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The apparitions of

GARABANDAL

BY
F. SANCHEZ-VENTURA Y PASCUAL

Chapter Ten

POINTS TO CONSIDER

Page 144

   What is more, does the unusual not serve as a sieve to select, according to their degree of faith, the group of witnesses and followers? Let us not forget that being witnesses of a miracle is a Grace or favor that must be deserved.

   When Fr. Valentin Marichalar was replaced as parish priest at Cosio, the Chancery sent a young priest with instructions to be over-prudent, an attitude that required a certain predisposition against the supernatural character of these events.

   The fact is, some maintain that, in a place where apparently miraculous phenomena occur, the ecclesiastical authorities should at first be reluctant to believe in the extraordinary. Hence, an essentially prudent approach is adopted, and I do not feel that this attitude can be the object of criticism. The new parish priest was Fr. Amador Fernandez Gonzalez, a good psychologist. He played his part as the devil's advocate to perfection. Determined to accomplish his task as best he could, he kept a close watch on the children at all times. From the first, he declared that the four girls were not putting over a farce or acting in bad faith, but were suffering from an illness that proved difficult to diagnose. Asked whether the Church would accept the authenticity of the apparitions if an unquestionable, proven miracle were to take place, he did not hesitate to say that the Church would not; because the miracle—so he said—would not prove anything either. "It would be a reward from God for the faith of those who asked for it." Perhaps this is twisting matters round to an extreme and making any reasonable solution impossible. But, it is not for us to judge. The Church has her own doctors. Let us simply say that the four children could not perpetrate a fraud for so many months at a time; that, if the visionaries were suffering from some illness, it would have natural effects, and the intensity and frequency of the raptures would long since have ruined their health; that phenomena which arouse in this way religious fervor, the spirit of faith, and love of God and the Blessed Virgin, cannot possibly proceed from extra-natural sources under the influence of the devil. Hence, it seems likely that there are sound grounds for believing that the cause is neither natural nor preternatural, but shows signs of being supernatural.

   It should not be forgotten that, throughout the Gospels and the history of the Church, one great fact is evident; as a rule, the works of God, however great they may be, require the cooperation of his creatures.

   The peace of mind felt at Garabandal, the spirit of friendship

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