18 th of June 1961

The apparition of the angel S. Michael in Garabandal

This photo indicates the local "calleja" where the visionaries saw for the first time the Angel S. Miguel.

"We were just eating the apples," says Conchita, "when we hear a noise like thunder, and all at once we exclaim:

"It seems like thunder."

It must have been a rather strange thunder. Though accustomed to hearing these noises in the silence of nature, that day seemed different to them. All the more so as they look in the direction of the Peña Sagra - an imposing mass of 2,042 meters, which closes on the one hand the horizon of Garabandal, and which often appears crowned with dark and heavy clouds, from where the thunderstorms usually come - of special. What would it have been?

The fiery summer sun was already bending over the horizon, and all the clocks of Spain were about to hit eight-thirty. In the four little sinners, who had just come from an unholy adventure, that mysterious thunder sounded like a voice from God.

"What a disgrace! "Exclaimed Conchita," Now that we have eaten the stolen apples, the devil must be content. "

"And our guardian angel, very sad." added another.
Conchita had an idea:

"To console the angel, let's throw stones at the devil."

And in their naiveté of small children of the mountains, they gathered some stones and began to shoot them with all the force to the left, where they thought that the devil had to be.

Tired of throwing stones "and with the most peaceful conscience, we decided to play five-marias". This tranquility, however, did not last long, in the face of something strange and terrifying that soon overpowered them. It is Conchita herself who reports in her diary, which began in September 1962: "Suddenly a very beautiful figure appeared to me, shrouded in a radiance that did not hurt my sight." His head fell back, his eyes fixed on the heights. "Jacinta, Loli, and Mari-Cruz, on seeing me in this condition, thought they had given me an attack, because I, with my hands together, repeated: 'Oh, oh! When they, terrified, would call my mother, the same thing happened to them. "

Raising their eyes in the direction indicated by Conchita, they exclaimed together:

"The angel!"

There was a short silence, all in the same contemplation, and the angel disappeared.

The vision lasted for half an hour without a word. However, it was with this silent presence that began the "most wonderful story of humanity after the birth of Jesus," quote from Pope Paul VI.

Conchita's account is completed by João Álvarez Seco, commander of the civil guard:

"Some girls, "he says," who also played around, when they saw the four of them in that strange position, they began throwing stones at them; then the angel moved about 50 meters above the same alley. Once there, while he was in a static position on his knees, he wanted to pass among them a resident of the village, who came from above, from the hill, with a honeycomb in his hand; seeing that they would not let him pass, and without realizing what was happening, he was annoyed by the 'little attention of those girls.'

After crossing them, he turned back and looked at them more closely. And great was his surprise to see that they were still in the same position. He tells me that at night he could hardly sleep, thinking of everything that seemed so strange to him.

In fact the Angel would prepare the seers for the encounter with the Virgin Mary, who would pass the messages to the world, as well as prophecies about the End of Time.

The apparition of the angel S. Miguel. The following days ...

Here we explain in more detail about the events that occurred with the first apparition of the angel S. Miguel in Garabandal. The angel appeared 9 times to the girls until 1 of July of 1961.

Description of the angel

"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. "

21th June 1961

Vision of a luminous frame

It seemed like a red light or fire, in which it had a triangle, an eye and a text, the letters were written in an arabesque style. "After this event was over, the Angel appeared."
"The pure in heart shall see God ..."

Note 1: Everything leads one to believe that it is the name of God "Yahweh". This vision is unique in the history of all Marian visions. It reminds us of the famous episode of ardent sarsa.

22th June 1961

On this day, the Angel reappears, just after the girls have finished reciting the rosary. His ecstasies were witnessed by Local Father Valentin Marichalar and several popular ones (news of these events spreads through neighboring villages). The same informed the apostolic administrator about the happened in this small village. Father Valentin Marichalar was the Priest who ministered in the village of Cosio, where he lived and was about 8 km from the neighboring village of Garabandal.

This priest knew the girls and their families well. He has always observed closely all his supernatural events from the very beginning, where he came to express his opinion on the subject in a positive way. Once informed of the facts, he began on June 19 to question the girls closely and patiently. Don Valentin was present for the first time in a rapture of the girls on 22 June.

Juan Alvarez seco, membro da Guardia civil presente no dia 23 de Junho de 1961 em Garabandal.

24th June of 1961

"The written message"

Hardly had the girls come to the "calleja" when the Angel showed himself to the girls. On this day, the angel the girls realize that he brought a written message with him. They could only decipher a few letters of the sort "There is ..." and the last line of the Roman numerals, "XVIII -MCM-LXI ..."

The children later learned from Our Lady that this was a message. The word message was clearly used by the Angel, by Our Lady, to designate, as in the Bible, the word of God (Yahweh) to His People. This apparition occurred on St. John the Baptist.

In this picture, you can see a small wooden fence that surrounds and protects the girls from the rest of the people. It was called that, "the picture".

1 July 1961

Conversation with the Angel

As we know of the apparitions at Fatima, the Angel appeared in Fatima three times in 1915 and three more in 1916. In Garabandal, this type of manifestation was much more numerous. It was this same angel who gave them the Eucharist, who gave them the messages of Our Lady and who appeared to the girls of Garabandal in these first 9 days. However, it was only on this day that the Angel spoke to the girls for the first time.

The angel said, "Do you know why I came?" and the children answered "No". And the angel said again: "I have come to tell you that tomorrow, the Virgin Mary will appear on the title of Our Lady of Caramel." And he said again, "Do you know what is written in the message I bring on the sign?" The virgin Mary will tell you tomorrow. "

Note: The second session of the Second Vatican Council was opened on the feast day of the Angel S. Miguel, on September 29.

19th June 1961

The day after the appearance of the Angel, the four girls moved to the same place where they had last seen him. At that moment, the whole village already knew about the news of the Angel's appearance. They prayed the rosary, but the Angel did not appear. The teacher who was with them said to them, "If the Angel really was, he will appear again." However, around ten o'clock in the evening, when they were praying their prayers, each one heard in his room a voice that said:

"Do not be afraid! You will see me again"

20th June, 1961

After they had gone to school in the morning, by the end of the afternoon, the girls decided to go to the "calleja" [1]. Arrivals there, and after they finished praying the rosary, the Angel had not yet appeared. They started down the road, when suddenly, "when suddenly we saw a very bright light that was hiding from us from one place to the other. We were completely dizzy with the light and we started to scream because we were scared. But the light was gone. "

Note 1: This event can only be compared with what is quoted in the Old Testament theme "the bright cloud," which denotes the second of the four manifestations of the "Shekinah", which means in Hebrew, the presence of God. It reports on the feminine aspect of the Holy Trinity, "a cloud that follows the children of Israel in the wilderness." It also means a cloud of daylight and a pillar of evening fire that guided the Israelites to Mount Sinai. Also at the Transfiguration of Christ, the cloud represents the sign of the presence of God.

Note 2: Conchita said, on April 13, 1963, that on the day of the Miracle "a pillar of smoke and fire ..."

23th Junr of 1961

The arrival of the Civil Guard

Following the ecstasy of this Friday, Father Valentin Marichalar questioned the girls separately. At the end of his analysis, he stated that his answers all coincided perfectly.
According to him:

"Up to the present moment, everything seems to indicate that it comes from God."

He then decided to go to Santander to inform his superior, Monsignor Doroteo Fernández, about all the events in Garabandal. It was on this day that Juan Alvarez Seco arrived, the sergeant of the civil guard, responsible for maintaining order in Garabandal during the period of the apparitions.

Everything this sergeant saw and witnessed touched him quite deeply, since he himself had to watch a large part of the girls' ecstasies. He later stated that the events in Garabandal ended up having a major positive impact on his Christian life. The sergeant has always made his best contribution to protecting the four girls. For example, he always placed two civil guards, twenty-four hours a day in Garabandal. The news of these events spread ever more and more. At the end of June, crowds of people gathered in this small village.

25th June 1961

"The board "

On this day, Sunday, some young people from the village built rectangular protection through wooden logs, to protect the children from the crowds of people who were there. Only family members, parents, doctors, psychiatrists could get past this barrier. This little barrier was called a "picture".

29th June of 1961

Sacred heart of Jesus

It was 8:30 in the afternoon, when the Angel appeared to the girls. At that moment, Jacinta looks to the side and sees the figure of Jesus, who was situated in a place a little more above the place where his friends were. Jesus appears to Jacinta, precisely in the month of June, the month dedicated to the sacred heart of Jesus, and precisely on June 29, the same day that Jesus appeared to St. Faustina, and on the feast day of St. Peter and St. Paulo. With His right hand He pointed to your heart.

Note: In the three times that Jesus appeared to Jacinta, both the Angel and Our Lady did not appear. A deep spiritual logic!