The Warning & The Great Miracle, Two Supernatural Events
And I will work wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below; blood, fire, and a cloud of smoke. Acts 2:19
For those familiar with Signs and Wonders Magazine, and my writings, I have had a particular interest in the apparition of the Blessed Mother at Garabandal, Spain for a long time. Garabandal has a uniqueness all its own, about which I have written extensively. My wife and I released a book in 1993 called The Thunder of Justice. The messages of Garabandal were the heart and the soul of the book. Garabandal is a fascinating story historically, prophetically, scripturally, and mystically. It lays the tiles together for a beautiful mosaic of Heaven’s language. Garabandal points to future events based upon previous events that are complimentary to other issues in the Catholic faith, as well events that are in the Old Testament. If one understands that the Blessed Mother, and the Host of Heaven, has a plan for the salvation of all mankind, then Garabandal makes even more sense.
Garabandal, Spain
My wife Maureen and I first visited Garabandal, in 1994, and again in 2017 on pilgrimage. It was an eye-opening experience on the second visit because we had learned so much more in that interval of time. What was most noticeable in 2017 was how little had changed from our first trip. More accurately, we were all stunned by it. The Church had been modestly updated or expanded, and was still tiny. Only a few dozen more homes were built, and for pilgrims, there were only two public bathrooms. Two! It was eerie in its simplicity and remoteness from the noise of the world.
In contrast, the breadth and width of the events of Garabandal are breathtaking and defy natural law. I have researched and written extensively on the messages of Garabandal because they point to the future of the world. At the time of this writing, there are five Cardinals and many bishops that are openly saying they see signs of the “end times” in our midst. If one were to look at the world, mankind has run out of answers. It is not a question of looking at the glass half full, it is seeing that mankind is on the precipice of destruction on a global basis. A spark from just about anywhere could ignite a world-wide maelstrom that could generate a tornado of destruction. It would be uncontrollable wars if it were not for the grace of Heaven to stop the carnage. The Blessed Mother told Sister Lucy of Fatima, “Wars are a punishment for the sins of mankind.” The anxiety and commotion of our times are like birthing a New Era. The old is passing away, and New Times await us. Satan knows his time is short, thus the evil in our day.
Likewise, when one sees in the modern era what the Blessed Mother and the Host of Heaven are looking to accomplish at authentic and time tested apparition sites, there is a more of a complete understanding what is happening in the world. The messages of Garabandal address these issues. They show what Heaven is doing to bring us to a New Era of Peace, a New Jerusalem – New Times.
In this article, I will give a short synopsis of what happened where the Blessed Mother and others from the Host of Heaven appeared over 2,000 times to the four young visionaries. Due to the poverty of space, many poignant and important aspects of the story cannot be told, nor many of the controversies.
The Visionaries, The Story of Garabandal & Saint Michael the Archangel
San Sebastian de Garabandal was a tiny village of about 300 people located in the beautiful Cantabrian Mountains of northern Spain not far from the Bay of Biscay, in the Diocese of Santander, when the Blessed Mother appeared in 1961. At the time of the apparition there wasn’t a motor with a moving part in the entire village. The townspeople were simple and very devout. About one-quarter mile to the north on a high ridge, nine pine trees tower over the village, marking the spot where Our Lady frequently appeared, and the spot where a Great Miracle is prophesized to happen in the future, called “The Pines.”
The story of Garabandal began on the evening of June 18, 1961, when the Archangel Michael appeared to four young girls. The visionaries were: Conchita Gonzalez (age twelve), Jacinta Gonzalez (age twelve), Mari Cruz Gonzalez (age eleven), none of whom are closely related, and Mari-Loli Mazon (age twelve). He made eight silent appearances during the following twelve days. On July 1, St. Michael finally spoke to announce that on the following day the Blessed Virgin Mary would appear to them as Our Lady of Mount Carmel. On July 2, Feast of the Ark of the Covenant at that time, Our Lady first appeared to the children. It is as if she is saying, “I am going into battle.”
The apparitions were preceded by three interior calls, which the girls described as joys, each one becoming stronger. After the third call, the girls would come running from different parts of the village and would arrive at the same time in the place designated by Our Lady, and they would fall to their knees in ecstasy.
They described Our Lady as a beautiful young woman about eighteen years of age. She wore a white dress with a blue mantle and a brown scapular on her right arm. On her head she wore a crown of twelve stars as she appears in Revelation 12. Her hair was deep brown and parted in the center. Her face was oval with a fine nose. The girls said, “No other woman looks like her or sounds like her.”
Mysterious Phenomena
During the apparitions, many mystical phenomena were witnessed. The girls were able to detect and recognize priests who came to the village dressed in civilian clothes, trying to conceal their identities. Many times during the ecstatic walks, the visionaries would offer these priests their crucifix to be kissed. During one of Conchita’s ecstasies in 1962, two priests were kneeling down in reverence. They were gently encouraged by Conchita to stand up, in order to emphasize the deep respect that Our Lady has for priests. She taught the children to greet the priest before greeting an angel, because a priest is more important, since only a priest can consecrate bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
On occasions they were subjected by investigators to burns, spotlights in their eyes, and pin pricks without showing any physical response to pain. Reports indicate that four adult men had difficulty lifting one twelve-year-old girl, yet the girls could lift each other easily to kiss Our Lady goodbye. The apparitions were accompanied by other phenomena that seemed to defy natural law, such as ecstatic falls and running fast forward and backward over very rocky terrain. For detractors of this phenomena they may want to read the story of Balaam’s donkey speaking for being treated harshly (Numbers 22:21-39). Thus the phrase, “out of the mouth of an ass.” It is not every day a donkey speaks. Stories in the Bible don’t always follow logical or even natural law either.
Many religious objects were kissed by Our Lady. The visionaries, while in ecstasy, would return the objects to their rightful owners even though their owners were unknown to them. The seers claimed that Our Lady guided them to the right person. Our Lady promised: “Through the kiss I have bestowed on these objects, my Son will perform miracles, wonders, and prodigies before and after the Great Miracle.” The fulfillment of this promise has been realized by the many conversions and cures of terminally ill and addicted people around the world.
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