Padre Pio's letter to the visionaries of Garabandal

On March 3, 1962 the four young visionaries, Conchita, Mari Loli, Jacinta and Mari Cruz received an anonymous letter to San Sebastian of Garabandal, as reported by Dr. Celestino Ortiz, a reliable witness who is mentioned by Father Eusebio Garcia de Pesquera in his book "She was frantically at the Mountain": "Félix López, an old pupil of the Superior Seminary of Derio (Bilbao), currently a professor at the Garabandal school, was with some people in Conchita's kitchen. The girl received a letter she could not understand and asked Fèlix to translate it. It was written in Italian and Felix said, "It seems to be written by Padre Pio." Conchita asked him if he knew his address because he wanted to reply to thank him.
After writing it, they left it on the kitchen table, without folding it. After a while Conchita went into ecstasy and prayed the Rosary. When he returned to himself, Felix asked her: "Did you ask Our Lady if the letter was from Padre Pio?". "Yes and he said something to me that I only have to say to him." The girl went up to her room and returned shortly afterwards with a handwritten sheet of paper. In front of everyone he put the letter in the envelope where the professor had already written the address. The letter that Conchita had received, without signature or sender, but with the Italian stamp, said thus:

My dear girls:
At nine in the morning, the Blessed Virgin recommended that I say these words to you: “Oh, blessed little girls of San Sebastian of Garabandal! I promise you that I will be with you until the end of the centuries and that you will be with me in the end of time and later together with Me in the glory of Heaven. " I am attaching a copy of the Holy Rosary of Fatima, which Our Lady asked me to send you. The Rosary was composed by the Virgin and must be made known for the salvation of sinners and for the preservation of humanity by the terrible punishments with which the Good God threatens her. I give you some advice: Pray and have others pray because the world is facing perdition. They do not believe in you or in your conversations with the White Lady; they will do it when it is too late.

On February 9, 1975, the magazine NEEDLES (now GARABANDAL) published an interview with Conchita during which they asked her about this alleged letter written by Padre Pio:
P: Conchita, do you remember anything about that letter?
Conchita: I remember receiving a letter addressed to me and the other three girls, Jacinta, Loli and Mari Cruz. It was not signed and I put it in my pocket until I saw the Madonna that day. When it appeared to me I showed her the letter and asked who had sent it to us. The Virgin said it had been Padre Pio. I didn't know who he was and then I didn't ask for anything else. After the apparition I told the people about the letter; a seminarian who was present told me about Padre Pio and where he was. Then she wrote him a letter saying that I would have liked to meet him if he could have visited my country. He sent me a short letter saying, "Do you think he can go out for the fireplace?" I was only 12 years old and at that time I didn't know anything about convents.

Conchita's visit to Father Pío

In February 1967, Conchita arrived in Rome with her mother, a Spanish priest, Father Luis Luna, Professor Enrico Medi and with Princess Cecilia die Borbone-Parma. She had been called by Cardinal Ottaviani, prefect of the Holy Office, today called the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. During this visit Conchita had a private audience with Pope Paul VI, during which only five people were present with the Pope. We can count on the valid testimony of Professor Medi, who at that time was president of the European Atomic Energy Association as well as a friend of the Pope and was one of the five present. Taking advantage that Conchita had to wait a day before meeting with Cardinal Ottaviani, Professor Medi suggested that she go to San Giovanni Rotondo to see Padre Pio.

This is what Conchita herself tells to NEEDLES magazine, in 1975:

“We all agreed so we left with Professor Medi's rented car. We arrived around nine in the evening and were told that we could not see Padre Pio until the following morning, at 5:00 am Mass.

Before Mass, Father Luna and the Professor went to Sacristy and later told me that Father Luna had reported to Padre Pio that the Princess of Spain was there to meet him. Padre Pio would have replied: "I don't feel well and I will be able to see her only later". Professor Medi then said: “There is also another person who wishes to meet you. Conchita wants to talk to her. " “Conchita of Garabandal? Come at 8 in the morning. "

They took us to a small room, a cell with a bed, a chair and a small bedside table. I asked Padre Pio if this was his room, if he was sleeping there and he replied: "Oh, no. You can't see my room. This is a rich room. " At the time I didn't know the degree of holiness of Padre Pio, now I know. I was very young then, I was 16 years old.

P: Who was in the room with you?
Only my mother, Father Luna and a priest from the Convent who spoke Spanish and took many photos. I don't remember if there were also the Princess and the Professor.
P: Can you tell us what was talked about during your visit to Padre Pio?
I remember something. I remember that the priest who had taken the photo asked Father Pio for permission to do so. He replied: "You have taken since you arrived".
I remember that I had the crucifix kissed by Our Lady and I said to him: “This is the Cross kissed by the Most Holy Virgin. Would you like to kiss her? " Padre Pio then took the Christ and placed it on the palm of his left hand, on the stigmata. Then he took my hand, put it on the crucifix, closing the fingers of that hand on my hand; with his right hand he blessed mine and the cross. He did the same with my mother when she said please to bless her rosary, also kissed by the Virgin. I was on my knees the whole time I was in front of him. He held my hand, with the cross, as he spoke to me.

Father Pío and the Miracle

The events of Garabandal involved another person besides Padre Pio. On the night of August 8, 1961, Br. Luis Andreu SJ had a vision of the Miracle as he observed the ecstatic visionaries in the pines on a hill near the village of Garabandal. Andreu died the following morning while returning home. He saw the great miracle before he died.

One of the prophecies of Our Lady of Garabandal concerning the Miracle said that the Holy Father would see him from wherever he was found and so would be also for Padre Pio. When she died in 1968, Conchita was perplexed, wondering why the prophecy had apparently not come true. A month later she was reassured and also received a beautiful gift.
In October 1968 he received a telegram from Lourdes, coming from a woman from Rome whom Conchita knew. The telegram asked Conchita to go to Lourdes where she would receive a letter from Padre Pio addressed to her. Father Alfred Combe and Bernard L'Huillier of France were in the country at the time and agreed to take Conchita and her mother to Lourdes. They left that same night. In a hurry, Conchita forgot her passport. Arriving at the border they were stopped for 6 hours and only thanks to a special passport, signed by the Military Governor of Irun, did they manage to cross the French border.
In Lourdes they met with the emissaries of Padre Pio from Italy, among them was Father Bernardino Cennamo. Father Cennamo was not really from San Giovanni Rotondo, but belonged to another monastery. He was a person whom Padre Pio and Father Pellegrino knew well; the latter took care of Padre Pio in the last years of his life and transcribed a note for Conchita under the dictation of Padre Pio himself.
Father Cennamo told Conchita that he had not believed in the Apparitions of Garabandal until Padre Pio asked him to give her the veil that would cover his face after his death. The veil and the letter were delivered to Conchita who asked Father Cennamo: "Why did the Virgin tell me that Padre Pio would see the Miracle and instead died?". The Father replied: “He saw the Miracle before he died. He told me himself. "
Back home Conchita decided to tell what happened to a friend who was in Madrid. Again we refer to the 1975 NEEDLES interview:
“I had the veil before my eyes as I wrote when, suddenly, the whole room was filled with fragrance. I had heard of the fragrance of Padre Pio but I had never given importance to it. The whole room was wrapped in a perfume so strong that I started to cry. It was the first time that had happened to me. It happened after his death.