Last month, we published an article in two parts on the story of Garabandal. This sought to explore two questions. Firstly, what reasons have we for thinking that the purported apparitions at Garabandal were authentic? Secondly, why were the visions accompanied by so many supernatural phenomena that were not present at other apparition sites? The article attracted a large number of readers and received many interesting comments. This follow-up article seeks to address some of the questions and concerns that were raised in those comments. See 20/20 Vision on the Mystery of Garabandal-Part I and Part II.
Given that this writer is new to Garabandal, we have asked Marc Conza to help with these responses. Marc was a close associate of the great apostle of Garabandal, Joey Lomangino. Beginning in 1985, he helped to promote the messages in Florida through Joey’s apostolate, “The Workers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel de Garabandal”. Later, Marc assisted for a time at the Lindenhurst centre in New York and had access to the historical archival material collected from eyewitnesses to the apparitions. He went on to write about fifty articles for Barry Hanratty’s Garabandal Journal (the successor magazine to the publication originally founded by Joey himself).
The Unfulfilled Prophecy Regarding Joey Lomangino
Let’s turn directly to one of the most common objections to Garabandal. For those not familiar with the story, Joey Lomangino was the principal apostle of the messages in the United States and worldwide. You will find the details of his story here. He was blinded in a freak accident at the age of sixteen, a mishap that also permanently severed his olfactory nerve. In 1963, Joey’s sense of smell was miraculously restored to him by Padre Pio. After that trip to Italy, he visited Garabandal and soon became a tireless apostle of the messages, leading to innumerable conversions and renewal among the faithful that would be impossible to quantify.
On March 19th, 1964, Conchita wrote to Joey to say that Our Lady had just told her that “you shall see on the very day of the Miracle”. This prophecy became very widely known. Devotees of Garabandal understood it to mean that Joey would be present at the village for the Miracle and would have his physical sight restored. Fifty years later, however, on June 18th 2014, Joey died in New York, surrounded by his loving family.
The date of his passing was very significant. The first heavenly apparition in Garabandal occurred on June 18th, 1961, and the last public message occurred on the same date in 1965. For those who look at such matters with the eyes of faith, this coincidence seemed to show that the hand of God was involved in the timing of events, that Joey’s passing was not an anomaly that went against heaven’s wishes but rather was guided by Divine Providence. Nevertheless, despite the harmony in the dates, many were thrown into doubt by the apparent failure of the prophecy given by Our Lady. Had Conchita misunderstood what she had heard? Did this mean that her testimony about other events, such as the Warning and the Miracle, might also be unreliable?
It is fair to say that this doubt persists in some quarters right to this day. In fact, one of the most common objections to the authenticity of the visions continues to be the “failed” prophecy, especially since it concerns a person who was central to spreading devotion to Garabandal in the first place.
Possible Explanations for the “Failed” Prophecy
As we discussed in the first article, the supernatural phenomena recorded in the Spanish village between 1961 and 1965 make it very hard to deny that Garabandal was indeed visited by heaven in those years. When we have at our disposal so many reliable testimonies, it seems unreasonable to dismiss the visions outright because of a “failed” prophecy. For that reason, many devotees of Garabandal have made sincere efforts to explain why Joey did not live to have his sight restored.
In the edition of the Garabandal Journal that appeared a few weeks after Joey’s death in 2014, Barry Hanratty offered two plausible explanations. Perhaps Joey did not manage to recite the prayers that Our Lady had asked him to recite daily? If his cure was indeed conditional on a faithful recitation of these prayers, then we can imagine how circumstances might have led him to fall short in his duty, preventing the fulfilment of the prophecy. The second explanation offered by Barry is that, as the years went on, Joey may have felt more isolated as a result of hearing and memory loss. In this situation of great suffering, he asked God to take him ahead of time and his request was granted.
Joey Sacrificed his Cure for the Conversion of Sinners
Marc Conza offers a different explanation for the non-fulfilment of the prophecy. As a close associate of the great apostle of Garabandal, Marc was already aware of Joey’s complete abandonment to the glory of God. It was always clear that Joey wished to do everything humanly possible to promote this devotion throughout the world. His priority was the conversion of as many people as possible before it was too late. That is why, long before his death, Joey sacrificed his cure back to God so that as many people as possible would benefit from the messages of Garabandal. Only those closest to him knew about this. God accepted his sacrifice.
Why is this offering of his cure not generally known? Anyone who follows Garabandal will be aware of the discretion and reserve were shown by the visionaries, their families, and associates. For an outsider like me looking in, it seems clear that the general priority of those closest to the events has been to promote the messages, not to focus on prophecies or personalities. One can only imagine the extra burden felt by Conchita, in particular, since Joey’s death. She announced the prophecy regarding the restored eyesight, and her reliability has been called into question by many ever since. Yet, no explanatory statements have been issued.
There has been no back-pedalling, no effort to reinterpret the cure in terms of spiritual rather than physical sight. Non-defensiveness is a genuine mark of the authenticity of any apparition. One has only to think of St Bernadette’s statement to the detractors of Lourdes: “My job is to inform, not to convince”. In addition, Marc Conza points out that people have learned to be careful in the way that information is disseminated. Garabandal has been contentious for so long that even clear statements by a visionary or a historian can be convoluted and taken out of context.
On a more general note, the explanation offered by Marc resonates with many stories from the life of the saints. The notion of the “victim soul”, who sacrifices his life or health for others, has been a common element in the history of the Church.
Perhaps the most famous example among recently canonised saints is that of St Louis Martin, the father of St Therese of Lisieux. The fact that he offered himself as a victim soul for the Church was at first only known to his daughters but became generally known upon the publication of St Therese’s Story of a Soul. In a similar way, we can see how the sacrifice offered by Joey was fundamentally personal in nature, between him and the Lord. The family may not have wished in 2014 to disclose something of such an intimate nature. Marc says that it was not his place at the time to reveal it, but feels that it would be helpful now for the matter to be raised again.
A Conditional Prophecy Rather Than a Fixed One
Marc says that he is not overly concerned if people do not accept that Joey offered his cure back to God for the conversion of sinners. The question of the missing cure might damage the credibility of Garabandal in some eyes, but it does not invalidate everything else. The restoration of Joey’s sight was always a conditional prophecy, not a fixed one. The Warning and the Miracle, by contrast, are fixed and MUST occur for Garabandal to be true. Marc writes: “Consider, for a moment, that Joey sacrificed his cure, told no one, and then, the time of the Miracle arrived and he chose not to go to Garabandal, but to stay at home. The Miracle would have occurred, but Joey would not have been cured, and nobody would know until afterward. Would that ‘failed prophecy’ then be a deal-breaker for the supernatural proof of Garabandal? Of course not.”
The last point on this subject: it is ironic that the case of Joey Lomangino has become a major sticking point for some people when it comes to Garabandal. They complain about the fact that the expected miracle of vision did not take place, forgetting that Joey was a walking miracle ever since his encounter with Padre Pio. He completely lacked the physical apparatus necessary for smell, yet this sense functioned perfectly. In addition, the life of Joey was a spectacular confirmation of the activity of supernatural grace. As Marc writes:
The true message of Joey Lomangino is this: he is an outstanding example of the type of response Our Lord and Our Lady hope to get from each one of us from the apparitions of Garabandal. The core message there is: conversion, prayer, penance, and sacrifice. Joey exemplified all of those. He sacrificed the cure of his physical blindness to obtain the grace for us to overcome our spiritual blindness.
Non-Heavenly Origin of the Supernatural Events at Garabandal
The second most common objection to Garabandal that appeared in the comments was the alleged non-heavenly character of some of the supernatural phenomena. These commentators accepted that what happened in the Spanish village was indeed other-worldly, but they disputed that such weird happenings could have originated in heaven. According to this view, that left only one possible origin, the demonic sort. As one person commented, “I saw a film on TV about this many years ago. As I watched the girls’ voices became low, guttural, and ugly. Demonic! It scared me. Who runs up a hill backward? Our Lady is gentle and peaceful. None of this strangeness would be from Her”.
In response to this comment, Marc Conza pointed out that the person in question undoubtedly saw a program that provided a brief soundbite of the girls speaking in ecstasy. These few isolated seconds can sound eerie to someone unfamiliar with Garabandal as a whole, or Catholic mysticism in general. As someone who has had first-hand access to the original film footage and audio recordings from the ecstasies, Marc can say confidently that none of the visionaries’ voices were ever “guttural and ugly.” If you were to listen to an audio recording of an entire typical ecstasy, which lasted anywhere from twenty minutes to several hours, you would hear the visionaries talking, singing, and praying in voices that are anything but sinister.
When they sang and prayed, their voices were at a normal level, clearly heard by all, and the onlookers would join in. Only when they spoke in conversation did their voices come out whispery. It had to be this way because the girls could blurt out something personal about themselves or family members at any given moment, and Our Lady’s responses would be personal, not for everyone’s ears. In addition, as larger crowds came to Garabandal, many people brought recording equipment with them.
The most famous of these was Placido Ruiloba. His audio archive of more than one thousand ecstasies is the most comprehensive collection from Garabandal that we possess. He has many instances of audio recordings where Conchita is talking to Our Lady about the Miracle (or some other confidential topic). Although Conchita is speaking in her characteristic ecstatic whisper, Placido’s mike captures all the words clearly until Conchita starts talking about something confidential. Then, quite remarkably, nothing Conchita is heard saying makes any sense, it sounds scrambled. The moment Conchita stops speaking about the particular topic, everything she says is heard clearly again. As Marc points out, this was not demonic, this was Our Lady protecting her secrets.
In his book, The Apparitions of Garabandal, written in the immediate aftermath of the events, Francisco Sanchez-Ventura y Pascual quoted an eyewitness to the ecstasies who remarked that “the postures that they adopt in their falls are generally very beautiful, like sculptures. They cannot be recalled . . ever to have adopted postures that were indecorous or indecent”.
The same book mentions the beautiful reverence with which the children made the sign of the cross and said their prayers in the presence of the vision. The author records the awe instilled in the crowd of onlookers when the girls sang the prayers of the rosary whilst in ecstasy. This is not to deny that some of the phenomena recorded at Garabandal could certainly qualify as “strange”. As Marc points out, however, the strangeness of posture during ecstasies is very much a feature of the behaviour of mystics in the history of the Church. He writes:
The ‘acrobatics’ (if you will) that the visionaries did in ecstasy – the oscillations, stiffness, falls, ‘contortions’, walking backward, levitations, jumps, etc. – was very common in the lives of many of the great mystics who have been canonized as saints. St. Catherine of Siena, St. Veronica Giuliani, St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, Blessed Elizabeth Canori-Mora, and many others, did all of these and other far stranger things that the visionaries of Garabandal ever did.
For a more amplified discussion with Marc Conza of issues related to Garabandal, please visit the page on the author’s website.
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MY THOUGHTS ON JOEY LOMANGINO’S PASSING
I had several thoughts that came to my mind when Joey passed..
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, So are My ways exalted above your ways, And My thoughts above your thoughts.” (Is. 55: 8-9)
“Oh, the depth of the riches Of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, And how unsearchable His ways.” (Rom. 11:33)
*What did Mary say EXACTLY to Conchita to tell Joey?
She said
“that you shall see on the very day of the Miracle. “ – Well this can also be interpreted many ways, but he will see the Miracle.
Most people did not know that Joey suffered greatly the last two years of his life, and in addition to being blind, he became nearly deaf and was so weak from several heart attacks, he could not attend daily mass. So, Did Joey fulfill saying the prayers he was supposed to say each day , to fulfill the prophecy to regain his sight ?
Mary said :
“Joey do you want to see again?”
“Yes.”
“Then you pray. Say 17 Hail Mary’s, 7 Acts of Contrition, 5 Our Father’s
3 times a day. “
I am wondering if Joey ( in the midst of all his sufferings) wasn’t able to complete those prayer conditions for his sight and that he privately changed his mind, and decided to remain blind by offering up the sacrifice to God for the salvation of souls, and to be taken to Heaven early ?
On December 6, 1962, Conchita had a 90 minute ecstasy around 5:30 in the afternoon after which, she provided more pieces of information regarding the Miracle: “One day, before the Miracle, something will happen that will cause many people to stop believing in the apparitions of Garabandal. “
Jesus comments on belief of Garabandal before the Miracle
From Conchita, Dairy pg. 204, 1966: He [Jesus] replied…”I want to tell you, Conchita, that before the miracle occurs, you will suffer much, for few people will believe you. Your own family will believe that you have deceived them. I am the one who wants all this, as I have already told you, for your sanctification and so that the world may comply with the message. I wish to advise you that the remainder of your life will be a continual suffering. Do not be frieghtened. In your suffering you will find me and also Mary whom you love very much… I will be with whoever suffers for me.”
After Joey’s confession with Saint Padre Pio, He explains how St Pio restored his sense of smell, but then he said that St Pio told him that “Joey I can not restore your eyesight but YOU WILL SEE THINGS THAT YOUR BROTHERS WILL NEVER SEE”!!
How many people continued to believe in Christ and his message ,after he died? How many believed Mary when she said ( as a virgin ) she conceived a baby from the Holy Spirit ? How many people mocked our Lord as he died on the cross, reminding him he said he would rebuild the Temple in 3 days, yet he was nailed to a cross now. The truth is revealed in God’s time and manner, not our limited human ones for understanding. For God , NOTHING is impossible !
The famous story when Mary kissed a makeup compact in one of her visits, and everyone was dumb founded as to why, when she asked to kiss only sacramentals, and she kissed this object of vanity ? Only later did she reveal that it was in fact a PYX ,used during the Spanish War to carry communion to the soldiers ! Again , we had to wait for the Heavenly answer.
Nothing can negate the fact that Mary performed hundreds of recorded miracles, with hundreds of eyewitnesses, and photographs, and filmed footage, so his passing has no effect on the validity of Mary’s messages.
There is some “fluidity’ in prophecy also, God can alter prophecy. For example:
Moses was promised and appointed to take his people into the promised land, but we read in Numbers (20:1-12) Moses did not enter the promised land because of his sin at the Waters of Meribah, which took place during the last year of the Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness.
In Genesis 18 , The lord said :“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous” (The Lord intends to destroy it) but Abraham “changes” God’s mind to destroy the faithless people of Sodom for the sake of only 10 righteous people.
Remember when God sent his prophet Jonah to the city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria (one of ancient Israel’s fiercest enemies), Jonah’s initial message seems to be one of inevitable doom: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (3:1-4)
Contrary to Jonah’s own expectations, however, the Ninevites respond to his preaching by believing in God, proclaiming a fast, covering themselves with sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance, and praying to God not to destroy them. (3:5-9)
As a result, God changes his mind and does not destroy the city of Nineveh . It is possible here too ,that Joey’s sufferings at the end of his life (and they were numerous and great ) that God granted him his Heavenly reward early, and also to fulfill the prophecy mentioned above, to cause disbelief, as a test of faith.
I think I know how the Apostles felt when Jesus died, after all their labors. Unfortunately I think I am going to have to wait more than 3 days for my “Easter Miracle”, but just like then, when you think all is lost, God provides that miracle.
I spoke to Conchita and she too had no fears, stating she was happy Joey was in heaven with our Blessed Mother & Padre Pio. I have a strong suspicion we will be amazed at the Miracle , (and our questions will be answered ). God bless. Glenn
Dear Mark,
You do not have to be at an apparition site to have little miracles happen. Several years ago, my daughter was working on an Apache reservation, and she became very ill from stachybotrys mold exposure. She needed medical help that could not be found on the Rez, so I was driving 3 1/2 hours from the reservation to Phoenix airport. We prayed, as she was having to leave her job and ministry to the Apache people. As I was driving, there was a major downpour. Not a single drop of rain landed on our car. It was like there was an umbrella over the car. When I had another car in front, not a single drop of water from that car splashed onto our car. My daughter witnessed this. What I understood in that moment was “God knows, God is in control, and He is protecting us”. With that, a Peace came, and in time, a healing came.
Dear Miss Pat, I agree you do not have to be at an apparition site for a miracle. I am very happy to hear all went well. Praise be Our God.
Joey Lomangino is in the heavens.
Now he can see.
And when the miracle come, he will see it from the heavens
Sometimes people look for very strange solutions to such simple answers.
Or they feel deceived by such non spectacular explanations
A very good reply and I totally agree with you. I lived in Spain as an US Air Force officer stationed at what was once Zaragoza AB Spain. I became friends with 2 Spanish priests and one said that not only did people still go there (1985-1989) but some had prayers answered including a couple who were told by doctors they could not children. They went to Garabandal and prayed and shortly after, the woman was with child and she gave birth. He also told me that one or more persons had seen lights there that they could not explain. He did not say exactly what was seen as far as the lights were however. Yet he did not know what to make of Garabandal. I never went there because I could not get some one to go with me in my car that knew the way. I went to other religious places instead. By the way at this time, the apparitions of Amparo Cuevas were occurring at El Esorial about 50 miles or so from Madrid. One priest told me some remarkable things were happening there. This included doubters who were there during an apparition, when all of a sudden it began to rain yet no one of the many people there got wet. Only the ground and everything else. This same priest told me he had heard that some prostitutes had even been converted and left this sad life style.
I am sorry that I should make one more comment. I had the gift of meeting and spending an evening with the great mystic of the church, Maria Esperanza Servant of God in her home outside Caracas, Venezuela in March 2002. She told me things about myself she could not have known without heaven informing her. She even told me God had plans for me in the future that good will come from it. It happened 6 years later when the good Lord gave me a chance to start what would eventually be nearly perpetual adoration at my parish. The greatest joy of my life. It has been stopped for now due to Covit 19. I pray once this is over we can begin again. As for Garabandal, she said that it was real and Our Lady did appear to the children. ( By the way she and St. Pio knew each other and were friends.) She said the big problem that Garabandal had was and is the lack of support it got from the church. I believe she said moral support. She said in the end it WILL prove itself. She died on Aug 7, 2004. To me it was like losing my mom again. I still am acquainted with the family and talk to her son in law.
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Just because we don’t know God’s plan doesn’t mean he doesn’t have one.
I remember going to the airport to see Joey Lomangino off to see Padre Pio. It was in winter, and suddenly, of the 5 people there, 4 of us were smelling roses. When Joey returned from that trip, he shared with us how he was suddenly smelling roses when Padre Pio gave him communion. His olfactory nerve had been severed in the accident that left him blind. So this was a miracle, as he could now smell, but the disfigured facial area remained. He did ask Padre Pio about his sight. I remember Tony saying that he did not receive his sight because he would not have used it for the glory of God. Joey seemed to accept that it was better to be without sight, than have it if it would lead him astray. I did attend his lectures on Garabandal, and he vigorously defended the children, and the efforts of the church to investigate them to discern the validity.
Thanks for your contribution Pat, that is very interesting and edifying
We have long awaited the great events foretold at Garabandal and pray for the enlightenment of conscience worldwide. Please God….soon!
Might it be said that the skepticism of Church authorities is a valid indicator of the lack of heavenly origin. “He who hears you hears Me.”
Ray, thanks for that. I’m with you on the need to be respectful of the attitude shown by Church authorities. With Garabandal, however, the diocesan verdict: “Non constat de supernaturalitate”, means that “it is not confirmed to be of supernatural origin”. This leaves the matter an open question. The Church has a responsibility to be prudent on matters like these, so the verdict is not surprising. If we look at fairly recent cases in the history of the Church, we see that skepticism from the authorities was a vital stage in the eventual approval of a phenomenon. Padre Pio was put under interdict by the Church in the time of Pope John XXIII, was prevented from saying public Masses and hearing confessions. Many in the Curia thought he was a fraud. But his obedience and submission to these measures only helped in the end to confirm his sanctity. An even more dramatic case was the devotion to Divine Mercy, more or less condemned about 1958 when Cardinal Ottaviani was prefect of the Holy Office (now the CDF). The Holy Office issued an order preventing all public celebration and dissemination of the Divine Mercy devotion. This wasn’t just skepticism, there was a conviction on the part of many that Divine Mercy devotion was incompatible with the Church’s theology and clear sacramental discipline which insisted on the centrality of the sacrament of reconciliation. Cardinal Ottaviani and others thought that the Divine Mercy chaplet was in some ways displacing sacramental confession as a means of having sins remitted. But the Pope John Paul II cleared up the confusion. When he canonised Sr Faustina in 2000, he declared afterwards that he had done the most important act of his pontificate.
So Ray, it is really useful to look at these two cases. Padre Pio was considered a fraud by many in authority, but went on to become one of the most popular and important saints of the 20th century. Sr Faustina was considered to be the source of heretical teaching on Divine Mercy, but that same devotion becomes the high point of the pontificate of John Paul II, one of the great saints of our age. It is true that Garabandal is looked upon with suspicion by many, but that isn’t necessarily the end of the story. Having said all that, I agree with your attitude (and I know that Marc does to) of showing due respect to Church authorities.
Hello Ray,
If you watch the new Garabandal documentary Unstoppable Waterfall,(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUYuO7M4k_s)
they explain that the church authorities didn’t do a proper investigation into Garabandal.
Please watch the documentary and see what you think
Ray, yes, anybody could say that. But the only ones that do, are those who don’t show that they know much about the whole story of the happenings or about the Church’s investigation of, and reporting on the happenings. The first “official” commission was more than skeptical. It made up its mind that Garabandal was not supernatural almost from the start. Dr. Morales, one of two main movers of that commission, changed his mind in a public audience in Santander in 1983. He admitted that the investigation was a farce. Most of the nine men who have served as bishop or apostolic administrator of Santander from 1961 until now, based their “official” evaluation on the work of that commission saying that it wasn’t certain whether the apparitions were supernatural or not. That is a neutral, not negative decision. The reason that the apparitions have not been approved is because they are so important. I was told in May of 2007 by Bishop del Val’s (1971-1991) doctor, Andres Tunon, that the bishop told him, “I Antonio del Val Gallo believe in Garabandal, but as bishop I can’t say that.” See more in Appendix IV, Catholic Authorities Look Favorably on Garabandal in “A Walk to Garabandal, a Journey of Happiness and Hope.”
There is no doubt in my mind. I helped make Rosaries at the Lindenhurst center on Monday nights. On a number of occasions, Joey would come and say the Rosary. Garabandal will be fulfilled in God’s Time.
Great to hear from you John. God bless on on this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Hello John, nice to see an old familiar name from the “Center”.-Glenn
Hello John ! Nice to see an old familiar friend from the “Center”.-Glenn
A very good illustration why the Church is so cautious in the matter of apparitions and revelations. Too many people on hearing of events that have the appearance of something supernatural and informative, put their own spin on facts, speculation and belief. If a visionary is to believe and to be believed, heaven will make it so. In these rather unsettled times, people tend to look for answers outside the world even when they have not already made full use of what has been established for them in centuries past.
Would not the Miracle be even greater if Joey is there after having passed on?
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