I’m back from my trip to Garabandal, and I was in the village from Sunday to Thursday of last week. It was a beautiful and holy pilgrimage, and I highly recommend it as a place to visit. I went with a group of about fifty, and each morning we had Mass, and different events each day, such as Stations of the Cross, or the rosary. The pine grove above the village where some of the apparitions took place is a lovely and peaceful place to pray. The village is very quiet, and there is not much in the way of pilgrims who visit there. Small numbers come and go constantly. The weather was good, and the days were warm and calm. Behind the pine grove is a mountain, with a rosary trail up along the way, so that by the time one reaches the cross near the summit, all twenty mysteries of the rosary have been recited. The view from here is really impressive. The houses in the village are small and quaint, much as they were at the time of the apparitions. The population is small (less than 200) and dwindling all the time, with very few young people, who migrate to places like Santander for work. Major works are being done on the road from Cosio up to Garabandal. The road is (providentially) being widened as we speak, and the machines are working on it each day. This is all the more startling given the current recessionary status of the Spanish economy. It was beautiful to pray at the pines at dawn and at dusk, when all one can hear is the clanging of cowbells on the animals scattered throughout the surrounding mountains. The air is pure and clear, as is the water. Our group were well fed, staying in the only hotel (a small one) in the village, where we were looked after by the sister of the late Mari Loli, one of the visionaries, who died two years ago. View from our hotel facing the village: One of the things that struck me was how small and insignificant the whole place seemed, given all that we’ve read and said about it. It’s like a little bomb of graces, ready to explode throughout the world. It was hard to believe I was actually here as I sat at the pines, and many members of my group felt the same. The pines is nestled on a bluff above the village, which acts as a stage, set for the Great Miracle. We were told that a follower of the apparitions once estimated that as many as 25 million people could fill the surrounding mountains to view the spectacle. The sign of course, would be left at the pines. Interestingly, our group leader relayed to me one evening a story about a small number of people over the years (one of whom was an Irishman) who have, in mystical experiences at the pines, were said to have seen the permanent sign. The Irishman, I was told, said that he saw the sign as he prayed at the pines; that the sign was beautiful beyond description, that it hovered high in the air above the pines, and looked like a sort of crystal apparatus (it was difficult for him to name what it was) and this apparatus gave off all the colours of the rainbow. Inside this transparent apparatus was a large round host, pulsating and revolving slowly. Great light streamed from the host. We visited the houses of the visionaries, none of whom live in the village anymore. Two of them are married (Conchita and Jacinta) and living in the US with their families. Jacinta returned to Garabandal in June for the 50th anniversary of the first apparition of the angel. Conchita’s aunt Maximina still lives in the village, and is in possession of a crucifix kissed by Our Lady, that Conchita used during the apparitions. I and my group got to venerate one such crucifix during our stay there. Garabandal is so quiet, it’s the perfect place for a retreat pilgrimage. An appreciation of scenery is an added bonus. The villagers are very friendly towards pilgrims, and there are two small shops in the village selling religious items, and some English books which are interesting to read, providing more insights into the apparitions. The village church is under repairs at the moment, as a new roof is being put on it, so we had Mass in the adjouning community hall, which is beautifully adorned with some of the furnishings and statues from the church, so that it looks more permanent than temporary. A number of visiting priests passed through during our stay also.
Sean- Thank you for the update about your trip and the photos... It sounds like it was a rewarding journey for you!
Fantastic Sean - the graces of your pilgrimage are obvious in your beautiful post, which uplifted my soul and filled my mind with wonderful holy thoughts and desires: The Miracle sounds just wonderful, an undeserved grace for a sinful and Godless world -- how I desire to be there on the day of the miracle if [as we say in Ireland] 'God spares me' .
sounds like a truly blessed trip Sean! Thank you for sharing, and the photo's. I don't know much about Garabandal, but you certainly make it sound like a very peaceful place. Amazing that they are widening the roads without the demand there yet (in terms of number of cars). Very interesting indeed!
Sean, I am so thrilled for you! The line from your post which touched me the most was: One of the things that struck me was how small and insignificant the whole place seemed, given all that we’ve read and said about it. It’s like a little bomb of graces, ready to explode throughout the world. It has been said that Garabandal will be forgotten before the time of the Warning. In some sense, Medjugorje has overshadowed it. It is simple and obscure, yet silently, joyfully expectant with its fulfillment near at hand! Maranatha!
Sean, thank you for sharing your experiences and especially your photos with us. It's lovely to have a guided tour such as yours. Aviso had also talked about the road being widened and completed soon. It is interesting isn't it, that they would put priority on it. What a blessing you were able to go and thank you so much for your gift of sharing.
Sean, thank you for that wonderful account of your pilgrimage. Aviso has been telling us of the widening of the roads, and that it is almost done. That description of the permanent sign is beautiful, hopefully we will be able to see it for ourselves one day. Sounds just a little bit like one photo I took at Medjugorje, but infinately more beautiful and three-dimensional! Sounds like a wonderful place to go! So much solitude and peace there!
Yup -it amazed me too. I didn't see the incredible orb until after the picture was on my camera, as it was lost in the glare to my naked eyes. I was just taking what I thought was a gorgeous shot of the sun through some low tree branches. I was sitting on a rock and looked up and saw this beautiful sun shining through the branches, not really spinning, just brilliant. So I took a few photos. And no, that is definitely not the moon perched so deliberately and pefectly above the sun in Medjugorje. It was just the sun there, and me snapping photos with my digital camera as we sat at the top of Apparition Hill, praying and pondering and thanking our Blessed Mother for bringing us to this incredible place.
The easiest way to get there would be to take a Ryanair flight (March - October) from Dublin to Santander, which is about an hour and a bit from Garabandal. You could either rent a car at the airport or take a taxi to Garabandal. I went with a pilgrimage group so we had a chartered coach.
Aviso said there was very little English spoken in the village so you may have to bone up on Spanish.
