Climbing the hill to the Pines
Thanks & God Bless+
Deacon John
Cuando llegas a San Sebastián de Garabandal nada hace pensar que en aquel pueblo han pasado tantas cosas. De hecho, parece uno de esos muchos pueblos de media montaña a los que los domingos se va de paseo y comida. Asuntos sin la menor trascendencia. Otra cosa es cuando decides dar un paseo. Al ratito ya sabes que, que la Virgen decidiera en 1962 aparecerse a María Dolores Mazón, Mari Cruz, Conchita y Jacinta González, no sólo las iba a dejar a ellas estupefactas, sino que cambiaría, aunque suene a frase muy sobada, el curso de su historia.
Aquello no sólo fue determinante para las niñas, sino para cientos de miles de personas que desde entonces, de una u otra forma, tienen en San Sebastián de Garabandal su referente espiritual. Eso, mientras esperan un aviso y un milagro que se está haciendo de rogar, porque entre una cosa y otra, han pasado ya 47 años.
Sólo unos metros antes de entrar en el pueblo, a mano izquierda, hay una escultura de una mujer que mira a los montes. Es el 'Monumento a la Madre del Emigrante'. Eso parece explicar que antes de que la Virgen decidiera buscar sosiego entre aquellas gentes, muchas otras se fueron a buscar sustento fuera del valle. Ahora, al menos en invierno, lo cierto es que Garabandal no tiene ni muchos vecinos ni ambiente. Ni siquiera religioso, porque sólo los segundos domingos de cada mes se congregan allí oficialmente los devotos de aquella virgen que decidió un verano pasar un tiempo entre aquellas niñas.
Han pasado más de cuarenta años desde que el fenómeno Garabandal se extendió como la pólvora entre algunos colectivos religiosos. Los autobuses ya no hacen cola para entrar en el pueblo un día sí y otro también, y posadas y apartamentos que se construyeron en los años setenta con la idea de ser, además de creyentes, hospitalarios, están prácticamente vacíos.
Las cosas han cambiado mucho, pero eso no quita para que con la ausencia de barullo estén encantados los que han optado por que Garabandal sea su refugio.
Testigos
María es médico. Una especialista en anatomía patológica que ha pasado más de la mitad de su vida en Holanda y que lleva catorce años viviendo en Garabandal. Cuenta que un buen día, en el año 1995, alguien le habló cuando viajaba en autobús a Alemania de las apariciones. La suya fue una especie de conversión flechazo, porque dice que comenzó a leer sobre Garabandal y que en 1996 compró una casa «que me costó un dineral» y se instaló allí para siempre. Ella es de las que cree. De las afortunadas que se saben en el buen camino y les importa un pimiento lo que les digan. Aún así, lamenta lo que pasa en el mundo -«nadie tiene fe en España»- y cree con todas sus fuerzas y un enorme respeto por quien no sabe ni de que va el asunto, que las profecías de las niñas, el anuncio de la Virgen, se cumplirá. «Primero habrá un aviso. Algo malo, terrible, va a pasar. Luego, después de esa señal, llegará el milagro».
También Lucía, que hace años volvió al pueblo de sus padres para instalarse y vive en una casa de piedra increíblemente bonita, está contenta con que la gente se mueva por devoción y fe. Ella es testigo de hasta qué punto mueven a algunos, porque en casa, que es una posada, tiene hace un año alquiladas unas habitaciones a un alemán que pasa la semana en Garabandal y los viernes se marcha a Alemania. «Primero a Santander, luego a Londres y desde allí a su país, porque han quitado el vuelo que había directo». Lucía habla del trajín que se trae su huésped con toda naturalidad. «Este es un pueblo muy tranquilo, muy sano y aquí se vive muy bien».
Hay quienes cuentan su experiencia pero no quieren decir cómo se llaman. También sus historias son poco comunes: Joven preparada con un gran trabajo y un mejor futuro profesional que un día se da de bruces con un libro 'Se fue con las prisas a la montaña' (Editorial Círculo. Eusebio García de la Pesquera) y decide atravesar media España para pasar unos días en Garabandal. Una vez allí, la fortuna de entender que en ningún otro lugar puede estar mejor, así que, a hacer las maletas, despedirse del trabajo, regalar «los cientos de cosas que acumulamos y no necesitamos para nada», y encontrar una paz que muchos morirán sin saber que existe y que a ella le estaba esperando precisamente allí, entre aquellas montañas.
Luego están los más mayores, los que fueron testigos de excepción de aquellos controvertidos acontecimientos. Matilde tiene 90 años. Cualquiera que la oiga hablar y la vea moverse sabe que si es cierto que la Virgen estuvo allí hace cuarenta y siete años, Matilde le cayó bien y le dedicó la mejor de las bendiciones. Da gusto verla y tiene historia para rato. «Yo vivía en la casa ante la que el ángel dio la comunión a Conchita el 18 de julio de 1962. Ella era la que tuvo después más relación con la Virgen», dice.
«Fueron unos tiempos distintos. En aquellos días, cada noche, las niñas pasaban por las casas del pueblo y hacían una cruz sobre las camas. También la gente les daba rosarios para que los bendijesen y ellas les devolvía a cada uno el suyo después de besarlos.
Subían a los pinos y bajaban de rodillas y de espaldas el camino y no tenían ni marcas en las piernas. Casi todo el tiempo estaban en éxtasis». Eso lo cuenta Matilde sin inmutarse.
Luego están los jóvenes del pueblo como César. Él ha oído hablar cientos de veces de lo que ocurrió . «Mi abuela y mi madre siempre dijeron que habían pasado cosas raras». Él dice que los peregrinos siguen visitando el pueblo, aunque reconoce que ya no tanto como antes. También César repite continuamente que su madre y sus tías, que eran de la edad de las niñas a las que la Virgen se les apareció, estuvieron un tiempo en permanente éxtasis.
Esos testimonios son los de vecinos y creyentes a los que no les importa hablar de tema, pero los hay que no quieren ni mencionar el asunto con extraños. En el pueblo hay un bar, 'La salud'. Allí ni palabra de la Virgen, las apariciones o algo del estilo. En realidad, ni del tiempo. Tampoco en la posada Amelia, que es de una hermana de una de las videntes, quieren contar cosas.
El último aviso
La última vez que se produjo una avalancha de peregrinos realmente seria en Garabandal fue en el mes de abril de 2002. Nadie sabía exactamente cómo, pero una serie de noticias difundidas a través de Internet por un grupo belga, hicieron prever a quienes creen firmemente en Garabandal que en la tarde-noche del jueves 11 de abril ocurriría un milagro.
Ese día, desde primera hora de la mañana decenas de creyentes se agolparon en el pueblo a la espera de que la Virgen que ya se le apareciera a María Dolores Mazón, Mari Cruz, Conchita y Jacinta González en el año 1962, volviera a dar señales de vida. Pero nada.
El caso es que decenas de americanos, belgas, holandeses, irlandeses, incluso filipinos, además de los de aquí de siempre, están locos con la historia creada alrededor de aquellas niñas. Vamos, que si hay algo indiscutible es el carácter internacional del fenómeno. Y si no, que se lo pregunten a los vecinos, crean o no crean, porque lo saben mejor que nadie. Dicen, que una vez estuvo el rey Balduino.
Garabandal is snowed in
Garabandal still waiting
The people each year see how low the number of pilgrims who come seeking a personal spiritual retreat
It's been 47 years since it was known of the first apparitions of the Virgin and the announcement of a miracle
When you get to San Sebastian de Garabandal nothing indicates that in that town so much has happened. Indeed, it seems one of those many mid-mountain villages to which Sunday is going for a walk and lunch. Cases without the slightest importance. Another thing is when you decide to take a walk. At little while you know that the Virgin appearing decided in 1962 to Maria Dolores Mazon, Mari Cruz, Jacinta Gonzalez and Conchita, not just going to leave them stunned, but he would change, although it may sound very sobada sentence, the course of its history.
That was decisive not only for girls, but for hundreds of thousands of people since then, one way or another, have in San Sebastian de Garabandal its spiritual reference. That, while awaiting a notice and a miracle that is being asked twice, for between one thing and another, 47 years have passed.
Just a few meters before entering the village, on the left, a sculpture of a woman looking to the mountains. It's 'Monument to the Mother of Migrants'. That seems to explain that before Virgin decided to seek peace among the people, many others went to look for food outside the valley.Now, at least in winter, it is certain that Garabandal does not have many neighbors and environment. Not even religion, for only the second Sunday of each month is officially devotees congregate there for this virgin who decided one summer to spend time among these girls.
It has been more than forty years since the phenomenon Garabandal spread like wildfire among some religious groups. Buses will no longer queue up to enter the town one every other day too, and inns and apartments that were built in the seventies with the idea of being, besides faithful, hospitable, are virtually empty.
Things have changed a lot, but that does not detract from that with the absence of noise are delighted that they have chosen to Garabandal is his refuge.
Witnesses
Mary is a doctor. A specialist in pathology who has spent over half his life in Holland and has fourteen years living in Garabandal. He tells that one day in 1995, someone told him while traveling by bus to Germany of the apparitions. His conversion was a kind of sight, which he said began reading about Garabandal, and in 1996 bought a house "that cost me a fortune" and settled there for good. She is among those that believe. Of the lucky ones who are known in the right direction and they give a damn what they say. Still, he regrets what is happening in the world - "no one has faith in Spain '- and believes with all his strength and great respect for who does not know that the matter is, that the prophecies of girls, the announcement of Lady, be fulfilled. "First there will be a warning. Something bad, terrible will happen. Then after that signal, will the miracle.
Also Lucia years ago returned to the village from their parents to settle and live in an incredibly beautiful stone house, is happy that people moving out of devotion and faith. She is witness to how to move some, because at home, which is an inn a year ago has rented rooms to a German who spends the week in Garabandal and Friday is leaving for Germany. 'First to Santander, then to London and from there to your country, because they had taken the direct flight. Lucy talks about the grind that comes naturally with its host. "This is a very quiet town, very healthy and live very well here."
Some people talk about their experiences but do not want to say their names. Their stories are also rare: Young prepared a great job and a better professional future one day at odds with the book 'It was in the rush to the mountain' (Editorial Circle. Eusebio Garcia de Pesquera) and decides across half of Spain to spend some days in Garabandal. Once there, the good fortune to understand that in no other place can be better, so to pack, leave work, give "the hundreds of things we accumulate and do not need for anything", and find a peace that many die without knowing it exists and that she was waiting right there between those mountains.
Then there are the older generation, who witnessed the exception of those controversial events.Matilda is 90 years old. Anyone hear about the move and see knows that if it is true that the Virgin was there for forty-seven, Matilda liked him and gave him the best of blessings. It's nice to see her for awhile and has history. "I lived in the house before which the angel gave communion to Conchita on 18 July 1962. She was the one who had more respect after the Virgin, "he says.
"Those were different times. In those days, every night, the girls went through the houses of the village and made a cross on the beds. Also, the people gave them that bless rosaries for them and they returned to each his own after kissing them.
They went up to the pines and down on his knees and shoulders the way and had no marks on the legs. Most of the time were in ecstasy. " That tells Matilde unperturbed.
Then there are the young men as Caesar. He has heard hundreds of times what happened. "My grandmother and my mother always said weird things had happened. He says that pilgrims continue to visit the town, while acknowledging that not as much as before. Caesar also continually repeated that his mother and aunts, who were of age for girls to whom the Virgin appeared to them, were a time permanent ecstasy.
These testimonies are the neighbors and the believers who do not care about the subject, but there are some who do not even want to mention the matter with strangers. In the village there is a bar, 'Health'. There no word of the Virgin's apparitions or something like that. In fact neither time. Nor Amelia at the inn, which is a sister of one of the visionaries, they want to count things.
The final warning
The last time there was a rush of pilgrims at Garabandal was really serious in April 2002.Nobody knew exactly how, but a series of news reports over the Internet by a Belgian group, who were expected to strongly believe in Garabandal in the evening of Thursday, April 11 there would be a miracle.
That day, from early morning dozens of believers flocked to the village waiting for the Virgin appeared to him and Maria Dolores Mazon, Mari Cruz, Jacinta Gonzalez and Conchita in 1962, returned to give signals of life. But nothing.
The fact is that dozens of Americans, Belgians, Dutchmen, Irish, including Filipinos, in addition to the usual here are crazy with the story created around those girls. Come on, that if one thing is indisputable is the international character of the phenomenon. And if not, let them ask the neighbors, believe it or not believe, because they know better than anyone. Say, who was once King Baldwin.
It's been 47 years since it was known of the first apparitions of the Virgin and the announcement of a miracle
When you get to San Sebastian de Garabandal nothing indicates that in that town so much has happened. Indeed, it seems one of those many mid-mountain villages to which Sunday is going for a walk and lunch. Cases without the slightest importance. Another thing is when you decide to take a walk. At little while you know that the Virgin appearing decided in 1962 to Maria Dolores Mazon, Mari Cruz, Jacinta Gonzalez and Conchita, not just going to leave them stunned, but he would change, although it may sound very sobada sentence, the course of its history.
That was decisive not only for girls, but for hundreds of thousands of people since then, one way or another, have in San Sebastian de Garabandal its spiritual reference. That, while awaiting a notice and a miracle that is being asked twice, for between one thing and another, 47 years have passed.
Just a few meters before entering the village, on the left, a sculpture of a woman looking to the mountains. It's 'Monument to the Mother of Migrants'. That seems to explain that before Virgin decided to seek peace among the people, many others went to look for food outside the valley.Now, at least in winter, it is certain that Garabandal does not have many neighbors and environment. Not even religion, for only the second Sunday of each month is officially devotees congregate there for this virgin who decided one summer to spend time among these girls.
It has been more than forty years since the phenomenon Garabandal spread like wildfire among some religious groups. Buses will no longer queue up to enter the town one every other day too, and inns and apartments that were built in the seventies with the idea of being, besides faithful, hospitable, are virtually empty.
Things have changed a lot, but that does not detract from that with the absence of noise are delighted that they have chosen to Garabandal is his refuge.
Witnesses
Mary is a doctor. A specialist in pathology who has spent over half his life in Holland and has fourteen years living in Garabandal. He tells that one day in 1995, someone told him while traveling by bus to Germany of the apparitions. His conversion was a kind of sight, which he said began reading about Garabandal, and in 1996 bought a house "that cost me a fortune" and settled there for good. She is among those that believe. Of the lucky ones who are known in the right direction and they give a damn what they say. Still, he regrets what is happening in the world - "no one has faith in Spain '- and believes with all his strength and great respect for who does not know that the matter is, that the prophecies of girls, the announcement of Lady, be fulfilled. "First there will be a warning. Something bad, terrible will happen. Then after that signal, will the miracle.
Also Lucia years ago returned to the village from their parents to settle and live in an incredibly beautiful stone house, is happy that people moving out of devotion and faith. She is witness to how to move some, because at home, which is an inn a year ago has rented rooms to a German who spends the week in Garabandal and Friday is leaving for Germany. 'First to Santander, then to London and from there to your country, because they had taken the direct flight. Lucy talks about the grind that comes naturally with its host. "This is a very quiet town, very healthy and live very well here."
Some people talk about their experiences but do not want to say their names. Their stories are also rare: Young prepared a great job and a better professional future one day at odds with the book 'It was in the rush to the mountain' (Editorial Circle. Eusebio Garcia de Pesquera) and decides across half of Spain to spend some days in Garabandal. Once there, the good fortune to understand that in no other place can be better, so to pack, leave work, give "the hundreds of things we accumulate and do not need for anything", and find a peace that many die without knowing it exists and that she was waiting right there between those mountains.
Then there are the older generation, who witnessed the exception of those controversial events.Matilda is 90 years old. Anyone hear about the move and see knows that if it is true that the Virgin was there for forty-seven, Matilda liked him and gave him the best of blessings. It's nice to see her for awhile and has history. "I lived in the house before which the angel gave communion to Conchita on 18 July 1962. She was the one who had more respect after the Virgin, "he says.
"Those were different times. In those days, every night, the girls went through the houses of the village and made a cross on the beds. Also, the people gave them that bless rosaries for them and they returned to each his own after kissing them.
They went up to the pines and down on his knees and shoulders the way and had no marks on the legs. Most of the time were in ecstasy. " That tells Matilde unperturbed.
Then there are the young men as Caesar. He has heard hundreds of times what happened. "My grandmother and my mother always said weird things had happened. He says that pilgrims continue to visit the town, while acknowledging that not as much as before. Caesar also continually repeated that his mother and aunts, who were of age for girls to whom the Virgin appeared to them, were a time permanent ecstasy.
These testimonies are the neighbors and the believers who do not care about the subject, but there are some who do not even want to mention the matter with strangers. In the village there is a bar, 'Health'. There no word of the Virgin's apparitions or something like that. In fact neither time. Nor Amelia at the inn, which is a sister of one of the visionaries, they want to count things.
The final warning
The last time there was a rush of pilgrims at Garabandal was really serious in April 2002.Nobody knew exactly how, but a series of news reports over the Internet by a Belgian group, who were expected to strongly believe in Garabandal in the evening of Thursday, April 11 there would be a miracle.
That day, from early morning dozens of believers flocked to the village waiting for the Virgin appeared to him and Maria Dolores Mazon, Mari Cruz, Jacinta Gonzalez and Conchita in 1962, returned to give signals of life. But nothing.
The fact is that dozens of Americans, Belgians, Dutchmen, Irish, including Filipinos, in addition to the usual here are crazy with the story created around those girls. Come on, that if one thing is indisputable is the international character of the phenomenon. And if not, let them ask the neighbors, believe it or not believe, because they know better than anyone. Say, who was once King Baldwin.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.