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The apparitions of

GARABANDAL

BY
F. SANCHEZ-VENTURA Y PASCUAL

Chapter Ten

POINTS TO CONSIDER

Page 138

The Blessed Virgin in Action

61.—We are living at the height of the era of Marian Apostolate; this is the Marian century referred to by Louis Marie de Montfort when he said that these latter times would be characterised by the Blessed Virgin's presence, which should be understood as a token and promise of the next coming of the Holy Spirit, that is to say, the conversion of the incredulous and the unification of Christians.

   The fact is that the Virgin Mary has been appearing to mankind periodically, and her exhortations have been becoming more and more urgent. Similarly, the proof she offers us is becoming more and more spectacular. At Garabandal, a public miracle has been promised. Everything appears to point to the fact that Spain, the altar of Catholicism, has been chosen as the scene for Mary's appeal for the conversion of her children. If mankind does not mend its ways, perhaps the punishment she announces is near. So, the miracle awaited must needs be convincing in order to get through to our reasoning worldly minds. We have already seen that it is to take place at 8:30 p.m., on a Thursday coinciding with an event of the greatest importance to Christendom . . . The prodigy will be announced eight days in advance.

   Does Conchita know the date . . .? I am inclined to think she does. At least, Circular No. 8 sent out by the Garabandal Information Center, quotes a letter from Conchita which says: "The Virgin will not let me say what the miracle will consist of, although I know this as well as the date, which I can only reveal eight days beforehand."

   In her ecstatic colloquy recorded on a tape recorder on the 8th of December, of which I have a copy, she is heard to say to the Virgin, in a breathless, earnest voice as is customary in the visionaries' raptures: "As for the miracle, there's nothing more for me to ask. As I know all about it ... I'm dying for the day to come, so I can tell them . . . People ask me when it's to be ..."

   If the issue of Garabandal had not taken the turn it has, with the announcement of a public miracle, this book would in all likelihood not have been written. But the issue is still open and has now reached its most interesting stage: the promise from Heaven has entered a blind alley; either the events at Garabandal are meaningless, or else that little hamlet in the province of Santander is destined to become the final setting for a supreme celestial revolution.

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