This is not an easy book to read, and I only skimmed it*. I visited Garabandal in 2007, only one of two Marian apparition sites I have visited. I went on a pilgrimage with a friend that year to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fátima. After that we went by bus to other sites and eventually to the little mountain village of Garabandal, which stood in stark contrast to the larger town of Fátima. While Fátima is anything but commercialized, and thank goodness is nothing like a large city (and I pray it never becomes one!) it is significantly larger than Garabandal (at least when I visited it in 2007) which seemed to me to have retained its 1960s simplicity and old-world charm. Perhaps, since Garabandal was never officially approved, it has managed to escape becoming a tourist attraction.
Mr. Flynn ties the many 20th and 21st century Marian apparitions together, interspersing them with some general history of those years as well as specific information about Communism, Spain, and Free Masonry. It is a confusing narrative at times and often depressing. Perhaps if I hadn't skimmed it, it would have been less confusing, but I don't think I would have finished it any other way as the state of the world just brings me down. I don't know how God can put up with us or an author can bring himself to write about such things. 😢
My Jesus, mercy!
*That's why I am not listing it as a book 'read' but only as a 'reference' book so it will not count into my total of books read in 2024.