1-2f) At Last the Angel Speaks

Reprinted with kind permission from St. Joseph Publications

from the book She Went in Haste to the Mountain (Book 1)

NOTE: All excerpts from Conchita's Diary will be in extra-bold type

As if it was necessary for everyone to recuperate from all the frenzy and excitement of the previous days, on Monday (June 26th) and Tuesday (June 27th) there was no apparition. And what was worse, the girls began to fear that everything had ended.

Nevertheless the entire reason for the Angel's coming was to communicate what was contained in the writing seen on the last few days; but the girls had not given this the least attention. The letdown and the bitter reacton of disgust, which manifested itself in threatening words from the large crowd that had gone up on those two days with desires of seeing something, contributed to augmenting the unfortunate girls' dejection. No more than prayers had taken place in the calleja. And the crowd had not come precisely to pray. They went home saying, It's obvious! Since there are many of us and the people in Garabandal are not used to this, they didn't dare to do these things in front of us! PHOTO: Typical village setting.

The four girls continued doing their work as usual, going to school, and visiting the Blessed Sacrament; but they could not hide the suffering that they carried within.

Their suffering must have been plainly evident, since the good people of the village felt it necessary to console them. Wednesday, June 28th was an ordinary school day.

When we got out, the people in the village, seeing us so sad, wept and kissed us, saying:

Pray very much so that he will return!

When evening came, we went to the calleja and did as usual.

The people prayed the rosary with more faith than ever so that he would appear to us.

And on finishing the litany, he appeared to us and came smiling more than ever.

The girls pleaded with many questions, asking above all for him to tell them why he had come. They obtained only smiles. [Many people find the procedure in apparitions strange. The ways of God are not easily understood. Ber-nadette Soubirous, the visionary at Lourdes, (the Garabandal children knew nothing of Lourdes) said to P. Gondrand in a letter in 1861, "She didn't say a word until the third time she appeared to me." And at Lourdes there were many fewer apparitions than at Garabandal.] That is, they received no clarification; but such happiness that the duration of the ecstasy which was an hour, from 9:00 to 10:00 at night, seemed to them a minute or less: So happy were we with him.

The Angel did not make his visit to the girls on Thursday the 29th or on Friday, the 30th.[Perhaps it was during the apparition on this day, the last Friday of the month of the Sacred Heart, that Jacinta saw Our Lord "Standing on what appeared to be a little white cloud, showing a bright red heart on the left side of His chest, from which white and gold rays irradiated.» He did not speak to the girl. But with a gesture of His left hand, He presented her His heart, while motioning with His right hand for her to come near. Jacinta obeyed, and was overwhelmed by the beauty and splendor of his garments, and even more by His person ... His brilliance was much superior to that which she had seen in the Angel, and even superior to that which she would later see in the Virgin.

Jacinta's vision took place in the Calleja, while her three companions, kneeling at her side, were looking at St. Michael. The vision lasted only (or so it seemed to her) a few moments, but it left an indelible impression on her, although she kept completely silent about it for many years.

In the vision, two things especially impressed her: Jesus' look, and His majestic bearing.

His glance penetrated to the deeps of her soul. She could not bear it for a long time! Nevertheless, the Lord's look « was full of immense love.»

As for His supremely majestic bearing, it should not be forgotten that Jesus is The Lord, before Whom every knee should bend of those in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth. (Phil. 2: 9-10)]

Faustino Gonzalez was a cattle raiser and shepherd who lived in the old town of Obeso in the district of Rio Nansa on top of a hill where the ancient tower of the former lords of the area can be seen. However he went many times to the mountains of Garabandal, for he had a cabin there surrounded by pastures for cattle grazing.

The things that were happening in the village at the time were naturally the subject of conversation between Faustino and the other men who lived in the neighboring barns. On the 29th of June, the last Thursday of the month and a feastday (Sts. Peter and Paul), they decided to go see what was happening. They were a group of ten or eleven, and by their crude dress and manner of traveling they appeared to be coming more to ridicule than to seek devotion. It could hardly have come into their minds that heaven would concern itself with insignificant creatures like the children of Aniceta, Ceferino, Simon and Escolástico.

In the village the people gathered at the Calleja at the usual hour, as the sun set beyond the horizon. Our herdsmen did not neglect to take an early place in the first row; thus they could observe what was going on at their leisure.

That day an old woman from the village started to lead the rosary. The girls took their normal place within the Cuadro. And for a while the prayer continued without anything happening; it seemed that the Angel was in no hurry. Our men, who had not come there strictly to pray, lacking better entertainment, amused themselves by watching the old woman who was leading the prayer. Her face showed such compunction, such devotion, such an appearance that it made them howl with laughter. But their laugh froze abruptly; for suddenly with a quick seizure and a sharp thrust of their heads upwards, the four girls left their normal state.

«To see. that transformation, while watching their faces.»—later confessed Faustino Gonzalez to Dr. Ortiz of Santander—«we experienced such emotion that tears poured out from us, even though we were hard as stone.»

The return to the barns in the warm air of the night was made in a much different manner than the going. When they gathered together again in the cabin, they could talk about nothing else except what they had seen and heard. Sleep did not come; and then one of them suggested that they stop talking and pray the rosary, even though it would be no more than a reparation for the offense to God and the Virgin caused by their foolishness in mocking what was going on.

They all accepted the idea well — for one time their inveterate human respect did not matter — and in the solitude of the mountain night, with the light accompaniment of mooing from cows, the stable heard for the first time or as never before, a rosary from men who had felt near at hand the unexplainable presence of God.

That night must have left its mark on the herdsmen since a month and a half later when Celestino Ortiz made his first trip up to Garabandal, he was «pleasantly surprised by the attitude with which those rustic men prayed the rosary in the streets, as they accompanied the girls with their heads respectfully uncovered.» He spoke about this with one of them, and received this response:

«Those of us who graze cattle in the mountains come down to the village on Saturdays to pray the rosary with the girls. We take care of the cattle earlier than on other days so that rosaries like these won't be missed. They are worth a thousand of those we've said before in the church.

—Isn 't that a little exaggerated?

—No, doctor. No. In the church we are distracted many times; but here we pray and go on thinking.»

The month of July came. Its first day fell on a Saturday.

That day many people came; since it was the Virgin's day.
Perhaps she would appear to us.

In the Cuadro at the usual hour, the girls were counting out the Ave Marias on their rosaries, accompanied by the waiting multitude. And finally the Angel came. But this time he did not limit himself to smiling. This time, finally, HE SPOKE! And his most important words were these:

I come to announce to you a visit by the Virgin under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who will appear to you tomorrow, Sunday.

Outside of themselves with joy, the four girls cried out together:
Let her come right away!

Finally, the reason for so many repeated visits by the mysterious celestial personage appeared clear: He had come to prepare the way.

And it could well be supposed that what he was preparing, what was about to come, was extremely important, since the introduction had been so long and intensive.

The girls, overjoyed with the great anouncement that they had just received, conversed happily with that person whom they had seen so many times but to whom they had never yet spoken.

There was so much that they had to ask and say. And the Angel was in a mood to speak without restriction too. Conchita wrote later, That day he spoke to us about many things. The main part of these things will remain forever secret, since they were only of interest to those who were involved in that conversation. The Angel had come undoubtedly for all, or at least for many; but before all for those four young girls over whom surely the Lord held, special plans of love and mercy.

The visionaries recalled with the apparition the various happenings and the most striking things that had occurred during the previous meetings; for example, the fear that Loli, Jacinta, and Mari Cruz had felt on the first day when they saw Conchita swept up like a victim of an attack. While recounting this, now that everything had become clear, the girls laughed boisterously with the Angel. After so many meetings and so many hours shared together, a pleasant familiarity existed among the five.

The most important question was related to the mysterious writing that the Angel had brought on the last days. He answered:
The Virgin will tell you about it.

As in so many other things, it was necessary to wait. God brings everything with order; He has a rhythm which rarely coincides with ours, and which therefore so many times upsets us.

    The Saturday interview on July 1st, the final interview of that first stage, lasted two hours; but it must have been stupendous to the girls—as Conchita stated—it seemed like two seconds. The parting was:
   —I will come tomorrow with the Virgin.
   That made us sad.

Returning to normal, the visionaries were extremely surprised on seeing night around them, since they had come from a world flooded with brightness.

The people who had heard the long conversations in ecstasy crowded on top of them, asking them what had happened and what had been said to them. And the girls explained what they could, as well as they could. Their poor village vocabulary and undeveloped expression were not suited to speak of things about which even the most highly educated minds would find great difficulty in discussing.

With this in mind, we can better understand how to interpret the description that they repeatedly gave of the Angel:

He was dressed in a long flowing blue tunic without a belt.
His wings are rather long, very lovely, pink in color.

His face was neither long or round; his nose was handsome; his eyes dark; and the face tan.

His hands were fine with short nails; his feet weren't seen.

This description does not clash with the traditional represention of the angels in our Catholic Church; but it does not appear to say much. The most interesting thing the girls expressed about the Angel was that, in spite of his appearance as a child, they said: «He gave the impression of great strength.» Yes, the Angels of the Lord, although they can adopt a child-like appearance to show the complete innocence of their being, are creatures of a higher nature, full of strength and light, close to the All High, and powerful executors of His commands.[Years later, how did the visionaries recall the Angel's series of apparitions at Garabandal? I was able to interview Jacinta in October, 1975. Here are some of the questions and answers:

—What impression did the Angel make on you? Did he seem simply a handsome child, or someone important and strong with a great mission?

—/ don't know how to answer that question. He always appeared like a child, although we felt great respect in front of him.

(This means, according to what I understood by her explanations, that inspite of seeing him as someone of youthful age and small stature, she had the impression of being in the presence of someone very important, much higher than the girls.)

—How could you have enjoyed so many hours with him if he didn't speak to you?

(According to Conchita the Angel did not talk until the afternoon of July 1st.)

—We were only with him a short time. It passed swiftly.

—That was your impression. But the witnesses stated that your ecstasies at that time sometimes lasted very long.

—It could be that way. I only remember that we passed them very well; the time seemed very short to us, seeing him . . , We were the ones who spoke. Sometimes we told him things, and other times we asked him questions. Then he answered us with signs and gestures. For example, if we would say, "Do you want us to pray more," he would incline his head as if to say "Yes. "It was the same when we asked, "What do you want from us ... that we should be better?"]

What orders did the Angel come to accomplish among men in the Calleja at Garabandal?