Garabandal The Garden of God
"Do
you know why I have come? It is to announce to you that tomorrow the
Blessed Virgin will appear to you as Our Lady of Mount Carmel."
Saint Michael The Archangel - July 1st 1961 - Garabandal.
Carmel or “Garden of God,” is a place where fruit is brought forth. Thus,
Carmel prefigures the perfect Garden of God,
Mary’s Immaculate Heart.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary is where Jesus, “the Life” is found. Many
saints, explain that Mary conceived Jesus in her heart before He was
conceived in her womb. God dwells in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the
Garden of God, where He calls us also to dwell and to be nourished with
the life of Grace. Mary said “yes” to God and conceived Jesus, “the
Life” Himself. Her Immaculate Heart is the perfect environment for
supernatural life to flourish, as in her Immaculate Heart the Garden of
God is found. Every garden requires a principle of life; in the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Garden of God, this is God the Father. A
garden likewise requires another principle of life: the sun.
Jesus
the Son of God and Son of Mary gives the Garden warmth, love and sheds
the light of truth. Likewise, every garden needs water. The living water
of Eternal life, the Holy Spirit, nourishes and gives life to the
Garden. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell in Mary’s Immaculate
Heart, so we take refuge in this “Garden of God,” Mary’s Immaculate
Heart, where God dwells. Thus Carmel shows us the way to the preeminent
Garden of God, the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is here that her
children are to take refuge and to live in God’s Grace.
If
we go back to Lourdes we can begin to see a divine theme being
developed. The Blessed Virgin’s last appearance at Lourdes was on July
16, 1858, feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. During the final apparition
at Fatima, October 13, 1917 when the “miracle of the sun” occurred, Our
Lady first appeared as she had been appearing to the three shepherd
children with her sorrowful heart exposed. And then she appeared as Our
Lady of Mount Carmel with “something hanging from her right hand.” We
can safely assume that the “something” was the scapular.
Forty-four
years later in the little mountain hamlet of San Sebastian de
Garabandal in northern Spain, Our Lady appears with a large brown
scapular prominently draped over her right wrist as our Lady of Mount
Carmel.
Just as Mount Horeb in Sinai reminds us of Moses and “the
Law”, Mount Carmel calls to mind Elijah and “the Prophets”. It is the
Holy Mountain, the Inspired Mountain.
Our Lord and Our Lady desire
to give us all that is good. The Garden of Eden is described as a place
of great beauty and fruitfulness.
Likewise, Mount Carmel is a
place of beauty and glory. Just as Carmel is abundant and fruitful, Our
Lady of Mount Carmel brings about spiritual fruit for souls. She is the
Mediatrix of all graces, “restoring supernatural life to souls. Our Lady
of Mount Carmel calls her children to be enclosed in the garden of her
Immaculate Heart, where she will nourish her children giving them “the
Life” Jesus Christ, and the grace of supernatural life. In Carmel, “the
Garden of God,” the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the soul is planted and
cared for by Our Lady, as she brings her children to God the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit. She nourishes our life of grace and brings it
to full flowering in eternal life.
On Pentecost, 10 days after
Jesus ascended into Heaven, the spiritual descendants of Elias and his
followers came down from Mount Carmel. These were the first to accept
the message of Christianity and be baptized by the Apostles. When, at
last, they were presented to Our Lady, and heard the sweet words from
her lips, they were overcome with a sense of majesty and sanctity which
they never forgot. They returned to their holy mountain, and erected the
first chapel ever built in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From that
time, devotion to God’s Mother became the treasured spiritual legacy of
the hermits on Mount Carmel.
Today, all the powers of evil
are breaking out against our Christian faith, sometimes openly, but
more often under the guise of prophets or as wolves in sheep’s clothing.
False prophets attack the most sacred of dogmatic truths, and they lure
to shipwreck the principal mystical, ascetic, moral, spiritual and
humane values of our time.
Like Elijah, but more than Elijah,
because she is the Queen of Prophets, Mary repeats to us the word of God
which spans the ages, “be converted” . At Garabandal she said, “We must
do much penance…If we do not change…a chastisement will come.” She
recalls to us the ABSOLUTE of the Eucharist and of the priesthood, “We
must…visit the Blessed Sacrament frequently… Many cardinals, bishops and
priests are on the road to perdition…” Because she is the
Co-redemptress, she puts before us the ABSOLUTE of the Cross-and the
sacrifice, “ We must make many sacrifices…Think of the passion of
Jesus.” And because she is the Immaculate One, she calls us to
perfection, “But above all we must be very good.”
Now we
can begin to see why the Blessed Virgin came to Garabandal as Our Lady
of Mount Carmel-that symbol of motherly protection, of beauty, faith,
and conversion.
If we meditate on this, we realize that
we cannot begin to imagine the full impact the total Garabandal event
will have on the world. Perhaps the real significance of the Blessed
Mother’s title at Garibandal is reserved for the future.
And here
is a point to contemplate: On one side of the scapular which Mary had on
her wrist at Garabandal was a cross, on the other side was a mountain.
Rather
than being like the small scapulars currently worn, the scapular held
by the Virgin resembled the maniple that the priest formerly carried on
his arm during the celebration of the Mass. I say formerly because
presently the maniple has been discarded in the new liturgy. The girls
saw that a mountain was painted on one side of the scapular.
At
the time they did not understand the reason, but they would learn later.
In Spain, an expression used is Virgin del Carmen which is an
abbreviation for Our Lady of Mount Carmel, one of the most ancient
titles in Catholic Marian devotion and one which ties Mary closely to
her native land, the land of Our Saviour, and to the mysterious
destinies of its people. It should be added that Mount Carmel,
historically the site of awesome works of God, has been for many
centuries at least since St. John of the Cross, the symbol in the Church
of the height of perfection to which every really Christian soul is
called. The ascent cannot be easy, being the great enterprise of life;
but what is found on the summit is worth the effort: All that rests on
that mount is the honor and the glory of God.
It appears very
significant and of tremendous meaning, that the Virgin has desired to
appear at Garabandal as Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
The fact that
the girls could not conceive of a Virgin of Carmel clothed in white and
blue corroborates the authenticity of their vision. The statue that they
saw at the church, and the various religious pictures that they had
seen presented the Virgin of Carmel robed completely different. If they
described her as they have in spite of what they were accustomed to see,
it is because that was the way they saw her. And now comes the best
thing. On July 16th, 1251, in the first apparition of the Virgin of
Mount Carmel to St. Simon Stock, General of the Carmelites, she was
dressed with a white tunic and a blue cloak, as at Garabandal.
Question
: The Virgin come to Garabandal as our Lady of Mount Carmel and had a
Scapular on her wrist during the Apparitions. Did you know what it was
when you first saw it ?
Jacinta : Yes, we
recognized it because it looks like a Scapular and we were already
familiar with it since we had always worn it in our families.
Question : Did the Virgin actually speak to you about it ? Did She explain its significance?
Jacinta : Yes, She spoke about it. She said it was VERY IMPORTANT.
Question : Can you describe the Scapular the Virgin had on her wrist?
Jacinta : It had a Mountain on one part and a Cross of the other.
Question: Do you remember what colors the Cross and Mountain were ?
Jacinta :
The Scapular was dark brown and the cross was white. The mountain was a different color maybe something like cream.
Question
: Many People Believe that we are living in the age of the Apocalypse.
Did the Virgin ever speak to you about the end of times or indicate that
we were living in the “latter times” ?
Jacinta: I don’t remember her saying the “latter times” but I do remember her saying “difficult times”.
Question : Did the Virgin ever use the word Apocalypse ?
Jacinta : I don’t remember now but it’s possible that she did.
Question : Did the Virgin ever give you any secrets that you can’t reveal ?
Jacinta : Yes.
My Comment :
And here is a point to contemplate: On one side of the scapular which Mary had on her wrist at Garabandal was a (big white) cross, on the other side was a mountain ?
It reminds me of this Vision :
……And
we saw in an immense light that is God: ˜something similar to how
people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop
dressed in White ˜we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of
rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching
there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half
trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed
for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top
of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he
was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him,
and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops,
Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different
ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there
were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which
they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the
souls that were making their way to God........
Sources :
http://www.garabandal.us/the-best-of-garabandal/fr-pelletier/why-did-mary-appear-as-our-lady-of-mount-carmel/
http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/2009/08/our-lady-of-mount-carmel-history-the-scapular-a-marian-mediation/
http://www.fatima.org/apostolate/pdf/brown_scapular.pdf
http://www.garabandal.us/pdfs/jacinta-gonzalez-interview.pdf
http://www.garabandal.us/pdfs/she_wenthaste.pdf
October 18, 1961
We
must make many sacrifices, perform much penance, and visit the Blessed
Sacrament frequently. But first, we must lead good lives. If we do not, a
chastisement will befall us. The cup is already filling up, and if we
do not change, a very great chastisement will come upon us.
June 18, 1965
As
my message of October 18th has not been complied with and has not been
made known to the world, I am advising you that this is the last one.
Before, the cup was filling up. Now it is flowing over. Many cardinals,
many bishops, and many priests are on the road to perdition and are
taking many souls with them. Less and less importance is being given to
the Eucharist. You should turn the wrath of God away from yourselves by
your efforts. If you ask His forgiveness with sincere hearts, He will
pardon you. I, your mother, through the intercession of Saint Michael
the archangel, ask you to amend your lives. You are now receiving the
last warnings. I love you very much and do not want your condemnation.
Pray to us with sincerity and we will grant your requests. You should
make more sacrifices.
Think about the passion of Jesus.
Aviso