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The apparitions of

GARABANDAL

BY
F. SANCHEZ-VENTURA Y PASCUAL

Chapter Ten

POINTS TO CONSIDER

Page 143

Let us beg the Lord for saintly priests

64.—The concern shown by the Blessed Virgin for priests is most striking. It appeared for the first time in her vision at La Salette, and later at Fatima. "Cardinals will oppose cardinals, and bishops will oppose bishops." the document reads. This overt worry, which has also been apparent in the visionaries' talks with Our Lady at Garabandal, calls to mind the persistent recent reports of certain maneuvres of atheistic communism in the seminaries.

   On April 13th, 1965, the Madrid daily, "A.B.C.", published an article on this thorny subject. The article in question was called "Los Nuevos Curas," or "The New Priests." On April 24th, the same newspaper published a reply to that article from Don Fernando de Urbina, Director of the Hispano-American Theological Seminary.

   If these rumors are true, we need not be surprised if the Church does pass through that phase of opposition and strife between cardinals and bishops, with the implicit risk of internal decomposition which may, through scandal, cause confusion among the faithful.

The arguments of Garabandal's detractors

65.—Some consider it rather undignified, if not somewhat ridiculous, for the Blessed Virgin to appear and spend her time kissing pebbles, medals, crucifixes and wedding-rings.

   On the whole, God's works are so simple and elementary that they have at all periods in history seemed ridiculous from a merely human point of view. In the Gospels, we read that, to cure a blindman, Jesus took dust and saliva; today, this would also seem rather ridiculous and not a little odd. That the Virgin Mary should appear so frequently in the early hours of the morning to talk to a few ignorant little girls about matters that often prove essentially to be commonplace is something that the thinking man certainly considers impossible, if he insists that a Heavenly visit should be surrounded by the strict protocol imposed by most of our authorities on earth. But, the Kingdom of God belongs to the little ones, and to see and believe we must become as humble and simple as children. All the visions that have in the long run been granted Church approval have occurred in the midst of details that mankind has in many cases considered commonplace, and in other cases, frankly ridiculous.

   Yet, to me, this is further proof of their reality. Indeed, it would be far more alarming if the phenomena had occurred in line with the protocol-laden ideas that modern man has about the proper way to receive a V.I.P.

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