In November of 1988, back in her town of Cuenca, the Blessed Mother revealed to
the visionary Patricia "Paci" Talbot the date of the great chastisement, telling her that again she
could not reveal this to anyone.
Something of this magnitude could not help escape the attention of the
media, and church officials. Patricia, obedient to the Church, went to the
Curia on the fifth of December to seek the authorization of the Bishop that
the people might gather in an open place to pray the Rosary as Mary had
requested.
The Bishop's help came in a way Patricia had not expected, for
he told her that he would not sanction such a gathering, and would
recommend that all priests and nuns in the diocese not attend. However,
the "lay" people were free to come and pray without sanction of the Church.
This was difficult for Patricia, but obedient to the Bishop, she followed
his instructions.
In December of 1988, those family and close friends who were with her
noted during an apparition something different. This time, Patricia began
to speak, but without her, Cuencano accent. Later, to their amazement,
they realized that it was not strictly Patricia speaking, but the Blessed
Mother through her. When her ecstasy ended, Patricia was totally unaware
of what had happened, and did not remember the words she had spoken.
From the beginning Patricia had made a small altar or shrine in her
bedroom where she arranged pictures and statues. In January 1989, these
pictures and statues began exuding oil, and droplets of blood formed on the
crucifix. Regarding this phenomena, Our Lady told Patricia on February 1,
1989:
"The Father has allowed the grace of the holy oil, and my tears have
been shed for the ingratitude of my little children due to the lack of
unity, lack of love, and because each nation opens its doors to evil and to
its own destruction. Love one another, children and do not hurt the
Father. I am the Guardian of the Faith."
In 1989, Patricia and Bernardita Jerves de Ugalde, an older model who had been
entrusted by Paci's mother to take her under her wing, began to look yet again for the place
pleasing to the Blessed Mother where her little ones might gather. They
traveled to El Cajas, high in the Andes Mountains at an elevation of 11,000
feet. Finding a place where there was a rock, they knelt in prayer,
seeking a confirmation that this would be the place where Our Lady wanted
the people to come. In prayer, Patricia felt the wind on her face, and
looking up beheld the Blessed Virgin and was immediately in ecstasy. Our
Lady said to Patricia:
"My daughter, you have sought long enough and you
have finally found the place. In this holy place, I will pour forth my
blessings on all the pilgrims who come to me…"
Our Lady asked that the area be fenced off and that "the Garden" be
reserved as a holy place, a sanctuary. She said the garden would be a
little piece of Heaven, and only those she invited should come into it. On
August 5th, Jesus appeared to Patricia, which was not the first time. He
said:
"She is My mother. Love the Father more than anything else. Love
My mother because she will take you to My heart. Tell all of them that I
love them. Tell them all to convert faithfully, humbly, with simple
hearts…I want you to pray the Way of the Cross and the Rosary by foot..."
All of the Blessed Mother's messages to Patricia exhort us to prayer and
to conversion of heart. Over and over, Our Lady tells us that the secrets,
the great chastisement which is set to befall the world, can be mitigated,
part of it even stopped, but that this depends completely on our response
to Her messages. God will never overstep our free will. Are we then
willing to respond? Are we willing to review in our hearts where we stand?
Are we willing to stand for the truth, to be true followers of Jesus
Christ, or are we going to stand by mocking the apparitions and the
messages, thus causing great sorrow to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the
Immaculate Heart of Mary?
The many messages given through Patricia by the Blessed Mother are a
clear, concise account of the sinfulness of our world, and the sure remedy
to off-set satan's rule. They are the same messages as given to the
visionaries in Medjugorje and to others throughout the world. Pray, fast,
sacrifice and do penance. Convert our hearts. Receive the sacraments.
Pray the rosary.
The messages are straightforward examples of the infinite Love of God for
all of His children, and the love of His Mother for all mankind and of Her
desire that we be united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Her Son. Over and
over she pleads for us to return to the right path, and she weeps because
we reject Her messages, scoff at the apparitions and at the chosen
instruments of her words to all her children. Many signs have been given
to authenticate the apparitions such as the scent of incense and roses, and
the particularly striking change in Patricia's voice as the Blessed Mother
speaks through her. The apparitions in Ecuador are particularly striking
for the content of the messages, the "thoroughness" of Our Lady's words
conveyed through Patricia to all her children.
While Patricia has signed a"vow of silence" as asked for by the Bishop, and is therefore unable to
speak publicly about any of the messages, she is a living example of the
very presence of Our Blessed Mother among us, and of the infinite Love and
Mercy of God, for this beautiful young woman with a successful worldly
career clearly awaiting her, has given her life to marriage, and to the
service of the poor. Her life has changed completely. She is intensely
spiritual and devoted to living the messages in her own life, being
therefore an example to all of what Our Lady is asking and why.
The state of our world is such that those who are open to the Holy Spirit
can surely see those grave dangers, which threaten us, and the growing
evil, which spreads upon the earth. We must put aside the transitory
things of this earthly life and concentrate on our souls, on eternal life
with God in Heaven. Mary, our Mother, has come to lead us back into the
Light, that we might be saved. Yet as Our Blessed Mother has said so
often, "the choice is ours."
We recommend you read "I AM THE GUARDIAN OF THE FAITH" by Sister Isabel Bettwy from Franciscan University Press (from where the photos in the graphics version of today's
front page were taken) and then make your choice
once again, for this superbly written book clearly sets forth the urgency
of our times and the need we all have to convert our hearts.