suetony2011 posted: "A few months ago, I wrote about an American gentleman named Gerard B Tall, Jr, who has written a book entitled “…For the Salvation of the World” - ‘A Love Story About Mary’, outlining the story of Mother Mary’s mission over the last 180 years. Printed "
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Garabandal cannot be reduced to simple "events of the past"; it remains mysteriously contemporary as we await the fulfillment of the "Warning", "Miracle", & "Great Sign." "Therefore, judge not before the time: until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts. And then shall every man have praise from God." (I Cor. 4:5)
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 19
On August 8th, María Dolores lost a rosary belonging to Fr. Luís, which was about the size of a medal. She lost it on the path from the Pines to the Church. When she realized she’d lost it, she asked the Virgin where it was, and she found it the next day.
On August 15th, one of the girls was carrying a rosary I had given her, and I noticed that the cross was missing when she returned it. Faced with the impossibility of finding it, since it could be in any part of the village, I decided to leave it. After 20 days, on September 5th, I asked the girls to question the Virgin about the cross of the rosary. They did. I heard the dialogue in which they asked and learned the exact place the little cross could be found. When the trance ended, they went immediately and without hesitation and found the cross on one of the roads, under a stone and in the mud.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 18
Another type of knowledge
On one occasion the girls knelt in a state of trance and prayed an “Oh, My Jesús” before each person. When they arrived before a boy and a small girl, around 7 years old, they prayed a Salve instead of an “Oh, My Jesus.”
One of the seers blessed a group of people but did not include one of them. This person was sad. The pastor asked the child when she was in the normal state why she had not blessed the person. The girl responded that the Virgin had told her that he was the only person who had not made the sign of the cross in the morning. He proved that this was true by asking the group, and it was.
A good person who had come and was indifferent to what they saw, gave a third person a crucifix so that he could give it to the girls and they could give it to the Vision to kiss. All of this was during the trance. The scene lasted two or three minutes. This third person passed it into the hands of the girl and she gave it to the Vision to kiss. The third person reached out his hand to take the crucifix from the girl, but she made a brisk movement and passed her arm over her shoulders and gave the crucifix to the owner with her back to him. He was visibly emotional.
A woman asked them to ask the Virgin if her husband believed in God. The response was: “Yes, he believes in God. He believes very little in the Virgin, but he will believe.” The husband of this woman was Protestant and lived in Madrid.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 17
Knowledge of people
In the different cases I have given news on, I put in continuation one that I have witnessed myself.
1st—On September 4th, at night, my brother arrived in Garabandal. He came from America. When he arrived, two of the girls welcomed us: Jacinta and María Dolores. I told them that my brother had come from America to see them. While we were talking, Conchita came in a state of trance. She entered into Ceferino’s house, came in front of us and blessed herself. She went up to the first floor—while still in a state of trance—and there she responded to the questions the other girls asked her.
“Who has come?”
“Fr. Andreu and one of his brothers.”
“Where has he come from?”
“From Caracas—Where is that?—Oh, there is one here and another there. This one is blond.”
According to the facts we have, Conchita did not know that Fr. Andreu had come from Caracas even though it was possible that he had come from America, nor did she know that he was blond.
When I asked later, she responded that the Virgin had told her.
Friday, January 18, 2013
THE EUCHARIST: HOLDING FIRM & GIVING GENEROUSLY BY GABRIEL GARNICA
The Garabandal Message is in the form of holding firm in our faith and giving generously of ourselves to others.The Message of Garabandal is about many things that bring us closer to God, but most of all it is about love. That love takes many forms and is expressed in many ways, but perhaps one of the main ways that we can interpret that love as presented in The Garabandal Message is in the form of holding firm in our faith and giving generously of ourselves to others. HOLDING FIRM
St. Tarcisius is one of my favourite saints. This Martyr of the Eucharist died around the year 255 and was most likely a deacon or acolyte according to tradition. It is said that he was carrying The Blessed Sacrament from one place to another when he was attacked by a heathen mob. Curious to see what he held so tightly in his hands, these beasts became enraged when Tarcisius would not open his hands. Despite their vicious onslaught, the holy saint suffered death rather than surrender The Blessed Sacrament to the mob. What can we possibly learn from this comparatively obscure Saint?
To begin with, Tarcisius teaches us to love Our Lord in The Blessed Sacrament with all of our might, and to respect His Real Presence in this beautiful Sacrament. Such love and respect implies that we hunger for the Eucharist and prepare well to partake of Our Lord in Holy Communion. This means going to confession often and trying to be as pure as possible when receiving Holy Communion.
Secondly, we are reminded that, as the Blessed Mother told us at Garabandal. "Less and less importance is being given to the Eucharist." Like Tarcisius, we must be willing to sacrifice everything out of love for Our Lord, and always hold Him close to our hearts never surrendering Him in favour of worldly things. Thirdly, let us recall that The Blessed Virgin told the girls that it was a greater grace to receive Jesus in Holy Communion than to see her. How many of us have hoped to see Our Blessed Mother as these seers did thinking that such a wonderful blessing and yet fail to realise the daily blessing that we have right in front of us. I, for one, have neglected this great blessing terribly and need to begin taking much more advantage of this great gift. Fourth, let us not forget that the Holy Eucharist was certainly a central part of the Garabandal events and continues to be a core aspect of The Garabandal Message. From the fact that the pines were planted by Conchita's grandfather to commemorate First Communions, to the Miracle of the Visible Host and much else surrounding Garabandal, the Blessed Sacrament remains central to the story. In a world that is constantly ignoring, mocking and forgetting the Blessed Sacrament and the Real Presence so central to Garabandal, God asks us through the Messages of Garabandal to grasp Our Lord firmly and hold Him close to our hearts even as we carry Him to others via our words, actions and example. GIVING GENEROUSLY
Who can forget the magnificent miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fishes in John 6:1-15? This famous miracle has been analysed and interpreted by many people for many years, yet at its core, it is yet another illustration of love just as that of the Blessed Sacrament, The Real Presence, and the sacrifice of St. Tarcisius. Many imagine that the little boy who generously offered his food to Our Lord to feed the multitude was the only person in that huge crowd who had food at all, but perhaps he was merely the only person who was willing to share what food he had. Perhaps there were others who had much more food, yet they were too selfish to share what they had with anyone. The food of those who were not willing to share remained merely food, perhaps enough, to feed a few people. What of the food offered by the boy? Scripture tells us that Our Lord multiplied that food to feed thousands of people with much to spare. In this great miracle we see that we are expected to share our talents and what we have with others to glorify God. In return, our loving God will greatly multiply our talents and efforts such that we can help many more people than we could ever imagine. At Garabandal Our Blessed Mother taught the girls to be attentive to the needs of others and to constantly seek ways to serve people. Much of The Garabandal Message centers on love of neighbour which includes service and generosity. In turn, Our Lord will greatly bless and magnify our efforts and generosity as long as we willingly and unselfishly offer our gifts of talents and time to others for the glory of God. CONCLUSIONSimply put, Garabandal is also about love of God and love of neighbour. We are called to serve and love God through service and love of others. This call demands an unselfish and generous approach to life exemplified by that boy in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes and the selfless giving of his life by St Tarcisius to protect the Blessed Sacrament. [From Garabandal International Magazine, January-March 2013]
Thursday, January 17, 2013
A better upgraded version of "The Message of Garabandal Video
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Sacred Ground
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Divine Will Retreat this Spring at Garabandal
Monday, January 14, 2013
Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 16
Here is a fragment from a Vision on August 8:
She went to make the sign of the cross but her hand was impeded. (They were holding her hand firmly). As you want—as you order—I don’t have more—we haven’t given any proof and the people don’t believe—if you want, at the time you want, I’ll go—I don’t know, but since I want to please you, I don’t want to know—I never thought—when you want and what you want—the same you give me to go to all sides now—(where she’d had apparitions). Because we throw stones and some believe but others don’t want to believe us—I heard some people say that it was a sickness that we had—that the more the people are pleased with us, the more we’ll do it—they say that we’re bad.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Our Lady's Kiss
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Friday, January 11, 2013
Padre Pio and the Mother Co-redemptrix by Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli
It has been written, and rightly so, that “if there is an aspect of the mystery of Mary especially fitting to the life and work of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, it is certainly the coredemptive aspect of the person and mission of the Immaculate in God’s salvific plan of love” (1).
The mystery of Mary Coredemptrix is present in the life and writings of St. Pio of Pietrelcina at the highest levels of mystical experience which he lived out in body and soul, and of the theologia cordis transmitted by him to his spiritual children in the language of that wisdom transcending by far a language limited to the solely notional and conceptual (2).
St. Pio of Pietrelcina in the first place lived the mystery of Marian Coredemption in his exceptional mystical experience of the Passion of Christ Crucified, of which he bore the living and bleeding stigmata in his body for fifty entire years, from 1918 to 1968. He became an “imprinted reproduction of the wounds of the Lord,” according to the happy expression of Pope Paul VI (3). In this exceptional mystical experience he co-immolated himself with Christ, assimilating himself in a most extensive and profound manner to the Mother Coredemptrix who immolates herself with the Son on the Cross in order to bring to pass the universal Redemption (4). It has been written that, “Padre Pio penetrated the sorrows of Mary and participated in them, mirrored them, relived them; as his soul had been a partaker in the sorrows of the Passion, so too he had the gift of participating in the sorrows of Mary” (5).
Into this area of mystical experience, however, the inexperienced are not allowed to enter nor are they in a position to speak of it. St. Bonaventure, the “Seraphic Doctor,” teaches expressly that, with regard to the mystical, “those who are not experts and who do not wish to become experienced, must absolutely keep silent” (6).
What is more within the range of our intelligence, then, is the coredemptive aspect of St. Pio of Pietrelcina’s active ministry. He exercised the ministry of the confessional for more than fifty years, administering the Sacrament of Reconciliation to such a vast family of penitents that Pope Paul VI called it, in yet another happy expression, a “worldwide clientele” (7). But to administer the Sacrament of forgiveness and of reconciliation between mankind and God means to operate on the same wavelength, so to speak, as Marian Coredemption. In fact, Mary Most Holy, being united with the Redeemer—”under Him and with Him,” as Vatican II teaches (LG 56)—reconciled humanity with God through the sacrificial offering consummated on Calvary; and after Calvary she continues unceasingly to reconcile man to God with her Mediation and Distribution of all the graces of Redemption. Consequently, she is proclaimed the Mother of universal reconciliation.
The spiritual director of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, Fr. Benedict of San Marco, once told St. Pio in a letter of spiritual direction that his particular vocation was a “vocation to coredeem” by means of the daily trials, battles, sufferings, and toils coming from the exercise of his ministry. And in reference particularly to his work as a confessor, it has been accurately observed that “in the ministry of reconciliation, Padre Pio prolonged or, in a certain sense, actualized the fruitfulness of grace of Marian Coredemption which ‘restores the supernatural life in souls’ (LG 61). In fact, the divine grace acquired by the Redeemer and the Coredemptrix in the ‘effecting’ of the Redemption is here distributed and applied to every soul in need by means of the sacramental absolution given by Padre Pio to his penitents” (8).
To understand St. Pio’s “vocation to coredeem” better, one must also consult his writings, of primary value where he speaks of the Coredemptrix in the salvific mystery. And one recognizes immediately that his discourse is not theoretical or notional, but reflects instead the most profound and moving characteristics of the theologia cordis, of theology lived at the level of ascetical and mystical experience , one which gives a knowledge of the mystery characteristically sapiential and experiential, as St. Bonaventure explains (9).
The pages in which St. Pio speaks of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s sorrows are exceedingly numerous (10). In these pages the figure of Our Lady of Sorrows is present in her immense coredemptive suffering, and she is seen walking along the way to Calvary “immediately behind Jesus… burdened with her own cross” (11). A cross for Jesus, a cross for Mary. It is of value here to recall the insight of Arnold of Chartres who speaks of a double altar on Calvary: “one in the Heart of Mary, the other in the Body of Christ. Christ sacrificed His flesh, Mary her soul” (12). And St. Pio recommends to all “to keep always right behind this Blessed Mother, to walk always close to her, since there is no other road which leads to life, except the one trod by our Mother” (13).
When St. Pio wants to describe the sufferings of Our Lady of Sorrows, he finds a very valid point of reference in his very own suffering, be it moral or physical, a suffering so terrible as to dry up every tear and to petrify him in sorrow (14). For this reason in contemplating Our Lady’s sorrows he can expand his soul and say: “Yes, now I understand, oh Jesus, why in admiring You Your Mother did not weep beneath the Cross” (15), because “by the excess of sorrow, she remained petrified before her crucified Son” (16); and on another page of sublime contemplation touching his own measureless sorrows and those of Our Lady, he exclaims movingly: “Now I seem to be penetrating what was the martyrdom of our most beloved Mother (…). Oh, if all people would but penetrate this martyrdom! Who could succeed in suffering with this, yes, our dear Coredemptrix? Who would refuse her the good title of Queen of Martyrs?” (17)
The words “dear Coredemptrix” express most exactly soteriological value of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s maternal mission in the tones of a pure theologia cordis. She coredeemed humanity by offering the divine Victim, her Son Jesus, in the bloody immolation of the Cross, and co-immolating herself with Him in order to “restore supernatural life to souls” (LG 61), became in this way our “Mother in the order of grace” (LG 1.c.) (18). She “gave birth to us in sorrows,” affirms St. Pio. She is, therefore, the Mother Coredemptrix. She desires to raise her children and, what is more, to make them grow even unto the stature of Christ. She is, therefore, the Mother Mediatrix and Dispensatrix of all graces (19), always “associated with Jesus in applying the fruits of the Redemption to souls,” as Fr. Melchior da Pobladura writes (20). The Coredemptrix reacquired the grace lost. The Mediatrix distributes the grace reacquired. There is an operative continuity between the Coredemption and Distribution of saving grace. And, according to the teaching of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, we should be eternally grateful to “our dear Coredemptrix” and to our “Mediatrix and Dispensatrix of all graces.”
Fr. Stefano Maria Manelli, F.I., is Founder and Minister General of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. He is internationally known for his distinguished preaching and biblical, Mariological scholarship. His Biblical Mariology has recently appeared in English under the title: All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed.
Notes
(1) N. Castello, S.M. Manelli, La “dolce Signora” di Padre Pio, Cinisello Balsamo, IT 1999, p.119.
(2) On this theme cf. the more far ranging and elaborate study: S.M. Manelli, Maria SS.ma Corredentrice nella vita e negli scritti di Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, in AA.VV., Maria Corredentrice, Frigento, IT 1999, vol. II, pp.277-294; see also: N. Castello, S.M. Manelli, La “dolce Signora” di Padre Pio, edition cited, pp.119-128.
(3) Paolo VI, Discorso, Feb. 20, 1971.
(4) It has been written, with good reason, that in the life and writings of St. Pio “the transparent, close and indissoluble union of Mary Coredemptrix and Mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one Mediator between God and men is (found) everywhere” Melchiorre da Pobladura, Alla scuola spirituale di Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, San Giovanni Rotondo, IT 1978, p.93.
(5) A. Negrisolo, N. Castello, S.M. Manelli, Padre Pio nella sua interiorità, Rome, IT 1997, p. 58. Of considerable importance and interest would be a comparative study of the mystical experience and coredemptive thought of St. Pio and St. Veronica Giuliani (cf. Sr. Maria Francesca Perillo, Il mistero di Maria Corredentrice in santa Veronica Giuliani, in AA.VV., Maria Corredentrice, Frigento, IT 1999, vol. II, pp.169-217).
(6) St. Bonaventure, Apologia Pauperum, c.9, n.27; VII, 303.
(7) Discorso, Feb. 20, 1971.
(8) N. Castello, S.M. Manelli, work cited, pp.127-128. It should also be noted that St. Pio frequently recalled Our Lady of Sorrows to his penitents in giving them the sacramental penance of reciting seven Hail Mary’s to Our Lady of Sorrows, “and sometimes he could not succeed in finishing the word Addolorata (Our Lady of Sorrows) without an outburst of tears!” (ibid. p. 123).
(9) Cf. St. Bonaventure, Questio disputata de perfectione evangelica, Q.1, conclusion.
(10) Cf., for example, the first volume of the Epistolario, San Giovanni Rotondo, IT 1992, pp.213, 345, 384, 601, 639, 993 (here cited as: Ep.).
(11) Ep. I, p.597.
(12) Arnold of Chartres, De septem verbis Domini in cruce, 3, PL 189, 1694. This is a text quoted by Pope John Paul II in a catechesis on the Marian Coredemption on Oct. 25, 1995.
(13) Ep. I, p.602.
(14) So he writes, for example, in a letter: “Oh God, what torture I feel… Would that I could at least have the satisfaction of pouring out this interior martyrdom with tears. The sorrow is immense and has overwhelmed me.” (ibid. 993).
(15) Ibid.
(16) Ep. III, p. 190.
(17) Ibid., p.384.
(18) The following is well stated: “As to the words ‘dear Coredemptrix’ it is important to verify how for Padre Pio of Pietrelcina the term Coredemptrix serves also to efficaciously explain the truth of the compassion and transfixion of Mary Most Holy in the universal work of Redemption. Here mystical theology, too, supports the usage of the term Coredemptrix, already common in Mariology and in the Church for centuries, used even by the Sovereign Pontiffs, and particularly by Pope John Paul II” (N. Castello, S.M. Manelli, work cited, pp.126-127).
(19) St. Pio himself wrote these expressions on a little memorial image for his fiftieth anniversary as a priest, calling Our Lady precisely the “most sweet Mother (mamma) of priests, Mediatrix and Dispensatrix of all graces” (reported by Ferdinando da Riese, P. Pio da Pietrelcina crocifisso senza croce, Foggia, IT 1991, p.428).
(20) Melchiorre da Pobladura, op. cit., p.96.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN DIVINE MERCY AND GARABANDAL
DIVINE MERCY AND GARABANDAL
Reprinted with kind permission from GARABANDAL JOURNAL July-August 2004
THE PASSION
"Fix your gaze upon the Passion of my Son." --- Our Lady to Faustina (Diary, 449)
"Think about the Passion of Jesus," --- Message of Our Lady, June 18, 1966
APPEARANCE OF OUR LADY
"I saw the Mother of God in a white garment and blue mantle with her head uncovered." (August 15, 1935) (Diary, 468)
"The Blessed Virgin appears with a white dress, blue mantle and a crown of small golden stars." [but no head covering] --- Conchita's Diary (On one occasion Our Lady appeared as above however without her crown.)
HUMILITY AND SIMPLICITY
"I keep company with you as a child to teach you humility and simplicity." --- Our Lord explaining to Faustina why He sometimes appeared to her as the Child Jesus (Diary, 184)
"Love humility, simplicity." --- locution of Conchita with Our Lord, February 13, 1966
NOT FOR YOU ALONE
"The graces I grant you are not for you alone, but for a great number of other souls as well." --- Our Lord to Faustina (Diary, 723)
"I have not come for you; I have come for everybody." --- Our Lord to Conchita, July 20, 1963
ABORTION
"I was seized with such violent pains that I had to go to bed at once ... Jesus had me realize that in this way I took part in His Agony in the Garden, and that He Himself allowed these sufferings in order to offer reparation to God for the souls murdered in the wombs of wicked mothers." --- September 16, 1937 (Diary, 1276)
"Can you imagine how somebody could kill children in the womb without thereby killing the mother? ... Well, the Blessed Mother spoke about this and she let me know that this will happen with the overflowing of the chalice [of iniquity]." --- Conchita to Albrecht Weber of Germany, November 14, 1965.
HUMBLE AND PROUD
"He [God] is well pleased only with the humble; He always opposes the proud." --- Our Lady to Faustina (Diary, 1711)
"What God loves most is humility; what most displeases Him is pride." --- Words of Our Lady at Garabandal as recounted by Conchita to Sister Maria Nieves in Burgos on April 19, 1967
COMMUNION FROM AN ANGEL
"I saw at my bedside a Seraph who gave me Holy Communion ... This was repeated for thirteen days..." (Diary, 1676)
"[T]he angel appeared to us with a goblet that looked like gold ... and then he gave us Holy Communion. He gave us Holy Communion over a long period of time." --- Conchita's Diary
from GARABANDAL JOURNAL, July-August 2004
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Sacred Heart at Garabandal
Monday, January 7, 2013
Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 15
What the Virgin teaches them (and us!)
From the beginning of the visions until August 25, 1961, the advice and recommendations the girls have received have been varied. They are here without chronological order, like smooth pieces collected until it is what has happened in the present.
Modesty
The girls’ modesty is shown in their manner of walking, running, looking, and in their movements, etc. They obey the advice repeated to them by the Virgin several times. The advice is “to be modest.”
They don’t like that the people come showing cleavage, that the women smoke, etc… We have to remember that once one of the girls didn't want to take a picture with a woman because she was showing cleavage.
Indifference to fame
When the beginning of the afternoon arrived, the girls wanted to go to the field, at times, from the morning—or to lock themselves in their houses, only leaving in a sporadic and rapid manner. They say that the Virgin told them to be in their houses; they dispense with the public in general. They do not show any inquietude even though many people come and when there is no vision, the people are disillusioned. The reason why they like people to come is “so they will believe.”
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Fr. Ramon Andreu's Notes: Part Three, Post 14
The girls are 11 and 12 years old. Regarding their psychological development, and their way of expressing things that are foreign to them (logical things) they might be considered serene and impartial and act as though they were 8 or 9 years old.
As a result, when they explain about some of these phenomena they said: “There is no voice like hers…” The calls are: “As though she says run, run, but within, without words.”
They are in agreement in all of these descriptions.
Kisses
During their visions, we saw the girls kiss something. From their gestures and their explanations, the girls kissed the Virgin, the Archangel St. Michael, and the Child. They are also kissed by these figures. As we have already said, they held the Child in their arms at times. The gesture of kissing, being kissed, and holding the Child or the crowns, are completely defined.
An eyewitness told us: “I have not seen, in all of the numerous trances I have witnessed, the simultaneous action of two or three girls kissing at the same time, needless to say successively.” “I have only seen them do it simultaneously when the kiss was not given but being blown from afar, or when the kiss was directed to a different person: the Virgin, Child, or Angel.”
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
CONCHITA’S PRAYER—JANUARY 1, 1967
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