Glasses left with Rainbow
An Interesting Phenomenon
(Rainbow Left on Glasses)
Reprinted with kind permission from GARABANDAL JOURNAL July-August 2005
Excerpted from Los MILAGROS o FAVORES DE NUESTRA MADRE DE GARABANDAL by Maria Josefa Villa de Gallego Translated from Spanish by Dr. Edward Serrano
My name is Maria Villanueva Diaz from Santander and I want to relate how a rainbow was imprinted on my sunglasses. This happened October 11,1976, the feast of Our Lady del Pilar.
That day many people had congregated at the Pines in Garabandal to pray the holy rosary. A large part of the group consisted of two hundred girls from a school in Gijon who were to be consecrated by their teacher to the Immaculate Heart of Mary [In ordinary Spanish usage the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the same as the Virgin Mary.— Fr. Eusebio Garcia de Pesquera] of Garabandal, under the pine tree where Our Lady appeared so many times.
During the consecration a strong wind began to blow and the sky became almost black; it was very impressive. To avoid being blown around by the wind, we sat down on the ground as best we could. My back was to the village.
When the consecration of the girls ended the wind stopped. I remained seated, and for some reason, I turned around to look at the sky above the village. What I saw cannot adequately be described. The most beautiful rainbow you could ever imagine arched out from the church over the village. Its colors were stronger than in any other rainbow I had ever seen. I pointed it out to my sister who was seated some distance away and when she saw it she sprang to her feet. Then everyone stood up to contemplate that beauty. No one could figure out the meaning of it, but we all knew it was not a normal rainbow.
After remaining for some time praying and thanking God for such a gift, my sister looked at me and asked if I had seen anything else. I told her I only saw what she and everyone else did — a heavenly marvel. But she insisted, “No, you can’t fool me; you did see something else.”
“Why are you saying that?”
“Because the rainbow is burned into your sunglasses.”
We called two bystanders, Manolo del Corte and Manolita Fernandez, who corroborated that the rainbow indeed was imprinted on the sunglasses; and also that on the right lens the rainbow appeared lower than on the left side. This could be explained by the fact that .my head was tilted when I was looking at the rainbow.
Then I said to my sister, “The intensity of the light and brilliance of the colors must have remained on the retinas of your eyes.”
It was not like that. Today, twenty years later, the rainbow is still on both lenses of my sunglasses, the intense colors engraved as though by fire just as on that unforgettable day.
Sometimes the glasses give off a smell of roses and pine mixed together, and there are days when the colors are more intense than at other times. Twice I have taken them back to Garabandal and they have emitted splendid rays. Some persons, on seeing them, have knelt with tears in their eyes, because they see that Garabandal is a chosen place of our Blessed Mother. I write all this in obedience and at the request of the Jesuit priest Francis A. Benac.
— Maria Encarnación Villanueva Diaz
Santander, February 8,1979
Reprinted with kind permission from GARABANDAL JOURNAL July-August 2005
