The Odd Thing About the Events at Garabandal...

Ezkioga

Striking similarities with Ezkioga

Those devoted to Our Lady of Garabandal, while awaiting the Warning, the Miracle, and then the Chastisement, maybe aren't as well acquainted with the apparitions at Ezkioga thirty years earlier.  I've written about it in the past, but I'd like to share something I came across on the apparent link between the two events.  I find it interesting that the events in Garabandal occurred a mere 30 years after the events of Ezkioga - with very similar messages. 

The alleged series of apparitions in 1931 took place not far from San Sebastian, the city in Northern Spain near Garabandal. The visionary was Ramona Olazábal and her visions began on the feast of Mt. Carmel, July 16, 1931 at Ezkioga, Spain. (The BVM was identified at Garabandal as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.)  The visions became popular and attracted crowds, but it was said they became corrupted by anti-clericalist Freemasons and were subsequently politicized. The apparitions were 

later condemned.  

Ezkioga

I found the following account after Googling Garabandal and Ezkioga.

As I was reading about this apparition, a curious fact grabbed my attention:

"Soon phenomena spread to such an extent that there were at least 250 official seers and many more who had lesser experiences in dozens of villages, especially in the town of Ezkioga, where visionaries saw Mary as the Sorrowful Mother, took down her messages, fell into strange rigid trances, or, eyes bulging and rolled back, held up religious items to be blessed.

The visions spread from Ezkioga east, west, and south as far as Orgiva.

Most striking were the prophecies: the apparitions at Ezkioga predicted chastising calamities for mankind, including a world war and three days in which the earth would be plunged into a horrendous darkness. There would also be a "great miracle" that would be seen at Ezkioga but noted in the entire world.

Some said the "great miracle" would be the Virgin appearing with three angels with a half moon at her feet and an extraordinary light that would cover the local mountain. Walls would materialize and from all four sides the Virgin would be seen. Saint Michael would appear on a white horse. "The miracle will begin at a quarter to five in the afternoon and will end at eleven at night," said one account. "The walls will remain as a sign for what has to be done in this place."

One seer said she knew the date of a chastisement and would be allowed to tell people eight days in advance. "Between the chastisement and the miracle there will be little time," she said. "The Virgin has told me which day the chastisement will be and which day the miracle, and I have declared it in writing to my confessor in sealed letters that he keeps, and on the envelope is indicated the day he may open them....

The visions spread from Ezkioga east, west, and south as far as Orgiva. 

Most striking were the prophecies: the apparitions at Ezkioga predicted chastising calamities for mankind, including a world war and three days in which the earth would be plunged into a horrendous darkness. There would also be a "great miracle" that would be seen at Ezkioga but noted in the entire world. 

Some said the "great miracle" would be the Virgin appearing with three angels with a half moon at her feet and an extraordinary light that would cover the local mountain. Walls would materialize and from all four sides the Virgin would be seen. Saint Michael would appear on a white horse. "The miracle will begin at a quarter to five in the afternoon and will end at eleven at night," said one account. "The walls will remain as a sign for what has to be done in this place." 

One seer said she knew the date of a chastisement and would be allowed to tell people eight days in advance. "Between the chastisement and the miracle there will be little time," she said. "The Virgin has told me which day the chastisement will be and which day the miracle, and I have declared it in writing to my confessor in sealed letters that he keeps, and on the envelope is indicated the day he may open them.... http://www.spiritdaily.net/ezkioga.htm

Eight days in advance? Now that is exactly what the seer at Garabandal has said. The fact that these two apparitions are linked geographically and also by this curious fact should be cause for concern for those who automatically assume that Garabandal is genuine. The fact is that the prediction of a great supernatural event which would be announced 8 days in advance was made FIRST at Ezkioga in the 1930s. It turns out that Ezkioga would end up being condemned. In fact, the history of Ezkioga is downright disturbing:

"In 1933 the local bishop, Mugica of Vitoria, condemned the apparitions, banned books about them, and even threatened excommunication if seers disobeyed. In 1934 the Vatican backed him up with a declaration of its own. Church authorities concluded that the apparitions -- or at least a good number of them -- were without merit or even demonic.

It was a region that had seen outbreaks of witchcraft in the 17th century, when wizards were intensely active, casting spells, causing infertility, and denying God and the Virgin Mary, whom the spirits mimicked. The center for witches was in the mountain range of Amboto, where it was said that a deity known as "la Dama" (the lady), patron of witches, lived in caves. The devil was also said to appear as both a black male goat and a man. - Richard, Marian Apparitions

Ezkioga

 This leads me to doubt the authenticity of the alleged apparitions at both Garabandal and Medjugorje.  I wonder why people give so much credence to these things, which can be so easily corrupted by literal interpretation and speculation, as well as the evil spirit and men with an agenda to discredit the Church.

Garabandal

I visited there on my way to Santiago.

And this is where Vigano goes off the rails ...

Jesuitism is alive and active in our day.

It flowered in the English Reformation

and thrives today.

A 'new' Church?

I don't care which academic posts links to the Vigano interview, or which devout commentator finds it credible and enlightening, it all reads like a chapter out of Anna Katherine Emmerich to me.  It's pretty much all conspiracy theory and unverified gossip.  Vigano cashes in on the ageless Jesuit-Masonic plot to overthrow the Church.  No wonder people who follow this nonsense are locked up in their own Windswept House phantasies, scared to death, stockpiling house scapulars and blessed candles.

"This is described in the book Infiltration by Dr. Taylor Marshall, so you may find some indication of this process there.

Then, I think it would be very much opportune to remind readers on this subject of the new Church what was published in April by Emeritus Pope Benedict on the project of founding a new church.

He said this would be a catastrophe. He was very severe on this point.

So what happened after Vatican II ended in 1965 was absolutely the opposite of a policy of continuity, which would have been the correct interpretation of the Vatican II documents.

Instead, there was another interpretation, of discontinuity, promoted by all the huge machine of media propaganda.

And, in a similar way, during this present pontificate, a similar media machinery, including photos of Pope Francis with Emeritus Pope Benedict, and so forth, has been used to argue that the “new paradigm” of Pope Francis is in continuity with the teaching of his predecessors.

But it is not so, it is a “new church”…

This phrase “new paradigm” is a strategy to cover up the true goal, because they do not want to say what exactly is covered by this word. For many, this word “paradigm” is something exotic, something sophisticated. Everyone is using it. But it is used to mislead, to deceive, suggesting a continuity without revealing that they are seeking a discontinuity… " - Vigano, Moynihan Letters, #48

Vigano even mentions - credits - Taylor Marshall's book, Infiltration.  Doesn't say much about Vigano's credibility for me.  Some day everyone is going to be surprised when the masks come off and the real conspirators are revealed in this farce.

Mother Teresa never said that... and John XXIII didn't cry all day after reading the Third Secret either ...

He thought it was the Octave of Pentecost and not Ordinary Time.

For years I have heard religious people insist that Mother Teresa condemned Communion in the hand ... turns out she didn't.  In fact, she once asked Fr. Rutler to set the record straight:

Mother did not want to be invoked in polemics. No sentimentalist, she ordered me to write a correction for a newspaper that had reported that she opposed Communion in the hand. - Crisis

Here are some more things Blessed Teresa never said: Quotes falsely attributed to Bl. Mother Teresa.

People make stuff up, or at best, exaggerate things they've witnessed or heard repeated by others.  They repeat it as if it were dogma - even if and when it contradicts what the Bishops have said or permitted.  Sometimes lay-mystics even make it part of their message.

Sometimes they repeat these stories to scare people into reverence or to shame and quilt them as bad Catholics destined to have their hands rot off at their wake...

Ever hear the one about the black box everyone would have in their homes through which the devil would enter?  As a kid, I first heard the prophecy attributed to St. Frances Cabrini. Later, after canonization, Mother Seton. I may be wrong, but it might go way back to some unknown ecstatic in the Swiss Alps. At any rate - I've never been able to verify the origins of the prophecy.  Before cell phones and computers, people thought it was the television, maybe before that it was the radio?

I've written about this stuff before.  My favorite  was from Fatima promoters before the Third Secret was revealed:  "Pope John the XXIII opened the Secret of Fatima in 1960 and cried all day."  That's not what happened.  He didn't share it with Khrushchev and Kennedy either.

The other one, Pope Paul VI wept on Pentecost Monday, when he realized there was not going to be an Octave of Pentecost any more. A bishop stated it as fact in his memoirs.

Then there is the report of what JPII supposedly said in 1980 at Fulda about the Third Secret of Fatima. It was roundly disputed at the time that he even said it - now it is claimed to be historically accurate. Oddly enough, Bl. John Paul never read the contents of the secret until after the 1981 assassination attempt. Yet the Fulda statement continues to be circulated as true.

I bet there are many sayings attributed to Padre Pio which may also be made up.  Pious people often make the mistake of accepting these statements as having more weight than Magisterial teaching and instruction.  They willingly believe a locutionist over proper ecclesial authority regarding the discipline of the sacraments.

H/T Mark Shea

Goodwill mysticism: Still promoting Vassula Ryden?

Ezkioga, Northern Spain

Don't forget all of the false apparitions of the early 1930's.

To consider any expression of the private revelations as dogma or propositions near of faith is always imprudent. - St. Annibale Maria Di Francia

Recently Charlie Johnston came under scrutiny by the Archbishop of Denver, who advised "the faithful to exercise prudence and caution in regards to Mr. Charlie Johnston’s alleged divine visions and messages."  The Archdiocese went so far as to declare: "Mr. Johnston will also not be approved as a speaker in the Archdiocese of Denver."

Mr. Johnston accepts the decision, laying some emphasis on the 'cautionary' tone regarding the prophetic dimension of his message, while noting that: "'They' explained that not being an “approved speaker” simply means I can’t use Church property in the Diocese as a venue."  Essentially, that about covers it and allows Charlie to continue his work.

Archbishop Aquila's concern is expressed in this statement:  "As has been demonstrated with other alleged apparitions, the danger exists of people placing greater faith in a prediction than in Christ’s words and promises."

I mention this precaution regarding Charlie Johnston after discovering there are still supporters and defenders of Vassula Ryden online, intent upon spreading her messages.  Catholics have been warned several times since 1995 against her 'doctrine', as summed up at the end of this CDF Notification:

Given the negative effect of Vassula Ryden’s activities, despite some positive aspects, this Congregation requests the intervention of the Bishops so that their faithful may be suitably informed and that no opportunity may be provided in their Dioceses for the dissemination of her ideas. Lastly, the Congregation invites all the faithful not to regard Mrs. Vassula Ryden’s writings and speeches as supernatural and to preserve the purity of the faith that the Lord has entrusted to the Church.
Vatican City, 6 October 1995. - Full text here.

I lifted that text from an excellent study of the self-proclaimed mystic, titled: Vassula Ryden - The Reasons for the Church's Negative Reaction, by Francois-Marie Dermine, O.P..  The article should be read in its entirety, it is very informative - not only regarding the Ryden case, but all such private revelations and apparitions which spring up here and there around the world, especially now while wars and rumors of war, and terrorism threatens from every side.   Even priests grasp onto this type of phenomena in times of great stress, some claiming locutions themselves.

Charity believes all things, hopes all things, but is not deceived.  One must be careful.  A kindly priest recently wrote a favorable piece on Vassula Ryden and her interview with the CDF, suggesting the problems pretty much have been resolved and any discernment is up to the local diocesan bishops.  (Perhaps similar to how Aquila reviewed the Charlie Johnston case?)  Yet the CDF Notification was not nearly as approving as the author of the post suggests here:

Following this successful dialogue, the Cardinal said that Vassula's answers were "a useful clarification" and insisted that her answers be printed in the books of her writings. - Source

There are so many 'ifs, ands, and buts' regarding private revelations and their supporters, who frequently cling to this stuff as if it were dogma, disputing clear statements made by the magisterium against such things, while they in turn manipulate words and phrases to suit their particular cult.  It seems to me worse today with media confusing remarks and statements made by the pope and bishops to suggest heresy and liberalism, opening the way for self-interested parties to bait ordinary believers into following dubious mystics, locutionists and seers.

Priests especially should be cautious, perhaps following the precautions of Saint Annibale Maria Di Francia:

“Conforming to prudence and sacred accuracy, people cannot deal with private revelations as if they were canonical books or decrees of the Holy See. Even the most enlightened persons, especially women, may be greatly mistaken in the visions, revelations, locutions, and inspiration. More than once the divine operation is restrained by human nature. For instance who could ratify in full all the visions of Emmerich and St. Brigid, which show evident discrepancies? I love very much the private revelations of holy persons, but never I accept them in full!" - Source

Faith is hard - the science of the Cross is tough going...


Even if an angel of light appears with a different Gospel - do not follow.