I guess I will have to change my user name if Garabandal does not turn out to be a true Marian apparition! Joey Lomangino is still alive awaiting the miracle of new eyesight and this should occur under the pontificate of Benedict 16. If Joey should die before the Miracle that to me would indicate that Garabandal is false. For there can be other outcome as he is so closely associated with the Garabandal events. But I fully expect that Joey will see again with new eyes - Padre Pio endorsed his decision to go to Garabandal in the first instance. Through Padre Pio, Joey received the gift of the sense of smell which was lost when his olfactory nerve was severed in the accident. Through the intervention of our Lady of Mt Carmel of Garabandal the healing will be completed when Joey gets his eyesight again. The 1st thing that he will see will be the miracle of Garabandal. There is nothing new in the Garabandal message - merely a re-statement of the Gospel message of conversion. The proof of authenticity will be if the prophecised supernatural events do occur - the warning, miracle and chastisement. Of course should the warning come then we can expect the other events to unfold. I suspect that when the warning does come there will be little time left for conversion. And the warning is to occur when events on the earth are at their worst. We are to read the 'signs of the times'. As western society has become a 'culture of death' [John Paul II], it is well on the path to self-destruction due to its addiction to sin and its rejection of Christ and his teachings. The spirit of anti-Christ is the order of western political ideology. We are on the slide towards a dictatorship of relativism [John Paul II] in other words totalitarianism. Ave Maria
The first words that came to me were "Don't doubt". Even Mother Teresa of Calcuta visited Conchita in New York. That's no accident.
I personally do believe both Medjugorje and Garabandal are true private revelations, but my faith certainly doesn't hinge on it. And it really doesn't matter to me whether anyone has doubts about them, because if they are making an effort to live good Christian lives, this is what the messages are about anyway. I saw this article today: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/world ... .html?_r=1 and I was reminded of the prophecy of "When Russia will unexpectedly and suddenly overrun and overwhelm a great part of the free world." *source: http://www.ourlady.ca/info/communism.htm Many people believe that since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia is no longer a threat. This thinking is a mistakle. Consider, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia_and ... estruction Of course, for us Christians, this is no cause for fear. As it says at the end of the above linked article on the Garabandal prophecy, "As a result of all this there will be a turning to God that will match the apostasy from God that preceded it, with the result, as Our Lady said at Fatima, that "an era of peace will be granted to humanity." This will be a peace such as the world has never known."
Its very, very strange this, not something we would ever, ever forget but as you say, Darrell forecast at both Fatima and Garabandal, the rise of Russia!! :shock:
I visited many apparition sites last year... Rue de Bac, La Salette, Fatima, Garabandal, Lourdes, and other holy places like Ars, Liseux, and Nevers. I have to say that I felt the most peace and closeness to God at Rue de Bac, Garabandal, Ars and La Salette... perhaps because these were the most inconspicuous. I loved all the places I visited, but any doubts I had about Garabandal or La Salette left me after visiting those holy places. I really felt the Holy Spirit move my heart up in the Pines. I believe the place is holy. Just my own two cents. BTW, I went on this pilgrimage mainly to go to Fatima on October 13, which I was, but I didn't feel the inner peace there that I felt at some of the other sites. I still believe that the apparitions really happened. It's just that I didn't feel the way I expected to there, but at other places instead. God bless, ~Rae
I suspect, Rae that holy places are like people, each with their own spiritual charisms. I visited Knock in Ireland and was never very taken with the place until I stayed there a couple of days for it took a little while for the graces to sink in. Some places, though almost shine and hit you in the heart the moment you step there. But any Catholic Church, as soon as you step in its like getting a blast in the heart of light and joy and warmth from the presense of the Blessed Sacrament. Even having a holy picture of Holy Water in the house, I feel a sense of 'warmth ' coming off them, the same with Holy people. I think any Catholic who sincerely practises their faith has this light. The opposite is true from folks who are far from light and walk in darkness, they are like freezer doors that are left open, black holes that take in the light and make all around them cold drawing in light and giving none of. I can easily believe that hell is totally dark, only lit by the flames of hell.
