St. Michael in Garabandal
(Original title: St. Michael the Archangel in Spain)
Written by Deacon Guadalupe Rodriguez
Reprinted with kind permission by GARABANDAL AUSTRALIA / October-December 2019
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony (Rev. 22:16).”
On June 18, 1961, St. Michael the Archangel appeared to four girls, Conchita Gonzalez (12), Mari Cruz Gonzalez (11), Jacinta Gonzalez (12), and Mari Loli Mazon (12), at Garabandal which is a small village in Spain consisting of 300 habitants.
As in previous Marian apparitions, St. Michael came to prepare the children and the world for Our Lady’s messages.
The girls were at the “calleja,” (a small rocky road where most of the apparitions took place), and as at Fatima and other places where St. Michael has appeared, they heard thunder and saw a bright light when, as Conchita later wrote,
“Suddenly a very beautiful figure appeared to me, shining brilliantly without hurting my eyes. The other girls … shouted together: ‘Oh, an Angel!’”
This was the first of many apparitions of St. Michael the Archangel to the girls over a period of four years. The vision lasted for half an hour, and he was very young as at Fatima and Rue du Bac. St. Michael did not speak or deliver a message. The girls described the Archangel as follows…
“He appeared in a blue tunic, with wings that seemed to be made of fire, he was a beautiful person, surrounded by a very strong light that did not bother our eyes, it seemed to be nine years old, but it seemed to be very strong. To be a young boy, but before him we felt great respect for him.”
From June 21st to June 23rd, St. Michael appeared after the girls had finished praying the rosary at the cajella, and as usual, they ended the evening by making a visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament. The local priest, Fr. Valentin Marichalar, saw the girls in ecstasy on the 22nd June and he interviewed the girls separately. He later stated, “Up to the present moment, everything seems to indicate that it comes from God.” (June 23, 1961)
On June 24, 1961 the children the children came to the calleja and St. Michael appeared. They noticed that he brought a written sign. They learned later that this was the same message Our Lady would bring. The children asked him what it meant, and he smiled. The children could only make out a few of the letters,
“In the first line it said, there is … and in the last line XVIII — MCMLXI, and this is all we understood.”
On June 25, 1961, the apparitions of St. Michael continued and the people from the village built a fence to protect the girls from the large crowds. The family, doctors and psychiatrists were allowed inside the fence, and they shone flashlights, pricked the girls with pins, scratched, and pinched them many times while they were in ecstasy, and they felt nothing. In later apparitions the girls levitated during the ecstasies.
From June 28th to June 30th, St. Michael the Archangel appeared around 8:30 pm at the cajella after the girls prayed the rosary, and Conchita related,“He appeared to us and came smiling more than ever. We asked him, why have you come? He smiled and did not answer us.”
On July 1, 1961 St. Michael appeared for two hours and for the first time spoke with the children about his coming to prepare the way. Conchita writes,
“the Angel appeared to us, smiling and said: ‘I come to announce to you a visit by the Virgin under the title of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, who will appear to you tomorrow, Sunday.’ We were very happy and we said to him: Let her come right away! He smiled, and then we said to him: What does this sign you brought mean? — The Virgin will tell you about it. This day, he spoke to us about many things.’”
On July 2, 1961 the children saw Our Lady of Mount Carmel with a brown scapular and the Child Jesus along with St. Michael and St. Gabriel. Our Lady unveiled the heavenly message on July 4, 1961 which was to be made public on October 18, 1961:
“It is necessary to make many sacrifices and do much penance, we have to visit the Blessed Sacrament very much, but before we have to be very good. If we do not do this, a chastisement will come. The cup is being filled, and if we don’t change a chastisement will come.”
The apparitions continued, and St. Michael brought Holy Communion to the girls around 40 times from the tabernacles on earth, when there was no daily mass at the village. Similarly, he also, brought Holy Communion and catechised the Fatima children plus other saints like St. Gerard Majella. Conchita wrote,
“I [St. Michael] am going to give you Communion … Say the ‘I Confess …’ We prayed it, and afterwards he gave us Communion. And after receiving Communion, he told us to make our thanksgiving to God … And after we made our thanksgiving, he told us to pray the ‘Soul of Christ’ with him. We prayed it. He said to us: I will give you Communion tomorrow too. Then he left.”
On June 18, 1962 the anniversary of the first apparition of St. Michael, he showed the girls a chastisement where fire comes down from heaven if the world does not turn from evil. (The approved apparitions of Akita and Fatima have similar prophecies of fire.) The apparitions of St. Michael continued from June 19- 20, 1962, and Conchita wrote,
“It is worse than if we were wrapped in fire; worse than if we had fire on top and fire underneath. I don’t know the time that will pass before God sends it after the miracle has occurred.”
On June 22, 1962 St. Michael the Archangel announced to Conchita that there would be a “little miracle.”
“I, St. Michael, am going to perform a miracle. Not I: God, through my intercession and yours. And I asked him — And what is it going to be? And he told me — When I give you Holy Communion, the Sacred Host will be seen on your tongue. I thought it over and asked — Surely when I receive Communion from you, the Host is seen on my tongue! And he told me that it wasn’t so, that the people around me didn’t see It; but that on the day when he would perform the miracle, It would be seen. And I said to him — But that’s very small! And he smiled. After telling me this, he left.”
On July 19, 1962 with crowds of 2,000 – 3,000 people and a dozen priests, many witnesses saw the Sacred Host that Conchita received from St Michael. The host became bright and was filmed and photographed. Conchita wrote,
“And he [St. Michael] told me, as on other days: Pray the “I Confess’ and think of Whom you are going to receive. 1 did this. And afterwards he gave me Communion. And after giving me Communion, he told me to say the ‘Soul of Christ,’ and to make my thanksgiving, and told me to hold out my tongue with the Sacred Host until he left and the Virgin came. And I did this. When the Virgin came she told me: They all still do not believe.”
On January 15, 1963, St. Michael announced to Conchita the date of the “Great Miracle” which the whole world will see but not be able to touch.
It is a sign of mercy for the conversion of sinners. (Similarly, Jesus reveals such a “sign in the heavens” to St. Faustina, and the Medjugorje messages also speak of such a sign.)
On January 1st, 1965, Our Lady appeared to Conchita to say that St. Michael would appear on June 18, 1965 and give a message in her name to the whole world. She spoke about a special worldwide “warning.”
“This experience will involve every person in the world … It will be like an interior realisation of our sins. Believers, as well as unbelievers, wherever they are at the time, will see and feel it. ”
On June 18, 1965, St. Michael the Archangel appeared. He was given the task of communicating the message from Our Lady to Conchita saying,
“Since my message of October 18 has not been heeded and known to the world, I tell you that this is the last one. Before, the cup was filling up. Now, it is brimming over. Many cardinals, many bishops, and many priests are following the way to perdition and are taking many souls with them. Ever less importance is being given to the Holy Eucharist. You must turn the wrath of God away from you by your efforts. If you ask His forgiveness with a sincere heart, He will pardon you. I, your Mother, through St. Michael the Archangel, wish to tell you to amend your lives. You are now in the last warnings! I love you very much, and I do not want your condemnation. Ask Us sincerely, and We will grant your plea. You must make more sacrifices. Reflect on the Passion of Jesus.”
November 13, 1965 was the last apparition of Our Lady of Carmel, and she pleaded for all of humanity,
“I come for all my children, with the desire to bring them closer to Our Hearts …. I hold all of them beneath my mantle … Conchita, why don’t you go often to visit my Son in the Most Blessed Sacrament? Visit Him Who is waiting for you day and night…”
Finally, great saints like Padre Pio and Mother Teresa of Calcutta who met Conchita firmly believed in the authenticity of the Garabandal apparitions. St. Michael the Archangel pray for us!
Reprinted with kind permission by GARABANDAL AUSTRALIA / October-December 2019
