Humanity has been blessed with many visitations of the Blessed Virgin. False “apparitions”, however, have also abounded. In the aftermath of the appearances at Lourdes, for example, dozens of visions were reported in the area. Why were these alternative apparitions soon dismissed? Because none of them had the striking humility and sincerity that made Bernadette’s testimony so convincing. In the case of Garabandal, is there compelling evidence that the happenings there had a heavenly origin?
The Story of the Visions at Garabandal
In case you are not familiar with the story, a remarkable series of events took place in the isolated hamlet of Garabandal in northern Spain during the 1960s. The sheer variety of occurrences has no parallel in other apparition sites: levitations, ecstatic marches, insensitivity to pain and bright light, locutions, healings, detailed knowledge on the part of the visionaries of the history of people and objects. In addition, the vast number of such events is also astonishing. It is estimated that over two thousand separate apparitions occurred. Were the visions genuine, or was Garabandal the scene of a very elaborate hoax? If the apparitions indeed happened, why were they accompanied by such a plethora of supernatural phenomena? Would the Mother of God – the most modest of figures in Scripture – really need to manifest herself with such dramatic overkill?
The events began on June 18th, 1961, when four girls from the village – Conchita, Mari Loli, Mari Cruz, and Jacinta — had an ecstatic vision of an angel. He did not say anything, but they learned later that he was St. Michael the Archangel. During the following days, he informed them of the impending apparition of Our Lady on July 2, which at that time was the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin.
The appearances of Our Lady would continue for more than four years. Two main messages were to be made public: on October 18, 1961, and on June 18, 1965. The theme of these was the urgent need for conversion, renewal of devotion to the Eucharist, and to works of penance. The final apparition was to Conchita alone on November 13, 1965. Through the visionaries, the Virgin announced a future series of happenings which we will discuss in part 2 of this post.
The Reaction of the Church to Garabandal
The Church has made no official pronouncement on the visions of Garabandal but there is widespread scepticism in some Catholic circles about the whole affair. Ed Kelly, who has spent entire years in the Spanish village and is something of an expert on the events, complains that it is very difficult to get the mainstream Catholic press to give the subject a fair hearing – or any hearing at all for that matter. The spectacular supernatural phenomena, he contends, are an indication that Our Lady really wanted to attract our attention. Ironically, the dramatic nature of the events, and the sensationalism that it has given rise to in some quarters, has dissuaded many Catholic commentators from a fair examination of Garabandal.
If Garabandal has its detractors, it also has an impressive list of supporters. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was the godmother of one of the children of Conchita, the most prominent visionary. In 1966, Conchita was called to Rome and was received privately by Pope Paul VI, who blessed her and showed a very favourable attitude towards the apparitions. During the same visit to Italy, Conchita met Padre Pio. At various times, the Italian capuchin – whose prophetic gifts have been well-documented – made a number of striking testimonies and gestures that support the authenticity of Garabandal.
Evaluation of the Authenticity of the Events
There is no substitute, however, for a detached and objective examination of the events themselves. An impressive amount of eye-witness accounts and film footage are widely available. After the cold light of almost sixty years, does this evidence permit a decision on the truth of the apparitions?
- Hundreds of documented cases of the suspension of the laws of nature
If the events were an elaborate hoax, or if the girls were the victims of hallucination, we would not expect their behaviour during the trances to transgress the laws of nature, but this, in fact, was a constant occurrence. During the apparitions, the visionaries invariably fell into a state of ecstatic trance. They would crash to their knees in unison, with their heads angled steeply upwards, bless themselves and begin conversing with the heavenly visitor. The fall to the ground invariably happened on rugged stone surfaces, without any harm resulting to the knees of the visionaries. During some of the visions, medical doctors shone bright lights into the eyes of the children and pricked their skin with needles. The children showed themselves completely impervious to light or to pain.
On hundreds of occasions, the girls engaged in ecstatic walks. They would move through the village, sometimes at great speed, their arms linked and their heads constantly angled upwards, fixed on the vision. Even though their gaze was directed heavenwards, they would still negotiate the narrow alleyways and rocky terrain faultlessly. On no occasion did the girls stumble or fall during these ecstatic walks. The swiftness and agility with which they moved were astonishing. Sometimes, they walked backways, up and down precipitous rocky paths, with absolutely no possibility of being able to see where they were going. Nearly always they were pursued by crowds of onlookers who struggled to keep pace.
- Manifold instances of supernatural knowledge on the part of the visionaries.
The most common example of supernatural knowledge involved the ownership of religious objects given to the girls to be kissed by the vision. Visitors to Garabandal entrusted rosary beads and other objects to the girls in advance of the apparitions. Often, the girls would hang the rosary beads around their necks so as to have them ready to offer to Our Lady. During the trances, the girls would be seen holding the rosary beads up to the vision to be kissed. Then, with their heads still inclined upwards at a sharp angle, the girls would walk towards the crowd of onlookers, go directly to the person who owned that rosary, and place it gracefully around their neck. All of this was done without once levelling their gaze to look at what they were actually doing.
In some instances, the girls had dozens of rosary beads and other objects to offer to the vision. There is not a single recorded case where they returned an object to the wrong person. In order to test the authenticity of the events, some people tried to “trick” the girls. In one case, a medal was given by its owner to three intermediate persons before eventually being passed to one of the visionaries. After offering the medal to Our Lady, the visionary walked into the crowd and returned it to its correct owner. On another occasion, a lady who had just arrived in Garabandal gave two wedding rings to one of the girls. After the blessing, the girl went back to the lady and placed her ring on the correct finger. Then, without hesitation, she went into the midst of the crowd, directly to the husband of the lady, and restored his ring to him.
The vast number of documented cases of this kind of privileged knowledge is impressive. The restoration of blessed objects to their correct owners occurred in the cases of medical doctors, priests, writers, and others, many of whom had only arrived in Garabandal on that very day. It indicates beyond a reasonable doubt that the behaviour of the girls cannot be explained in terms of hallucinations, mental illness, or an elaborate scam.
- The general harmony of minute details with the larger picture of the events.
As an original sceptic regarding Garabandal, one of the features of the apparitions that have most helped to convince this author has been the harmonious consonance of seemingly unimportant details. If the visions were an elaborate hoax by a group of uneducated eleven-year-old girls, we would expect some of the sayings and doings of the girls during the course of the events to betray their deception. On the contrary, the opposite is the case. The replies of the girls to questions from onlookers, overheard conversations among themselves, their attitudes towards the clergy, the blessed sacrament, and their parents, all show appropriateness, reserve, and harmony that is quite striking.
A characteristic of the visions that could hardly have been dreamt up by mere children was their unusual timing and the general strain they caused to onlookers. The majority of visions took place at night and continued into the hours of daylight. They occurred in all kinds of weather – burning heat, bitter cold, driving rain. As many people have commented, people who have hallucinations are often brought to their senses by situations of discomfort, but the Garabandal ecstasies were never prevented by the lateness of the hour nor the inclemency of the weather. Sometimes the girls were literally up all night, but never showed the slightest signs of fatigue afterward. Onlookers found themselves cold and exhausted, but the girls would come out of their trances with joy and freshness that the witnesses found remarkable. In fact, they exuded happiness after seeing Our Lady. Again, we must ask: Would a group of eleven-year-old girls choose such inconvenient times and circumstances for the operation of a scam?
The way the girls dealt with objects to be blessed by the vision was singularly appropriate. Rosary beads and medals were held up during every apparition to be kissed by Our Lady, whereas the girls would not normally accept ornamental rings and other jewellery. Wedding rings, however, were accepted. What is the difference between a gold wedding ring and an identical ring used to ornament someone’s finger? Physically, the objects are the same, but to a Christian, there is a world of difference! Wedding rings are blessed during the marriage ceremony and represent the relationship of fidelity between husband and wife. As the first chapter of Genesis makes clear, the covenant of marriage is a central element in God’s plan for humanity. It is entirely appropriate that Our Lady would make a distinction between wedding rings and other jewellery!
In the early days, one of the ecstasies ended quickly and the girls announced that they were being sent home to put on longer dresses. On another occasion, the apparition that day was cut short because of the “drinking and dancing” that was going on in the village. In general, the girls showed a commendable concern for personal modesty, respect for the Blessed Sacrament, and obedience towards their parents and clergy. Some of the first ecstasies took place in the parish church. Eyewitnesses recount that the girls would not turn their backs on the tabernacle during their trances, even walking backways to exit the church. When the diocesan authorities ordered that the ecstasies not take place inside the church, the girls complied immediately. Such deference towards the Blessed Sacrament and legitimate authority seems a hallmark of authenticity.
A touching feature of the apparitions was the devotion and reverence shown by the girls during prayer. Before an apparition would occur, the girls were often praying the rosary while they waited. Onlookers mention that the girls would recite the prayers “rather quickly” while not in ecstasy. When Our Lady was present, however, their recitation would become much slower and more fervent. The manner in which they would make the sign of the cross in the presence of Our Lady was markedly elegant and devout. On occasion, the girls sang the rosary while they walked in ecstasy around the village. Again, witnesses describe the otherworldly grace and celestial sweetness of this sung form of the rosary.
- The scale and unanimous nature of documented testimony from eye-witnesses.
In 1965, Francisco Sanchez-Ventura y Pascual, a highly respected attorney, compiled a book about the apparitions. It was later published in English under the title The Apparitions of Garabandal and reprinted in multiple editions. The book contains a long catalogue of eye-witness accounts, many of which were recounted to the author at first hand. Of particular interest are a number of reports from paediatricians, neuropsychiatrists, and other members of the medical profession. These reports confirmed the complete normality of the girls and the fact that the trances couldn’t be explained by any pathological or physiological means. Furthermore, given the length of time that the events had been recurring, other symptoms should have made their appearance if the trances were really due to an underlying condition. In addition, it was noted that the parapsychological phenomena accompanying the trances (telepathy, levitation, clairvoyance, etc.) were a “veritable scientific miracle” (joint report of Dr. Alejandro Gasca Ruiz and Dr. Ortiz Gonzalez). Drs Ruiz and Gonzalez concluded: “We cannot find any convincing scientific solution to explain such phenomena”.
Why was Garabandal so “Strange”?
An objective examination of Garabandal leads to the conclusion that the events were of supernatural, non-demonic, origin. This prompts the question: why were the visions accompanied by such a variety of unusual phenomena, such as the ecstatic walks? Was it because the message of Garabandal had a particular urgency? Or was it because the world in the 1960s was so distracted by new forms of hedonism that heaven was compelled to use dramatic signs to gain public attention? We will explore the possible answers in part 2 of this post.
An article with Marc Conza addressing concerns about Garabandal.
36 thoughts on “20/20 Vision on the Mystery of Garabandal- Part I”
Edward….so what are you afraid of? To those that believe…nothing more be said. To critics like you, until the “warning” slaps you on the face, you will never believe. To me, short and simple, Garabandal is further confirmation of the “warning” that many other mystics and saints have foretold. It is simply the greatest act of mercy God will ever show us, the illumination of our consciences.
Joey Lomongino passing away does not change this, it only enables critics such as yourself to poke holes at it. You are doing nothing by your allegations other than casting dispersions on the Mother of God. You must really think highly of yourself. I am guess you are not a cradle Catholic and are a protestant convert.
Protestant converts seem to have a very difficult time accepting the role of the Blessed Mother in salvation history and her role as a modern prophet. When you come down off your high horse I hope for your conversion….Tom
Amen! You are correct!
When will Garabandal believers agree that enough time has passed by that Garabandal can be said to be false? If Conchita dies without announcing the miracle will that do it?
Or will Garabalistas simply say, ‘well very soon, you know “soon”, God will resurrect Joey and Conchita from the dead so the prophecy can be fulfilled’?
Given Joey Lomangino’s death does not convince you it is false I don’t see why Conchita’s would either. After all she did not explicitly say she would need to be alive to announce the miracle. She could announce it to the whole world by having a lawyer post a video to YouTube in the year 2789.
Obviously you left out an enormous amount of information here to discourage belief. Lets start with the Vatican knows the date of the Miracle, and as such has NEVER CONDEMNED GARABANDAL because it is WAITING FOR THAT DATE TO ARRIVE, SO WE WAIT. The laundry list of Popes & Saints that belived in Garabandal is like NO OTHER napparition! Saint ( Padre ) Pio
Saint (Pope) John Paul II
Saint (Pope ) Paul VI
Saint (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta
Saint (Fr. ) Jose Maria Escriva
Saint (Madre) Maravillas
Pope Benedict XVI BUT YOU KNOW BETTER THAN THEM , RIGHT ? You also left out some important detaisl about ” Joey’s promise” to 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 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 know the last 2 years of his life , he suffered so greatly, I am wondering if Joey ( in the midst of all his recent sufferings) wasn’t able to complete those conditions or that he asked to be taken to Heaven early ?
So if you’re going voice your opinion, try doing some research first, and remember this:ACTS 5 :39 “But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest perhaps you be found even to fight against God. “
What’s up, I want to subscribe for this webpage to take latest updates, thus where can i do it please help out.
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Is there any chance of a new interview with Conchita? We have not heard from the visionaries in such a long time.
I asked her for a comment back in March on the current world situation (especially as it pertains to the virus), and she wrote back to me ( and was given permission to post on my “Message of Garabandal ” facebook page.
I asked Conchita if she would be kind enough to offer some words of advice to all of us, in this troubling times. Here are her words.
“God is detaching us from the securities of this world. In the silence of the Church or in our house, we are now able to make an examination of conscience so we can clean what prevents us from hearing the Voice of God clearly. With sincerity we can ask God to tell us what He wants of us today, and continue to do that every day. And spend as much time as possible with God at church or somewhere in your home or where you find the silence. He is all we need.” 3-19-20
Thanks Glenn
Thanks for the reply Glenn,
I already know you from motherofgod forum and was aware of this message. : )
I just thought it would be nice if there were new video interviews with the girls especially after the release of the new Garabandal movie and the new Documentary(unstoppable waterfall). It was the only thing that was missing to make this an excellent combination and renew the enthusiasm for the messages of Garabandal.
@Edward Benet. You question the authenticity of the prophecy about the popes written by Saint Malachi. Do you also question the value of the prophecy about the popes given to Conchita by Our Lady?
https://www.apostoladodegarabandal.com/a-profecia-dos-papas-ate-ao-fim-dos-tempos/
December 20, 1962
In an apparition of Our Lady to Conchita, Our Lady said the following:
” After Pope John XXIII, only three more Popes will come and then …… the end of time . No, four, because one of them is not really taken into account, the Virgin Mary told me”. ..
She also said that:
” After the last Pope, the end of time will come, which does not mean the end of the world.”
After the death of Pope John XXIII, Conchita had conversation in Garabandal with her mother Aniceta:
Conchita : – Now there are only 3 Popes left and then the end of time comes, which is not the end of the world.
Aniceta – So, do you mean that the end of the world is near?
Conchita : – Our Lady did not say “end of the world”, but “end of time”.
Aniceta : – Isn’t it the same?
Conchita: – Yeah, I don’t know.
Aniceta: – How do you know that only three Popes are missing?
Conchita: – It was Our Lady who told me. In fact, she said that four Popes were missing, but that She did not take into account one of them.
Aniceta: – But then … why not count one of them?
Conchita: – She didn’t say, she just told me that one wouldn’t take into account. However, she told me that he would govern the Church for a very short time.
Aniceta: – So that must be why it doesn’t count.
Conchita: – I don’t know.
Aniceta: – And what’s next?
Conchita: – Didn’t say.
@Edward Benet
Malachi’s prophecy is said to be the work of a forger? No forger of a prophecy about popes would mention antipopes!
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After reading part 2 of this essay it’s easy to imagine what it must feel like attending a Trump rally with Biden supporters railing across the street. Plus one and minus one equals zero.
Mart,
I am going to refute all of your misguided points regarding Christ’s Beloved Mother using God’s Own Word.
God’s original order: Adam was made first, and then Eve was made directly from Adam’s body. The Bible calls Eve “Mother of all the living.” Gen 3:20
Adam was subject to God. Eve was subject to God through Adam.
To thwart God, Satan reversed God’s order, and caused Eve to rebel against God first, and then caused Eve to persuade Adam, to whom she was subjugated, to join her in rebellion against God, against Whom Adam was subjugated, and Eve through Adam .
God reversed Satan’s disorder by taking a Woman (Mary), and generating from Her own body in cooperation with the Holy Spirit (Galatians 4:4) Jesus, the Second Adam (1 Corinthians 15: 45-49). Thus, Mary is the new and Second Eve and thus automatically now the real “Mother of all the Living” by cooperating with Jesus to regenerate mankind back to the Godly state Eve ruined.
Revelations 12 clearly identifies Mary not only as the Mother of Our Savior Jesus Christ, but also identifies WHO HER CHILDREN ARE, specifically “those who keep the Commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Now, to address your “Queen of Heaven” misinterpretation using your own logic. Because the false goddess Ashteroth is the only figure in Scripture that is accompanied by the precise words “Queen of Heaven”, you automatically presume that Mary cannot be the Queen of Heaven (or Queen of anything else, for that matter), simply because Scripture does not contain the specific phrase “Mary is the Queen of Heaven”.
Let’s demolish that erroneous thinking using three specific points from Scripture.
1st point: Jesus is the “Prince of Peace”. Mary is His Mother. The Mother of a Prince is AUTOMATICALLY A QUEEN, otherwise He couldn’t be a PRINCE.
2nd point: Jesus is “KING OF KINGS” (1 Tim 6:15, Rev 17:14) and more specifically in Rev 19:11-16 “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”. The Mother of a King is AUTOMATICALLY A QUEEN, otherwise He couldn’t be a KING.
Now, Mary did not make Herself a Queen.
JESUS, WHO IS GOD AND LORD, MADE HER A QUEEN BY NECESSARY PRINCIPLE BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS.
That means, whatever Jesus Christ is King of (which is EVERYTHING), His Beloved Mother is automatically the QUEEN OF (which is EVERYTHING).
3rd point: In Catholic Bibles, the following verse is found in Psalms 44:10, but for some reason in protestant Bibles this Psalms was broken up and the verse is found in Psalms 45:
“On God’s Right Hand STANDS THE QUEEN, dressed in choicest gold of Ophir.” Remember that the RIGHT HAND is the PRIVILEGED POSITION beside A KING.
Now, if I may, I DARE YOU to take your blasphemy against Christ’s Mother one step further by declaring that the Queen standing at God’s Right Hand is THE FALSE GODDESS ASHTEROTH simply because, using typical protestant “logic”, Ashteroth is the only female figure specifically mentioned in Scripture together with the words “the queen of Heaven.”
What other misguided notions about Mary do you have that I can correct for you using God’s Holy Word?
Thank you for this wonderful post, Marc Conza.
Your FIRST SEVEN lines of refutation are enough for points of meditation for a very long time.
The first Adam and the first Eve raised offspring doubtless in the marriage. If the Lord Jesus is the new Adam and the Lady Mary is the new Eve, and the baptized are their children, what is the relationship between them?
To reply to Myron, i.e. “The first Adam and the first Eve raised offspring doubtless in the marriage. If the Lord Jesus is the new Adam and the Lady Mary is the new Eve, and the baptized are their children, what is the relationship between them?”
I can’t do justice to this subject because I am not an expert on the baffling theological Mystery of the Holy Trinity. But I can offer this:
We need to recognize here that Adam and Eve are our first parents on a purely BIOLOGICAL plane only.
The Second Adam and Eve (Jesus who is GOD, and Mary) are our parents on a purely SPIRITUAL plane. Now that might seem bizarre at first, but it isn’t if you always keep in mind that Jesus is GOD and INSEPARABLE IN NATURE with the Father and the Holy Ghost (Who are Both also God) but at the same time is a separate PERSON in the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. (John 10:30, John 14:9)
The relationship, then, is that Mary is the Daughter of God in the Person of the Father, Mother of God in the Person of the Son (Jesus), and Spouse of God in the Person of the Holy Ghost. In the Old Testament Our Lady’s relationship to God in each of the Three Persons is sometimes mentioned interchangeably in a single Chapter or even in a single verse of Scripture, and thus can be unrecognizable (or properly understandable) if one is not careful.
Scripture and Apostolic Tradition all concur on this. This is a dogmatic (unalterable) Teaching of the Church that was taught by Christ to His Apostles, by the Apostles to the Early Church Fathers, and so on, uninterrupted to today and forever more. I am not an expert on the Mystery of the Trinity, so to break it down further from here we need the precision of a Church Theologian to properly explain this to us. But I hope you at least can begin to understand, Myron, the parallel to Adam and Eve here.
What I can tell explain to you is the bottom line. The New Testament is a completion of the prophecies of the Old Testament.
Adam – Jesus
Eve – Mary
Fallen Angel (Satan) – Unfallen Archangel Gabriel
Tree in the Garden – Tree of the Cross
The Fruit of the Tree (sin) – The Fruit of Mary’s Womb (Jesus, Source of Grace)
The Fall – Redemption
Eternal Death – Eternal Life
A brief, excellent, and easy-to-read booklet on this topic is “Mary, the Second Eve” by Cardinal Henry Newman. Every Catholic should have a copy of this in their home.
Garabandal has been “not established supernatural.”
There are three categories of alleged apparations, and Jose Vilaplana, Bishop of Santander, has placed it in category 3:
“3) non constat de supernaturalitate (it is not established supernatural)”
(“categories used by the Church since new norms were promulgated in 1978 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith”)
You can read the bishop’s letter on the EWTN site.
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A very good article. The apparitions themselves can only be one of two possibilities: authentic or diabolical. Science cannot explain the phenomenon. It’s obvious to anyone with the use of reason. And they promoted prayer, the Rosary, penance, Eucharist, and reparation. The devil doesn’t do that. My only question is why Conchita renounced them at one time. Did she ever explain this and why she retracted it?
Thanks for the positive comment Frederick. Conchita only renounced her testimony after many hours of interrogation, threats and harassment from diocesan officials. She was only a schoolgirl at the time. She was threatened with excommunication and burial outside of consecrated ground “like a dog”. Under this terrible pressure, Conchita felt that she had no choice but to renounce. She felt that anything else would be disobedience to her bishop, and Conchita, fundamentally, was a very good and faithful child, always obedient to the Church. So in this state of fear and confusion she renounced, but only briefly, and she retracted her renunciation afterwards.
Hi Frederick,
To answer your question: “why [did] Conchita renounce them at one time. Did she ever explain this and why she retracted it?”
As early as September, 1961, only three and a half months after the start of the apparitions at Garabandal, Our Lady told the girls – to their great surprise – that “a day will come when you will deny having seen Me, and the confusion this will cause you and your families will correspond [i.e. illustrate] with the confusion that exists in the Church.”
In other words, the Church (that is, the hierarchy, cardinals, bishops, priests, religious) was in great confusion at the time of the apparitions (for various reasons too lengthy to go into here) that was not apparent to the public then. It was all happening behind closed doors. So one of the brilliant devices Our Lady employed during the apparitions was to make the four visionaries A MICROCOSM, that is, an illustration on a small scale, to parallel the complex and widespread problem of the same nature that was tearing the Church apart from within on a greater scale.
Mari Cruz was the first to deny (and there is a profound mystical reason for this I can’t expound on here). In fact, her denial came only days after her final apparition on September 12, 1962. Thus, while the other three continued to see Our Lady daily, Mari Cruz was at the same time now saying she never saw Her. When the girls asked Our Lady why Mari Cruz was doing this, Our Lady only smiled in response.
To make a long and complicated story short, the remaining three visionaries came to doubt and even deny having seen Our Lady shortly after their own visions ended as well. And yes, they even signed formal retractions in front of Church authorities about this. While opponents of Garabandal celebrated this as a victory, to those that believed in Garabandal (especially the CLERGY and THEOLOGIANS who were schooled in Church Law and mysticism) the retractions not only fulfilled a very early prophecy, BUT THEY ALSO DIDN’T MAKE ANY SENSE.
A single brief example: Conchita denied, in writing, having ever seen Our Lady or St. Michael, yet she could not deny the proofs. She said: “I never saw Our Lady or St Michael, but the Miracle of the Visible Host is true, the Messages are true, and the [coming] Miracle is true.” So in other words, “I never saw Our Lady, but all the Messages She gave me are true,” and, “I never saw St. Michael, but the Communion that he gave me that everyone saw is true.” Huh?
This situation stretched the seers’ families to nearly the breaking point. For Conchita’s mother Aniceta, she felt her daughter was calling her a liar for having testified to all the incredible things she saw Conchita do in ecstasy.
Finally Aniceta snapped one day and pinned Conchita to the wall by the throat and screamed at her, “If none of this is true, how did you fake the Miracle of the Visible Communion, you burning coal from Hell?”
Conchita: “I didn’t fake it Mama!,”
Aniceta: “Then how did It get there? We all saw it with our own eyes!”
Conchita: “The people were hysterical!”
Aniceta: “Oh we were hysterical, were we? What about the camera? Was the camera hysterical too? God forgive me that a heretic like you should come from my own flesh to destroy the Church!”
This is just one small example of the utter confusion these doubts and denials caused, which, once again, WERE PERMITTED BY GOD to illustrate what was taking place in the Church BEHIND THE SCENES.
But these doubts and denials are not new to Garabandal. These were common in the lives of the great mystics. The most extreme case involving a famous Marian Apparition, however, was Pontmain.
Of the six visionaries there, one of them, Jeanne-Marie Lebosse, began to have serious doubts about what she saw and heard when she became a nun. Her doubts became so torturous that Jeanne-Marie came to believe that she had LIED about the whole thing, and finally her spiritual director had her make a formal retraction in writing (even though he didn’t believe it himself). Once she signed the retraction, Jeanne-Marie’s conscience was at peace, and she never took back her retraction. In her mind, the retraction served to prove that she wasn’t a visionary. Yet her retraction didn’t affect Pontmain, because it didn’t matter. The actual facts proved Jeanne-Marie WAS a true visionary. The retraction was only necessary to settle her soul.
In the same way, the doubts or denials of Garabandal, when understood in their proper context, do not harm the apparitions, but actually strengthen the case for their authenticity. Since then, all of the girls have reversed their retractions except for Mari Cruz (and once again, there is a profound mystical reason for this that I cannot go into here).
But either way, these peculiarities don’t matter, because the overwhelming eyewitness, photographic, film, and audio evidence prove their retractions can’t be trusted. In other words, the visionaries of Garabandal are not the ones with the authority to decide the authenticity or origin of what happened to them; that is the task of the Church.
And I know for a fact that Conchita, at least, is happy about that, and she will accept whatever final ruling It decides; and from what I know about Jacinta and Mari Cruz, I’m sure they will too.
Israel was also led astray by worshiping this Queen of Heaven
Jeremiah 7:18-19
New International Version
18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
Galatians 1:8
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
We are God’s children not Mary’s children and she is not our mother as much as this fallen angels claims to be. No where in the Gospel does it tell us that Mary is our mother. It is through Jesus we are children of God and through no other.
John 1:12
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Dear Mart,
thank you for your message. I admire your zeal for God. We Catholics are actually with you on this score. The Catholic Church is very clear that no one is to be worshipped but God alone. You are right that no-one should worship the Queen of Heaven, and we don’t. We venerate Mary, which is a different thing altogether, and it is all part of the business of giving ultimate glory to God.
You said that nowhere in the Gospel does it tell us that Mary is our mother. In fact, in John 19,26-27 Jesus looks down from the cross at the “beloved disciple” and says “Son, behold your mother”. The fathers of the Church and spiritual writers of all ages have interpreted these words as being directed to anyone who wishes to be a “beloved disciple” of Christ. We take Mary as our mother, not to worship her or give her the glory that is due to God, but to walk with her towards Jesus, to stand with her faithfully at the foot of the cross.
In Luke 1, Elizabeth cried out “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” St Luke tells us explicitly that this was said under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the Holy Spirit confirms to us that Mary is blessed among women. Mary herself, in her Magnificat, says, “from this day forward all generations will call me blessed (Luke 1,48). The Catholic Church blesses Mary and honours her, but always as a way of giving glory to God.
Mart, I am not writing this to try to change your mind, but to show you (hopefully) that what the Catholic Church teaches does not in any way conflict with Scripture. If you continue with your great zeal for God then you will not go too far wrong, even if you do not appreciate the Church’s understanding of the role of Mary in God’s plan. Peace between us. God bless,
Edward
The final message of Garabandal from Our Lady was on June 18, 1965. “Since my Message of October 18, 1961 has not been complied with and has not been made much known to the world, I will tell you that this is the last one. Before the chalice was filling now it is overflowing. MANY CARDINALS, MANY BISHOPS, AND MANY PRIESTS ARE ON THE PATH OF PERDITION AND THEY TAKE MANY SOULS WITH THEM. TO THE EUCHARIST, THERE IS GIVEN LESS AND LESS IMPORTANCE. We should avoid the Wrath of God on us by our good efforts. If you ask pardon with your sincere soul God will pardon you. It is I, Your Mother, who through the intercession of St. Michael, wish to say that you amend, that you are already in the last warnings and that I love you much and do not want your condemnation….”. In my opinion, the Church will not approve Garabandal because in essence it would be condemning themselves. But hasn’t what Our Lady said about the many priests, bishops and Cardinals turned out to all be true???? And I say this with great sadness. I say the rosary every day out of respect for Mary’s request.
Truth can not be hidden but so long. We still do not know the true 3rd secret of Fatima. Garabandal seems the same situation. The final prophecy of St. Francis of Assisi as well as the final Pope in St. Malachy’s list appears to be happening before our eyes. Neither of these involves secrets. It is obvious who pope Francis really is. No secret there. Jesus is coming VERY soon ..be ready each day because each of us could pass away before that Glorious Day Dawns. Trust Jesus !
The 3-rd secret fatima was posted on the Internet 10 years ago, so it’s known [https://www.traditioninaction.org/Questions/B352_Secret.html].
The prophecy of Saint Francis of Assisi about the destroyer of the Roman Church is fulfilled in the person of Jorge Bergoglio.
The third secret of Fatima and the prophecy of St. Francis are in line with the prophecy of Saint Malachi – below is my interpretation.
The ‘B&B16’ Duo
The confusion that can be seen in the Roman Catholic church is not a crisis but an epochal breakthrough.
The last papal decision of Benedict XVI led to the transformation of the Saint Peter’s Office into a synodal two-headed hybrid. Actually he dissolved – by virtue of power given to him by Jesus Christ [Matt 16, 19] – the same office on Feb. 28, 2013 at 8 p.m. (CET), so no he may already be a Roman Pontiff neither himself nor anyone else. This decision is irrevocable.
The dissolution of the papacy does not mean that the gates of hell have overcome the militant Church [Matt 16, 18]. The Church will be reborn with the power of God as it was when the Mosaic religion degenerated into the form of the synagogue of Satan and Jesus Christ appeared to breathe new life into the Church of God and raise her to a higher level thrugh the Holy Sacraments.
By the act of Feb. 10 (11), 2013, B16 released the keys of the God’s Kingdom that Christ entrusted to Saint Peter the Apostle. These Keys are the Apocalyptic Woman and the Paraclete; only now the Church will shine on the whole earth with full splendor.
The end of the papacy in Rome is precisely described in the Prophecy of Saint Malachi (+ 1148), the archbishop of Armagh:
‘Gloria Olivae’ – Benedict XVI; the glory/finial of the Roman Catholic church are two olive trees [Rev. 11, 4], which will blossom only now at the end of times – the Paraclete and the Woman of the Revelation.
‘In persecutione extrema S.R.E. Sedebit’ – ‘S.R.E [Sancta Romana Ecclesia] is in a period of extreme persecution’ – this is the phenomenon of Jorge Bergoglio, the destroyer of the Roman Catholic church (especially of the College of Cardinals, the very top of the Church hierarchy). Bergoglio, aside from the B16’s dissolution of the papacy, as an apostate, could not be the vicar of Jesus Christ, and therefore Saint Malachi does not name his name among pontifices but only characterizes the effects of his actions.
‘Petrus Romanus, qui pascet oves in multis tribulationibus: quibus transactis civitas septicollis diruetur & Iudex tremendus iudicabit populum suum. Finis’. (“Peter the Roman will feed his flock in the midst of many persecutions, and when it ceases, the city of seven hills will be torn down and a terrible judge will judge his people”.)
Saint Peter the Apostle was not a Roman (citizen of Rome). Peter the Roman is a Son of the Roman Catholic church (means a Roman) and is identical to the terrible Judge, the same as the Paraclete.
The papacy in Rome was abolished definitively and irrevocably. What now? The fulfillment of this request addressed to God the Father for nearly 2,000 years: ‘Come Thy Kingdom, thy will be done, as in heaven so also on earth.’ The Kingdom of God on the earth, finally!
You failed to mention the death of Joey prior to his sight being restored. Unfortunate that he passed prior to witnessing the Miracle. Also, the fact that the girls recanted the story of the vision on numerous occasions. The biggest problem that i have with the apparitions is that when the girls first started seeing our lady, she said that the cup was filling up. In her final messages, she stated that the cup was then overflowing. If it went from filling up to overflowing within a couple of years, what has it been doing in the 55 years since the last vision.
Sorry, but can not accept the truthfulness of these visions. The only thing other than the warning that could convince me is if Conchita would come out of hiding and testify of the truthfulness of the visions.
wake up Jeff . These visionaries are real . Hallucinations. Get real man . The warning and the miracle are just around the corner. then we will all wake up. I have watched the evident in films and read, read, about the girls . Wow truly blessed . Mother chose them for a wonderful purpose and we need to believe and stop discounting the truth and looking for reasons to dismiss and errors. Same thing with Holy Love Ministeries in Ohio. real , real , I been there 34 times . I believe that shrine and the messages are from heaven .. no doubt in my mind and 100s of thousands agree with me. The ground is sacred.
Jeff, as someone who was close to Joey Lomangino, I wish to dispel the doubts you express regarding Garabandal.
Our Lady promised Joey Lomangino at Garabandal that on the day of the Miracle, She would give him new eyes, and the first thing he would see would be the Miracle, and then see normally afterward.
What you do not know about Joey was his absolute abandonment to the glory of God by doing everything humanly possible to promote Garabandal and ensure the success of its spread throughout the world, and the conversion of as many people as possible back to God before it was too late.
That is why, long before his death, JOEY SACRIFICED HIS CURE BACK TO GOD so that this success would be even greater. Only those closest to him knew about this.
GOD ACCEPTED HIS SACRIFICE.
Joey did what the blind woman cured by St. Bridget did.
St. Bridget one day was with a companion who was blind, and the saint felt sorrow for the woman that she could not see and enjoy the beautiful sunset Bridget was enjoying. So unbeknownst to the woman, St. Bridget silently passed her hand over the woman’s eyes, and the woman could suddenly see. After the initial shock wore off, the woman told St. Bridget that she would PREFER TO REMAIN BLIND in this world if that would give God greater glory and be more meritorious for her soul than having her eyesight for the rest of her life. So St. Bridget said, “Well, let us see what God truly wants,” and passed her hand over the woman’s eyes again. The blindness was immediately returned and remained until the woman’s death.
Now, regarding your reservations about the Cup seen by the visionaries of Garabandal:
On July 4, 1961, Our Lady showed the girls a chalice into which a dark fluid resembling blood was dripping. Our Lady told them the fluid represented dualy the sins of the world and the level of God’s Patience in putting up with them.
In Her message of October 18, 1961, Our Lady said: “The Cup is already filling up…”
In Her message of June 18, 1965, Our Lady said: “Before, the Cup was filling up; now, it is flowing over…”
So yes, in just 4 years time the increase in sin was so rapid and abundant, that the level of God’s Patience had been surpassed. However, that was not the last time Our Lady spoke of the Cup.
Our Lady spoke about the Cup at Her final apparition on November 13, 1965. While most of this remains a secret, Conchita did reveal that Our Lady said that in the time period leading up to the Warning and the Miracle, ABORTION would become common and widespread, and would be the prinicipal flashpoint for incurring the Wrath of God on the world.
Naturally, as you point out, in the 55 years since then the Cup must be completely submerged at this point. But that is to be expected, since Our Lady did say that this situation WOULD CONTINUE and would reach its peak at the time of the Warning.
The Cup, however, is a common theme for our time as it is mentioned in Scripture and also in past apparitions.
But also remember, from past APPROVED apparitions, Our Lady is RESTRAINING Her Son’s Justice (LaSalette, Fatima, Akita) and keeping Him from striking. Garabandal is the ultimate expression of the Mercy of God Who absolutely does not want to punish us and wants to give us every opportunity to return to Him before His Justice is FORCED to act and Our Lady can no longer avert it.
That is why He is going to the extreme extent of giving every single person in the world a soul-shaking MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE (the Warning), followed by the healing experience of the Miracle. These in-your-face-and-unavoidable events will be the very last attempts He will make to penetrate our SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS and get us to wake up before He is forced to take chastising action.
I hope this helps resolve your doubts about Garabandal. If it doesn’t, well, the final prophecies (Communism, Warning, Miracle) are almost here, so you will be convinced anyway very soon.
Conchita is not ‘in hiding;’ she lives on Long Island NY with her family.
On another note, I find that people who will derogate Garabandal will become absolutely deranged in their reflexive defense of the false apparitions at Medjugorge. “Hey, my rosaries turned colors….the Virgin Mary MUST be appearing there!!!”
One Day very soon… With a slight beat of his will The Heavenly Father will say ” Joey wakeup, time to get new eyes”! Just because we don’t know God’s plan doesn’t mean he doesn’t have one….
In reply to Myronm, my policy in general is to welcome all comments, and avoid replying to ones that are off the point, or pursuing an agenda that is not in keeping what we are about here. In this case, the whole point of the article was to try to understand the events of Garabandal in a manner that is orthodox and obedient to the teachings of the Church. Myronm, your comment is based in large part on the so-called prophecies of St Malachy. No serious historian considers these prophecies to be anything other than a 16th century forgery, many centuries after the time of Malachy. At the end of this comment I paste some paragraphs from the Wikipedia article that show without any doubt that the “prophecy” was created in the late 16th century by copying a 1557 history of the popes (and even replicating errors made in that history – a sure sign that it was copied!)
Discussions of the legitimacy of Pope Francis, based on a discredited forgery, are not going to take us anywhere, so after I post this comment, I will not enter into further discussion, nor do I have time to read your replies, apologies for this. On the subject of the legitimacy of Pope Francis, we may not like everything he says or does, we may not agree with some of his views, we may have some good reasons for thinking that he is error on certain matters (such as communion for the divorced), but none of these make his election illegitimate. For me, Pope Benedict XVI is one of the most brilliant minds of our time, a man fully immersed in the mind of the Church. If he considers his resignation valid, and Pope Francis to be his legitimate successor, then no argument (certainly not one based on a spurious document) should shake our confidence on this point. I repeat, no error or misjudgement of Pope Francis disqualifies him from being the true successor of St Peter. It may well be that his views are out of kilter with the magisterium of the Church on a few matters, but that doesn’t mean anything as far as his own legitimacy is concerned. His love for Our Lady is genuine and deep. He has visited St Mary Major on so many occasions to lay flowers. His writings and homilies on Mary are profound and beautiful. His absolute dedication to the poor is consistent and impressive. From Sunday’s Gospel, we can be sure that the Lord will welcome him to heaven for this reason alone: “Come blessed of my Father! Receive the inheritance prepared for you since the foundation of the world! For when I was hungry you gave me to eat, etc.” Pope Francis has upset and annoyed many Catholics, and he may have been been a bit out of order at times, but that doesn’t change the fact (I believe) that he is a good and holy man, sincere in his views, and the LEGITIMATE SUCCESSOR OF PETER.
Peace between us Myronm. God bless you and I urge you to return to communion of mind and heart with the Church.
WIKIPEDIA QUOTES FOLLOW
Given the accurate description of popes up to around 1590 and lack of accuracy for the popes that follow, historians generally conclude that the alleged prophecy is a fabrication written shortly before publication.
The verses and explanations (in the “prophecy”) correspond very closely to a 1557 history of the popes by Onofrio Panvinio (INCLUDING REPLICATION OF ERRORS made by Panvinio), which may indicate that the prophecy was written based on that source
One theory to explain the prophecy’s creation, put forward by 17th-century French priest and encyclopaedist Louis Moréri, among others, is that it was spread by supporters of Cardinal Girolamo Simoncelli in support of his bid to become pope during the 1590 conclave to replace Urban VII. In the prophecy, the pope following Urban VII is given the description “Ex antiquitate Urbis” (“from the old city”), and Simoncelli was from Orvieto, which in Latin is Urbevetanum, old city.
Very well written article. Someday the entire world will know the
great message of Garabandal.
The positive comment is appreciated Tom – thanks!
Edward