Ecstatic Falls

   As the apparitions continued, a new phenomenon began to occur --- that of the ecstatic fall. While in ecstasy, from either a kneeling or standing position, the children would fall backwards until they were flat on the ground. They were never harmed from this and their clothing never became immodestly ruffled or indecorous.

Loli during an ecstatic fall (please click photo)

In this horizontal position they would remain in ecstasy and without using their hands or pushing themselves up in any way, they would return to their original or standing position. When two or more of the children would fall together, their movements were perfectly synchronised. One witness, Canon Julio Porro Gardenoso, said it could be likened to throwing the light switch in a large

conference hall where all the lights go out simultaneously. The positions of the girls` bodies as they lay upon the ground after an ecstatic fall bore the mark of the supernatural and were described by onlookers as beautiful " sculptures".

Ecstatic Marches

Another remarkable feature of the apparitions introduced about the same time was the ecstatic march. With their heads thrown back in that characteristic fashion and unable to see where they were going, the girls would march, arm in arm, without the slightest difficulty either frontward or backwards over very hazardous terrain and sometimes at a  pace so rapid that onlookers were unable to keep up with them. Witness Senorita Ascension de Luis described in a written statement dated March,18, 1962, one of these "flights" from the village up the steep rocky incline to a grove of pine trees on a bluff overlooking the village. "... The child went up the lane and descended again backwards at an incredible speed."  Sometimes the children would resemble airplanes in flight as they seemingly flew across the terrain with their arms extended, touching the ground with only the very tips of their toes.