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The apparitions of

GARABANDAL

BY
F. SANCHEZ-VENTURA Y PASCUAL

Chapter Nine

THE MESSAGE

Page 135

that a permanent sign will be left as proof of the miracle, etc.

   "Just as the punishment we deserve is very great," says Conchita, "the miracle will be as great and spectacular as the world needs." Let us wait trustfully and prepare properly for that great day of the miracle, for it will perhaps be the last chance given us by Heaven, Mary's final effort to make the world leave its road to perdition and, by rectifying in time, ward off its punishment.

   If the sun played the main role in the miracle at Fatima, will the moon and the stars be Heaven's messengers at Garabandal?

   When the raptures were interrupted, the children kept up their contact with the world of their visions through the phenomenon known as the locution. Says Conchita: "They're like a voice of joy, a voice of happiness, a voice of peace. These locutions have done me a lot of good, because it's as though the Blessed Virgin were inside me. I prefer the locutions to the apparitions, because in the locutions I have her inside me. Jesus will give me the Cross to purify me, and through my crosses He will also make it possible for me to do some good to the world, because without God's help we can do nothing.

   So, the locutions confirm the children in their message and in the promise of the great miracle that is coming to make everybody believe. Hence, we can deduce that the hour is near. Let us make ready to know the date of the great prodigy and for God to grant us the grace to be there on the day . . . And let us not fall into the temptation of shrugging our shoulders out of indifference ... If God wants to grant us an exceptional prodigy, we ought to pay attention to Him and show Him due acknowledgement for so great a favor, by preparing to deserve it in the first place, and to show our gratitude and benefit as much as possible from it on a spiritual plane.

   To shrug the whole thing off or simply reject it as "unnecessary," as I have often heard devout Catholics describe it, reveals an inner sin of pride that makes us unworthy of such a grace.

   Let us live for that day, the day of the confirmation of Garabandal, so that a great many of the Blessed Virgin's children may be there on the day, devout and trusting in her; and so that the message of Garabandal may be spread and obeyed as the works of God so justly require and advise

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