1-5f) Contents of the Ecstasies

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

«We have large fragments of dialogue from the girls in ecstasy. In general the speech is simple and to the point, with childlike expressions, and gives the appearance of dealing with the happenings of the day or the previous days. Similar to what happened at Lourdes with Bernadette Soubirous, some of those that heard the conversations took them lightly; that is to say, they considered them trivial.

The extremely simple and transparent souls of the girls could be seen by their conversations. They made exclamations like these: How nice it must be in heaven! Take me even if it would be to bring me down another time. They were heard alluding to sacrifices, to the sins that they had committed, to persons there who didn't believe . . . From which it came that they asked frequently for cures and miracles in order that the people might believe. But the normal topics in their conversations were simple things that corresponded mostly to their everyday life.

The girls said that the Virgin requested that a chapel to St. Michael be built on a site at the Pines. I myself heard this said in their state of trance and also in their normal conversation.

On other occasions the girls in ecstasy composed verses. Generally these corresponded to what are called ballads in poetic literature. They accompanied these with music, that is, they recited them while singing.

As the ecstasies continued into September, 1961, verses formed part of the nightly rounds that the girls in ecstasy made to the other girls sleeping in their homes since they had not been called by the Virgin. Some corresponded to well-known songs like Noche de Paz; others were spontaneous and only had a meaning in the circumstances in which they were recited. I remember only three of these ballads, although there were more that they sang; but they could not be written down at the time that they were recited, and besides they were not always heard clearly.

The night on which the feast of the Assumption began (August 14-15), the youngest of the girls, Mari Cruz, was sleeping in her home. The other three together sang to her, without previous rehearsal, some stanzas that began this way:

On another night Loli was by herself singing to the other three who were in their homes since they were not having a vision. I could only hear what was said to Conchita:

Isn't this exceptionally charming? What nights, the nights at Garabandal in those days! The peace, the grace, and the favors of God rained down — by the intercession of the Virgin Mary, through the four girls — onto all those who were either still up or had gone to sleep in the humble village, so close to the clouds, so far from the baseness and vileness of the big cities. Paris, la. nuit! Madrid, con sus noches! There so much dissipation and empty frivolity. On the contrary, what nights were those in Garabandal on that summer of 1961. It is not surprising that those who lived there and the pilgrims from afar frequently called that town a little piece of paradise, and some did not hesitate to declare, There I experienced the most unforgettable moments of my life.

We have already mentioned the part that the little stones, the medals, the rosaries, the crucifixes, and the marriage rings played in the ecstasies at Garabandal. And there is more to be said on this subject. Let us listen again to Father Ramón:

«THE KISSES — During the visions it was seen that the girls kissed something . . . Their gestures were evident, and they said later that they had kissed the Virgin, the Infant, St. Michael. And they were kissed in return. The motions of kissing, being kissed, receiving the Child, and taking the crown came across perfectly clear, and all could recognize them.

In the numerous trances that I witnessed, I never saw in a simultaneous action the girls kissing together but always one after the other. I only saw the simultaneous action when it was clear that the kiss was not given directly, but instead given from afar — what is called throwing a kiss . . . Frequently on terminating a vision, the girl or girls having it would receive a kiss on the cheek — or two kisses, one on each cheek — and they would give only one in return.

THE MIRACLES - After Father Valentin told the girls to ask the Virgin for a miracle in order to be able to demonstrate a sign and be able to believe, they requested this many times. In the beginning, the Virgin smiled. [This request for an actual miracle, to serve as a sign for everyone, began very early, undoubtedly because the people were continually asking for it. On July 15th, a Saturday, Fr. Valentin wrote down:

«They were there at a quarter before nine; they were some seven minutes in this state as usual and they were talking in a low voice. I got up close and I heard the following: Perform a miracle for us! Let the night be changed to day. (Mari Cruz said this.)

And Conchita said: Yes, perform a miracle for us even though it's only a little one.

And the following day, a Sunday and the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, they said, We saw the angel smiling. When we asked him to give us a sign, he became serious. »] Afterwards, it appears that she became serious . . . When the girls told her that many did not believe, that no one believed, she answered on several occasions, They will believe.

Actually the girls stated that they had heard from the Virgin that there would definitely be a miracle, [This miracle to come is part of the immense mystery of Garabandal. Later on we will give more details about the Great Miracle.] although they did not know when, or in what it consisted.

PRAYER — In the events of Garabandal, prayer has always been the most important thing. Very seldom would there be a vision in which the girls did not recite the rosary or pray a Station to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The recitation of the rosary is frequently accompanied by song, at least during one decade. The girls are not seen counting the Hail Marys; nevertheless they never make a mistake in counting out the right number. They say that the Virgin advises them when it is time for the Gloria. The Virgin prays with them, it appears, the part that corresponds to the Gloria. [According to what we have already learned from Conchita's diary, in the early times when the Virgin prayed the whole rosary with the girls, including the Hail Marys, it was to instruct them to recite the rosary more perfectly. Later she only recited the Gloria.] If sometimes they make mistakes or do not do it well, the Virgin nods her head a little to call their attention, though she remains smiling.

They ordinarily use the form that they learned from my brother and me: God salute you, Mary! You are full of grace. The Lord is with you. You are blessed among all women. [The form of the Hail Mary that the girls learned from Fr. Ramon is what is heard on the tape recordings during the girls' prayers in ecstasy.]When they recite it singing, they employ another formula, the popular: The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among all women — which is what corresponds to the music. They recite the Station to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament many times with the ejaculation, Long live Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament! Also they cross themselves many times; and always do so on their arrival at the church. At times they do this in a hurry, badly, and the Vision corrects them . . . On one occasion it was learned that she corrected them as to the way of placing their fingers in the form of a cross to kiss them on ending the sign of the cross.

The Virgin's style of prayer shows much similarity with Lourdes and Fatima; but in this case, besides the devotion to the rosary, it appears that she wants to bring out the attention that we owe the Blessed Sacrament.»

And I would go on to add here that by this Garabandal comes to point out the great fall that the Church has undergone in the terrible crisis today: the setting aside of prayer, especially on the part of consecrated souls and the forgetting of the Sacramental Presence of Christ among us. [The reality of this abandonment of prayer and the lack of devotion to the Holy Eucharist is so obvious that it is not necessary to give proofs. The amazing activities at Garabandal could well be an answer from heaven to this unfortunate attitude of many chosen.]

As he continued, Father Ramón brought out another very remarkable matter that occurred in the early ecstasies at Garabandal:

«I myself have witnessed things that have given me reason to say that the girls spoke foreign languages while in their state of trance. Actually it isn't exactly that, at least not at the time I am writing these lines; [September of 1961.] the fact is that the girls have spoken words in other languages. I have heard the following . . . (He gives some words in French, in Latin, in German, and the beginning of the Hail Mary in Greek.) The most interesting thing is not that they spoke these words in ecstasy, but that they corrected themselves when they spoke them badly, so as to come to correct diction and pronunciation. They gave the impression that they were hearing the words from someone, one after the other, and that they were simply repeating them.

OUTWARD APPEARANCE of the CONVERSATION - From the second day of July, the date of the first apparition of the Virgin, the girls held their dialogues in ecstasy in the following ways or positions: on their knees, weaving back and forth, walking, and lying out on the ground. They have held these conversations singly {individual ecstasies), two together, in a group of three, or all four together. [In the writings of Father Valentin, there is a note corresponding to Sunday. July 23rd, that reads this way:

«Since yesterday the Virgin has appeared in distinct and separate places. Today she was at the Pines with Loli and Jacinta; Conchita and Mari Cruz saw her at the village fountain.»] When there are several together in an ecstasy, everything about them is simultaneous and well synchronized; they speak and ask questions at the same time, make the same exclamations of joy, and of fear . . , [In Cangas de Onís (Asturias), during the Holy Week of 1969, I heard from the venerable priest Father Alejo Mar-tino, retired pastor from Corao:

«Sometimes I went up to Garabandal too. I was present at an ecstasy of two of the girls: two angels in human flesh couldn't have had finer expressions . . . You would have to sec it! And later, how the two made the sign of the cross at the same time in absolute concordance of movements!»]and this, without there being — this is clearly seen — the slightest dependence of one upon the other. It appears unquestionable that they are corresponding to something that they are seeing and hearing at the same time. [As a further illustration, Mr. Miguel González Gay, a lawyer from Santander, gave us this episode:

«Don Tomás, an indiano from Cossio, who owns a pop ular bar in Santander, recounted that one day, while walking through the Pines in Garabandal, he came upon Mari Cruz by chance — alone — kneeling in ecstasy. He knelt down at her side, trying to hear what she was saying, Dear Virgin, why have you called me so late, since the others have already started the second mystery of the rosary?

"I didn't stay to hear more; with all my might I ran down to the village, and I asked where the other girls were. They told me that the girls were next to the church. In a few steps I was there and I could verify with tremendous amazement that at that exact moment they were finishing the second mystery. How can such a coincidence be explained, if there were not someone who at the same time was in the company of the girl alone at the Pines and the two girls in the village?"»]

The sound of their voices varies. Sometimes it is almost inaudible, and other times it is heard normally. Ordinarily their speech is very low, something unusual, like a whisper. Their way of expression is the same as they use in ordinary conversation except for rare exceptions. In cases when they hear words whose meaning they do not understand — a frequent occurrence — they ask the vision for an explanation. And the vision either gives them the explanation requested, or — as occurred in the case of the word sacrifices — tells them to question the priests later on.

Toward the end of the trance the girls are frequently heard saying, Don't go away! Oh, don't go away! Thus they express their desire to remain in that state . . .

The words of St. Theresa in this regard are applicable: "The soul dares not move or stir, for it thinks that if it does so, this blessing may slip from its grasp: at times it would like to be unable even to breathe. The poor creature doesn't realize that, haing been unable to do anything on its own to acquire that blessing, it will be still less able to keep it longer than the time that the Lord is pleased for it to possess it." (Autobiography of St. Theresa of Avila Ch. 15, Par. 1)

It is interesting also to read article 421 in the Theology of Christian Perfection by Father Royo Marin, who expounds upon the statement that No one can go into contemplation [This refers to supernatural contemplation, a higher form of prayer that is studied in courses on mystical theology.] on his own volition. This has been observed many times — in fact always — in the girls of Garabandal, who had to remain waiting, without the ability to hurry up the trance in spite of their desires. (I can name two single exceptions, in which they received a formal order to enter into ecstasy: one from the parish priest, and the other from me.)

Once they had received the third call, the girls were seen to enter, leave, and return to ecstasy without premonition or previous preparation, remaining in the trance with whatever they had in their hands — a flashlight, a glass, a dress, the hand of another girl — and there was no way to make them drop those articles . . . On the contrary, at other times they had been prepared, ready, isolated from everyone, waiting for the Vision; and the wait had been in vain.

It was seen that it didn't depend upon them to have the ecstasy that they desired so much and that so drew their interest. From this their answer — full of humble sincerity — to the many questions from the people: Perhaps . . . When she wishes . . . When she says . . . On one occasion this question was put to them: Are you always going to see the Virgin? They answered, Oh! We don't know.»

What else could they say? How could they understand the mysterious purposes and designs of God?

What was happening in Garabandal did not belong to them. They did not have a right to it, nor did they merit it, nor could they use it at their pleasure . . . They were there simply as instruments, nothing more: instruments in the hands of an exceptional divine action which would show God's fullness of love, beauty, and mercy; but which still would hide its full purpose and end; instruments each day for the extraordinary plan of God. He would know the reason!

In the face of all this that occurred, and in the hope of that which still can come, we conclude with the confident and laudatory thought of the apostle: