
Copy of Conchita’s Locution
on February 13, 1966
On Sunday, February 13th, [February 7th: Conchita entered the convent of the Barefoot Missionary Carmelites in Pamplona as an novice, with the desire to follow a religious vocation. Six days later Our Lord made known the special path her destiny would take. The syntax is particularly irregular. At least the meaning is clear: the words Conchita attributes to Our Lord are absolute and short. This is a harsh style.] in the moment of giving thanks to God after Communion, I received a great happiness and at the same time a greater sorrow and feeling of disillusion. I heard the voice of Christ and he said this: “Conchita, you have come here to school to prepare yourself to become my spouse and to follow me. Didn’t you tell me, Conchita, that you want to do my will? Now you want to follow your own will—do you want to continue like this your whole life? I have chosen you to be in the world, and to face many challenges for Me. I want all of this for your holiness, and for you to offer it for the salvation of the world. You should talk to the world about Mary. Remember that in June you asked me if you would be a nun. I told you: in whatever role you will find a cross, suffering, and I will tell you this again now. Conchita, have you felt me calling you to be my spouse? No, because I have not called you.”
I asked: And how does one feel your call to be a nun? He told me: Don’t worry about this; you will not feel it. I said: Then you don’t love me, Jesus? He said: “Conchita, you ask me this? Who has redeemed you? Do my will and you will find my love. Examine yourself well. Think about others more, and don’t pay attention to temptations; if you are faithful to my love, you will conquer many temptations. Be intelligent in what I have told you, spiritually intelligent. Don’t close the eyes of your soul, and don’t be deceived by anyone. Love humility, simplicity, never think that what you have done is much. Think about what you still have to do, not to gain Heaven, but for the world, to accomplish my divine will, that your soul will be prepared. Whoever has a soul disposed to hearing me will know my will.”
“I want to tell you, Conchita, that before the Miracle you will suffer much; there will be very few who believe you. [A clear allusion to the doubts that she would suffer very soon, and the anxiety which would result in her own family’s suffering.] Your own family will believe that you have deceived them. I want all of this for your sanctification, and so the world will accomplish the Message. I want to warn you that the rest of your life will be a continual suffering. Do not be disturbed. In suffering am I with Mary whom you love so much.”
I asked Him if Rome also would not believe me, [Invited by the Holy Office, Conchita went to Rome in January of 1966. She was accompanied by her mother and Fr. Luís Luna. The summary of this trip will be short given the discretion that was imposed on Conchita and her mother. The general impression Conchita had was that the “atmosphere” of this trip was excellent, and the letter we will reproduce later is the best illustration of this.
On the other hand, through conversation, Conchita affirmed that she had been received by Cardinal Ottaviani with affability and marvelous goodness but that she had been submitted to questioning that lasted more than two hours, the interview having been recorded by the secretary of the Cardinal.
There are two principal facts that the public knew: that Conchita was very happy and that His Holiness Paul VI recognized Conchita in the crowd during a public audience. He detained her. He called her and in a clear and strong voice said: “Conchita, I bless you and with you the whole Church.”] and He told me: “DON’T WORRY ABOUT WHETHER THEY BELIEVE YOU OR NOT. I WILL DO EVERYTHING. BUT I WILL ALSO GIVE YOU SUFFERING; WHOEVER SUFFERS FOR ME, I AM WITH HIM.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

CONCHITA’S DIARY- 9



1961-1963

Principal points in the history of Garabandal from 1963 to 1966
APPARITION
ON NOVEMBER 13, 1965
First, we reproduce one of Conchita’s letters, written to Fr. Alba, S.J. from Barcelona, as an introduction. It is accompanied by some explanatory notes:
AVE MARÍA!
Dear Everyone:
I understand from these two girls who have arrived in our group that you cannot come here even though it is your desire. I send you my affectionate greeting, and I promise you my poor prayers in front of the tabernacle and the Virgin.
I hope that your desire is to love God and His Mother more and more (it is our desire as well) and to overcome our faults.
I ask for your prayers for myself and my friends, [Conchita makes an allusion to her three friends: Loli, Jacinta, and Mari Cruz.] since we need many to be very humble and to give Jesus what he asks. Pray so that one day we will be nuns in the service of God, so that we can help people who need it. This is our desire, but we are very weak, and need you to help us [Conchita has already said during the Apparitions that she wanted to enter the convent.].
The Virgin told me on January 1, 1965, that the Catholic Christians who don’t think about the other world, of heaven or hell, should think about it so that our lives can be more united with Christ, and so that we should think and meditate more on the Passion of Jesus. We should do it, but not only do it ourselves, we should make others do it. Then we will see how we feel at the doors of happiness with God, and we will accept our crosses with joy and love for God.
With much affection for all, and in union of prayers.

(Signed): Conchita González
P.D. I say this, [This is a type of Post Script, for which Conchita is responsible.] that believing in the apparitions accomplishes nothing if we don’t fulfill the message, or if we don’t follow Holy Mother Church. As everyone knows, the Virgin has said the same thing as at Lourdes and Fatima; she has not said anything new. The miracle comes so that we will fulfill the message. It is not important that we believe in the apparitions; that is a grace that God gives us. We should pray often for our brethren who still don’t know God; this is the Virgin’s desire. We should also pray for those who receive graces from God and the Virgin and don’t thank them.
-X-
Reproduction of a letter from Conchita to Fr. Gustavo Morelos (México), in which she announces that she has had a locution (8-XI-65), that she will have an apparition at the Pines (Saturday the 13), and that she will give the Most Holy Virgin an object to kiss, telling her that it is for Fr. Morelos.


HAIL MARY!
San Sebastián de Garabandal, November 8, 1965. Reverend and dear Fr. Morelos:
See, before receiving your response, I’m writing to you again to say that I have had a locution from the Virgin and she has told me:
“Go to the Pines on Saturday and you will see me there. Bring me many religious objects and I will kiss all of them so you will distribute them, and through the use of them my Son will work prodigies.”
I will give you one of the kissed objects. When I give it to be kissed, I’m going to tell Our Mother that it is for Fr. Morelos.
I have finished my diary, but I am going to begin another.
Pray for me so that I will go to the convent soon and so that I will be good.
IN UNION THROUGH PRAYER
(Signed): Conchita González

As the letter from Conchita continues, she describes her apparition to Fr. Morelos:
“On Saturday, November 13th, as announced by the Virgin during a locution in the Church, I saw her in the Pines. It was a special apparition to kiss religious objects and then to distribute them afterward; they have great importance.
I had a great desire for that day to come, so that I could once again see the one who has caused the joy of God within me: the Virgin with the Child Jesus in her arms.
It was raining, but that didn’t matter to me. I went up to the Pines and I carried many rosaries with me, which had been given to me so that I could distribute them. As the Virgin had told me in the locution, I brought them for her to kiss.
I went up to the Pines alone, very sorry for my faults, and saying to myself that I would not fall into them any more, since I was sorry at the thought of presenting myself to the Mother of God without ridding myself of them.
When I arrived at the Pines I began to take out the rosaries I carried, and while I was taking them out, I heard a very sweet voice, the voice of the Virgin, which is distinguishable from all others, and it called me by my name. I answered: “What…?” And in this moment I saw her with the Child Jesus in her arms. She came dressed as usual and was smiling broadly.
I said to her:
“I have come to bring these rosaries to be kissed.”
And She said to me:
“I SEE THAT.”
When I brought them I was chewing gum, but when I saw her, I stopped chewing and put it on a tooth. She knew that I had the gum and said:
“CONCHITA, WHY DON’T YOU THROW AWAY YOUR GUM AND OFFER IT AS A SACRIFICE FOR THE GLORY OF MY SON?”
I was ashamed, and I removed my gum and threw it on the ground. Afterward, she said to me:
“DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU ON YOUR SAINTS’ DAY—THAT YOU WOULD SUFFER MUCH ON EARTH?
…WELL, I AM TELLING YOU AGAIN. HAVE CONFIDENCE IN US, AND OFFER IT WILLINGLY TO OUR HEARTS, FOR THE GOOD OF YOUR BRETHREN, BECAUSE IN THAT WAY YOU WILL BE MORE UNITED WITH US.”
I said:
“How unworthy I am, Oh Our Mother, of so many Graces I have received from You, and I come here today carrying the small cross I have now.”
She said to me:
CONCHITA, I DO NOT COME ONLY FOR YOU, BUT FOR ALL OF MY CHILDREN, WITH THE DESIRE THAT THEY WILL COME CLOSER TO OUR HEARTS.”
And she asked me:
“GIVE THE OBJECTS TO ME, SO THAT I MAY KISS ALL THAT YOU CARRY.”
And I gave her everything.
I carried a Cross with me and she kissed it, then said to me:
“PASS IT OVER THE CHILD JESUS’ HANDS.” I did it and He didn’t say anything. I said to him:
“I will bring this cross with me to the convent,” but he didn’t say anything [It can be seen that this persistent silence on the Virgin’s part to Conchita’s question about her religious vocation, like the clear words of Our Lord in the locution of February 13, 1966, are proof that God had a very special and particular vocation reserved for this girl.]. After kissing the objects, she said to me:
“MY SON WILL ACCOMPLISH PRODIGIES THROUGH THE KISSES I HAVE GIVEN HERE. DISTRIBUTE THEM TO OTHERS…”
“Of course, this is what I will do.”
After this, she asked me to say petitions for the others, as they had asked me. I did, [Conchita and the other girls have said frequently that during the ecstasies the glance of the Most Holy Virgin was directed towards those who attended the apparitions, and it sometimes rested longer on one than on the other. With a mother’s regard she said: “All of these are my children.”] and she said to me:
TELL ME, CONCHITA, TELL ME ABOUT MY CHILDREN; I HOLD ALL OF THEM BENEATH MY MANTLE. I said:
It is very small; It will not cover all of them.
She smiled.
“DO YOU KNOW, CONCHITA, WHY I DIDN’T COME ON JUNE 18 TO GIVE THE MESSAGE TO THE WORLD? … BECAUSE IT PAINED ME TO SAY IT, BUT IT HAD TO BE SAID FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, AND FOR THE GLORY OF GOD IF YOU FULFILL IT. I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH AND DESIRE YOUR SALVATION IN ORDER TO UNITE YOU AROUND THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. IS IT TRUE, CONCHITA, THAT YOU WILL RESPOND TO ME?”
I said to her:
“If I always see you, yes, but if not, I don’t know, because I am very bad...”
“DO YOUR PART AND WE WILL HELP YOU, AS ALSO MY CHILDREN LOLI, JACINTA, AND MARI CRUZ…”
She had only been there a short time, when she also said to me:
“THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME YOU SEE ME HERE, [It is difficult to say what this sentence means: “I will not come to the Pines again” or “You will not see me in Garabandal anymore”… At the moment Conchita does not know the meaning of these words.] BUT I WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU AND WITH ALL MY CHILDREN.”
After that she added:
“CONCHITA, WHY DON’T YOU VISIT MY SON MORE IN THE TABERNACLE? WHY DO YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE CARRIED AWAY BY LAZINESS SO AS NOT TO VISIT HIM WHEN HE WAITS FOR YOU DAY AND NIGHT?”
As I have already written, it was raining a lot and the Virgin and the Child Jesus were not wet. When I was seeing her, I didn’t realize that it was raining, but when I stopped seeing her, I was wet.
I said to her:
“Oh, how happy I am when I see you! Why don’t you bring me with you now?” And she answered me:
“REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU ON YOUR SAINTS’ DAY… WHEN PRESENTING YOURSELF BEFORE GOD, YOU MUST SHOW YOUR HANDS FULL OF GOOD WORKS DONE FOR YOUR BRETHREN AND FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. NOW YOUR HANDS ARE EMPTY.”
Nothing more. I had passed this happy time with my Mother in Heaven and my best Friend [This is an expression that is used frequently by Conchita.] and with the Child Jesus. I have stopped seeing them, but I continue to feel them. [This is surely a reference to the locutions.]
Once again there is left in my soul a peace and a happiness and a great desire to overcome my faults so as to love with all my strength the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, since they love us so much.
Previously, [The word “previously” applies to the previous Apparitions and locutions.] the Virgin told me that Jesus did not send the punishment to discourage us, but to reprimand us for not paying attention, and to help us. He sends the warning to purify us, so that we will see the love He has for us in the miracle. For this reason, He wants us to fulfill the message.
The “warning” will be seen and will happen in all places and be felt by every person; it is like a punishment. It will be seen what has been caused by our sins. I think that it will bring much good, not so that we will be discouraged, but for our sanctification.
For Fr. Morelos.
I have received your letter, and I am answering it today. [This referes to the account of the Apparition.] I did not send this before because I couldn’t. I hope you pray for me, because I need it.
Many greetings from my mother and Serafín.
IN UNION THROUGH PRAYER
(Signed): Conchita González

In September of 1965, Fr. Gustavo Morelos traveled to Spain because he wanted to make the Spiritual Exercises and afterward to dedicate some time to studying the “Apparitions” of the Most Holy Virgin in San Sebastián de Garabandal (Santander), Spain. The news had arrived in México.
He returned to his country on November 7th, and to his great surprise he found a letter from Conchita, dated the 8th of the same month. In it she announced that she had had a visit from the Virgin in the Pines, a document that was reproduced in the previous pages.
What interested the Father most about this letter was the promise that Conchita made: that when she saw the Most Holy Virgin, she would give an object to be kissed, saying: “This object is for Fr. Morelos.”
The Father anxiously awaited Conchita’s account of her meeting with Our Sweet Mother.
Finally, on a very significant day, December 25th, the Father had in his hands the letter, which we reproduced here:
On July 4, 1966, Conchita wrote another letter to give two pieces of news: First, that she had returned to the village. Second, that the Crucifix she had promised (it had been the first she’d asked to be kissed) had been given to Fr. Andreu.



Wednesday, April 15, 2009

CONCHITA’S DIARY- 8




1961-1963
Principal points in the history of Garabandal from 1963 to 1966
MESSAGE OF JUNE 18, 1965
 
Six months in advance, that is at the end of 1964, Conchita had announced—from the Vision—that on June 18, 1965, she would have an apparition of the Archangel St. Michael.
This long wait permitted many foreigners to know the prophetic announcement and enabled them to come to Garabandal in time: French, Belgians, Germans, and a great number of Americans attended. Naturally, many Spanish people were present as well.
At about 11:30, Conchita, protected by some young people of the village and by an important group from the Civil Guard, walked toward the “Calleja.” She passed through the multitude, arrived at the “cuadro” and fell on her knees. This ecstasy continued for twenty minutes and was filmed for Italian television and N.O.D.O (Spanish News).
Conchita received a message for the whole world. The exact text is the following:



The message that the Most Holy Virgin has given to the world through the intercession of the Angel St. Michael: [In relation to the apparition of November 13, 1965, which we will transcribe later, Conchita tells what the Virgin said:
Do you know, Conchita, why I did not come on June 18 to tell the last Message that you had to tell to the whole world? Because it made me very sad to say these things to my children on earth. Nevertheless, it is necessary to say them for your good, so that you will do what the messages say, and all will be for the glory of God.]
The Angel has said: [After this moment, it is the Most Holy Virgin who speaks through the Archangel.] Since my message of October 18th has not been complied with and has not been made known to the world, I advise you that this is the last one.
Before the cup was filling up, now it is overflowing.
Many priests are on the road to perdition and they are taking many souls with them. [When Conchita was questioned about this sentence in the message, she clarified it without any hesitation and repeated it many times when they asked: “The Angel has told me that many Cardinals, Bishops, and Priests are on the road to perdition and that they are taking many souls with them” When the Angel told me this—Conchita continued by saying—this made me very embarrassed, and the Angel repeated it to me a second time: “Yes, Conchita, many Cardinals, Bishops, and Priests…etc.”.]
The Eucharist is given less and less importance. [This was already in the message on October 18, 1961. The following sentence can be read: “It is necessary to visit the Blessed Sacrament often.” The invitation to reverence and devotion towards the Holy Eucharist is even more urgent in the message of June 18, 1965. On September 3, 1965, Pope Paul VI published the encyclical “Mysterium Fidei,” which reaffirms the solemn Dogma of the Real Presence.]
With our own efforts we should avoid the wrath of God.
If we ask pardon with sincere hearts, He will forgive us.
I, your Mother, through the intercession of the Angel St. Michael, ask you to amend your lives.
You are already in the last warnings.
I love you very much and do not want your condemnation.
Ask us sincerely, and we will give it to you.
You should make more sacrifices.
Think of the Passion of Jesus.
(Signed): Conchita González 18-VI-1965