THE "ECSTATIC WALKS"

Backward marches over rocky paths.

See color YouTube Video below this frame.

For the same reason as for the "calls" and the "falls," the "ecstatic walks" are typical events of San Sebastian de Garabandal. Their purpose was to draw attention to the apparitions (ecstasies).

These walks were absolutely extraordinary; they consisted in the girls moving from place to place, sometimes at a very high speed. The visionaries, hand in hand, would move at a very rapid pace, without seeing anything of their itinerary. They did not stumble on the rocky roads they took, their eyes being fixed on the apparition guiding them. According to the children's explanations, they had the impression of being "settled comfortably" in a fixed position with respect to their vision.

Here two of the girls are walking backwards. They would proceed in this way up to the Pines. On the steep slope of this same calleja , the children walked on their knees, without ever bruising themselves or experiencing the slightest pain as they came in contact with the rocky surface of the land. During the walks, the children appeared to be moved by an interior force that made the witnesses unable to hold them back. The rapid pace of the visionaries could become a race . . . A word about their "range of vision": the girls saw nothing but the Apparition herself.

In one scene, Loli was alone in ecstasy, coming out of Conchita's home. She suddenly falls on her knees making a sharp noise. A few moments later, eyes fixed on heaven, arms outstretched, the upper body leaning forward, the pace of the visionary becomes more intense. It seems that she hardly touches the ground, as if she had "wings on her feet." The other three are not in ecstasy, they follow with difficulty.

At the end of these ecstatic walks, while the witnesses, even the most athletic ones, are deadbeat, Loli, on her part, shows no signs of fatigue. She is simply a little pale, but gives the impression of being calm.

[Excerpted from "Garabandal" Book, pages 81-83.].

One of the first signs of this being miraculous was the girls following Mary in an "Ecstatic state". The girls would walk at night, not only through the town without looking where they are stepping, eyes gazing upward, but more impressive was the ecstatic walks at night through the rocky cow paths, never falling, tripping or being injured. Here is the cow path in daylight, amazing !