Spending seasons in Garabandal involves dealing frequently and making friends with people who lived the apparitions of Our Lady during the years 1961-1965. Some of their stories can be seen on YouTube but many others are anonymous. My wife and I continue to hear stories of the apparitions every time we are in Garabandal, and we are confirmed more and more of the extraordinary phenomena that took place in this small village in northern Spain.
In the first place, numerous relatives of the visionaries are still alive. First-line witnesses (uncles, brothers, brothers-in-law), as well as non-familiar eyewitnesses of all ages. I think there are none of them who do not believe in the supernaturality of what they saw.
One of these relatives told us recently:
– “I saw the girl many times going down from the pines backwards and at full speed. This was humanly impossible. ”
Serafin, Conchita’s brother, told us many years ago (he died 18 years ago):
– “When the girl began to doubt, I told her, very well little girl you and me are going up to the pines now and you go down backwards… Logically she did not.”
The same thing has been told to us by people from the village or neighboring towns who were then 16 or 20 years old. One of them told us:
– “I was about the age of the girls and I used to go up to the village with my mother. I was able to see them in ecstasy on many occasions, and my mother was lucky to be in front of Conchita when the miracle of the visible communion occurred. My mother witnessed that this miracle really happened. ”
The most remembered extraordinary phenomena are as we see those in which the laws of gravity did not exist for the girls. Although there are still witnesses who received personal evidence of another type such as knowledge of consciences, or personal proofs.
Original Letter from Saint Pio to Conchita / Copyright 2018 garabandalnews.org
Just a few days ago, we paid a visit to one of the best-known eyewitnesses of the apparitions of Garabandal: María Josefa Villa, widow of Dr. Félix Gallego. Josefa is 98 years old and is known for having written several books about the appearances of Garabandal, among the best known are “The pines of Garabandal will illuminate the world” and “The miracles or favors of Our Mother of Garabandal”. We spent a very pleasant afternoon with Josefa and her daughters Marina and Carmela, and also with her son Javier. We took with us the movie “Garabandal only God knows”, thanks to its distributor Mater Spei, and we all saw it and commented on how the film was made and other Garabandal stories.
Josefa and her husband, Dr. Felix Gallego, went up to Garabandal in August 1961, barely a month and a half after the apparitions began, as they learned of these events from a relative. The two went to the village very skeptics that something like that could be true. However, this first impression changed as soon as they reached the town. During this visit, Dr. Gallego had the opportunity to examine Mari Loli during an apparition that occurred in the girl’s room. One of Mari Loli’s brothers was in bed with abdominal pain and they feared appendicitis. As Dr. Gallego was a general practitioner, he visited him and dismissed this problem, diagnosing him with a simple abdominal colic. In gratitude, the girl’s father offered him to attend the first ecstasy the girl had at home, which happened that same night. Carmela, the daughter of Dr. Gallego told us the following:
– “My father told us that the girl was in ecstasy on her knees, with her head back as usual. He did the pertinent medical examinations: pulse, reflexes, etc. And he also tried to lift her off the ground, but he was unable because she had an unexplainable weight. At one point he realized that the girl did not touch the ground with her knees, she was levitating, which was confirmed by all present. Another thing that my father commented was that they were in the village on the night of the miracle of the visible communion. My father said that he saw the girl when she returned home after receiving holy communion from the angel and that he noticed that a light came out of her mouth as if she had a light bulb inside her mouth. Since it was a dark night, it was very visible and it surprised him, even more so because he did not know that the miracle of communion had already taken place. Since he had not seen it, it was impossible for him to be open to suggestion by seeing that light in the mouth of the girl.”
Original envelope Of St Pio’s letter / Copyright 2018 garabandalnews.org
Dr. Gallego and his wife Josefa lived the rest of their life united to Garabandal, but above all it has been Josefa who dedicated the rest of her life to the study and diffusion of the apparitions of Our Lady in Garabandal. Undoubtedly she has gathered the greatest number of written and audiovisual testimonies of the phenomena related to Garabandal. And many of them have been described in her books about these apparitions. Her sancta sanctorum of the material of Garabandal is now in good hands, those of her daughters and son, believers in the apparitions and admirers of such an exemplary mother and the living greatest studious of these supernatural events that transformed her family life, and that she has helped to spread and have converted so many people from all over the world.
(The picture of Garabandal and its beautiful rainbow was taken by Mari Carmen, Conchita’s cousin and daughter of her aunt Maximina. It reminds me a report by Josefa Gallego of a miraculous rainbow seen in Garabandal in which the rainbow was fixed as if by fire in the glasses of a woman at the pines).
Juan Hervás
Garabandal News 
Dear Aviso,
I just saw an article that caught my attention….it regards a possible break of the Russian Orthodox Church from “Constantinople”…..could this article refer to the mention of the pope traveling to Russia? Check it out and see what you think…..here is a link to the story: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-orthodox-church-threatens-retaliation-against-istanbul-based-patriarch/29479797.html
blessedimelda2007. Not sure how you are connecting the Orthodox situation in the article with ‘the mention of a Pope travelling to Russia.’ What source are you quoting in regard to a ‘Pope traveling to Russia?’ If your point of reference is ‘Russia will suddenly act following the Pope’s return from Russia,’ then the answer is ‘categorically No there is no connection’. This is simply because such an event is a spurious unfounded rumour circulating the web which, as demonstrated elsewhere on this site, has never been articulated by the Garabandal Seers.
God bless
Pete
Aviso and Pete, on a different topic! Someone has released the report on corruption, homosexual and financial, in the Curia which Benedict left for Francis. It is with an Italian journal and CM have articled on it. No names have been printed as yet. Please God, Our Lady is cleaning house and I pray that this leads eventually to a return to holiness for our beloved Church! God will not be mocked. All praise to Him!
By the way my Friends, below an example of respect for the work of others, I salute here this site and its integrity :
https://gloria.tv/photo/3tUYxFzxatFD36hn6uNjFFSAC
PS : The source is indicated and faithful can enjoy the news respecting the Copyright Law, by the way the Pio’s letter starts to make its effect on many around the net, so I thank again my Source for his confidence, so for him let me add few words : My Dear Friend, my Brother, your original letter was already seen by thousands only on this blog, be sure that the Lady of the Carmel will not forget it, thank you again.
Ai miei amici italiani dal link qui sotto e per rispondere ad alcuni commenti che ho potuto leggere, confermo sull’onore che questa lettera è di San Pio, se non c’è la firma, è che il Santo non ha voluto firmare la sua lettera perché le apparizioni garabandali non erano ancora state riconosciute dalla chiesa al momento, il che è ancora il caso finora, al di sotto di uno dei miei articoli che conferma il relazione di Saint Pio e Garabandal (in inglese), per vostra informazione, non ha sul mio blog alcun documento online senza una meticolosa verifica, che è anche il caso per questa lettera, mi riconferma con fiducia che questo documento unico è San Pio, grazie:
https://garabandalnews.org/2018/01/13/garabandal-padre-pio-and-the-servant-of-god-2/
Aviso
Hi Aviso, Pete, and the rest of our friends. I just want to ask you some prayers for Josefa Villa de Gallego, one of the first witnesses of the apparitions of Our Lady of Garabandal as I commented in this blog. She died a couple of days ago at age 100. After her experience at Garabandal she became one of the most authoritative persons about these apparitions and wrote three books. She had a huge information on all related to Garabandal and was a big apostle of Garabandal. Her greatest wish was to see the miracle and I am sure that she has already seen it. Thank you Josefa for all the things you have told us about the apparitions and pray for us from heaven.
Thank you Juan for letting us know, May God rest her Soul
God bless
Pete
Thank you for the news Juan, we will all Pray for this great Lady and Apostle of Garabandal, which I knew also, Josefa please Pray for us as well.
God Bless
Today Conchita turned 71 yrs. Congratulations even though she is not going to read this. We’ll pray for her.
I want to take advantage of this comment to encourage all our readers with doubts about the occurrence of the warning and the miracle. I wanted to know what was Conchita’s feelings about the miracle at this time and I have known through her nearest relatives in Garabandal that she has no doubts at all that the miracle will occur. Not any doubt at all!!!!!
Comment canceled.
Comment canceled.
Dear Aviso,
with all due respect, I believe that you should refrain to loose your time and waste your skills in such diatribes…this plays in favour of Satan, not Our Lady’s.
And risk to annoy readers and subtract credibility and appealing to the website you worked a lot to put up.
Pray for you. God bless.
OK Anonymous, you are probably right and a wasting of my time as well, so I talked to the source of this unique letter and he asked me to avoid any complain against the hacker, as it’s a good friend and a Great Garabandalist I will do it for him, by the way this original Letter from Saint Pio is probably the best proof to date from the Saint about his belief of the apparitions of the Lady of the Carmel in Garabandal, so let our faithfuls enjoy it here and somewhere else, this is not a problem for me and as long as our Lady is Happy, I am happy, the rest I will fix it myself later, thank you.
PS : My last comments about this topic will be de facto canceled.
Comment canceled.
Dear Sir, We confirm the Copyright Law and can act at your convenience, thank you.
Master Cristina Busch
JUFRESA Y GRASAS, Abogados Penalistas. S.L.P
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PS : From my Lawyer today.
My Friends, I must cancel my last article “tell them the truth”, I received many support privately but it is not possible for me to add more details in Public, I am going back to my “retirement”, sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.
As I was suggested to read Father Dolindo, while looking for further consolation I found this beautiful prayer. Foe me, for Aviso and for all of us who are struggling at very level.
The Lord’s Battles: how they are won
The evil of the world, our sins and our errors, cause us great suffering while we are searching for Good. The suffering is double: at the beginning of spiritual life we feel a painful blow due to the confusion of the world. We suffer more for this confusion and from injustice than we do from our love of our offended God. In this case, zeal is more divisive; we tremble, we want to speak, we think it to be a loss when we cannot speak; we can fall into arguments, and incidents of violence, etc.
When our love for God grows, then we feel more pain for the offense to Him, and rather than speaking, we feel the need to repair this hurt. The pain is more profound and our zeal is calmer, more charitable, more forgiving, because it concerns the sinner in the light of God’s goodness, God who loves the sinner anyway.
We walk in a sea where all are drowning and where few are in the ark of good health. They are like those about to drown in the Great Deluge who were facing the great abyss, and who married and laughed and bought and sold and ignored Noah, who with great effort built his ark. We walk among the plague-stricken and among those who hide their purulent sores with elegant vestments, among people who slide into the abyss and do not realize it. We are among small worms that haughtily lift against the Lord their foreheads slippery with filth. What suffering it is do be able to do nothing! And yet God gives us the weapons to fight, provided we live with Jesus.
We must have great faith in the Providence of God; He knows how to draw forth good from this evil. God is not defeated by any of his creations, but rather is He a King infinitely great, who lets so much evil loose just because He is infinitely great and good.
You see a painter who mixes up his colors, who spills together black and white, and green with blue, etc., but you know he is an artist so you have faith in his talent. Looking at the disorders of the world, you turn your eyes to God who is infinite Good and Providence. Have faith that He will dominate that disorder; turn to Him, so that He will take care of it; without worrying yourself. So often, great worry hides a lack of faith.
Aim your weapons at evil and offer your suffering, offer the pain of your miseries. It is a treasure that you possess; by offering them to God, you make an act of humility and of faith, and you attract His forgiveness. God is powerful in His use of your sufferings when they are causing you pain and you offer them to Jesus. To the physician who cures those afflicted with smallpox, what can you give but the pus from your sores? It is a misery; but with that pus the physician can create a cure.
Do not worry about what you can do, about what you can write; instead, pray silently, with humble and faithful humility. Prayer carries into battle the general’s plan, it brings you new supplies from heaven. You pray and graces rain down, and the angels go on the march. Prayer is like a bombardment from on high; before advancing against evil, Prayer climbs into its plane, it climbs into the sky and from on high it will rain down the bombs which will destroy the plans of Satan.
Pray to God with faith with surety: “Lord end this evil, I beg You, through Your glory.”
This sentence, which is so simple, upon climbing into the sky becomes a cloud; it charges itself with celestial electricity, it curves down towards the earth and releases a bolt of lightning, it burns the depots of gunpowder, it explodes the artillery, loosens the earth and then becomes healing rain.
Act, speak, work, but in subordination to the other weapons. If we do not clear the battlefield, then the infantry cannot march into action. Do not wear yourself out speaking, but look at God who gives you the living Word. One word from heaven is worth a thousand speeches, and a blow of 305 words is worth a thousand rifle shots.
God moves along roads different from yours. You speak, you work, doing your best not to tempt God, but rather to give Him your help. Instead, repose in Him. If you would like to speak and you cannot, leave the unspoken word to Him. He will say that word in His heart.
If an arid word comes to your lips, give it to Him, so he can make it bloom. If you speak, full of the joy of life, praise God who has filled you with it. In general when you are unhappy and humiliated, that is when God is most present. Act with simplicity, and never be upset. If you must be quiet, fight then with your other weapons. Never be discouraged, because, if you become discouraged, you search for your self. If you want to succeed, love not being able to succeed when you want, but calmly wait for God’s time.
You need patience, tenacity and calm. Be as the ant: if you destroy her work, the mound she has built, what does she do? She rebuilds it with the same calm as before. Be as the spider: what happens if you destroy its web? The spider rebuilds it in the night, and makes itself a refuge in the corner of the wall. And if you ruin its work again? It goes somewhere else until it succeeds in laying out its trap for the fly.
Are you looking for a soul? Stretch out a net to capture it. This net must be made not by using thread, but rather by opening yourself, by your suffering, by your prayers, and by your sighs. If a fault, or a snare or some evil destroys your net, rebuild it as many times as needed, always with the same calm. The day will come when you will capture that soul, and then the eternal apostolate will mean for that soul not death, as the web does for the fly, but rather Life; you will cause that soul to be reborn.
Be always peaceful, repose in God, live in God, look not so much to men and their human ways: Is your case difficult? Turn to God: Are there obstacles in your way? Have you been struck down, and are you separated from others? Are you hiding under your bed, ? Follow the Lord also in this; from under the bed you can attack better, you can deliver a magnificent blow to the evil you could never face directly.
Patience is the perfect way, and with patience you will win. The Apostles won through martyrdom, Jesus won with the Cross! Wait and trust; Jesus won the world and has already won it in its entirety. There is no struggle that begins that He has not already won. Therefore repose in Him and peacefully await His moment. Follow the way God has traced out for you. If you are a woman, what do you do? When God calls all souls back to life, He will call women to His apostolate, because He needs mothers. When He needs to feed the revived world, He calls upon men, because he needs fathers. He called upon Our Lady when He wanted to be born, and He was reborn to give us all life again. He called upon Our Lady in the Cenacle, and at the foot of the Cross, when the Church was born and promulgated; He sent the Apostles to nourish the reborn world, and the Church was born in His blood through Maria. In His work of restoration, Jesus chose women, because humanity made apostate was dead and had to be reborn. First the world needed mothers, and then He will send priests to nourish it. Are you a woman? Then Jesus has chosen this for you. Take repose in this. He knew that from you He needed an apostolate, He wanted it this way, and you should find your rest in Him. Poland, in its last battle against the Bolsheviks, won, thanks to its women.
God’s strongest paths are within the soul. One atom given life by God is as powerful as an entire solar system. A mountain is more of an impediment than an advantage for some one who must move. Do not love big things, big spectacles, and big movements, but rather, love humble things. Who dresses in royal colors does not gain; but whosoever goes bare footed as did Saint Peter can destroy the pride of Imperial Rome. Don’t worry so much about yourself; do not be pessimistic. A mother who worries about herself feeds her baby poorly. Pessimism deeply hurts the soul, and causes it to lose faith. Our miseries are like dustbins that collect refuse. If you waste time in thinking about them you will never do anything. Have faith, have faith and give your suffering to Jesus, so that from them He can create nourishment.
By the way my Friends I am enjoying my “retirement” in Portugal, thank you again for your Prayers.
Thanks Juan for this example of testimonies and also for publishing the letter from St. Padre Pio. Given there were over 2000 encounters between the Seers and Our Lady of Mount Carmel and so many witnesses, there must still be so much more that hopefully will come to light in coming years.
Below is a link to a 1996 video documentary called San Sebastian de Garabanda The Eyewitnesses, released by M.F.J. Productions from New Zealand. The video rendition having been copied from VHS tape, is not of today’s expected quality, but it is worth persevering with. I am in possession of a VHS copy and even it’s video quality isn’t much better. Notably, there is video footage of the girls walking backwards whilst in ecstasy at about 8 minutes in to the film.
God bless
Pete