Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 10

3rd Diary

July 27, 1961

Summary:

Narration of one of the visions.

The four girls intervene.

Some of the sentences that they said.

Conchita in Santander.

July 27, 1961

These events that took place on July 27th are in a report that was given to me by the Marquis of Santa María. It was given directly to him by R.P. Lucio Rodrigo, S.J. That report was written by a priest, an old student, who was in the Seminary in Comillas and who went up to San Sebastián de Garabandal when Fr. Rodrigo told him it was worthwhile to see what was happening.

The title of the three hurried folios that were typewritten, which I have, said this:

“Facts observed on July 27, 1961 in San Sebastián de Garabandal (Santander).”

I put down the text and added some notes that could indicate relationships between these events and the ones that occurred on other days.

“An ‘apparition’ had already taken place in the morning. The girls had announced another for around 8 at night. ‘Today is before,’ they had said. A multitude of more than 500 people (there are some who say it was 1000), waited for the ‘seers’ in the place the previous apparition had occurred.”

“Among the people there were seven priests, and among the priests were the pastor of the village, a relative of one of the girls (Conchita) and a young Dominican priest (from the Laboreal University of Córdoba) who had arrived rather early and had given a rosary to the girls for them to present to the ‘apparition.’”

“At eight, almost on the dot, the multitude that was waiting made a clamor because they had distinguished the four girls walking on the poorly paved road above, toward the place of the previous ‘apparition.’ But upon arriving in the middle of the road, the girls fell on their knees, and stayed there, two in front, and two in the back, (about fifty centimeters behind) almost in the same line. The order of their placement from left to right was: Jacinta, Mari Cruz, Conchita, and Loli. Conchita was looking up for almost the whole time; the other three looked in front of them, with their eyes looking upward a little.

“Mari Cruz had her arms crossed almost the whole time, and with her hands interlaced she held onto several rosaries people had given her. For the majority of the time, Conchita’s left arm was down, and her right arm was bent, pinching a sweater on her left to the height of her elbow.

“Mari Cruz shed some tears that fell from the exterior part of her eye (not from the tear canal) and they coursed down her cheeks. All of them had moist eyes.”

“The expression on their faces was generally one of peace; sometimes they smiled and they laughed sincerely. In these cases, a grimace wrinkled Conchita’s nose and arched her upper lip on the left side. In these moments she seemed to be yearning.

“On occasion they went forward simultaneously, with their arms in an attitude of reaching for something. Other times they presented the rosaries as though for someone to touch.

“On a certain occasion they all took out medals at the same time which they carried around their necks and gave them to be kissed or blessed: ‘this is from a man who told me you should kiss it very hard,’ Conchita said.

Note: It doesn’t seem that the Vision had blessed the medals, at least the sense of making the sign of the cross in the form that the priests were accustomed to doing it. She did kiss them. When, on some occasions, they have presented objects that don’t have any religious meaning, or that are only meaningful as adornment, like rings, the Vision has not kissed them. When this happens in particular cases, I give the date. The wedding rings have been kissed many times and returned to their owner’s hands, on the finger and in the manner that they wear them, if there is more than one ring on a particular finger.

“They looked at one another, expressing fear that one of the girls was going to fall. (The two smallest girls were on the ends). Oh! Jacinta is going to go badly—‘We hope that Jacinta doesn’t fall,” Mari Cruz said and reached to hold her so she wouldn’t fall. Then on another occasion she reclined lightly, staying half lying down on the floor—then, “Should I bring a chair tomorrow?”

Note: Since I still hadn’t gone on this day, I couldn’t observe the phenomenon of the oscillation that is alluded to here. I did observe it on August 1st and after that on many other occasions. This oscillation ended in a fall. The sentence ‘she goes badly’ had already been spoken by them days after when a girl who was in a trance began to oscillate. The other girls said it while they were also having a trance about the girl who was oscillating. Upon asking them after why they said that she was going badly, they responded to me: “It’s because she gave it badly.” The idea that I took away from this is that they were made dizzy or fainted, or something like that.

“Several times they made the Sign of the Cross at the same time that they were expressing their desire to do so: We are going to make the Sign of the Cross,” all of this unanimously.

Note: The manner of making the Sign of the Cross at the same time expressed that they knew their intention was to make it correctly when they were in the state of a trance. Sometimes she corrected the manner in which their index fingers and thumbs joined to make a cross. They made this correcting after ‘seeing’ the hand gesture that the Vision made. In the film from August 1st we see two of the girls in ecstasy making the Sign of the Cross. We can see how they do it together simultaneously. We can see how they direct it so they can see and how the rest of the people bless themselves next to the girls without the same rhythm. This film was recorded by Mr. Eugenio Fontaneda Pérez.

The sentence: “We’re going to make the Sign of the Cross,” could be a question or a response, or simply a comment. The person who wrote this document that we are transcribing and commenting upon, could indicate to us the impression that he obtained from what he remembers.

“In some moment one of the girls (maybe all of them) lifted a hand as though giving it to be kissed. One of the girls said: “What more if it is the left.” Then she said something that also expressed a desire that the ‘apparition’ would kiss it.”

“Two or three times, at least two of the girls reached to take the crown from someone who was situated much higher than them. Conchita said when she took it off: “A star hit this ear.”

Note: In the drawing that one of the girls made in a very elementary way, reproducing the colors of the mantle, the outfit, the hair, and the scapular, she laughed because of the way she painted the crown, in an open hoop with brilliant stars, and with the point of one of the star near the opening where it could hurt Conchita’s ear when she removed the crown. (This drawing is with the Marquis of Santa María because Conchita gave it to him as a gift).

“While they made the crown stay around their heads, they all smiled in a satisfied way as they saw how it was placed. They never did it two at the same time: when one of the girls took it off, another would put it on. This lasted a little while.

Note: Sometimes they have made comments about the crown. They say that it is small on them or large on them, etc. I have never seen them put the same crown on at the same time. If two girls have put the crown on at the same time, it has been two different crowns. One belonged to the Virgin and the other to the Child. We know that they tried different crowns because of the size. We noted this in the gestures they make and the comments they say and also because in the end they switch crowns.

 

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 9

Receiving the Sacrament from the Angel’s Hands

In Fr. Luís’s 2nd notebook it says: “When Fr. Valentín is here they don’t receive communion. On the other days the Angel gives them the sacrament.”

Through some interrogations of the girls, we have obtained the information that these communions have taken place from the beginning—during the month of July and some other occasions. The Archangel gave them communion, but not on the days that they received the sacrament from Fr. Valentín.

The Actions of the Pastor in the First Weeks

Fr. Valentín Marichalar took serious notice of what happened and when he established these phenomena for himself from what he could see, and he went to inform the Bishop in Santander. At this time the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese was his Excellence the Reverend Fr. Doroteo Fernández, who had been the Auxiliary to Fr. José in his last years of life.

I have heard him refer to Fr. Valentín, but I’m going to cite lines from Fr. Luís’s 2nd notebook.

“On Tuesday, I (the pastor) went up and saw them having a vision. I went to the Bishop, and he told me to go up and control the situation a little.”

He went to the Bishop with the matter of the secret. He returned to the Bishop when the girls were seeing a vision in two places. The Bishop told him that they should ask for a clear sign from the Virgin.

Fr. Muñoz from Comillas was there and said: “I can’t be sure that this is supernatural, but to say that it isn’t extraordinary would be imprudent. I’ll write to him in Latin so that he’ll be calm.”

 

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 8

Anesthesia

Regarding the pain, the anesthesia is complete in the trances. They have made tests from the beginning. For example, pricking the girls, pinching them, and lifting them from the ground then letting them fall. They have not complained of any pain at all.

Many people have seen the girls hit their knees hard when they fall and they have always observed that they show no feeling of pain. I have seen them stay on their knees for over an hour on many occasions without complaining of exhaustion or pain. I have witnessed how they fall on their knees many times, including from one or two stairs high, and they do not show the slightest sign of pain. The most spectacular thing in this sense was when María Dolores was on her knees one night and fell forwards, hitting her neck very hard against the edge of the stairs. It made a very loud noise, and her head resisted; the girl ended up sitting on the floor. An exclamation went through everyone who was there, and there was fear in their faces. The girl laughed once she was sitting on the floor and she continued talking about an object with the vision as she had been doing before the fall. When she turned, you could see a bump on her head, where it had been hit. I asked the girl if she was in pain. She didn’t understand what I was alluding to. When I explained what had happened, she told me that there was a moment in which she’d felt a cramp that went through her whole body, and it must have happened then.

Reflexes

The girls have cried while in a trance. Sometimes they were silent tears and other times they were sobs. At the same time they added words like: “How sad, etc.”

We saw them smile or laugh more frequently. One time we saw one of them yawn. With respect to the reflections in their pupils and corneas, we didn’t see anything, since they appeared almost deadened.

Entrance and Exit of the Trance

The entrance into the trance is instantaneous. They stay with their heads placed like they are nailed to something initially, absorbed in the normal words in order to live in a different reality. The return to normality is also instantaneous and is preceded by saying goodbye to the person with whom they are communicating.

Transformation

During the trance we observe an embellishment in their faces that is of a very sensitive style.

 

[video] Conchita and Children

Apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Garabandal - Conchita and ... For more information on the Church's official position, messages, and historical overview ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLR19TIisZo

New Garabandal Website

Apostolado Garabandal Dear friends, I want tell you that the parish of Garabandal already has its own website. San Sebastian de Garabandal - Página Oficial de la Parroquia www.garabandalparroquia.com http://www.garabandalparroquia.com/?mid=5507529 Sitio Oficial de la Parroquia de San Sebastian de Garabandal. Actualidad de Garabandal. Horario de M...

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 7

The Calls

It has been established that the phenomena of the calls took place from the beginning. The most probable is that they took place after the first vision. The girls called it a “call.” It’s an expression that corresponds to ordinary language. They told their parents and the others who were related to them: “I have already been called once, twice.” They also said: “I have had one call,” or, “I have already had the second call.”

August 1st, while in the Pines with the girls I asked Jacinta:

“When the Virgin calls you, does she say ‘Jacinta?’”

Upon hearing this question, Jacinta smiled and Loli responded: “The first time she says, ‘Jacinta.’ The second time: ‘Jacinta, come.’ The third time: ‘Jacinta, run, run, run.’ But all of this is within, without words.”

On another occasion, one of the girls tried to explain it by saying that it was a cool feeling, something like eating a mint candy, but within, so not the same.

The phenomena of the calls take place in an unconfusing way and is different for each girl, even though the calls frequently coincide and happen at the same time, as they especially did at the beginning.

In a dialogue that I had with three of the tour girls and that I saved on a tape, I asked them this question:

P—“And, how many times?”

The three—“Three.”

P—“Three?”

L—“Yes, Sir.”

P—“And how much time is there between the first and third?”

L—“Between the first and the second, there is little, from the second to the third, there is more; a lot between the second and the third.”

These three calls or occasions of happiness represent special characteristics that establish a difference in the state of trance in the following form:

1st—the call the girl feels can dissemble in such a manner that she doesn’t fall nor does she count those who are with her. It does not isolate her from reality. In the state of trance, she is isolated from reality.

2nd—the call is an internal sensation without words or vision. The trance has a vision, at least full of light and a locution that the girls hear with sentences composed of syllabic words.

It seems that the three calls are not equal, since they have a greater intensity the further along in order they are.

I will tell about an interesting fact, something that happened to me. One day I found myself with three priests who were friends of mine. Two of the girls were with us, Loli and Jacinta. One of the girls told me that she had had a call. The same girl told me she’d had another. The girls were playing next to us, each one on her side and after a moment one of them told me in a low voice the word “two.” I looked at the other girl and saw that she was not looking while she signed “two” to me with her fingers as well. In that same moment I communicated this to my friends and left with one of them to go to Conchita’s house. It took two minutes for us to arrive there. When we arrived I asked Conchita: “How many calls have you had?” And she responded: “Two, father.” Then I asked Mari Cruz the same thing and she responded, “None, father.”

It is rare for them to have a call that is not followed by two more and a vision. It is even more unusual for them to have two calls, but not the third or the vision.

Sometimes the vision happens suddenly without warning. The girls feel happiness that becomes greater until the third call when they fall into the trance. I have observed that the third call lasts several seconds. The girls begin to feel it and even warn some people. It seems that it has gone on for more than two minutes and on some occasions the third call continues until the trance begins.

The beginning of the third call is determined when the girls say things like: “I have two calls and something else.” “I have two and a half calls.” “I have almost three calls.”

On one occasion I was writing and one of the girls said to me: “Hurry, Father, there’s time to write a line and a half.” I asked her: “How do you know?” She responded to me: “Because I have two calls and a little more.”

Since I asked them to warn me about how many calls they had, they did it. They usually fell into the trance a few seconds after they told me.

 

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 6

In another interview with the girls they also asked some questions with the desire to obtain descriptive facts about what they saw. This time there were also three girls: Mari Cruz, Mari Loli, and Jacinta. It was July 31st or August 1st.

P—“And how does she appear?”

R—“She appears on her feet, on a wreath or in the air. Always on her feet, like this, near.” (Makes a gesture).

P—“Había muchos ángeles?”

R—“Había cinco ángeles con San Miguel.”

P—“Are there many angels?”

R—“There are five angels including St. Michael.”

P—“Como lo sabéis?”

R—“Ella nos dijo que era la Virgen (Reina) de los Angeles.”

P—“How do you know?”

R—“She told us that she was the Virgin (Queen) of the Angels.”

From these questions, as from other questions that they asked the girls on different occasions, we can obtain an approximate description of the Virgin that they see, as with the Angel or the Child. I put in summary the facts that they make concrete and I have to combine:

The Archangel

It is the first of the figures that they see. He appears to be about nine years old. He doesn’t carry weapons. They can’t see his feet because they are covered by a robe. He has wings that fall to the ground. The wings are a rosy color. The robe is blue and so is the mantle. The hair is long, and grows from the top like a mane. The Angel’s hair is different from the Virgin’s.

Generally, he smiles and puts his hand on the girls’ heads with a certain frequency and shook it a little in an affectionate salute.

The Virgin

The description that the girls made of the Virgin is one of great beauty. She is about 18 years old, and very tall. She is always standing. She held her hands in different positions, according to whether she brought the Child. Frequently, she held her hands with her palms toward the girls. Her hair was black and long, and fell in waves almost to her waist. Her eyebrows were the same color. Her dress is white with white flowers. It seems that she has something like a sash on her side. The mantle is blue. The adornment of her head is complete with a crown that is secured to her head like a diadem. Sometimes she gives this crown to the girls; it has small, brilliant stars.

The girls see the Virgin from the front, like other people. If they move from one place to another, they ordinarily do it without moving their feet, and the Virgin stays in front of the girls. The Virgin turned around on one occasion to show the girls her dress. The wind moved her hair sometimes.

The Child

He is so small that he isn’t even a year old. He doesn’t speak but he does laugh. His robe covers his feet. On occasion, he is given to the girls to hold. The Virgin, the Archangel, and the Child have all kissed the girls and have received kisses from them.

They Offer Stones

Almost from the beginning of this month of July it has been observed how the girls take little stones from the ground and lift them up so that the vision will kiss them. After this they hide them in their sleeves, their pockets, or place them in groups on the ground. These stones, upon being offered to be kissed, are dedicated to certain people. The girls say this when they offer them. “This is for Andrés—this one is for Milán.” After they return them to the person they are meant for, the trance ends.

The Tablets

Two tablets exist in two boxes on which the girls write their names and add some sign. They correspond to this month of July. Upon seeing the girls, the Virgin stood up on a stone and they wanted to have a weaker pedestal. They brought two boxes that Mr. Ceferino had in his house. On these two boxes the girls wrote their names in small letters in red. They also wrote the name “Carmel” alluding to what the Virgin had said, that she was Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. They added a picture of a rosary and some knives that they joined.

Kisses

It’s normal upon finishing the trance that the girls say goodbye by giving kisses on the cheeks and that they offer their own cheeks to be kissed. It frequently happens that they add a hand gesture to say goodbye then bless themselves or make the sign of the cross.

Medals

From the first days they came together, the pious and the curious, and they gave holy objects to the girls for the Virgin to kiss. The girls did this, admitting a number of rosaries that didn’t surpass the limit that the pastor put up on some occasions. With the motive of giving these religious objects to be kissed like this, also when they made it with stones, we observed that they frequently recognized objects that had already been kissed. The people made some tests in which they gave a medal or a rosary to one of the girls so she would give it to the vision to kiss. Days later they would give the same object to another girl and when she would offer it to be kissed we would hear her say, as a response to something the Virgin said: “Oh! It has already been kissed! Well, kiss it again.”

Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part One, Post 5

2nd Diary

July 1-27

Summary:

July 2nd—The vision speaks; something about the secret.

There are descriptive dialogues. The Archangel. The Virgin. The Child.

They offer stones. They are even. Kisses.

Medals. The calls. Anesthesia. Reflections.

They enter and leave the trance. Transformation.

They receive the Sacrament from the hands of the Angel. The pastor’s behavior in the first weeks. Conchita is in Santander.

July 2, 1961

This July 2nd, Sunday, represents the beginning of a new phase in the rhythm of the apparitions for the four girls. Ceferino’s paper has the last sentence with these words:

“July 2nd: “The Vision speaks.”

Between these references that I could obtain directly from the girls, they say “the other Sunday we saw the Virgin and she talked to us.”

In the document which Fr. Luís Andreu, S.J. coordinated his notes with the ones taken by Fr. Cipriano Abad and Fr. Andrés Pardo, he points out an interview that they made of the girls, with these two responses:

“Did you see the Virgin from the time of the first vision?”

R—“We didn’t see the Virgin for a few days; first we saw the Angel.”

Something about the Secret

P—“They said that the Virgin changed a secret that the Angel had told you, adding some things.”

R—“First we talked about the Angel’s secret and then the Virgin’s secret, but there are two secrets: the Angel’s and the Virgin’s. We never talk amongst ourselves about the secret because one time they heard us.”

(This interview with the girls corresponds to July 31^st and August 1^st).

From this part of the first dialogue it seems that it is necessary to arrange the principal themes.

1st—The Angel told us that he was St. Michael the Archangel. One of the girls laughed when she heard this comment.

2nd—This seems to be the first day that they began to receive the message. The impression it gives, upon talking with the girls about the message, is that they received it in several visions. At least the Vision repeated it in different ecstasies. The manner in which they received it is not only oral, but they also show it. The sentence in which the message appears: “The cup is already filling up,” corresponds, in its visual effect, to this day, or to the following days.

The girls have not talked about this since October 18th passed, so the oral references that I have, I received directly from the girls on October 19th. They told me that they saw a large cup. Drops fell around this cup that could have been blood or tears. The girls could not see to what point the cup had filled. While they saw this the Virgin was very serious, “We have never seen her that serious since, she spoke in a low voice when she said very slowly: ‘The cup is already filling up.’”

The girls didn’t understand the meaning of the sentence: “The cup is already filling up.” They couldn’t ask anyone because that would be revealing the secret that should say hidden until October 18th. Nevertheless, one of the girls, it seems María Dolores, asked the Virgin before this time. María Dolores told the other girls.

On October 19th, Conchita asked me in the morning: “What does ‘the cup is already filling up’ mean?” I told her: “When it is full, the punishment will come.” She responded “This is the same thing the Virgin—(I think she said Loli).”

She responded to my question about the punishment saying: “It will be very large, if it comes, it will be for everyone, for us as well.”

The news that they kept with me in this month of July isn’t as precise as it was in other determined days and hours. I didn’t have news about what happened in San Sebastián de Garabandal until the last days of July arrived. Then I gathered facts directly from the girls, the pastor, and from some neighbors from the village. I pursued some things that could help me to arrive at a clearer understanding of the facts that I saw in the next months, and of the documents that I possess.

(See other notebook for this dialogue)

In an interview that was recorded on a tape, there were three girls who responded to questions made with the idea of obtaining concrete descriptive traits of what the girls saw. The girls were: Jacinta, María Dolores, and Conchita.

(See other notebook for this dialogue).