...A VISIT FROM AN ANGEL

San Sebastian de Garabandal is a small hamlet of some 80 humble dwellings located in the Cantabrian Mountains of northwest Spain. On June 18, 1961, four girls (l.to r.), Mari Loli Mazon (12), Jacinta Gonzalez (12), Mari Cruz Gonzalez (11), and Conchita Gonzalez (12) were playing on the outskirts of the village when they heard a sound like thunder. Suddenly, there stood before them a dazzling angel. He said nothing and quickly disappeared. Pale and visibly shaken, the girls ran to the village church and the apparition soon became known. Over the next twelve days the angel appeared to them several more times and then on July 1, he spoke for the first time announcing that on the following day the Blessed Virgin would appear to them as Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

...OUR LADY APPEARS TO THE CHILDREN

News spread quickly. On July 2, many priests were among the numerous visitors who joined the villagers to witness the great event. At about 6:00 o'clock p.m., the children were headed for the spot where they had been seeing the angel when the Blessed Virgin appeared with an angel on each side. They recognized one of the angels as the one who had been appearing to them (later identified as St. Michael the Archangel) and the other looked identical. Above the Virgin was a large eye that the children thought to be the eye of God. They spoke openly and familiarly with their Heavenly Mother and said the rosary in her presence. Over the next year and a half she would appear hundreds of times frequently appearing several times in a single day.

...INTERIOR CALLS PRECEDE ECSTATIC RAPTURES

The girls' visions were preceded by three interior calls (llamadas) each becoming stronger than the last. After the third call they would run (A) to the sunken lane where the visions first began and crashing to their knees on the jagged rocks, enter into a heavenly rapture. Their heads were thrown back, the pupils of their eyes dilated and their faces imbued with an angelic countenance. They were insensitive to pin pricks, burns, physical contact or bright spotlights shone directly into their eyes. (B) Their weight factor changed so much that two grown men had great difficulty in lifting one 12-year-old girl and yet they could lift each other with the greatest of ease to offer a kiss to the Virgin (C).

...ECSTATIC WALKS AND FALLS DEFY NATURAL LAWS

As the apparitions continued, new phenomena began to occur. With their heads thrown back and unable to see where they were going, the girls in ecstasy would march arm in arm (A), without the slightest difficulty, either frontward or backwards over very hazardous terrain and sometimes at a pace so rapid that onlookers running at full speed were unable to keep up with them. During these ecstatic "flights" they were able to stop instantly defying the laws of physics as the following crowd, like a speeding car trying to come to a screeching halt, would go right past them. Afterwards, the visionaries were neither out of breath nor perspiring and their pulse rates were normal.

The girls also began to make spectacular falls in ecstasy either collectively or individually. Sometimes they would fall straight backwards, stiff as a board, without bending any part of the body or using the hands to cushion the fall. The loud thud made when they hit the ground frightened onlookers but the visionaries were never hurt. From this prone position, they would rise without pushing themselves up in any way (B). In collective falls they were described by witnesses as "beautiful sculptures" and their clothing was never immodestly ruffled or indecorous.

...A JESUIT PRIEST ALSO SEES OUR LADY AND PREVIEW OF GREAT MIRACLE

One of the many priests to witness the events of Garabandal was Fr. Luis Maria Andreu, a young Jesuit theology professor from Ona, Spain. On the night of August 8, 1961, while observing the visionaries in ecstasy, Fr. Luis cried out four times, "Miracle!" On the drive home with friends later that night and into the next morning he exclaimed, "What a wonderful present the Virgin has given me! How lucky to have a mother like that in heaven....Today is the happiest day of my life!" Shortly after pronouncing these words he lowered his head and passed from this life to the next. In a subsequent vision, the Virgin told the seers that Fr. Luis had seen her and a preview of the great Miracle and that he died of joy.

...OUR LADY KISSES RELIGIOUS OBJECTS

When witnesses heard that Our lady wanted to kiss religious objects, many rosaries, medals, crucifixes and wedding rings were given to the seers to present to the Virgin (A). Often, the objects were given to the visionaries in such a way that they couldn't possibly know to whom each belonged, the articles having either been placed on a table set aside for this purpose when the seers were not present or being handed to them by persons other than the rightful owners. Yet, in ecstasy, guided by Our Lady, they never made a mistake in returning wedding rings (B) and other articles to the right person. On the Virgin's last visit to Garabandal she told Conchita, "Through the kiss I have bestowed on these objects my Son will perform prodigies..." This promise has been fulfilled in numerous reported cures from around the world.

...MIRACLE OF THE VISIBLE COMMUNION

To confirm the supernatural character of the events, St. Michael told Conchita that on a certain date, the invisible Communion he had been giving her would become visible on their tongue. so, in the early morning hours of July 19, 1962, she left her house in ecstasy, turned a corner, and fell to her knees in an adjacent street. As the crowd pressed around her, she put out her tongue and those just inches away affirmed that it was bare and the mouth empty. Then, faster than the eye could see, a brilliant white Host appeared on her tongue. An amateur with a movie camera a few feet away and only flashlight illumination was able to film the last few moments of the miracle.

...EVENTS HAVE NO NATURAL EXPLANATION

The visionaries in ecstasy were carefully studied by eminent doctors and psychiatrists. One child specialist certified that the girls were always completely normal and that the ecstasies did not fall under any known physiological phenomena. Dr. Ricardo Puncernau, leading Spanish neuropsychiatrist stated, "From a strictly scientific point of view, one cannot deny the possibility of a supernatural cause in all these phenomena." Dr. Garcia Ruiz and Dr. Ortiz Gonzalez (arrow) said, "To keep silent would be true scientific cowardice...we do not find any convincing explanation for such phenomena."

...THE BLIND APOSTLE AND THE SPREAD OF THE MESSAGE AROUND THE WORLD

At the age of 16, Brooklyn born Joseph Lomangino was blinded and had his olifactory nerve severed in a freak accident. He journeyed through life sightless and without a sense of smell until 1963 when his faculty for smelling was miraculously restored through the intercession of Padre Pio at San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. While there, Joey asked the famed stigmatist if Our Lady was truly appearing in Spain. When the Padre said yes, Joey went to Garabandal, was deeply impressed and decided to do what he could to tell others about it. He began with local talks in his hometown of Lindenhurst, New York. Other people came to help him. The local talks became lectures and spread to other parts of the country and overseas. An organization was established which would fulfill Our Lady's 1964 prophecy to Conchita: "The house of charity that he (Joey) will establish in New York will bring great glory to God." Garabandal promoters in other countries aligned themselves with Joey and the New York headquarters. Now the Message of Garabandal is being spread in a great number of countries on five continents.

...THE VISIONARIES TODAY

Three of the four visionaries have married Americans and live in the United States. They lead exemplary Christian lives totally dedicated to their vocations as wives and mothers. Conchita has four children, Mari Loli three and Jacinto one. Mari Cruz is also married, living in Spain and has four children.

THE WORKERS OF OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL

The volunteers of this group provide films, slides, books, leaflets, etc. on the apparitions of Garabandal.

P.O. Box 606
Lindenhurst, New York 11757
(516)226-4408