JANUARY 20: FEASTDAY OF ST. SEBASTIAN, THE PATRON SAINT OF GARABANDAL Officially the feast day was to honor St. Sebastian, known for the way of spreading and defending the Faith., When it was discovered that he was a Christian who had converted many soldiers, Sebastian was ordered to be killed by arrows. He is most commonly depicted in art and literature tied to a tree and shot with arrows but this did not kill him. The widow of Castulus, Irene of Rome, went to retrieve his body to bury it, and discovered he was still alive. She brought him back to her house and nursed him back to his health. Sebastian later stood by a staircase where the emperor was to pass and harangued Diocletian for his cruelties against Christians. This freedom of speech, and from a person whom he supposed to have been dead, greatly astonished the emperor; but recovering from his surprise, he gave orders for Sebastian to be seized and beaten to death with cudgels,(clubs) and his body thrown into the common sewer. A holy lady, named Lucina, admonished by the martyr in a vision, privately removed the body and buried it in the catacombs at the entrance of the cemetery of Calixtus For some time, the feast day had been moved from January 20, the actual feast day of the saint, to this date on July 18th, in order to allow better weather and opportunity for the arrival of relatives and guests. Interesting enough, on July 18, 1962 - at about 1 am, the Eucharist appears on Conchita’s tongue out of thin air, and is caught on film. ( As Mary had predicted 15 days in advance). Called “ The Little Miracle”.
Conchita's letter to Workers of Our Lady : January 20 1971 Dear Workers of the Blessed Virgin, I am aware of the many, many obstacles that you are encountering in spreading her message, the message of salvation. The purpose of these words is to encourage you in your good work, whether it be good example of your life or your spreading the message from one place to another. The work you have accomplished for the Blessed Virgin, whether you believe it or not in the apparitions has been a work in honor of, and for the glory of God to save and convert many souls. Thanks to the grace obtained through the Blessed Virgin, you have frequently been able to witness the good fruit of your work. This is a sign that God and the Blessed Virgin have blessed your good work and good desires. Never let yourselves be influenced in your work by the Ecclesiastical notes ( decrees) and prohibitions. However, you must always be submissive to the orders of the Holy Father and your superiors. Obedience and humility are effective means for bringing souls to the Blessed Virgin. Reflect on this. If something is God’s work, he will see that it triumphs in the best way, over all obstacles. It is God who does everything. Sometimes he acts through us, but he can also bypass us to perform great miracles and prodigies. What we should do is sacrifice ourselves, be faithful in prayer and in the recitation of the holy rosary, and visit the Blessed Sacrament often. Each day, withdraw from yourself and the world so that you may be alone with God. He wants to speak to you and tell you the path you should follow and what you should do. Invoke frequently the Holy Spirit and Saint Michael. In union of prayer, Conchita Gonzalez "Our Lady comes to Garabandal", Fr. Joseph A. Pelletier, pages 223-224
CONCHITA:"LIVE THE MESSAGES !" “To guess at dates regarding the [prophesied] Miracle shows a lack of faith in the Blessed Virgin. Indeed, the energies expended on this are so much better spent on living the Message! “ "There is no point in our believing in the apparitions if we do not comply with the message." “Needles” magazine Winter Issue 1972 issue pg. 8 Many decades ago (1990’s) when I started promoting the apparitions, while having a conversation with Conchita, she asked me " Do you do the rosary every day? " I said " well, ...not every day, I'm busy, I have several jobs". She said " Don't promote the messages, unless you are going to live the messages". Wow, that kind of knocked me off my feet, but she's right ! It is amazing that when you make the time to do those things, it seems like there is plenty of time to do them. God is funny that way.
Glenn, I love the last line you share above in recounting the antidote about living the messages: "It is amazing that when you make the time to do those things, it seems like there is plenty of time to do them." And it was brought to light by a simple question from Conchita: Do you do the rosary every day? A simple question. I shouldn't have to beat people over the head to make a point or encourage them in the Faith. A simple question or suggestion may do.
And that lead me to being a Daily Communicant, and doing The Morning Offering Prayer she gave me also.
“ LIVE THE MESSAGE “ THE ROSARY If people wonder why God chose this place for the apparitions, here’s an interesting fact. I have posted the story that God and our Blessed Mother consider Garabandal “Sacred Ground”. It is a confirmed fact that the Rosary has been said there on a nightly basis for hundreds of years ! When Mary first appeared at Garabandal, the first thing she taught the girls, was the Rosary. She actually took the time to teach them all the words and especially to emphasize saying it slowly. She taught the children to recite the rosary each time they saw her and that they actually did recite it during every apparition . (Conchita’s diary, page 89) : "The rosary is a very important part of the Blessed Virgin's message”. Mary also emphasized the importance of the daily rosary not only for our personal needs each day, but also she reminded the girls of the importance to pray for the dead, and especially her priests. I always thought it was interesting that of all the people in the world who supported and believed in Garabandal , the most influential was St. Padre Pio. He was known to have a great affection for our Blessed Mother, and coincidently, the rosary. He would say dozens of rosaries a day ! Is it no wonder that Padre Pio left Conchita his personal rosary when he passed away.
“ LIVE THE MESSAGE “ : THE EUCHARIST Today I want to focus on one of the most important messages of the apparitions, The Eucharist . Our Lady's 1st Message of Garabandal :October 18, 1961-- We must make many sacrifices, perform much penance, and visit the Blessed Sacrament frequently. 2nd message: June 18, 1965-- Less and less importance is being given to the Eucharist. July 18, 1962 – “THE LITTLE MIRACLE”. the host appears on Conchita’s tongue out of thin air, and is caught on film, and camera, and countless eyewitnesses standing next to Conchita, swear there was nothing on her tongue before it appeared. "I asked the girls why they went to the church so often, since it was closed (they were not allowed to enter it in ecstasy), and they answered candidly: BECAUSE THE VIRGIN LIKES TO GO NEAR THE PLACE WHERE HER SON JESUS IS.'" - Luis Navas, eyewitness Then in Our Lady's last appearance at Garabandal on November 13, 1965, she again made reference to the Blessed Sacrament just as she did in her first Message. This time she said to Conchita: "You should visit my Son in the tabernacle more often. Why do you let yourself be carried away by slothfulness so as not to visit Him? He waits for you day and night." Conchita has said: “The Blessed Virgin told us that it is a greater grace to receive Jesus in Holy Communion than to see her.”
(Posting for Sunday because of the snow storm ). MASS FOR PRAYER REQUESTS IN GARABANDAL Every last Thursday of the month, the Pastor of Garabandal Church (Fr. Rolando) offers a Mass for prayer requests. You have a few days to send your request by Wednesday, so it arrives on time.(Keep in mind your time zone difference). Requests sent using the form from this link are received in the email address of the Parish. They are printed and delivered every Thursday the Pastor, to be deposited in a “ Petitions box” at the foot of the altar , through the intercession of Our Lady of Carmel, before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the Chapel of San Sebastian de Garabandal. PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE THE PRAYER REQUESTS HERE ON THIS PAGE. THEY WILL BE DELETED. http://www.garabandalparroquia.com/en-union-de-oraciones
Thank you Padraig, for sharing. I was touched by the words thi young man used to describe his experience upon describing the village, which seems like time has stood still since the apparitions.
It is a very positive Sign of the apparitions I hope to make the five hour road trip to there in the summer
UNTANGLED ROSARIES Another interesting miraculous phenomenon was the returning of rosaries. Now that people started to believe the Blessed Mother was actually appearing at Garabandal, they came in the hundreds, and thousands,they would bring their rosaries and medals to be kissed by her. They were all piled on a table for the girls to offer up to her. Entangled when presented by the girls to be venerated by the Blessed Mother, rosaries, medals, and multitude of objects would incredibly untangle smoothly when being returned to their owners. Even without any pre-established order. The Garabandal visionaries also never errored in returning each object to its proper owner, and never actually had to look for the owner, Mary led them to the owner while gazing upward at her. This story is mentioned in these books “ Garabandal”, by J. Serre, pages 50-54 “She went in haste to the Mountain” Book 1, pages 76-80
JANUARY 27,1962, Eugene Beitia is appointed Bishop of Santandar. Concerning the theological content of these messages, His Excellency Bishop Eugenio Beitia of Santander through the official nota of July 8,1965 declared: “We point out, however, that we have not found anything deserving of ecclesiastical censorship or condemnation either in the doctrine or in the spiritual recommendations that have been publicized as having been addressed to the faithful, for these contain an exhortation to prayer and sacrifice, to Eucharistic devotion, to veneration of Our Lady in traditional praiseworthy ways, and to holy fear of God offended by our sins. They simply repeat the common doctrine of the Church in these matters.”
Why the Garabandal Children were chosen ? This humble, remote part of the world, has not been tarnished by the greed and selfishness of this world, and its villagers still reflect that, as the girls did in 1961. The words of the sixth Beatitude “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God”. I have also confirmed that Garabandal has a history of doing a nightly Rosary for HUNDREDS OF YEARS ! It’s no wonder why Mary favored a place with such devotion to the rosary, and she said : “God loves this place very much, this place is sacred !” The Bible ((Mathew 11:25) “At that time Jesus answered and said: I praise You, Oh Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and have revealed then to little ones.” Even after providing countless examples of Mary performing daily miracles at Garabandal, do I still get adult resistance and disbelief. Notice how these girls never sought out fame and fortune, but lead mostly quiet, humble spiritual lives, a great example for us all.
GIFTS FROM SAINT PADRE PIO TO CONCHITA When Conchita found out Padre Pio died On Sept. 23, 1968, Conchita met Padre Pio’s close friend, Father Bernardino Cennamo, later at Lourdes. It was Padre Pio’s wish to leave Conchita several personal items of his to her, after his death. He left her his rosary, one of the 3 Veils that covered his face at his wake, and one of his blood stained gloves. This act of friendship speaks volumes to me about how close they were, and how much he believed Conchita and the Garabandal apparitions. When Conchita had returned home she decided to write about the incident to a friend in Madrid. This is from Conchita’s interview in NEEDLES magazine in 1975: "I had the cloth in front of me while I wrote the letter when all of a sudden the room was filled with a fragrance. I had heard about the fragrances from Padre Pio, but I never paid any attention to them. The whole room filled with such a strong smell of perfume that I began to cry. It was the first time I experienced this, it happened after his death." What does it say about Garabandal and Conchita that of all the people in the world, Padre Pio thought to gift his personal items to her ! (Below, the actual Glove )
The Blessed Mother speaks of Abortion at Garabandal "Before, the cup was filling up. Now it is flowing over." Among the fulfilled prophecies of Garabandal was one that only came to light with the publication of a German book [Garabandal — Der Zeigefinger Gottes.] on Garabandal in 1992. The author, Albrecht Weber, was in Garabandal on the day after Conchita's last apparition at Garabandal on November 13,1965, and had a long conversation with the visionary. The following excerpt from his book deals with some of what the visionary told him: She [Conchita] spoke quite openly about the developments by which men in the near future would rebel against God. On the day after Our Lady's last appearance at Garabandal, Conchita asked the author, "Can you imagine how somebody could kill children in the womb without thereby killing the mother?" The author spontaneously answered, "No! What gave you that idea, Conchita?" "Well, the Blessed Mother spoke about this and she let me know that this will happen with the overflowing of the chalice." [In her second Message of June 18,1965, the Virgin said, "Before, the cup was filling up. Now it is flowing over."] Conchita said this tremblingly without being able to visualize what it really implied. She said further that it disturbed her very much but that she felt ridiculous because she hadn't understood at all how this killing could be effected. The Blessed Virgin had not explained it to her and up until that moment, nobody had been able to make her understand it at all. Conchita would learn soon enough when abortion became legalized, even in her native country. The Blessed Virgin had spoken about this unfortunate practice to the visionary, in terms that had left her stunned. Indeed, at the time, Conchita did not understand "how it was possible to kill a child in his (or hers) mother's womb without killing the mother at the same time . . .!" Excerpted from 'Garabandal' Book, by J. Serre. page 203
Padre Pio's visit to Garabandal in bilocation! Conchita had written to Padre Pio requesting his advice on various subjects that concerned her, and before the letter had time to reach San Giovanni Rotondo, a group of Padre Pio's spiritual children composed of five Italians, one Frenchman, one Canadian, one Filipino and a Belgian priest, visit her in Garabandal, announcing to her the visit of Padre Pio to respond directly to her questions. Then, on October 10, 1967, through a phenomenon of bilocation (the capacity of one person to be present in two places at the same time), Padre Pio's visit to Conchita took place at her house, where he was about an hour . She can see his figure, unmistakable habit, hear his voice, kiss his hands and notice the penetrating and characteristic perfume that comes out of his wounds. During his visit, he said among other things that he had been in Garabandal four times and, as proof of the authenticity of his presence, he writes in a letter in Aramaic the phrase "in union of prayers" and signed P Pio. Note: It must be reported that Padre Pio never left during his entire religious life, from the Convent in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. His visit to Garabandal only happened by the process of bilocation that only happen to some saints. 10-10-67 Retrieved from the book "Garabandal 67, spiritual chronicle of a year"
