She Went in Haste to the Mountain (Page 12)

CHAPTER TWO
PREPARING THE WAY

When Garabandal awoke on the 19th of June, one topic monopolized all the conversations in the kitchens(1) and on the streets.

You haven't heard? . . . What they saw? . . . Yes, that's what they said; but you'll have to find out for yourself! . . . Anyhow, something strange must have happened to the children because . . . What happened? . . . I am going to ask María and Aniceta . . .

What Would An Angel Be Doing in Garabandal?

When we got up, the people had begun to talk:
—Those four girls saw something since they came down with such expressions!
—It could have been one of those big birds, since it was dark . . .
—Or perhaps some little boy surprised them while they . . .
—Or they were dreaming . . .
—Well, everyone had his own idea about the thing.
It was a day in which they talked about nothing else.

Not surprising! Nothing like it had ever happened at San Sebastián de Garabandal. While the people there were used to thinking about God, they never would have thought that they would come in contact with Him beyond His mysterious veil—on a streetcorner! Every Sunday, while reciting the Credo at Mass, they alleged their belief in an all powerful God Who had created not only the world of visible things, but also another world of invisible ones. But how could anyone expect something that had never happened before to happen suddenly now? How could they comprehend that four children of their village were able to view the light of His invisible world?

If what the girls said were true, it could have the most unexpected consequences for everyone . . .

They asked us to describe what we had seen.
And very happy with the beautiful figure, we were glad to tell them, since there were some people who doubted that it was true.
We told how he was, how he was dressed, very brilliant . . .
Most of the people laughed at us; but it was all the same to us because we knew it was true.

As the young girl described, the conversations were animated in the early hours of the morning.
And the girls could hear the people talking as they walked to school,(2) where the doors opened at 10 o'clock.

When we arrived at the school, the schoolmistress asked us, My children are you certain about the things you said yesterday?
We answered together: Yes, Señora. We saw an Angel!
The other children from the school who surrounded us were amazed at what we were saying.

I can imagine that there was great excitement among the other young girls accustomed to the monotony of their day to day life. Who would not envy their four schoolmates? Of, if they could be part of such a thrilling thing too!

It is doubtful that there was much studying done on that morning in the young girls' school at Garabandal. However, Conchita writes, We acted the same as always, undisturbed. If tranquility resulted in them from the apparitions, it should be recognized that this is a sign it had a good origin. Neither the devil, neuroses, nor hallucinations leave peace.

When we left school (a little before dinner hour), each one went to his own home.

1. In villages and towns like Garabandal, the kitchen is the most utilized room in the home; here visitors are received, here the entire family congregates. During the winter months this is especially the place for talking or working.
2. The schoolhouse is not in the center of the village, but on the perimeter near the church.

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In front of Conchita's house

Years later on April 8, 1967, during the great tests, doubts, and contradictions, Aniceta said to the Argentine priest Julio Meinvielle, who had come up to Garabandal with Jaime García Llorente from Seville:(26)

«I recall seeing Conchita when she came back to the house after her first apparition. She came completely transformed. Even the voice had changed, and this struck me greatly. It was like another voice, a very soft voice. And she smiled with a gentleness in her face.»

· · ·

Loli came home with her sister Amaliuca, who was a year younger. They were afraid, expecting a scolding for returning late. In San Sebastián homes there was strict discipline with young girls, and especially about returning home before dark.

When they arrived, their mother was already in bed since the poor woman had worked hard all day long. They went upstairs to her bedroom and knocked softly on her door, Loli behind Amaliuca.

26. Reverend Julio Meinvielle, a prominent figure among Argentine Catholics, had heard and read about Garabandal in his country. As soon as he could, he took a plane to Madrid and Jaime García Llorente picked him up at the airport and took him straight to Garabandal. There the perspicuous priest contemplated, prayed, and listened . . . And his impression was decidedly favorable. He said to his companion Jaime on the return trip, Garabandal will be the banner of the counter-revolution.

—Mama, they whispered.
—Yes, mama, mama, Julia answered sharply, What time is this to get back home? What do you think this is? I ought to give you a beating.
—We are late because Loli has seen an angel.
—An angel? Not a devil? You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Get going, eat your dinner and get to bed. I’m tired. Don’t bother me.

The girls went downstairs and ate. Then Loli, as was her custom, went to the house of her maternal grandmother who lived next door to sleep with her since the woman lived all alone. (This is the house now occupied by the remaining members of the Mazón-González family.)

Before going to bed, the grandmother and her granddaughter were in the habit of saying together the prayers of the Scapular of Mount Carmel, and they started this again on the night of June 18th, 1961. But the grandmother soon noticed something unusual in the child who was on her knees leaning against her, trembling like a frightened little bird. (Loli was quite small at that time.)

—Child! What’s happened to you?
—Grandmother, I’ve seen an Angel.
—What? You’ve seen an Angel? Are you all right? Come on now!

The little girl insisted, and with such a tone of excitement that the grandmother, although not yielding her entire belief, was partly convinced.

The recitation of the Our Fathers and Hail Marys continued, and everything ended as usual with the ancient and beautiful invocation that had to resound like never before on that night:

GRANDMOTHER: Be our consolation. The way most powerful.

LOLI: Give us your loving protection, Mother of God, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.(27)

· · ·

That was at 9:30 at night.
Later that night we didn’t speak any more about it.
It was an ordinary night, just like any other.
Conchita states this in her diary, but we can be sure that for the four girls of Garabandal that night could not be an ordinary night, just like any other. It might have been that in the external aspects of eating, bedtime, etc., but within the hearts of the four girls, that night had to be quite different, stirring up their feelings and desires. They could still remember the beautiful vision of the calleja, and it filled them with such joy. But with it there was mixed the anxiety of many unanswered questions—these two above all:

Would he return?

What did he want from us?

27. I was finally able to learn also from Jacinta how the meeting with her parents took place on the night of the first apparition:
«On returning home, I couldn’t hide our seeing the Angel . . . My mother and my brother took it as a joke. They couldn’t believe it, and tried to convince me that the best thing to do was forget it . . . When I said that the Angel had wings, my brother replied that it has surely been one of the big birds that he has seen at times in the Peña Sagra mountains--not being used to them, we had been frightened, and the scare had made us see strange things . . .

My father interrupted to say, I don’t want to take a serious matter like this for a joke. I don’t know what occurred, but I know Jacinta well. And I know that if she says that she has seen an Angel, something like this happened.
We didn’t discuss the thing anymore that night. When I was alone, I couldn’t stop thinking of what had happened in the Calleja.»

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Aniceta

When we had finished saying the Station, we went to our homes.
It was already more than nine at night, and my mother had told me to come home during the day.(24)
And on that day it was dark when I arrived.
When I got home, my mother said to me, Didn’t I tell you to come home before dark?
Very frightened because of two things—for having seen the figure so beautiful, and for coming home late—I didn’t dare to come into the kitchen. And I leaned against the wall, very sad.

What a picture. The young girl in the fresh radiance of her twelve years, leaning against the wall in dismay, trying to support with the softness of her look the unlikeliness of her words.

And I said to my mother, I have seen an Angel! The acid response of Aniceta could be expected: Is that all? On top of coming home late, you come saying these things?
And I answered again, But it’s true; I have seen an Angel.

The replies, and the replies to the replies continued between the daughter and her mother. Aniceta, less sure each time in her refusals, finished being much inclined to admit that her daughter, that daughter for whom she lived and whom she watched over with extreme care, must have really experienced something.(25)

24. It would be expected, and very proper for Aniceta to watch like this over her only daughter. In Garabandal the nights are really dark with the streets hardly lit up. And although the people were of upright morality, a girl like Conchita had no business being in the village at such a time.

25. I have come across a new version of what occurred on that memorable afternoon. It comes from Pilar, the mother of Mari Cruz, and was taken down on a tape recorder in the kitchen of her home—without her knowing it—on the afternoon of July 25th, 1964:
«We never fought with each other . . . And it happened one day, a Sunday, the 18th of June. I was at the laundry with a cow that I was keeping at the house. (Pilar took the cow to water at the laundry, as was her custom, so that it could be stabled, since night was falling) There I met Angelita, the wife of Fael, and I don’t know who else . . . She said to me: —But what happened to Mari Cruz?
—What’s happened? What’s happened?
—I answered—What’s she done?
—But you don’t know about it then? That she says she has seen an angel.
—An angel? Oh, what a thing! This frightened me. I thought that she had done something bad. After that, I went on walking while thinking, "Is it possible that the girl is going around saying these ridiculous things about angels and church affairs?" (The atmosphere in Mari Cruz’s home must not have been especially religious. Conchita lets an observation escape in her diary about Mari Cruz’ father Escolástico, who does not go much to mass.)
While walking I met Mari Cruz right here by Sinda’s home. I was irritated and I said to her:
—Listen, Mari Cruz, what are you going around saying here?
—Nothing.
—What do you mean nothing? They told me at the laundry that you have seen an angel . . . Look, I am going to give you a beating, since you are too grown up to say these things . . . While I was saying this, Jacinta, who was there, answered:
—Yes, we really saw him.
—May God be praised. —I said— You are also mixed up in this? What a shame. Most Holy Mary. Young girls of your age!
And that day I gave Mari Cruz a good scolding; but I didn’t scold her after that.»

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Inside Garabandal church today.

When we had finished praying, we returned to the church door and went inside.
At the same time the schoolmistress arrived very frightened and said to us at once, My children, have you really seen an Angel?
—Yes, Señora.
—Could this be your imagination?
—No, Señora! We have really seen an Angel!
Then the schoolmistress told us, Let us go pray a Station to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in thanksgiving.(22)

22. A Eucharistic devotion practiced widely in Spain. It consists of six Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be To The Father, with the ejaculation "Long Live Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. And may He be loved by all." These prayers are accustomed to be said especially during the exposition of the Holy Eucharist, on making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, and during Thanksgiving after the reception of Holy Communion.

Said to be originated by the Franciscans, the six Our Fathers of the Station have the following significance: Five are in honor of the Five Wounds of Christ—the wounds of the hands, feet, and side—and the sixth is a prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father to gain indulgences.

We know that during that unforgettable Station, the girls’ words and prayers mingled with their sobs and laughter. «We were in such a state», Loli admitted afterwards, «that we were laughing and crying at the same time.»

At Day’s End
(Te lucis ante terminum)

Probably never was a Station like that ever said in the church at San Sebastián de Garabandal.
Never such a feeling of heart, such desire and need to take shelter near the Person who was truly there close to them—the Living God, full of love, powerful and hidden in His ways, and certainly the Author of all that had just happened.

The schoolmistress felt herself more a mother than ever toward her students, who were leaning on her like frightened little birds, seeking protection. They whispered the prayers:
Long live Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament . . . Our Father . . . Thy will be done . . . Forgive us
our sins . . . Lead us not into temptation . . . Deliver us from evil!

The prayer of their five souls in the dark and deserted church was a real Compline(23) at Garabandal on that June Sunday that had begun a Sunday like any other.

The light of day dimmed. Time for evening prayer. On that day and at the same time as at Garabandal, just as it has been happening for centuries in the Church’s countless monasteries and convents, great numbers of souls consecrated to God were saying before Him the liturgical prayer for the end of the day.

(Te lucis ante terminum.)
As the day ends we pray to you, Creator of the Universe, to be our Guardian and Defender according to Your great mercy . . .
Guard us as the pupil of Your eyes; in the shelter of Your wings, protect us . . .
Let Your Holy Spirit descend upon us, Lord our God.

The girls did not understand the meaning of the word Compline, but one can do many things without knowing how to define them.

23. Compline is the last hour of the Divine Office, the official daily prayer of the church; the proper time for its recital is nightfall. This prayer has the purpose of offering the day just concluding to God and petitioning his protection against the unknown dangers of the coming night.

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Perhaps they also had premonitions that this could be the start of something still greater. Where else could they find refuge and protection, if not in the place that especially keeps the presence of God? Is that not also the best place to pray to Her who is His mother and their own, always so ready to help her poor children? But before going inside to pray, they had to pour out their tears on the walls outside.

Those walls, austere, strong, rising up above the little plateau on which Garabandal rests, have withstood the savage storms of the Cantabrian Mountains,(20) looking on century after century of days and nights, of good times and bad. Generations and generations of Garabandalinos have come there with their greatest joys, their most hidden sufferings, their final hopes . . . But never
had those walls seen such ineffable sobbing of children, such exceptional tears as those the four girls shed under their shelter, while the sun set forever on that day of June 18th, 1961.

There was no one there at the time to mount the church tower to signal the hour by ringing the bells; but with the tears of the children, which were not sorrowful ones, a mystery would begin to sound out from Garabandal that would find a great echo in innumerable hearts.

We met some young girls who were playing, and when they saw us crying, they asked us, Why are you crying?
We told them, BECAUSE WE HAVE SEEN AN ANGEL.
They ran off to tell the school-mistress.(21)

20. This extends across almost all the northern part of Spain, running along the Cantabrian Sea, separating the narrow band of costal low lands from the wider and higher expanses in the interior country.

21. In Garabandal there were two state schools in the same building; one of them was for boys, and the other for girls. The first was taught by the schoolmaster from the garden with the apple tree; the second was presided over by a lady who now comes on the scene and will remain in the village for many years. Her name was Serafina Gómez González; she was a native of Cossío; a widow of Raimundo Rodríguez and had a daughter named Toñito.

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“a very beautiful figure appeared to me”

In the language of a young village girl, poor in vocabulary and unaccustomed to the abuse of superlatives that permeates the news media, these concise expressions show extraordinary feelings. The figure that appeared, and the brilliance surrounding it, were beyond everything beautiful and impressive that could be seen here below.

The other girls, Jacinta, Loli and Mari Cruz, (later they would explain this about themselves) on seeing me in that state, thought I was having an attack, since I was saying with my hands joined together: Oh! . . . Oh! . . . Oh! . . .
As they were going to call my mother, they found themselves in the same state as I was.
And they exclaimed together: Oh, an Angel!
Then there was a short silence among the four of us, and he suddenly disappeared. (19)
And returning to normal, and very frightened, we ran toward the church—on the way passing the dance that was going on in the village.
Then a girl named Pili González said to us, How white and frightened you are! Where are you coming from?
Very ashamed in confessing the truth, we said to her, From picking apples.
And she said: For that . . . you are coming like this?
We answered together: IT IS BECAUSE WE HAVE SEEN AN ANGEL.
And she said: Is that true?
We: Yes, Yes . . .
And we continued on our way in the direction of the church; and the girl told this to the others.
Once at the door of the church, and
thinking it over better, we went behind it
to . . . CRY.

This portrait of the young girls appeals to me. Needing to express their indescribable feelings, they would find refuge behind the walls of the church in order to pour out their tears. A mysterious instinct in the Christian soul had brought them there. They could not explain what had just happened, but they sensed subconsciously that it was something very great.

19. The girl informs us as a participant in that visit from Heaven; but we are able to complete her report with some information from an observer, which we owe to the Police
Chief Juan Alvarez Seco:

«Some girls who were also playing in the area, on seeing the four girls in that strange attitude, began to throw stones at them. Then the Angel took them about 50 meters higher up in the same calleja. Once there, and while kneeling in their ecstatic position, an inhabitant of the village who was coming downhill from the mountain with a honeycomb wanted to pass between them. Seeing that they weren’t moving so he could pass, and not understanding what was happening, he became irritated by the poor training of those girls . . . After having passed by the girls in the direction of the village, the man turned to look back and was amazed to see that the girls were still there, exactly in the same position and posture as before. Mindful of this, he could hardly sleep during the night, thinking that all this was very strange. He told this to his wife, but she answered that it wasn’t important, "children’s affairs!" » (This man’s name was Vicente Mazón.)

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However in spite of what Conchita writes in her diary, I would think that the schoolmaster’s apples, rather than being taken to satisfy their appetites, must have been an exciting escapade for the girls on a dull Sunday afternoon. I would imagine also that the apples, rather than being eaten voraciously, ended up half-eaten on the ground. Many years later, I heard from Mari Cruz herself in conversation with the Argentine counsel, Carlos Espina Rawson, that the apples of our story, rather than being taken for eating, were taken to be thrown as projectiles on the dancers in the square.

When we where enjoying ourselves eating the apples, we heard a loud noise, like thunder.
And we all shouted out: It seems to be thundering.

That must have been an unusual sounding thunder. And it surely frightened the girls; people fear a storm, especially when it surprises them in an open field in the stillness of nature. The girls were in the middle of that stillness, outside the village although very near to it. They looked up to search for the place where the thunder had come. But neither close by, nor far away toward the heights of Peña Sagra,(16) which so often showed its face surrounded by dark clouds, nor in the neighboring hills of Poniente where the thunderstorms gathered, could they find the least disturbance. What a strange thunder! What was going on?

In the Still of the Evening (Ad auram post meridiem)

In paradise, as soon as Adam and Eve, the first sinners, had eaten the forbidden fruit, they heard the sound of the footsteps of God, walking in Paradise in the still of the evening. (Gen. 3:8) (Ad auram post meridiem) On that mysterious late Sunday afternoon our young girls had just heard something, and not without fear. (Could it have been the sound of God’s special passage to mankind at Garabandal?) The sun was setting over the horizon. In Spain it was 8:30 in the evening.(17) Now with the thunder the breath of a new kind of inspiration comes to our four little sinners, whom the devil’s suggestion had so easily lured to a not exactly saintly garden escapade. The young author states immediately after:

Oh, what a shame.
Now that we have picked the apples, which didn’t belong to us, the devil will be pleased, and the poor Guardian Angel will be unhappy.
Then we began to gather stones and threw them with all our strength to the left side, where the devil is said to be.(18)

The recounting, in childlike simplicity, is noteworthy. The girls react strongly against the spirit of evil that had succeeded momentarily in seducing them. Opposing it, they place themselves resolutely on the side of the good angels whom they thought were watching on their right, leading them to God.

When we got tired of throwing stones, and were more satisfied with ourselves (the relief of conscience that follows a reaction against the devil), we began to play marbles with little stones on the ground.
Suddenly a very beautiful figure appeared to me, shining brilliantly, without hurting my eyes.

16. An imposing mountain range that closes off the Garabandal horizon toward the South. On the other side of the Peña Sagra mountains extended the varied landscape of Liébana, at the extreme southwest of the Provinces of Palencia, León, and Asturias. One of the attractions of the region of Liébana is the skyline formed by the imposing mountain tops of the Picos de Europa on their western face. But the real treasure of the region is the very ancient monastery of San Toribio, now restored and run by the Franciscans. Here is kept the largest remaining single fragment of the True Cross, that is, of the wood of the Cross of Our Lord. It can easily be understood why in the nearby land of Garabandal the Virgin came to remind men, Think of the Passion of Jesus.
17. Conchita notes the time in her diary.

18. A belief that I myself have observed in many villages in Spain where it is thought that the Guardian Angel stands on the right while the tempter or devil approaches from the left.