The Warning

Writing about divine messages, especially private revelations, is a little difficult especially when these messages (or the seer involved) do not have Church recognition yet. It takes a long time for the Church to act on these matters, if it does at all. But it is not right for us to scoff at private revelations or seers. It must be noted that many holy people had struggles with the Church. The stigmatist St. Padre Pio initially met with suspicion and opposition. One great saint of our times, St. Faustina Kowalska of the Divine Mercy, also met with opposition, even among fellow nuns. For a time, her writings and the devotion to the Divine Mercy were shelved in the Vatican until finally, Pope John Paul II took them out and it subsequently spread throughout the world.

The cost of our indifference and cynicism can be high. Our Lady of Fatima way back in 1917 pleaded with mankind to repent and practice the devotion to her Immaculate Heart. Apparently, majority of humanity did not respond to her plea for a mere 21 years after the end of the First World War in 1918 came the horrors of the Second World War. Wider in scope, and with more advanced weapons, the death toll was 20 million more than the First World War’s estimated 37 million casualties. Indeed, as Our Lady has said, wars are a punishment for our sins.

This article deals with private revelations which do not have as yet the Church’s formal recognition. But do we wait for this? The messages are grave, and need action and much prayer on our part. Take, for example, Our Lady’s messages in Garabandal, Spain.

Our Lady’s Apparitions in Garabandal, Spain

What makes the Garabandal apparitions difficult to shrug off is that two highly-revered spiritual figures of our time, St. Padre Pio and Blessed Mother Teresa, have testified on the authenticity of Garabandal (Totus Tuus Maria magazine, April-June 2009). Joachim Bouflet, a French student who went to visit Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo in Italy, was instructed by the famous stigmatist to “Consecrate yourself to the Virgin of Carmel who appeared at Garabandal.” The student, surprised by the reference to Garabandal, said to Padre Pio, “So it’s true?” The holy priest answered, “Yes, it’s true!”

On the other hand, Mother Teresa and Conchita, one of the visionaries of the Garabandal apparitions, were friends. In January 1992, Mother Teresa invited Jacinta (also one of the visionaries) to come visit her since she was just recovering from an illness. Jacinta visited Mother Teresa and introducing Jacinta to the rest of the community, the living saint from Calcutta said, “Here is Jacinta of Garabandal. Garabandal is true!”

So, what exactly were Our Lady’s messages in Garabandal? The Garabandal messages consist of three components: a Warning from God, a Miracle, and a Chastisement, if men do not convert as a result of the Warning and the Miracle.