1-9b) Unplanned Vigils

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

The vigils, [Vigils consist in passing while watching the night or part of the night preceding some important Christian solemn feast, as a preparation for it. The faithful, gathered in a holy place, spend the time in watching, reading from the bible, religious instructions, hymns, prayers, etc..]so well-known to the early Christians and presently almost buried in ecclesiastical use, were to come back to life in Garabandal in a remarkable way.

And here they were very active, since the girls in ecstasy were not accustomed to remain for any length of time in one location, but went from one site to the next within the village and its surroundings.

Especially beautiful among these vigils was the one that preceded the Assumption of the Virgin — August 15th — during that year of grace in 1961. On the previous day, August 14th, Monday, Father Ramon Maria Andreu had come to the village, having buried his brother. In the afternoon, he spoke for a long time with the visionaries, and later was a witness of the ecstasy that we are describing, and which lasted from ten p.m. to midnight. A good time to go to bed! But neither the girls nor their followers had time to get into bed.

«At 2:45 in the morning» — as Father's notes read — «a new ecstatic march of the girls began, as a vigil for the Virgin . . .

It lasted until 5 a.m. Conchita, Loli, and Jacinta were involved, since Mari Cruz had not been called by the Virgin, and had gone to sleep.

The march began on leaving Conchita's house at 3 o'clock, with the girls showing signs of great joy and asking the Virgin to remain until six in the morning. Actually, it lasted almost two and a half hours. And all this time they were marching, except for the short periods when they stopped at the door of Mari Cruz' house and at the church. PHOTO: It lasted almost two and a half hours. And all this time they were marching . . .

The rhythm of the march was not very rapid; but it was consistent. They marched forward; only occasionally did they march backwards.

And the general tone of this whole trance was one of joy. With this joy they prayed the rosaries, they sang many of the Hail Marys, they smiled and laughed, they conversed.

It is very difficult to understand what they are saying, since they are walking. One time they were heard to say: What a pleasure! But you must tell us where Mari Cruz' house is, since we don't see.

Then they began going back and forth to Mari Cruz' house, singing verses and other songs. Among the various verses sung by the girls, we were able to clearly hear this stanza:

From the other poems, we were only able to hear phrases and loose words such as,

Oh, Mari Cruz!, you don't get up,
even when you are serenaded . . .
Gather up the lilies . . .[Another verse can be found in Chapter 5.

These verses and other similar ones were sung by the girls on several occasions. In a letter on February 6th. 1970, the pastor from Barro, Father José Ramon Garcia de la Riva wrote me:

«One day I was at Garabandal (He did not go there until August 22nd) and Loli and Jacinta had an ecstasy, chanting verses at the door of Mari Cruz, who was in bed on her mother's orders.»

The feastday of the Assumption was uniquely distinguished with something extraordinary too. The same priest wrote me in that letter:

«Actually something extraordinary always happened on the days that we can call Marian.»(Saturdays and feasts of the Virgin like the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Nativity of Mary, the Most Holy Name of Mary, etc.)]

They also sang the Christmas hymn Noche de pax, and several mañanitas.[Short musical compositions: I think by los Mañanitas Fr. Ramon is referring to a Spanish song that starts: These are the mañanitas sung by King David . . .]Every time that they sang a verse, they laughed and said, How fast we learned it!

At one time, the three separated from one another, and a little later they returned to meet together in front of Mari Cruz' home. At a quarter after four, they finally said goodbye to her, Till tomorrow!

They went to the church; and asked the Virgin to continue like this until six o'clock, until eight, until nine . . .

They explained to me later, We went as if in the air, as if lying down perhaps. Like in another world! It was like day, with the sun. {They had to be struck by the night that surrounded them on coming back to themselves.)

When it was over, their pulses were normal and they were fresh, without perspiration; the rest of us were more than exhausted. They were not fatigued, in good humor, and hungry.»

The short resume of this exceptional vigil brings up certain thoughts. «The general tone was joy», Father Andreu tells us, and I ask myself, could it have been otherwise? Did not the nature of the feast that was about to be celebrated require this? The entire liturgy of the Assumption is a repeated invitation to joy for us, her children on the earth, as the Collect from the Mass of the vigil brings out:

We pray that we who enjoy her protection, may take part in the joyful celebration of her feast.

Not only to us, but to all creation should this celestial joy radiate. The first words of the Divine Office on this feast of the Virgin indicate this:

Mary has been taken up into heaven! The angels rejoice and with songs of praise, bless the Lord.

And there is a tremendous reason for this, since she who began without stain, has finished in glorious victory.

Undoubtedly what the girls were celebrating on the dark streets of Garabandal was only a poor imitation of the prayers of the angels and blessed in heaven in honor of God's greatest creation.

The girls and those accompanying them on foot at these untimely hours petitioned and praised God through Mary. They were performing a good deed both for themselves and for many other Christians then asleep, or engaged in worse things. They were uniting themselves mysteriously to consecrated souls in many monasteries and convents who in those same early hours were beginning a new day with the solemn prayer of Matens and Lauds of that feastday.[Matins and Lauds are two important parts in the daily prayer of the Divine Office. Matins starts this prayer according to its own Latin designation Ad Matutinum, having as its proper time the early hours of the day — the early morning. Formerly in the ancient monasteries it was always recited at that time. Lauds then followed.]

The Matens and Lauds of the girls at Garabandal were very different, unplanned and unscheduled, and not according to a fixed liturgical rite. But does that mean that they were less efficacious for the glory of God and the welfare of the Church? Someday we will know.

The vigil of the Assumption was not the only one during those days. On the following Saturday, August 19th, the first Marian day following the feast, there was another one which was longer still, lasting almost the whole night, from Saturday until Sunday. Conchita mentions it in her diary like this:

" She told us the same thing as on the previous day: Recite the rosary."

As she had said, she came.

And she told us the same thing as on the previous day: Recite the rosary.

And we began the rosary.

And that night we went to the places where the Virgin had appeared to us at the beginning.

And after our ecstasy the people said that we had gone up to the Pines, and that we had gone front pine to pine on our knees, praying . . .

And during that ecstasy, while we were seeing the Virgin, Mari Cruz, who had seen an apparition earlier, was in bed.

And we told the Virgin that she should tell us a song to sing to Mari Cruz.

We would compose some words, and the Virgin would aid us with others.

The songs were the following:

First she wrote the stanza already mentioned about the Bouquet of Flowers. Then follows:

The Virgin stayed with us from nine at night until six in the morning. [After such vigils the girls should have been exhausted, worn out . . . But no! The testimony about this is unanimous, and has been repeated many times.

When the girls lost sleep because of the apparitions, they did not suffer from any fatigue, and were able to begin the new day as if nothing happened, without the necessity of recuperating the hours missing from their rest.

Taking into account that some or much of this occurred on so many nights during many months, can we not speak of a miracle?]

And that night we played Los Tios [Los tios — similar to the game of hide and seek.]with the Virgin.

Two of us hid, and the other one searched for us.

Another incredible surprise in the history of Garabandal! The Virgin joins in games with the young village girls.

This cannot be, many must exclaim. This is ridiculous, unbelievable, unacceptable. A good proof that neither the apparitions nor the ecstasies contain anything supernatural!

Well, I confess that I cannot understand the reason for such games; but there is nothing to stop me from accepting them if I have proof that they actually took place, and that the Virgin took part in them. Can I pretend to understand easily all the components of God's actions on the world and on souls? It is sufficient to have signs to indicate that these actions are from Him. And then I can be sure that all those things I do not understand obey a mysterious Divine Plan and occupy a place in the disposition of Providence.

My ways, says the Lord, are not your ways; and My thoughts are not your thoughts. (Is. 55: 8)

Besides, have there not been other episodes of interplay from on high and mysterious games with men?

There is an inspired text dating back thousands of years that the Church continually places on the lips of the Virgin:

There are games that take place between God and the Mother of God and mankind. The important thing is to discover the hidden meaning of these games. This is certain: if God and the Virgin play, it is not for entertainment alone. They seek always to communicate and instruct. Nevertheless, we do not understand everything, nor do we understand it immediately. The text of Scripture has its reason for stating, after having spoken of these mysterious games in the presence of God: