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The apparitions of

GARABANDAL

BY
F. SANCHEZ-VENTURA Y PASCUAL

APPENDIX A

Page 189

form or another, absolutely everything that exists may be the object of a supernatural vision; God, Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin, the angels, saints, souls in purgatory, devils, living beings and even inanimate objects." This is too much for Monroy, and the reason is only too clear. "These assertions", he counters, "lack any biblical basis". There is, nevertheless, one vision which is frequently quoted by spiritualists. It is a unique case that admits no argument because it is quoted from the Holy Bible. Monroy refers us to "Chapter XXVIII of the First Book of Samuel, where the prophet appears to King Saul. There is no doubt whatsoever that the vision was indeed Samuel and not a satanical trap, as some have attemped to make out. But this apparition tells us nothing since it was totally negative."*

   Monroy sets about proving that it was a negative vision. "Firstly," he proceeds, "both the seer and King Saul were aware that they were breaking God's laws by invoking Samuel's spirit. Secondly, Saul did not consult the dead man in order to obtain a favor from God, but because he knew that he was not in His grace, but in the hands of the devil. Thirdly, as Samuel did not tell him what he wanted to know, Saul did not benefit by this vision. Fourthly, on the contrary, Samuel informed the king that he would die the following day for having committed the grievous sin of consulting the dead. And fifthly, Samuel complained to Saul at having been disturbed from his celestial repose."**

   "This is the sole case in the whole Bible," concludes the author, "where we are told of a dead man appearing to a living being. And, as Dr. Pache says. God permitted this unique miracle to show us the tragic consequences of such apparitions."

   In other words, when an innocent little girl claims that she has seen Our Lady, and thus succeeds in drawing large crowds, despite her being totally ignorant and lacking in any special ability or powers to stage a farce; when she promises a miracle six months in advance, as at Fatima, even foretelling the exact date and hour so that all may believe; when, at the appointed time, more than seventy thousand people gather—many with the idea of mocking at the failure of the prophesy—and witness the spine-chilling dance of the sun and all the other attendant phenomena; when another young girl kisses the ground and scrapes away some soil in obedience to the strange commands of the vision, and a spring bubbles forth from the spot, as at Lourdes, defying all droughts and curing the bodies and souls of hundreds of incurably sick people . . . etc.; when such things happen and are easily proved because they are recent occurrences, they do not give credence to the existence of a miracle since our reason cannot explain them. Whereas, on the other hand, what is quite plausible, easy to believe because it is in the Bible, is this prodigy of a man who died over two thousand years ago coming to life when invoked shortly afterwards by a living being whose soul had fallen into the hands of the devil. What strange powers of persuasion the Bible has over Mr. Monroy!

   His attitude here, however, is such that simple logic at once refutes

*   Monroy; page 39

**   Monroy; page 39

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