Garabandal, Spain

1961-1965, Present, and Beyond

Over the past two thousand years since the birth of  Christianity there have been thousands of reports of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to saints and sinners, children and adults, clergy and lay people alike. But never, in any of those reports, has there ever been anything that can compare with the apparitions that happened at San Sebastian de Garabandal, Spain in the 1960's. And, given that these events have not yet come to their conclusion (awaiting the final Prophetic Events soon to come), there most likely will never be anything like them again in the future.

Because the story spans from 1961 to this very day, and beyond to that as-yet unknown point in our near future, a basic summary of the apparitions of Garabandal is very difficult. The sheer number of apparitions of Our Lady (more than two thousand), the amazing feats performed by the four visionary girls during their encounters with Mary, the testimony of  over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND eyewitnesses, and the Prophecies imparted to the visionaries (those that have infallibly have already taken place as promised, and those grand events still to come), put Garabandal into a very special category among the Marian Apparitions. It has the full support of 2 canonized Saints, PADRE PIO and SAINT MARAVILLA OF JESUS , of one Blessed, (MOTHER TERESA) and of three Venerables. It counts as its advocates 3 Popes, including our present one Benedict the XVI, as well as numerous clergy from all the hierarchies of cardinals, bishops, and priests.  It would seem that this alone should be enough for the Roman Catholic Church to declare these events as valid and worthy of belief, as it has declared Lourdes and Fatima to be.

But that is not the case.

Garabandal has a considerable number of enemies. And those enemies are precisely those in the various hierarchies of the Church that the Blessed Virgin Mary warned us about at Garabandal: many Cardinals, Bishops, and Priests who are leading the way to eternal damnation for themselves and the souls that follow them. The vast changes in the Liturgy as a result of Vatican II were foretold by Her. The crisis of corruption in the clergy from Cardinals down to priests was revealed by Her. The worldwide collapse of traditional Roman Catholicism in the face of modern-day trends that go against its teachings and yet are ever gaining more popularity with the world, were forewarned by Her. And the punishments that will come down on the world by the Hand of God for these outrages were revealed by Her in a terrifying manner.

Garabandal is the new revolution that will sweep through the Church, cleaning house of sacrilege, blasphemies, abominations, and the crimes and corruptions that have been devouring the Church from within over the past 100 years.

This does not make Satan happy. And he is doing his damndest to make sure that Garabandal gets buried to the point where it will never see the light of day again. But he forgets he is only angelic in nature, and not divine. And He Who is Divine, will ultimately have the final say.

In brief, on June 18, 1961, three twelve year old girls, Conchita, Jacinta, and Mari Loli (d. 2009) and an eleven year old girl, Mari Cruz, having just stolen some apples from a village garden at dusk, hid themselves in a sunken lane leading up from the village that connected with a bluff of nine pine trees. Having eaten the apples, their guilty consciences got the best of them, and they repented of their sin. Soon after, while they were playing marbles, an Angel appeared to them and then vanished without saying a word. Excited and frightened, they hid behind the village church until they were found by a woman of the village. Once they told their story, It did not take long for all 300 inhabitants of Garabandal to be informed of what had happened.

Over the next 2 weeks, the Angel appeared several more times. On July 1, 1961, he finally spoke, telling the girls that the Blessed Virgin Mary would begin appearing to them the next day. On July 2, Our Lady appeared as promised, and for the next year and a half she appeared to them on a daily basis, sometimes coming as many as eight times in a single day. During these appearances, which would put the girls into a state of trance known as "ecstasy", the visionaries were completely cut off from the outside world, hearing, seeing, or feeling nothing other than each other and their Visions.

During these trances, what became known as the ecstatic walks, falls, runs, and other phenomena that included levitation, regularly took place in front of thousands of eyewitnesses, and many were photographed and filmed. The Virgin also kissed countless religious articles (only those blessed by a priest, however) including crucifixes, rosaries, medals, scapulars, wedding rings, holy cards, prayer books, and other devotional items. She promised them that through the Kiss She bestowed on these objects, Her Divine Son would perform "prodigies". Many of these objects have since become instruments of healing of soul and body, and on one occasion involved in bringing a dead woman back to life.

The apparitions stopped in September, 1962 for the youngest girl, Mari Cruz, but continued for the other three until they stopped for two more girls, Loli and Jacinta, in January, 1963. The remaining visionary, Conchita Gonzalez, continued to see the apparitions until her final vision on November 13, 1965.

The Bishop of Santander, the diocese to which the village of Garabandal belonged, considered the events there to be a major headache for him. He had just taken over the position a month before they started in 1961, and something sensational like this was the last thing he needed. The Commission he established to study and report back to him about the events persuaded him to take a stance against the authenticity of the events (without having studied them according to the rules of the Church in these matters), and the Bishop did just that. So did his successors. Priests were absolutely forbidden to go to Garabandal, or encourage pilgrimages there.

In 1985, one of the members of this original commission, who was now himself Bishop of Santander, admitted the inadequacy of the commission he had been a part of, declared it null and void, and opened a new Commssion to re-investigate Garabandal. He submitted his findings to the Vatican. He also removed all the restrictions that had been placed on the clergy by his predecessors. He said that anyone who wished could come to Garabandal without special permission or fear of censure.

The matter still rests in the hands of the current Bishop of Santander. The public front of this new Bishop is that the apparitions were not supernatural. But he doesn't hold that against those pilgrims who believe in them and go there. He remains open about it, and welcomes  the visionaries when they visit him in Santander. The attitude at the Vatican, however, is more refreshing. Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II, and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger were very enthusiastic about Garabandal, and allowed its promulgation, although they admitted it was the Bishop of Santander who ultimately called the shots since the village was in his diocese. (That is, unless the Bishop decided to turn it all over to the Vatican to handle and wash his own hands of the matter.)   Cardinal Ratzinger, of course, succeeded John Paul II as Pontiff, and now as Pope Benedict XVI, retains his positive attitude toward the events.

No definitive conclusion will be given about Garabandal until the final prophecies of  THE WARNING and the GREAT MIRACLE take place. In the meantime, in fulfillment of a prophecy made by Our Lady at Garabandal in winter of 1962, numerous FALSE APPARITIONS are taking place all over the world today, because God is allowing Satan his chance to distract us from Garabandal, so that the Messages of Our Lady given there will not be fulfilled (because they will be the Devil's ruination). These false apparitions and revelations will collapse when the Warning and the Miracle take place.

With bated breath, we suspensefully await these awesome, concluding events.

A more indepth account of the Garabandal events, along with photos, audio, and movie clips from the apparitions, can be seen at the following website: www.ourladyofgarabandal.org.