A vision that I will never forget

The vision of the Sacred heart

Jacinta, one of the seers of Garabandal, only 12 years old, could see and feel the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the beginning of the apparitions. We will describe in detail some of these details.

Of all the visions that Jacinta González had in Garabandal, there was one in particular that stood out among all the others: the vision of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

This happened at the beginning of the apparitions in June 1961, at a time when the girls once saw Archangel Michael. As we know, Archangel Michael appeared in Garabandal before the apparition of the Blessed Virgin. Jacinta and her husband Jeff Moynihan give us some details about where, when and how this vision took place.

The day after the first appearance of the Archangel Saint Michael, on June 18, 1961, the four girls returned to the same place in the "calleja" as they expected to see the Archangel again. Sometimes, at that time, some of the village children threw stones at them. For this reason, the next day, they moved a little higher than the first time (at the beginning they were in the "calleja"), in a place called "el quadro", which was in a place higher up and hidden. On a flat rock, they knelt down and began to pray. It was in this place that the Angel and the Blessed Virgin appeared again, and where Jacinta also had the vision of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Jacinta does not remember the exact date of her vision, she knows that it was not on the day of the Sacred Heart that this year was held before June 18

The Vision of the Sacred Heart, Interview with Father Benac

On December 23, 1978, Jacinta was interviewed by the Jesuit missionary Father Francisco Benac at his home in California. Here are some excerpts from this conversation:

Imagem recente de Jacinta González

Imagem de Jacinta no tempo das aparições

Father Benac: I have read some articles in which you report that you have seen the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Please tell me how it all happened.

Jacinta: I remember that this happened on a day in which the four of us climbed a little higher above the zone of the "calleja", that is, above where the Angel had appeared to us for the first time. No one, a girl from our village, followed us on that day too. Suddenly, the other three fell into ecstasy and the Angel came. At that moment I was behind, and I saw them in ecstasy, and I said, "But I see nothing." Suddenly I saw the Sacred Heart of Jesus that impressed me greatly. He did not tell me, however, His gaze came to the deepest place in my heart.

Father Benac: What impressed you most?

Jacinta: His eyes, all his appearance, his eyes that arrived well inside my heart in an inexplicable way.

Father Benac: What did you think at that moment?

Jacinta: Oh, Father, this vision of the Heart of Jesus has been etched for ever, though I have never seen Him again. Whenever I remember His vision, I feel that infinite Love that came to my heart that day.
Part of the group of pilgrims who went up to Garabandal. Being in Navarrete, place that has a beautiful Baroque Church, we asked Jacinta to describe to us the vision of the Sacred Heart. Jacinta, in the center of the picture, dressed in black, with her husband, Jeff, right in front of him. His daughter, Maria, is the third to count from the left.

Father Benac: Do you still feel it?

Jacinta: Oh yes! Whenever I see His image or speak of Him, as I do now, I feel Him within me in a way that I can not explain.

Father Benac: When you have been and have passed through the time of doubt, have you also doubted this vision?

Jacinta: No, Father. This vision always remained alive in my mind. It's something I've never doubted.

Father Benac: Has this vision led you to love God more? Do you think He wanted something special from you?

Jacinta: I can not answer that because He did not tell me. However I feel my heart much closer to Him from that moment on.

Jacinta: I remember that this happened on a day in which the four of us climbed a little higher above the zone of the "calleja", that is, above where the Angel had appeared to us for the first time. No one, a girl from our village, followed us on that day too. Suddenly, the other three fell into ecstasy and the Angel came. At that moment I was behind, and I saw them in ecstasy, and I said, "But I see nothing." Suddenly I saw the Sacred Heart of Jesus that impressed me greatly. He did not tell me, however, His gaze came to the deepest place in my heart.

Father Benac: What impressed you most?

Jacinta: His eyes, all his appearance, his eyes that arrived well inside my heart in an inexplicable way.

Father Benac: What did you think at that moment?

Jacinta: Oh, Father, this vision of the Heart of Jesus has been etched for ever, though I have never seen Him again. Whenever I remember His vision, I feel that infinite Love that came to my heart that day.
Part of the group of pilgrims who went up to Garabandal. Being in Navarrete, place that has a beautiful Baroque Church, we asked Jacinta to describe to us the vision of the Sacred Heart. Jacinta, in the center of the picture, dressed in black, with her husband, Jeff, right in front of him. His daughter, Maria, is the third from left.

Father Benac: Do you still feel it?

Jacinta: Oh yes! Whenever I see His image or speak of Him, as I do now, I feel Him within me in a way that I can not explain.

Father Benac: When you have been and have passed through the time of doubt, have you also doubted this vision?

Jacinta: No, Father. This vision always remained alive in my mind. It's something I've never doubted.

The description of Jacinta's vision

Since Jacinta first mentioned her vision of the Sacred Heart in 1976, she was asked on several occasions to describe him. At one point Jacinta came to Spain to the town of Logroño, along with Jeff and his daughter Maria, to visit a paralytic named Olga who asked to visit her. During this visit, a group of pilgrims who went up to Garabandal, about thirty people, invited them to dine with them in the nearby village of Navarrete. After dinner they all wanted to hear Jacinta speak about her vision of the Sacred Heart.

While the other girls were in ecstasy and seeing the Archangel Michael, Jacinta was having a vision of Jesus. He was about ten feet away, standing on a small white cloud, a short distance from the ground. She was of extraordinary beauty,

"The most beautiful of men," as Jacinta said.

He wore a white robe and a purple cloak that crossed him diagonally from his right shoulder. His Heart stood out to his left, bright red with white and golden rays coming out of him.

With his left hand he marked His Heart, and meant to approach Him. From his body came rays of light that exceeded the other visions in brightness and light. The vision had a cloud-like background.

As mentioned earlier in Father Benac's interview, what most impressed Jacinta was His infinite Love, the gaze of Jesus that pierced his heart and the gestures of His hands as if inviting us all to enter into His Sacred Heart.