Today in Garabandal History : August 11 Among the many qualified visitors in Garabandal during those days, we have to single out the pastor from Barro, Fr. de la Riva. His stay was a long one and he sought to use all his time to the maximum. A page from his Memorias tells us his experiences during those days: "I went down every day to Cossío to celebrate the Mass.(10) Then I would go back up to the village again and ask where I could find the young seer that I wanted to see. Then I took the road leading to the pasture where she was working.(11) In the evening I returned to the village. At nightfall there was the rosary in the church, then the apparitions, frequently very lengthy. All this greatly exhausted me." ______________ This exhaustion that was wearing him down led him one afternoon, perhaps on August 11th,(12) Saturday, to refrain from accompanying the visionaries in their ecstatic marches. On going outside after the rosary, instead of following Jacinta who was marching at the time through the village in a trance, he accompanied the girl’s mother to her home and there began to eat dinner. After dinner, with its anecdotes of the apparitions, Fr. de la Riva went to Maximina’s home where he was lodging and went to bed. "I was a little sad" — he said — «for not having gone to the apparitions that day like the other villagers and the visitors . . . In a brief prayer before going to bed, I asked the Virgin to give me a sign that she wasn’t angry with me for not going to the apparitions after the rosary. And I fell asleep like a log. After several hours, I heard someone running and the voice of Nandín (Fernando, Loli’s brother) saying, Maximina, open up! Loli is here. I turned on the light, looked at my watch, and saw that it was a quarter to four in the morning. I said to myself, It has to be almost an hour that Loli is in ecstasy.(13) In the meantime, people were knocking at the door of my room. I sat up quickly on the bed and said, Come in. The door opened with a bang and Loli appeared in ecstasy. She fell on her knees and began to crawl on them, little by little, toward the wall that was facing me. This made me greatly wonder since I still didn’t know that, when the girls visited the homes in ecstasy, almost the first thing that they did was to pray for the departed from the family. On the wall in front of me was a large photograph of Maximina and her husband, who had been dead for years. Kneeling under the photograph, Loli prayed for some time. Then she pivoted and on her knees and went toward my bed. With the crucifix that she held in her hand, she first made the sign of the cross over the pillow, and then she put it on my lips while smiling. She continued smiling, turned around and began to make her way toward the door, still on her knees. When she came to the doorway, she stood up and went out that way. Then I said to myself, The Virgin is in the village . . . and you are still in bed!. I dressed quickly and ran toward the church. On passing by Loli’s house, I noticed that the girl was in the kitchen still in ecstasy. Naturally Fr. de la Riva went inside, and soon became aware that the girl was then speaking about what had happened in Maximina’s house. After the ecstasy, there were two questions: the first, to find out why the trance had begun much later than the hour predicted (which had been at 3:00 a.m.); and the second, to explain the reason why Loli went unexpectedly to Maximina’s house. Loli answered the first question by saying that «The Virgin wanted to show her displeasure this way», because on that night some women had joked about the apparitions. They had asked the girl if the Virgin painted her nails, if she combed her hair, if she wore a bracelet . . . No one could answer the second question adequately. Ceferino could only say that his daughter, without his understanding the reason, «immediately on being in ecstasy, at about 3:45 in the morning, had gone running toward Maximina’s house.» ''Then I was aware» — declared Fr. de la Riva —«that the Virgin had deigned to hear my petition, giving me the sign that I had requested.'' “SHE CAME IN HASTE TO THE MOUNTAIN” BOOK 3, PG.62
THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS LIES FROM UNITY ABOUT PADRE PIO & POPES ! In the past few years we have been to the Vatican and to San Giovanni Rotondo. It is claimed that the children went to Rome and received the Holy Fathers blessing on the miracles. It is also claimed that Padre Pio gave his approval to the messages of Garabandal. We can tell you [from our own visit to San Giovanni Rotondo and to Rome and from the above letter by Cardinal Seper] that these are both lies. To say "lie" is a strong word, but you can see that there was no foundation to the statement whatsoever. The Holy Father blessed the children without knowing who they were. Padre Pio did not approve of anything at Garabandal. This has been verified by Conchita. Conchita and the rest of the children signed a document with the bishop agreeing with the findings of the Church and promised to never ever promote the apparitions again. These mystics have lived up to this signed document but the promoters have not. All the children retracted all belief in the miracles. THAT section boils my blood. SAINT POPE JOHN PAUL II, ON GARABANDAL There is a book on Garabandal, written by Albrecht Weber in 1993, entitled Garabandal Der Zeigefmger Gottes (Garabandal: The Finger of God), of which a first edition copy was presented to Pope John Paul II. He later asked his secretary, Fr. (now Archbishop) Stanislaus Dziwisz, to write to the author. In the subsequent printing (2000) of the book, on page 19, a portion of the Pope's message is reprinted, as follows: "May God reward you for everything. Especially for the deep love with which you are making the events connected with Garabandal more widely known. May the Message of the Mother of God find an entrance into hearts before it is too late. As an expression of joy and gratitude, the Holy Father gives you his apostolic blessing." Weber writes, "From the attached greeting in the Pope's own handwriting, with his signature, it is clear how deep an interest he has in the events of Garabandal, and how anxious he is that they should be made known in a credible way." On July 23, 1988, during a special general audience with the Pope at the Vatican ... "special" because it was held on Saturday, rather than the usual Wednesday... Father Robert introduced Garabandal Visionary Mari-Loli and family to him. Father Robert who was holding 7 year old Maria Dolores, one of the three Lafleur children, said to the Pope: "Your Holiness, a special blessing for your littlest children who come on behalf of The Blessed Virgin from Garabandal." Our Holy Father exclaimed "Garabandal!". . . And immediately kissed Maria Dolores. CONCHITA & THE VATICAN The Church has always taken the events of Garabandal seriously. Conchita Gonzalez, twice has been summoned to Rome. The first time was in January, 1966, when she was called there by Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, prefect of the Holy Office (now called the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) where she was interrogated by members of the Holy Office. It was during this trip that she was received by His Holiness Pope Paul VI in a private audience. And it is an incontrovertible fact that he told the visionary, "I bless you and with me the whole Church blesses you." It was also during this trip to Italy for Conchita that she went to San Giovanni Rotondo where she was warmly received by Padre Pio. Conchita was best friends with Padre Pio, why would he choose her of all the people in the world to give his most prized possessions upon his death? He believed in Conchita and Garabandal ! PADRE PIO SEES THE MIRACLE BEFORE HIS DEATH & CONCHITA IS GIVEN GIFTS BY HIM. When Conchita found out Padre Pio died in Sept. 1968, she met his close friend, Father Bernardino Cennamo, at Lourdes, and asked him, "How is it that Our Lady told me Padre Pio would see the Miracle and he has died?" Father Cenammo responded, "Padre Pio saw the Miracle before he died. He told me himself."The priest gave Conchita one of the three veils that covered Padre Pio's face during his wake, saying that the stigmatist had requested this before he died. He told her truthfully that he personally did not believe in the authenticity of Garabandal until Padre Pio requested this of him. Conchita also was given Padre Pio's rosary, and one of the gloves he wore, stained by his stigmata. She has these treasures preserved at her home in New York. Padre Pio never ceased recommending pilgrims who asked him about Garabandal, to make a visit there. He told Joey Lomangino, (the next most significant individual in the story of the apparitions after the visionaries) that yes, the Virgin was appearing there, and yes he should go there. From the book “The Fianl Hour “ (Michael Brown) page 141 On the topic of Padre Pio ‘s belief in Garabandal: “Asked on another occasion about its authenticity, he answered curtly, ”How many times must she appear there to be believed ? “ Handed a book on Garabandal, Padre Pio gazed fixedly ath the cover and as though by chance, opened to the page with the last message-” the cup was overflowing” message of June 18,1965. He then closed the book and blessed it. There are multiple examples of Padre Pio’s belief in Garabandal, I could write pages on it. There is no signed document by all the girls agreeing to anything. The only thing Conchita signed was when they took her from her home at age 12 to a far away town for days, threatened her, tried to hyponotize her , and threaten her mother, if she didn't sign a BLANK piece of paper.
Today in Garabandal History, AUGUST 12, 1961 THE DECEASED PADRE LUIS AND THE "SABBATINE PRIVILEGE." THE SPIRITUAL PRESENCE OF ST. CLARE OF ASSISI ON THIS DAY OF HER LITURGICAL FEAST The Sabbatine Privilege, in its original form, was granted in the fourteenth century by the Blessed Virgin, after the grace of the Scapular to St. Simon Stock. The sixth General Superior of the Carmelites, who had just been chased away from the East by the Saracens, had begged Mary to help him. She then appeared to him promising him, at the same time as she gave him the gift of the Scapular, that every Carmelite wearing it would be spared the eternal fires. As for the Sabbatine Privilege, it was broadened later by the Church, thanks to Pope Paul V (1605-1621). The Blessed Virgin promised that all those who had venerated her constantly and who had worn the Scapular with devotion would be withdrawn from Purgatory on the first Saturday after their death. At Garabandal, one finds indeed the figure of a small mountain on one side of the Scapular that Our Lady of Mount Carmel wears on her right arm. This mountain (the "Muhraka") symbolizes the confrontation that occurred on Mount Carmel between Elijah and Baal's false prophets. A cross is drawn on the other side: a clear indication of the divine source of that famous sacramental. The Sabbatine Privilege was illustrated in a remarkable way on this August 12 at Garabandal. The four visionaries, as much in a state of ecstasy as in a normal state, had prayed a great deal after August 9, for the soul of the deceased Fr. Luis. They ceased to do so completely on this first Saturday after his death. The Blessed Virgin told the little girls that he was now in heaven. We know that Fr. Luis wore the scapular-medal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. As for St. Clare of Assisi, how not detect her "spiritual presence" at San Sebatian de Garabandal on this day of her "natale"? Several amazing events occurring as much during her life as soon after her death, offer, indeed, a clear analogy with some of the many phenomena registered on this August 12, 1961, in the village. For example, this one noted by Don Valentin Marichalar: ". . . The girls in ecstasy saw stars with long tails. . ." In the first case (charismatically speaking) as in the second (according to a theological reflection -- Canon J. Porro), people understood that this symbolized the Holy Spirit, known to have dwelt fully in St. Clare's soul while she lived. From the book “Garabandal” pg 88
Interview with Conchita By Dr. Jeronimo Dominguez in May 1973 (the man who brought her to America ) 3 Interviews https://ourlady.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Conchita-Interviews-Parts-1-3.pdf
NIGHT OF MONDAY, AUGUST 14 TO TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1961 A WONDERFUL VIGIL IN PREPARATION FOR THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION The "Vigils," so familiar to Christians during the first centuries and then fallen into disuse, emerged again, as luck would have it, at Garabandal. There was a great deal of commotion during these vigils, the girls moving from one place to another in the village and in the neighborhood. The vigil inaugurating the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, 1961, stands out among the most beautiful ones. It began at 2:45 a.m., when Conchita, Loli and Jacinta came out in ecstasy from Conchita's home. For the first time, they sang Aves, a Noel as well, and a few "Mananitas" or short musical compositions. Then the Blessed Virgin brought them in front of the house of Mari-Cruz . . . prevented by her parents to follow the other visionaries who, once there, started an improvised song or, more exactly, a sacred serenade! That night, the candid hymns of the three children traveling through the dark lanes of the village, overjoyed in their ecstasy, symbolized the humble response of the earth to the songs of praise of the heavenly Court celebrating the Queen of angels and men. At about 4:15 a.m., always in ecstasy, they went to the church. The vigil came to an end at 5:00 a.m. The sacred serenade sung for Mari-Cruz Wake up, Mari-Cruz Do you not smell lilies The Virgin Mary brings you To help you be very good? Wake up, Mari-Cruz, She is coming, the kind Virgin With a basket of flowers For a little girl. Pick up the lilies That Mary brings you To help you be good. Good and holy little girl, You are very loving But you do not get up. [From "Garabandal', Book, pages 89-91]
Now the story has been told that she also said the Warning would be in an "Even Year". Here's how that came about. In the book, “Suddenly & Unexpectedly, The end of our Times” by Tom Fahy .pg .93 (Published November 11, 2012 ) "We know that the Warning must precede the Miracle. I happen to know, as per Maria (Saracco ) that Mari Loli had at one point been questioned by a priest who was trying to extract the year of the Warning from her. She would not tell him. Finally, he asked if she could at least tell him if it was an even or odd year. She relented and told him that it would be an “ even year. " When I researched this many years ago, I found out that the priest in question was Fr. Gustavo Morelos that she said this to,and I told this to Tom Fahy (as we were friends) and he verbally confirned all the above,and my research.
Today in Garabandal history TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1961: FIRST CLIMB TO SAN SEBASTIAN DE GARABANDAL BY A PEDIATRICIAN FROM SANTANDER, A GREAT WITNESS OF THE "EVENTS" A major scientific witness, Dr. Ortiz was the first physician to study the Garabandal phenomena seriously. Author of a report dated October 1962, of which a part was published, the pediatrician would spend about fifty days observing the visionaries. He always affirmed that they were "normal from every point of view." Below: Doctor Celestino Ortiz Perez, taking Conchita's pulse.[Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, page 91.]
August 15: Fr. Andreu will not speak today: Conchita wrote in her diary: Several days after the death of Father Luis, the Virgin told us that we were going to speak with him. On August 15th, the Feast of Our Lady, there were many tourists who had come to amuse themselves and they were causing scandal. That was the day that the Virgin told us we would talk with Fr. Luís María Andreu. But since there was a scandal, he didn’t come. At 4 in the morning on the next day, at the same time that Fr. Luís had died, the Virgin appeared to me in my kitchen and said to me: “Father will not come today, but he will come tomorrow.” On the next day between 8 and 9 at night, the Virgin appeared to us, smiling very much as usual, and she said to the four of us: - “Fr. Luís will come now and speak to you.” After a while he came and called us one after the other. But we didn’t see him; we only heard his voice. It was exactly the same as when he spoke on Earth when he would give us advice. He also told us something for his brother Fr. Ramón María Andreu. He taught us words in French and how to pray in Greek. He also taught us words in English and German. After a while, we didn’t hear his voice anymore. Then the Virgin spoke to us and stayed with us for a moment before leaving. http://www.stjosephpublications.com/download/PDF/Conchitas_Diary_English.pdf Pg 32
Today in Garabandal History: AUGUST 16, 1961 ( From Conchita’s Diary ) FR. LUIS ANDREU SPEAKS FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE ! “Between 8:00 or 9:00 the Virgin appeared to us, smiling very much as usual, and said to the four of us, “ Fr. Luis will come now and speak to you” And after a while he came , and he called us one after the other. But we didn’t see him, we only heard his voice. It was exactly the same as when he spoke on Earth. And after giving us advice ,he also told us something for his brother Fr. Ramon. More importantly, he sent a consoling message through them to his elderly mother, for whom news of his early death had come as a great shock. ‘Be happy and content,’ he said, ‘for I am in Heaven and see you every day.’ He taught us words in French, and even to pray in Greek. He taught us words in German, and in English too. After a while, we didn’t hear his voice anymore. And the Virgin spoke to us and stayed for a moment and left.”
SACRED GROUND The Virgin Mary referred to “the Pines“ : "God loves this place very much. This place is sacred." GARABANDAL- “The Pines - Sacred ground “ . We all know about the special area of Garabandal called "The Pines" (the 9 Pine trees where the Blessed Mother appeared, and foretold of the great Miracle that will take place there),but there are some other facts that have been forgotten about over time. Mary called this place "sacred". Conchita 's Grandfather Serafin, in 1947 he was the mayor of the village, had the idea that every child, in commemoration of his or her First Holy Communion would plant a pine tree on the heights above the village as a symbol for his or her life. Of those planted, nine survived and grew into massive trees, at the place to which the Virgin Mary referred ' saying: "God loves this place very much. This place is sacred." Today they are called "los pinos" and we await the great Miracle announced by the visionary children. Mary said "It will be the greatest miracle that my Son, Jesus, will have ever performed for mankind. It will also be the last one before the end”. Recently I have confirmed that Garabandal has a history of doing a nightly Rosary for over 500 years ! It’s no wonder why “God loves this place very much,this place is sacred !”
4 GREAT FREE DOWNLOAD “E” BOOKS SHE WENT IN HASTE TO THE MOUNTAIN CONCHITA’S DIARY MEMOIRS OF A COUNTRY SPANISH PRIEST MIRACLE AT GARABANDAL http://stjosephpublications.com/books_page.htm
The Miracle of the Andes and Garabandal Old, New, Unknown, Help! Winters are cruel in the village and long. Being accustomed to comfort at home with interior heat, I tried to keep warm in bed in September in Mesón Serafín while trying to type notes on a small Olivetti. It didn’t work, and so like many of the elder locals today, I moved to spend much of my ten-month 72-73 area stay in the city. Many readers will remember the 1972 plane crash in the Andes and how sixteen of the forty-three passengers survived for two months equipped only with some candy bars, bottles of wine purchased during the plane change in Mendoza, and tooth paste. Many will recall how some of the mothers of the lost boys prayed with confidence to Our Lady of Garabandal. One detail might be lesser known, and part of that, unknown to me. Help! I have always felt that the account of the crash carrying Uruguayan rugby players to a game on the west side of the Andes was, in a small way, also my story. By December 1972 I was tired of perusing old and new Santander newspapers seeking mention of my three-year passion for information on Garabandal. Yes, some early accounts, but with the exception of the 1967 “Denial” report, and the Catholic Church determining what is publicized and what is not, nothing recent during the episcopates of Bishops Puchol or Cirarda, the two bishops opposed to any talk about apparitions in their Diocese. And my work with microfiche and ordering periodicals from the basement in the old city library was drudgery. But then, finally, 1) in a small caption in the Santander daily, Alerta, “Diez y seis jugadores rescatados . . . Rezaron a la Virgen de Garabandal.” (Sixteen players rescued . . . after some mothers prayed to the Virgin of Garabandal. It wasn’t much, but a start. 2) I read later that the players were alumni of a Catholic school in Montevideo, run by the Christian Brothers of Ireland – the same brothers who taught me in high school and at Iona College. And 3), it was easy to keep my San Francisco Bay Area Spanish students on task while asking how they thought the players survived, and showing pictures in a Spanish photo magazine. Recently I reread part of the end of the story again in Josepha Gallego’s Los Milagros o Favores De Nuestra Madre De Garabandal. Sara Strauch speaking: “In the plane, now crossing the terrible mountain range, I observe a priest reading an English newspaper. I approach to ask him to pray for us, that we were on our way to look for our sons and I said: “Father, do you Speak Spanish? “ “Well daughter, ever since I was born” he answers. He notices the tension (anxiety) in the atmosphere and asks me, ‘What’s going on?’ When I told him who we were and that we were asking a Miracle of the Virgin of Garabandal, what do you believe he told me, there at eighteen thousand feet above sea level, with the foreboding mountains where our sons had been, below us?” “Well yes I was in Garabandal and (presencié) saw the Miracle with these eyes.” “My tired, anguished, soul, anchored to my faith and to Our Mother, became inundated by peace. What other proof did I need to assure me that my son was alive. Gracias, gracias Maria Madre Mia! And a few hours later, I held my son Eduardo in my arms, after this marvelous meeting too great to be “coincidental”, while my sister Rosina held in her arms her son Adolfito.” That’s what I recalled from the fascinating story that Piers Paul Read relates in his New York Times best-selling book, Alive.” He writes in his ninth mention of Garabandal, that when all others were still perplexed, the two Strauch sisters were convinced that the whole drama, the crash and the eventual survival of their sons were meant to prove to the world the authenticity of the apparitions at Garabandal. With that, and the fascinating minute details about which parents decided to take the “rescue” plane from Montevideo to Santiago and which ones decided at the last minute not to go, I thought that the priest was Fr. Luis Andreu who had died mysteriously ten years previous. Bilocation? Yes, another mystery, but why not? God can do everything. And didn’t St. Pio see the Miracle? But a week ago I reread the account including what hadn’t stuck the first time. One of the sisters continues: “You don’t know how many times I regret not remembering the name of the Priest; many, many times I thought about writing to him. Where? To whom? Thus, I ask a favor. Would it be a big job to find out how many priests were present at the Miracle? They told me not many. And which one of them crossed the Andes twenty years ago and remains in my soul forever related to the ‘miracle’ of the Andes. Signed Rosina and Sarah Urioste de Strauch Uruguay Thus, it seems like the plane passenger priest didn’t mean the future Miracle, but the miracle of the host. So, I ask the same help. Does anyone know, or have a hint, at finding out who that priest was? More is found in Gallego’s book pp 120 ff. including that the plane left Montevideo the 12th of October 1972 and the accident happened on the 13th, the day of the last apparition of the Virgin of Fatima, the day of the great Miracle. “It was ‘God’s Sign’ that made [us] think that our Mother would take our sons under her protection.” (Much of this was published in the “Garabandal Journal” and likely in other places.)
There is this radio-program video narrating the intervention of the Blessed Virgin of Garabandal in the rescue of the survivors of the Andes tragedy. It is in Spanish. It might have some useful information for your research (names of people involved or whatever).
Today in Garabandal history AUGUST 18, 1961: DEPTH OF PRAYER AT SAN SEBASTIAN DE GARABANDAL "Prayer holds an important place in Garabandal. Magnificent, varied, profound, it runs through the "events" on the whole as never in any other great Marian Apparition . . . . The girls devoted a great deal of their time to prayer. What is especially striking is the quality of their ecstatic prayer: a meditation filled with presence, moved to the extreme; a slow, poised recitation inspiring the full meaning of words as simple as "Mary," "blessed," "grace," "Jesus." " (Robert Francois Turner, 'I, Your Mother,' ch. 18). The children spontaneously recited first the Rosary, then the Litanies, the Creed, the Our Father, the Salve Regina, in short what they knew. The Blessed Virgin had taught the visionaries all these prayers and, then, had gradually helped the girls to pronounce them clearly. So, on this August 18, the first thing Our Lady undertook was to recite the rosary with them: "I'll start the prayer and you will answer, very slowly," She suggested to the children. The visionaries postures induced the crowds to be quiet and recollected. "They would fall on their knees in the tiniest fraction of a second, sometimes adopting an overwhelming attitude of petition, their faces turned to heaven" . "To sing is to pray twice over" . . . The children improvised various hymns. From their songs there emanated a strange meekness and always a beautiful harmony. The Blessed Virgin taught the girls to make correctly the various signs of the cross used in Spain. They made them with unmatched dignity. Many films testify to this. [Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, page 93.] HEAR THE GIRLS SAY THE ROSARY AS MARY IS TEACHING THEM ! (Audio only ) :32 SEC’S http://www.garabandalvideos.com/conchita_rosary.mp3
