Garabandal and the word of God

Veni + PAX 

Hail Mary, Queen of Peace On the third Sunday of Ordinary Time, we celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God. Catholic theology of Revelation starts from a fundamental fact: Revelation is not primarily a set of propositions, but a salvific event in which God communicates Himself in history. This communication reaches its fullness and definitiveness in Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of the Father, so that, after Him, nothing can be added to the constitutive Revelation (revelatio publica) entrusted to the Church (cf. Dei Verbum, 2–4). 

The dogmatic consequence of this principle is clear: every subsequent manifestation of a mystical or visionary character necessarily falls within the scope of so-called private revelations, whose function is not to expand the content of faith, but to assist in its historical reception. The Magisterium accurately states that such revelations "do not, however, belong to the deposit of faith" and that their role is "to help us live better" the definitive Revelation at a given time (Catechism, 67). Thus, the theological discernment of Marian apparitions cannot be conducted based on the extraordinary nature of the phenomenon, but on the intrinsic conformity of its message with the already revealed Word of God. The ultimate criterion is not the intensity of the experience, but its objective submission to the Verbum Dei as transmitted in Scripture and interpreted in the living Tradition of the Church. It is within this horizon that a reading of the Garabandal apparitions is proposed, not as a source of new revealed content, but as a possible spiritual mediation that refers to the Word, particularly through the figure of Mary as the theological locus of listening to and receiving Revelation. 

Catholic Mariology recognizes in Mary not a peripheral element of Revelation, but a unique theological locus in which the Word of God finds full human acceptance. The Annunciation should not be understood merely as an edifying narrative, but as a decisive event in the economy of salvation: the Word enters history through the free assent of faith. The structure of Luke's account (Lk 1:26–38) reveals that divine motherhood is not an isolated biological fact, but the fruit of obedient listening. Mary's fiat is not simple resignation, but conscious adherence to the revealed plan. Therefore, the patristic tradition could affirm, with full dogmatic legitimacy, that Mary conceived the Word first through faith (fides conceptiva) before conceiving Him according to the flesh. This perspective is crucial for any reflection on Marian apparitions. 

Mary is never an autonomous source of revelation; she is an icon of the Church in the fundamental attitude of faith, defined by listening to, welcoming, and guarding the Word (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). Where Mary is correctly understood, the Word remains central; Where the Word is relativized, Mariology is distorted. The phrase from Cana — "Do whatever He tells you" (John 2:5) — is not merely a moral exhortation, but a true hermeneutical principle. Mary does not direct it toward herself, but toward obedience to the Word of her Son. Any spirituality that claims to be Marian must be evaluated in the light of this structural criterion. The spiritual contents attributed to the apparitions of Garabandal are not organized as a new doctrinal body, nor do they present revelatory claims. On the contrary, they are characterized by a reiterated insistence on themes that belong to the core of biblical faith: conversion, penance, sacramental fidelity, the centrality of the Eucharist, and responsibility before salvation. 

From a theological point of view, this allows for a first relevant observation: the function attributed to Mary in Garabandal is not revelatory, but referential. She does not communicate unprecedented truths, but refers to the Word already known and frequently neglected. This dynamic corresponds exactly to how Scripture understands the prophetic function: not to create a new truth, but to recall, denounce, and lead back. In this sense, the Garabandal experience can be interpreted as a subordinate spiritual mediation, whose theological intelligibility depends on its relationship with the normative Word. Its spiritual value does not reside in the prediction of future events, but in the force with which it places the believer before the objective demands of the Gospel. The insistence on conversion and penance constitutes one of the most significant elements of the messages attributed to Garabandal. Theologically, such insistence can only be understood in the light of the prophetic structure of the Word of God. Since the Old Testament, the Word manifests itself as a critical instance that unveils sin, denounces infidelity, and calls for a return to the Covenant.

Metanoia is not an accessory theme, but a constitutive category of biblical faith. Jesus inaugurates his public mission with an imperative of conversion (cf. Mk 1:15), indicating that the Kingdom is not only a promise, but a requirement. Where conversion is silenced, the Gospel is mutilated. In this context, the penitential appeal present in Garabandal can be read not as alarmist rhetoric, but as an updating of a structural dimension of the Word. Scripture does not anesthetize the conscience; it awakens it. As the Letter to the Hebrews affirms, the Word "judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb 4:12). A spirituality that eliminates the gravity of sin contradicts the internal logic of Revelation. Another fundamental axis of Garabandal's spirituality is the centrality of the Eucharist. From a theological point of view, this element finds its ultimate foundation in the doctrine of the Incarnation. The Word does not remain merely a proclaimed word; He becomes flesh and remains sacramentally present in history. Johannine theology inseparably articulates Word, faith, and sacrament. In the Bread of Life discourse (John 6), the acceptance of the Word culminates in Eucharistic communion. Faith that does not lead to the Eucharist remains incomplete; the Eucharist that does not spring from listening to the Word becomes empty ritualism. 

Mary, as Mother of the Incarnate Word, occupies a unique place in this sacramental economy. All authentic Marian spirituality leads to reverence before the Eucharistic mystery, for it recognizes that there the Word is offered in a full and real way. The Eucharistic insistence of Garabandal, read within this context, manifests an objective theological coherence with the faith of the Church. The eschatological dimension present in the teachings associated with Garabandal must be understood in the light of the biblical theology of judgment. Christian Revelation simultaneously affirms God's mercy and the seriousness of human freedom. Judgment is not a negation of mercy, but its condition of truth. Jesus' preaching on the Last Judgment (cf. Mt 25) reveals that history has an end and that human decisions have eternal weight. Forgetting this dimension generates a diluted faith, incapable of sustaining moral responsibility. By recalling the real possibility of losing salvation, the spirituality of Garabandal aligns itself with a frequently obscured dimension of the Word of God. Finally, the constant reference to the Church and the priesthood must be situated within the context of the ecclesiology of the Word. 

Revelation is entrusted to the Church; it is in her that the Word is authentically interpreted, celebrated, and transmitted. Mary does not place herself outside this structure, but within its deepest interior, as Mother and figure of the Church. Prayer for priests does not express institutional suspicion, but awareness of the ecclesial mediation of the Word and the sacraments. To love the Word implies loving the concrete Church, with its lights and wounds, without naiveté, but also without rupture. Mary adds nothing to the Word of God; she receives it, guards it, and delivers it. In light of the theology of Revelation, the apparitions of Garabandal can only be legitimately understood as a subordinate spiritual mediation, whose eventual value lies in its capacity to lead the faithful back to obedient listening to the Gospel. The decisive criterion is not the extraordinary, but fidelity to the Word. Where Mary leads to conversion, to the Eucharist, to the seriousness of Christian life and to ecclesial communion, she remains faithful to her mission in the economy of salvation. As in Cana, her word remains only one: to obey Him who is the definitive Word of the Father. From the little City of Mary, 

With prayers and my priestly blessing 

+ Fr. Viana 

Garabandal Apostolate January 2026