She Went in Haste to the Mountain (Page 171)

[Deacon John Giglio]

The Angel instructed the girls in proper preparation . . .

Among the Marvels

We have previously seen how María Herrero de Gallardo wrote in her letter of «such marvels that it seemed to be a bottomless well from which they were pulling up a multitude of things.»

If the Miracle was the news of September, it was not the only thing of interest in that month. It is certain that the days of September, 1962 were some of the most eventful in the astounding evolution of Garabandal. This can be gathered from reading Fr. Valentín's notes for the month.

The Visionaries' Mystical Communions

Conchita and Loli received Communion from the Angel on all, or almost all, of the days on which they could not receive it from a priest. Mrs. Herrero de
Gallardo wrote about one of these Communions in a letter dated September 24th:

«The day that I was there, Conchita received Communion at 2:30 in the afternoon in front of the church door. A Jesuit from Cataluña, who saw it, told me about it. It had pleased him very much because the body, the hands, the eyes . . . had a manner of moving that was completely opposite to the agitated
gesticulations of hysteria . . .»(4)

This Jesuit priest must have been Fr. Argila (whom Dr. Ortíz mentions), and he must have come from Barcelona with the pastor of San Cucufate, Fr. Antonio Yllensa Borrás, and the neuropsychiatrist Dr. Ricardo Puncernau. Fr. Valentín
calls him P. Aguilar in his notes and says that on Saturday, September 22nd, he saw a Mystical Communion for the first time, and that «he was very much impressed».

Luis Navas, the lawyer from Palencia tells us of the same effect it had on him when he was finally able to view a Communion of this type on October 2nd, after ardently longing for it:

«A little before 6:30 in the morning, we set out for the church. It was still dark. A meter and a half from the doors, Loli fell on her knees and went into a trance. This was something that impressed me more than anything else I have seen in the visionaries. The devotion in making the sign of the cross, the drama of the tongue extending and then withdrawing, the movement of the throat as if she were swallowing something . . . The prayer of thanksgiving . . . Everything seemed so dramatic to me, as if deserving the greatest respect.»

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Speaking of this type of Communion, Father Valentín wrote on September 10th:

«The ecstasy usually lasts only a few minutes, but it is moving. The girl falls on her knees, softly says the “Confiteor", makes the sign of the cross, joins her hands on her chest, holds out her tongue; and it is seen perfectly how she swallows. She makes the sign of the cross again, and is heard to say in a low voice, “Soul of Christ, sanctify me . . ." Once again she makes the sign of the cross and is back in the normal state. It seems the prayers after Communion are said by the Angel.»

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What the pastor notes on September 22nd is interesting:

«The girls always keep the fast until the hour that they receive Communion — the fast according to the old custom.» (without eating or drinking anything after 12:00 midnight)

4. We have another valuable observation from a specialist in the matter (Dr. Puncernau):

«The entrance and the departure from the trance merits special attention.

They said that they had three calls . . .

They said, I have already had one call . . . I’ve had two calls . . . The length of time between the calls was extremely variable.

One time when I knew that they had two calls, I managed to talk with them, attempting to distract them . . . And especially to make them talk about something that interested them. In the middle of a sentence, they suddenly fell on their knees in the state of trance as if struck by lightning — in spite of being
observed to be interested in what they were discussing.

This drew my attention. This is not the normal way to enter into a hypnotic trance, especially if the person has not been conditioned to a sign or signal. Among the spectators I was never able to find such a sign. Or even to know of what it could consist.»