The children knew when their visions were to occur by a series of three interior calls or ” llamadas” each one becoming stronger than the last. After the third call, they would run to the Calleja or sunken lane where the visions first began and, crashing to their knees on the jagged rocks, enter into a heavenly ecstatic trance.
Their heads were thrown back, the pupils of their eyes dilated and their faces imbued with an angelic countenance. In this position, they would remain a few minutes or several hours and never showed a trace of muscle strain or fatigue. They were insensitive to pinpricks, burns with matches and physical contact. Even when bright lights were centred on their heads during night visions, the pupils of their unblinking eyes remained dilated.
During their trances, the weight of the girls became so excessive that two grown men had great difficulty in lifting one twelve year old girl. And yet, they lifted each other with the greatest of ease to proffer a kiss to the Blessed Virgin.
