Garabandal, Spain

Four girls: Conchita González, Jacinta González and Mari Loli Mazón who were 12 years old and Mari Cruz González who was 11, were playing together near the village when they heard a sound like thunder. They were frightened and raised their heads to see where the noise came from. Suddenly, they saw before them the beautiful, resplendent figure of an Angel. After a few brief moments, and without a word, he disappeared. During the next few days, the Angel continued his visits, during which he looked at them in silence and smiled. The people of Garabandal began to meet with the girls in the evening to pray the rosary while they waited for the Angel to appear.
Finally, on July 1st, 1961, the Angel spoke to the girls and said, “Do you know why I have come? I have come to proclaim that the Blessed Virgin Mary will appear to you tomorrow as Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”

On July 2nd, in those days the feast day of the Visitation, at around 6pm, the girls were in the calleja, (a stone path) when the Blessed Virgin appeared to them with the Child Jesus and two angels. The girls recognized one of them as the Angel who had appeared to them previously, who was later identified as Saint Michael the Archangel. The other was almost completely identical. Above the Blessed Virgin, to the right, there was an eye, which the girls called the eye of God. Without fear, the girls began to speak with the Blessed Virgin. They told her about their families and the work they did in their houses or in the fields and the Blessed Virgin Mary smiled at them. Conchita said that it was as if her own mother had been gone on a long trip and had just come home.

Soon, many priests and doctors approached the girls during the ecstasies with the intention of judging whether the apparitions were genuine. They concluded that the girls were perfectly healthy and well-balanced. The doctors were astonished to see the strange physical phenomena that accompanied the ecstasies, during which they had absolutely no sensitivity to pain, even when people poked them with needles or burned them with cigarettes. Their bodies acquired extraordinary weight which made it impossible to pick them up or even to force them to make the slightest movement.  Their eyes were completely open as they contemplated the apparition, yet when cameras flashed or onlookers shined powerful lights into their eyes, their expressions did not change.

The girls also began to make spectacular falls in ecstasy either collectively or individually. Sometimes they would fall straight backwards, stiff as a board, without bending any part of the body or using the hands to cushion the fall. The loud thud made when they hit the ground frightened onlookers but the visionaries were never hurt. From this prone position, they would rise without pushing themselves up in any way. In collective falls they were described by witnesses as "beautiful sculptures" and their clothing was never immodestly ruffled or indecorous.

Conchita Gonzalez:

"Our Lady said that a warning would be given to the entire world before the miracle in order that the world might amend itself. It will come directly from God and be visible throughout the entire world. 

This warning, like the chastisement, is a very fearful thing for the good as well as the wicked. It will draw the good closer to God and it will warn the wicked that the end of time [not to be confused with the end of the world] is coming and that these are the last warnings. It is certain, although I know nothing of the day or the date.

The warning will be like a revelation of our sins, and it will be seen and experienced equally by believers and non-believers and people of any religion whatsoever. Each person on earth will have an interior experience of how they stand in the light of God's Justice. It is like a purification for the miracle. And it is like a catastrophe. It will make us think of the dead, that is, we would prefer to be dead than to experience the warning. The warning will be recognized and accepted by the world.

The warning is something supernatural and will not be explained by science. It will be seen and experienced by all men all over the world and will be a direct work of God. Those who do not know Christ (non-Christians) will believe it is a warning from God."

On August 8th, 1961 Father Luis María Andreu made a visit to Garabandal. That night, when the girls fell into ecstasy, he approached them to observe them closely. Suddenly, those who were with him saw that an indescribable enthusiasm invaded the Priest. His face changed and tears began to fall down his cheeks. He suddenly cried out, “Miracle! Miracle! Miracle! Miracle!” In the car, as he returned to his residence that same night, his companions were impressed by the joy that overwhelmed him and by his complete surety as he spoke of the events of Garabandal. He repeated enthusiastically, “I’m so happy! The Blessed Virgin has given me an immense gift! We’re so lucky to have a Mother like her in Heaven! There is no doubt in my mind that the visions are true. Today is the happiest day of my life!” After that last phrase, there was silence. “Father, what’s wrong?” Father Luis María Andreu had died. He was still a young man and had no known illness. The Blessed Virgin Mary told the girls that on August 8th Father Luis María Andreu had not only seen her, but he had also seen the Great Miracle that would come.

One day, Saint Michael told Conchita that on a certain occasion, he would bring her communion, and the host would become visible on her tongue. Conchita did not think it was a very impressive miracle, because she thought that the host was always visible to those who were present. Conchita announced the date of the miracle 15 days in advance. When the awaited day arrived, there were hundreds of people in the village. The miracle took place on July 19th, 1962 at 1:30 am. One of the main concerns of the Blessed Virgin in Garabandal was to help us to grow in our love and veneration of the Eucharist. In that sense, it is fitting that the miracle was precisely a Eucharistic miracle. One of the witnesses was able to record on video the brief seconds in which the white host appeared in Conchita’s mouth.

Mari Loli: “Although we continued to see the Blessed Virgin, we saw a great multitude of people who were suffering intensely and screaming in terror. The Blessed Virgin explained to us that this great tribulation, would come because a time would arrive when the Church would appear to be on the point of perishing. It would pass through a terrible trial. We asked the Virgin what this great trial was and She told us it was “Communism”.