Miracles of the Gods: A New Look at the Supernatural (63 page)

at Carabandal in a decade or so.

The Church is crafty and does not mind waiting. Should that happen one day, Mari Cruz could say (or leave a deposition in her will) that she had to lie and retract on direct orders from heaven in order to

'test the faithful'. The other three maidens would be prepared as quasi-saints in their convents; they would pronounce the right words at the desired time.

Incidentally, inexplicable miraculous cures continue to take place at Carabandal as they did before.

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It has occurred to me that there is a contradiction even in the visions examined and checked by the Congregation of the Faith. The Blessed Virgin continually refers to the power conferred on her by God the Father or her son Jesus Christ. If she has this power and the pressing wish to be more widely worshipped by the faithful all over the world, why does she always show herself in isolated places and mostly to poor little creatures who can do so little to carry out her wishes?

Without the help of supernatural inspiration, I can think of a better occasion on which to satisfy her wish for publicity.

When on important church holidays the Pope pronounces the blessing urbi et orbl (the city [Rome] and the world) to a crowd of several hundred thousand in St. Peter's square, television stations transmit this highest act of ecclesiastical grace to all five continents. The Pope speaks from the church which was built over St. Peter's tomb. Could there possibly be a more effective scene for visions, if they really come from heaven and always seek out the elect? Is there not an excellent opportunity for granting the fulfilment of Mary's dearest wish?

I cannot savour the kernel of the sweet fruit of vision. It is bitter. I cannot accept the idea of the Blessed Virgin, of all people, going cap in hand for more people to revere and pray to her. Is it 'divine'

for her to threaten bluntly that her almighty son will destroy mankind if her wishes remain unfulfilled?

Does this kind of behaviour tally with the generally held ideas of God and his son, of their almighty power and goodness?

What goes on here? Do visions need mystery, in the sense of its original meaning, namely, a secret cult that is only accessible to the initiate and gives them a personal relationship to the godhead who is worshipped? H. U. von Balthasar has some pertinent words to say on the subject: Wherever man honours the rare, precious and holy, he removes it and sets it apart: he takes the sacred object away from the gaze of the public; he hides it in the cell of a sanctuary, in the half-light of a sacred room; he makes use of a fabulous legend to snatch it from the humdrum course of normal history; he surrounds it with mystery ... (14)

Mystery is always good value, that much is certain. The most harmless document becomes worth reading as soon as it is stamped Top Secret. The simple man wants to share in the 'secret', he is driven to belong to a circle of initiates, he wants to be 'in'. Mystery religions, secret societies, secret agents