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Fernando García Linares

Fernando García Linares plays the role of the brigadier Juan Álvarez Seco. García was born in Toledo, Spain and is married to Sagrario Serrano, who plays the role of Mrs. Carmen, the brigadier’s faithful and serene wife.

When García was selected for this role, he felt incapable of realizing it. He studied Economics, and never before in his life had he been involved in something like this. However, he understood that it was Our Mother, the Virgin Mary, who was asking him to do it, and he could not say no to Her. For that reason, he dedicated himself body and soul to the project. He prayed with his whole heart, uniting his voice to the prayer of the entire team throughout the days of filming, “Mother, make this movie transmit your blessing.”

The brigadier Juan Álvarez Seco was one of the main witnesses of the apparitions in San Sebastián de Garabandal. As the head of the Rionansa barracks, he followed the amazing events of the smallest village of his demarcation very closely.

Belén Garde

Belén Garde is from Madrid and studied Education. She enjoys teamwork and stands out for her communicative abilities. Although she is a very extroverted young woman, the secret of her heart belongs to Jesus Christ.

Garde was aware of the responsibility she took on when she accepted the role of Conchita González, one of the four young visionaries of the apparitions of San Sebastián de Garabandal. She immediately put herself in the Virgin Mary’s hands, convinced that this film was Hers, and that She would show Herself through such poor instruments. The fact that the daily shooting schedule revolved around Mass and Eucharistic adoration was crucial for Garde because it helped her never to forget why and for whom everything was being done.

One of the challenges that Garde and the other three actresses had to face was the attempt to imitate the postures and movements of the visionaries during the ecstasies. Garde experienced in first person how those forced postures ended up taking their toll on her back.

Rafael Samino

Rafael Samino was born in Extremadura, Spain, but grew up in Toledo. His wife, Esmeralda Pérez, plays the role of Aniceta in the film. They have six children and have been married for twenty-seven years.

Samino was overjoyed when he was selected to play the role of Fr. Valentín, the parish priest of San Sebastián de Garabandal. Ever since he heard about Garabandal, even before his college years, he felt strongly attracted to Fr. Valentín's figure and the way he handled the apparitions. From the beginning, Samino felt very comfortable playing the role of the simple village priest.

During the apparitions, Fr. Valentín Marichalar was the parish priest in San Sebastián de Garabandal and the neighboring village, Cosío. He received news of the girls’ first ecstasies with understandable suspicion. Nevertheless, he endeavored to follow the course of the events with prudence, interrogating the girls and gathering proof and reports, which he sent the diocesan authorities promptly. While he avoided making declarations that could interfere with the official investigations, he could not but help exclaim, “So far, it seems that it's all from God!”

David Cruz

David Cruz is an aeronautical engineer. The Lord has gifted him with a deep, refined voice that he has unconditionally placed at the service of evangelization through the media. But it is one thing to do a voice-over, and quite another to be an actor. He had no experience in the world of cinema, so he was hoping to collaborate with a “simple” role. The surprise came when he was asked to represent one of the bishops. But he did not back down, and did the best he could to prepare himself. In doing so, he learned important lessons that have truly helped him in his spiritual life.

Cruz played the role of Bishop Lucio Alfaro, a fictional character who represents the reaction of the Church in the Diocese of Santander to the news of the events taking place in San Sebastián de Garabandal. Bishop Alfaro did not think that what was happening in the small village could be anything more than a “children’s game” that the clumsy parish priest did not know how to stop. He put together an Investigating Committee to study the case, and in line with the Committee's reports, tried to put an end to the "spectacle" in San Sebastián de Garabandal. 

Javier Paredes

Javier Paredes is married and is the father of seven children. He loves the Virgin Mary very much, and for some time now, he has studied and reflected—as a historian—on the way Her apparitions are affecting our intricate contemporary history.

When asked to participate in the movie, Paredes gladly accepted for two reasons: first, he had never before been involved in an adventure like this; second, he thinks that it is about time that somebody should make a movie about such an important event.

In the movie, Paredes plays the role of Bishop Jose Ortega, a fictional character who does not represent any particular bishop in the history of Garabandal, but rather summarizes the official position of the hierarchy from 1962 until the eighties. Bishop Ortega, convinced beforehand of their falsehood, will face the problem that the so-called apparitions created for him by trying to put an end to the events in a definitive and decisive way.

Enrique Carrasco

Enrique Carrasco, an expert in IT Systems, is married and the father of four children. For him, this film has been a miracle of Garabandal, carried out thanks to Our Blessed Mother’s blessing and the deep unity that reigned within the crew. This unity was achieved in spite of the austerity and tight circumstances during the shooting process, one example being the shortage of chairs for everyone to sit down at lunch. One of his daughters, Teresa, plays the role of Mari Cruz.

Carrasco, in turn, plays the role of Dr. Luis Morales, psychiatrist and chief physician of the Investigating Committee during the apparitions. Quite sure of himself and of science, and convinced that his knowledge of science could explain everything, he maintained a negative posture toward the phenomena. Nonetheless, during a conference given at the Cultural Center in Santander on May 30, 1983 with the permission of Bishop Juan Antonio del Val Gallo, who had also been a member of the Committee, Dr. Morales retracted his previous incredulity, confessing that his reports were influenced by his prejudices.

Alberto Bárcena

Alberto Bárcena is from Madrid, married for twenty-six years, and father of two. Graduate of Law and Doctor in Contemporary History, he is known for his brilliant intellectual work and the depth of his studies.

Bárcena plays the role of Fr. Francisco Vergara in the movie, an overly rationalist priest who is closed to the possibility of supernatural phenomena. Vergara is a ficticious character who represents the attitude of the Investigating Committee brought together by the Bishop to study what was happening in Garabandal.

Bárcena humbly accepted his difficult role, although we know that it was hard for him. He tried his best to not judge his character. He saw his difficult role as a service to Our Blessed Mother and as a way to request an in-depth study of what really happened in Garabandal.

Esmeralda Pérez

Esmeralda Pérez is married to Rafael Samino, who plays Fr. Valentín in the movie. She is a mother of six children, and carries out her work as social educator. She considers her participation in this movie as an honor, as a way of collaborating with Our Mother, the Blessed Virgin to spread Garabandal’s messages.

In the film, Pérez plays the part of Aniceta, Conchita’s mother, and it was an extraordinary experience for her. Aniceta represents the parents of the four visionaries, with their doubts, sufferings, joys, insights, hopes, and contradictions. It was easy for Pérez, who is a mother like them, to put herself in their shoes and value their very important role amidst the events that sometimes overwhelmed them. 

Aniceta González was widowed several years before the apparitions began. Conchita was the youngest of her children and the only girl. Like the other girls’ families, Aniceta soon found herself in everyone’s conversations, criticized, judged, tested, and the object of constant mocks. She simply did not know what to think of what was happening to her daughter. Aniceta suffered so much that she said shortly before her death, “If I didn’t go mad, it was because the Virgin Mary helped me, because it was enough to make you go mad.”

Manuel Gómez

Manual Gómez lives in Cuenca, Spain. He is married to Carmen, who also participated in the film. While he has many occupations, the one that stands out most is that of restoring works of art. In fact, his conversion took place guided by the hand of the Virgin Mary while restoring her statue in a small hermitage when he was twenty-eight years old. He heard of the apparitions in San Sebastian de Garabandal from a priest who helped him in his conversion process. For that reason, he accepted the offer to participate in the movie with enthusiasm, as he had always kept the messages of the Virgin Mary in Garabandal close to his heart.

Gómez plays the role of Pepe Díez, a resident of San Sebastián de Garabandal. Pepe knew the girls and their families very well. Upon hearing for the first time what the girls said, he did not believe it. He even threatened them by saying that the Civil Guard would take them to jail if they kept on lying. But, as Pepe saw what was happening, he began to change his mind and soon became a faithful and determined defender of the apparitions.

Juan Romero

Juan Romero holds a master's degree in Medieval History. He is married and the father of two children. His wife, Cristina, also participated in the movie. In front of the cameras, she played the role of one of the villagers, and behind the scenes, she helped to solve whatever problems she could, despite being five months pregnant.

When he was asked to participate in the movie, Romero experienced an explosion of spiritual joy. He saw it as a beautiful way to honor the Virgin Mary and remedy so many people's ignorance respecting Garabandal. He loved the filming experience because of the Virgin Mary's evident and constant help. He is amazed that such a positive result has come out of a film by such absolutely amateur performers and very few material resources.

Romero played the role of Fr. Ramón Andreu. This Jesuit priest visited Garabandal on several occasions during the summer of 1961, with the permission of his superior and the Bishop of Santander. He carried out an extensive report that he made available to the Church authorities. The report is backed by his experience in the difficult art of spiritual direction and discernment of spirits.

Pedro Leal

Pedro Leal is an industrial engineer and had no prior film acting experience. We already know that inexperience is a “special” characteristic of this movie’s casting. He plays the role of Dr. Puncernau, a prestigious neuropsychiatrist from Barcelona who studied the four visionaries and the phenomena they experienced. Ricardo Puncernau left us an invaluable report with all his observations, the tests carried out on the girls, and the corresponding conclusions.

Leal felt very identified with his role due to their shared education in Science. While recording certain scenes, his rational engineering mind tried to examine all those unexplainable phenomena that took place daily during the apparitions. In the end, he had to conclude that “the reality of the phenomena could not be any other then what the girls said it was.” Otherwise, there is no explanation, not even for the girls way the girls walked in ecstasy. They walked without looking at the ground—and the town at that time was like a pile of rubble, filled with mounds of rocks—without stumbling, without falling, without slipping. The actresses, however, though looking where they were going and guided by others, had more than one scare and even small accidents.

Miriam Rodríguez de Rivera

Miriam Rodríguez de Rivera was asked to participate in the film when she had just finished her brilliant first year of Medicine. She had little time to ponder her decision, and accepting the role meant having to give up many summer plans. Furthermore, she did not know any of the other actors. But inspired by her great love for the Lord, Rodríguez took her suitcase and left Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, heading for the Spanish peninsula, a little nervous but full of hope. Thanks to her good personality and her decision to give herself fully, she fit right in with the rest of the team. And since "God loves those who give with joy" (2 Cor. 9:7), the experience not only did not disappoint her, but was extremely enriching.

In the film, Rodríguez played Jacinta González, one of the four visionaries of San Sebastián de Garabandal. Jacinta, together with her friends Conchita, Mari Loli, and Mari Cruz, saw St. Michael the Archangel for the first time on June 18, 1961. St. Michael prepared them until, on July 1, 1961, he announced that the next day they would see the Virgin Mary. And that is what happened. After that first vision, it is estimated that more than two thousand ecstasies took place with thousands of witnesses. The Virgin Mary defined herself in Garabandal as "your Mother." Certainly, she constantly showed herself as a mother full of love for her children, worried about their salvation. She called us to love Jesus more in the Eucharist, to be good, to meditate on the Passion, and to make more sacrifices.

Teresa Carrasco

Teresa Carrasco is from Madrid and a studies Philosophy and Theology. In the film, she plays the role of Mari Cruz González, the youngest of the four visionaries of San Sebastián de Garabandal.

From the beginning, Carrasco understood that she was taking on a great responsibility, because Garabandal: Only God Knows is not just any movie. It is a call to listen to the Virgin Mary and Her message of conversion. During the filming process, she experienced the urgency to know more about Our Lady, to be united to Her, to speak with Her, and to be very close to Her. Carrasco hoped this would help her to better transmit what the girls experienced during the ecstasies and what the Virgin Mary wanted to manifest in Garabandal: that She is Our Mother, a Mother full of love for Her children.

Everything experienced during the intense days of recording has provoked in Carrasco an authentic spiritual revolution. It was hard for her to fit Our Lady into her life of faith before, but this experience has allowed Carrasco to discover Mary as her Mother and Queen. She knows that this Mother fully trusts her and defends her relationship with God. She also knows that this Queen demands everything from her, and Teresa does not plan on denying Her anything.

Blanca Cogolludo

Blanca Cogolludo plays the role of Mari Loli, one of the four young visionaries of San Sebastián de Garabandal. The project found her on the verge of starting studies of Architecture, and she happily accepted it. An exciting adventure was presented to her, whose purpose was to make known what happened in Garabandal and the messages that the Virgin Mary gave there. The challenge was worth it! In those days she had the opportunity to meet witnesses who had personally lived the apparitions. This helped her to internalize the role she played.

It was obvious to Cogolludo and to the entire team that without the help and intercession of the Virgin Mary, they would not have been able to do anything, and the project would have remained stagnant when the first difficulties appeared... And many problems appeared! However, a group of people with a great deal of talent and of self-giving, placed completely in the hands of Our Mother, achieved that which seemed impossible, making the days of filming an unforgettable experience.

  English
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