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The apparitions of

GARABANDAL

BY
F. SANCHEZ-VENTURA Y PASCUAL

Chapter Twelve

CONCLUSIONS

Page 172

   A number of ideas can be gathered from this Message: Our Lady is disturbed at the lack of response to her message of October 18th, 1961; she is concerned about priests; the Holy Eucharist must be given the pride of place It deserves; it is essential that we appease God by our efforts . . . Our Lady promises forgiveness to those who ask for it sincerely; she tells us she will grant us our pleas; she insists that she loves us very much and desires our salvation; she asks us to make sacrifices and recommends us to reflect on the Passion of Jesus; she assures us that we are being given the last warnings, and that this is the last message.

   All this fits in perfectly with the contents of the prophesies, and with the theological facts.

   The ecstasy, announced almost six months earlier, and the contents of the message revealed to the child while in her trance are confirmation of the Garabandal apparitions for any Christian of good faith.

   But such confirmation is not sufficient for the world at large, and much less for the Church, whose prudence is even more exacting. This is why Our Lady has announced what will be the final confirmation; namely, the public miracle whose date will be given beforehand, a miracle so spectacular that it will make any doubt impossible.

   Time and again, when her visionaries have protested at the lack of faith of so many people, Our Lady has reassured them, saying that "they will believe in time . . ."

   Faced with this mystery, however, our attitude meanwhile should be one of respectful and hopeful attention. To twist things around in an effort to elude a logical approach to the matter is neither wise nor just. Garabandal is crying out for a conscientious study of the facts by experienced specialists with good faith, a study that has yet to be carried out.

The Press Reports

    It was with real surprise, if not a little annoyance, that we read in the Press a note from Santander, released by the "Cifra" News Agency to most Spanish newspapers. This report carried the headings "Alleged Apparitions in a village of the Province of Santander," and "The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy does not accept the possibility of supernatural causes." The full report read as follows:

"Circulars and pamphlets published in France have been the cause of the revival of the now old subject of the alleged apparitions in the

Note! Paragraph continues on page 174

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