At around 8:30 PM, the girls congregated after a mass at the local church. They then decided to steal apples from a nearby tree. After consuming the fruits, they felt ashamed of what they have done and spoke of how their guardian angels must be sad from their dishonesty. Just then Conchita fell into a trance. The girls thought she was sick, she stood there staring up at the sky and pointing. Then the other girls saw what she was staring at. It was an angel, holding a tablet which the girls couldn't read. The angel only stayed there for a moment and said nothing to the children. They went home looking pale like they had seen a ghost.
Upon the villagers hearing what had happened, they questioned and sometimes ridiculed the girls and their family. For the next 12 days the angel returned. July 1st, the angel finally spoke to them. He introduced himself as St. Michael the archangel. He told the girls that they would be meeting the Virgin Mary tomorrow. The next night, around 6:00pm, the girls went into ecstasy, or a trance while seeing the Virgin Mary. She appeared to them with 2 angels, both of which looked exactly like St. Michael, and over her right shoulder, the children saw a flaming red square with a triangle and an eye in it, with some Oriental writing in it. She spoke to them about everything from the village news to the beginning of the first warning. She also taught them how to pray the rosary. She appeared to them many times, and on October 18th, 1961 gave them the first warning:
"We must make many sacrifices, do much penance. We must visit the Blessed Sacrament frequently; but first, we must be good, and unless we do this, a punishment will befall us. The cup is already filling and unless we change, a very great punishment will come."
While the Virgin was appearing to the girls, many physical hardships were witnessed by the people around them. The girls would drop to their knees, on the rocky terrain of the area, without any damaging effects. They would fall on the ground, in what was called an ecstatic fall, leaving no marks or wounds to be seen. The doctors would test them by pricking them with pins to no effect. The doctors would shine lights in their eyes, but the girls would not flinch. Their pupils remained diolated, and their heads remained in the upward position, staring at the sky. The psychiatrists and doctors that studied them said there was no evidence that anything was wrong with them mentally or physically. They couldn't explain why these girls weren't least
mentally inept from these unexplainable visions, let alone physically damaged from hitting the ground with such
force when they fell to their knees or to the ground in ecstasy.
The Virgin appeared to them over 200 times. The girls experienced what they called 3 joys, or internal calls
from Mary before she would arrive, and they would run out into the streets, usually to the 9 pine trees that were at
the top of the hills in Garabandal. The Virgin usually appeared to them at night, so the girls would stay awake all hours waiting to be called upon by Mary. Though they stayed up all night at times, they never seemed to be weary
from their lack of sleep.
Throughout this time, many visitors came to the sight of Garabandal. There were many skeptics and many believers. People who came to Garabandal offered objects to the girls to be kissed by the Virgin Mary. These objects are said to have miraculous powers, especially for healing. The girls handed the objects to their owners without looking at them or knowing what belonged to whom.
After some time, Conchita was the only remaining visionary left to have these apparitions. On June 18th,
1965, exactly four years after the first vision, Conchita had her last one. This is the final warning from the Virgin
Mary spoken through St. Michael as told by Conchita Gonzalez:
"As my message of the 18th of October has not been complied with, and as it has not been made known to the world, I am telling you that this is the last one. Previously, the cup was filling; now, it is brimming over. Many priests are following the road to perdition, and with them they are taking many more souls. Ever less importance is being given to the Holy Eucharist. We should turn the wrath of God away from us by our own efforts. If you ask his forgiveness with a sincere heart, He will pardon you. I, your Mother, through the intercession of St. Michael the Archangel, wish to tell you that you should make amends. You are now being given the last warnings. I love you very much, and I do not want your condemnation. Ask Us sincerely and We shall grant your plea. You must make more sacrifices. Reflect on the passion of Jesus."
That was the final time any of the girls from Garabandal reported an apparition. |
