<http://bp0.blogger.com/_0bZ1KPLegkk/SI_EmsahvKI/AAAAAAAAHtg/sl5nyvtqV...>Father
Luis María Andreu

To Your Faithful, Lord

If Father Luis María Andreu did not die of illness, since no one knew of any
in him, then from what did he die?

Let us listen again to Mr. Fontaneda:
«Whenever my wife and I have discussed those scenes that so terribly
affected us, we felt a peace and at the same time a deep serenity. And we
are only able to come to one answer for the question: From what did Father
die? He died of joy!

Even though he passed in a fraction of a second from a completely normal
state to the state of a cadaver, a smile remained on his lips . . .

When I returned to Garabandal I heard what the girls said to me about Father
and understanding something of the ecstatic conversations in which they had
spoken of him and with him all the scenes of that sorrowful early morning of
August 9th in Reinosa held for me a special meaning, in which the Providence
of God and the Love of Mary played an important part.

This is the happiest day of my life, Father Luis had told me. I wanted to
ask him the meaning of that sentence, since I would think that for a priest the
happiest day would be that of his ordination to the priesthood or the day of
his first Mass; but I did not have the time. Could his words be an
announcement of his entrance into eternal happiness?

All this seems clear when we hear Father Royo, Truly the happiest day in
one's life is the day of coming into the arms of God.

And for Father Luis María Andreu, that day was August 9, 1961, at 4:20 in
the morning, returning from San Sebástian de Garabandal.»

__________

After all this, we can understand better the case of the first death of
Garabandal. The body of Father Luis could not sustain the truth and the joy
of what he had seen.

Have not the saints, the great favorites of God,confessed many times that
when seeing or hearing certain things about Him, they would have died of joy
or of pain, if the Lord had not come especially to their aid? It is clear
that Father Luis, left to his own strength by the mysterious disposition of
God, did not last more than a few hours with the truth and the joy of
Garabandal. And thus he was its first death. But he died with the sign of a
martyr, as he sealed the truth of his testimony with the laying down of his
life.(30)

His last words were very obligating and grave, leaving no solution except to
accept them, for they should be received with the respect owed to the testimony
of witnesses who give their life as proof of the truth of their words.

He gave his all to a cause and succumbed, but he lost nothing in pouring
himself out. As the preface in the ancient liturgy for the Mass of the
Dead states,
For to your faithful, O Lord, life is changed, not taken away; and when the
place of our earthly sojourn turns into dust, an eternal dwelling awaits us
in the heavens.

30. Martyr is a word of Green origin, meaning witness. The early church used
it to designate someone who gave public testimony to Christ, or confessed
his faith in Christ before the tribunal, even at the cost of his life.

"May the Lord grant all your prayers!" (Psalm 20)
Deacon John
http://www.google.com/profiles/deaconjohn1987