The Cosmic Warning and the Great Miracle on the Mountain

On June 18, 1961, in the hamlet of San Sebastián de Garabandal, a small village in Cantabria in northern Spain, four girls between eleven and twelve years old witnessed the apparition of a dazzling figure they identified as the Archangel Michael, followed weeks later by Our Lady of Mount Carmel. For four years, the girls experienced thousands of public trances in which they received a detailed roadmap for the end of modern times, consisting of three successive events: a universal "Warning" of cosmic origin, a visible and permanent "Miracle," and a catastrophic "Chastisement" if humanity does not change its ways. La prophecy describes the "Warning" as an astronomical and spiritual phenomenon that will be seen and felt simultaneously by all inhabitants of the planet. During this event, time will stand still and each individual will experience in their conscience the true state of their actions before God, a sort of particular judgment in life that will purify the world before the great miracle that will occur in the mountains of Garabandal.

The Warning, the Miracle, and the Chastisement

The account of the Garabandal apparitions details with precision the sequence of the final events. The Warning will arrive at a moment of great tribulation, when communism seems to have dominated the world and the Church is in a crisis so deep that priests will have difficulty celebrating Mass. It will be a visible impact in the sky, similar to the collision of two stars, which will not cause direct physical harm but will provoke immense panic due to the internal confrontation of each soul with its own sins. Pocos months after the Warning, the great Miracle will occur in the pines that crown the hamlet of Garabandal. The main visionary, Conchita González, knows the exact date and will announce it to the world eight days in advance. It will be a miracle visible to all who are in the village and the surrounding hills, the sick will be healed, and unbelievers will regain their faith. A permanent, supernatural, and indestructible sign will remain at the pines until the end of the world. If the world does not convert after these signs, the Chastisement will fall, described by the girls as a rain of fire that will consume creation.

The Origin in Rural Spain

The protagonists of this phenomenon were Conchita González, Mari Loli Mazón, Jacinta González, and Mari Cruz González, four girls from humble peasant families. San Sebastián de Garabandal was an isolated hamlet, without electricity or paved roads, where life was governed by working the land and traditional devotions. The girls' trances, which included ecstatic backward marches without stumbling, apparent levitations, and Conchita's visible communion with a host that appeared out of nowhere on her tongue, attracted thousands of doctors, priests, and onlookers from all over Europe. Las apparitions occurred in the midst of the Second Vatican Council, a period of openness and reform within the Catholic Church. The message of Garabandal, centered on sacrifice, penance, and the warning against the clergy's loss of faith, contrasted with the reformist optimism of the era, which generated strong resistance among the local bishops of the Diocese of Santander.

The Expectation of the Last Popes

One of the most famous prophecies of Garabandal concerns the succession of the pontiffs. Upon learning of the death of John XXIII in 1963, Conchita González stated that the Virgin had revealed to her that only three popes remained before the "end of times," clarifying that this did not mean the end of the world, but the conclusion of a historical epoch. The next three popes were Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II. La arrival of Benedict XVI and later Francis sparked heated debates among followers of Garabandal. Some interpreters maintained that John Paul I should not be counted due to the extreme brevity of his thirty-three-day pontificate, while others argued that the transition to the "end of times" effectively began with the 21st century and that the signs remain suspended over the current chronology.

The Passage of Time and the Pending Promise

The Catholic Church has not officially approved the Garabandal apparitions, but neither has it condemned them as false; the bishops of Santander have maintained a stance of neutrality and prudence, permitting private worship and pilgrimages to the site. The visionaries grew up, married, and most moved to the United States, keeping a low profile and reiterating the truth of what they experienced in their childhood. El skepticism grew following the passing of key individuals linked to the promises of the apparition. The most notable case was that of Joey Lomangino, a blind American man to whom the Virgin had reportedly promised that he would recover his sight on the day of the great Miracle; Lomangino died in 2014 without seeing the prediction fulfilled. Despite this, Conchita González, who currently resides in the United States, maintains that the Warning and the Miracle will occur just as they were revealed to her, and that the world still has time to avoid the fire of the Chastisement. Garabandal remains an enigma suspended in the mist of Cantabria, a promise of fire and light awaiting the appointed day when the sky will come to a complete standstill.