THE PIONEERS The National Garabandal Centre came into being in late 1975 but even before that there were three people who had heard about the Garabandal Events and promoted them in a somewhat limited and personal way. As early as 1973, Late Fr. Freddy Alphonso, S.J. of St. Peter's Church, Bandra, had acquired the Dick Everson movie on a visit o the U.S.A. On his way back, he carried the film across the Pacific and showed it in New Zealand and Australia. He had a private screening in Bandra, Bombay (India) for a few personal friends which included George and Phoebe Doyle. We believe this to be the first screening of the Garabandal film in India. George and Phoebe were instant believes and urged Fr. Freddy to give this film more exposure and thus during 1973 and talks and screened the film in different places in Bombay. By 1975, the number of screenings almost doubled and it was not uncommon to have as many as three screenings a month to audiences averaging about 500 each. Fr. Freddy was also invited to give conferences at Ajmer and Jaipur in Rajasthan. In Ajmer, another promoter was already at work. This was Ann Mathews, a teacher, who like Fr. Freddy had come to hear about Garabandal via the USA. The visit of Fr. Freddy spurred her on to intensify her efforts and she became one of our earliest co-ordinators and came down to Bombay in November 1975 when Joey Lomangino, the Blind Apostle of Our Lady paid his first visit to our country. In the East in Ranchi, Bihar, a Belgian Jesuit Professor at St. Xavier's College, Late Fr. Paul Van Wynsberghe, had also come to know about Garabandal. He had been in touch with Joey Lomangino and wrote to Fr. Benac in August 1975 telling him of Joey's impending visit to India at his invitation and requesting him to organize this visit as he himself found that his college duties left him hardly any time to do full justice to this event. It was here that Late Fr. Francis Benac S.J., came in. He confesses that he first heard about Garabandal in 1966 when he was in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) for some seminars in connection with the Sodality movement. One of the nuns showed him the book about the apparitions by Sanchez Ventura. Fr. Benac, a prolific traveller even then, found that the events were hardly known even in his native Spain. However, during one of the screenings at Sodality House (now Seva Niketan) by Fr. Freddy Alphonso in 1975, he got hooked and had also during his travels came across a copy of the New York Centre's magazine "Needles" (now "Garabandal"). He asked Joey to enroll him as a subscriber. In reply, Fr. Benac received a letter from Joey saying. "I will be visiting India in November to give conferences. My host will be Fr. Van Wynsberghe, S.J., St. Xavier's College, 834001, Ranchi. Please do all you can to make our Lady's Message known and if I can be of further assistance to you, please let me know". this was the historic moment when the National Garabandal Centre was virtually born as a small Committee and was immediately set up to organise Joey's impending visit. Some of its members are working for the Centre even today.	Home
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JOEY'S VISITS TO INDIA

There is no doubt that the movement received a tremendous impetus through Joey's first visit in 1975 and his subsequent tour in 1977. Of his first visit, accompanied by Church Myer, Joey reported in the Winter 1976 issue of "Needles" : "Over thirty thousand people enthusiastically received the message of Our Lady of Garabandal in India. During the 22^nd day tour, Chuck Meyer and I covered thousands of miles to nine cities (Bombay, Patna, Ranchi, Madras, Bangalore, Mysore, Ernakulam, Alwaye an Cochin) where we were greeted by Cardinals, Archbishops, Priests, Heads of convents, Seminaries and Religious Orders. We spoke in halls, colleges, major and minor seminaries and convents. We addressed over 100 theologians and visited the sick in hospitals". This was all done with full approbation of the respective bishops in whose dioceses the conferences were given and also from the two Cardinals of India, Cardinal Valerian Gracias and Cardinal Joseph Parecattil."

In 1977 Joey was back again, this time with Charles Mailloux, during a tour of Hong Kong and Nigeria. On this occasion they visited Bombay, Madras and Bangalore. In Bombay they had an audience with Cardinal Gracias. The climax of the Bombay visit was the Rosary Rally given to honour Pope Paul VI's birthday when some 20,000 people gathered on the Don Bosco grounds for a concelebrated Mass with Cardinal Gracias as th principal celebrant. This was followed by the Rosary and Joey's address and the veneration of Our Lady's medal when Joey and Charles were literally mobbed and had to take refuge in a private room elsewhere. National Garbandal Centre will always remain grateful to Late Fr. Aurelius Maschio, S.D.B. for not only giving us the grounds but also meeting all expenses.

As more and more co-operators came into the movement, activity increased in many parts of our country and there came into being "roving ambassadors" carrying the Message outside their own residential areas. The most notable of these is Late Dr. John Correa, Delhi. He toured extensively giving conferences. In June 1978, he was instrumental in screening the Everson film at Rashtrapati Bhavan for the then President of India, Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy. From 1978 he covered Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Nepal, Orissa, Punjab, Saurashtra and Uttar Paredesh and alongwith personnel from the Marian Seva Sangh parts of Maharashtra, North and West Bengal and Sikkim. The Message was welcomed by 11 bishops in the areas visited.

In the South, another apostle Mr. Willie Saldanha, operating from Bangalore, as Co-ordinator, has carried the Message to Mysore, parts of Andhra Pradesh, the Nilgiris, Goa and Calcutta.

Late Fr. Freddy Alphonso had also been active with visits to Pune, Bangalore, Goa, Baroda and Ahmedabad and latterly had been combining Garabandal with his "healing ministry" with which he was also engaged and experienced a number of "prodigies" with the use of the relic medal (there are many such medals and holy cards in circulation which contain a piece of the Priest's Mass Missal reportedly kissed by Our Blessed Mother during one of the apparitions).

Also, in the South Rev.Fr. Robert Lewis started as Our Lady's Ambassador in Kallianpur in Karnataka from where he visited Delhi and Rajasthan. He continues spreading the Message in addition to his official duties as "exorcist".

Another outstanding apostle is Patrick Khamvailian, who came into the movement in 1978. He has been operating in Imphal, Manipur, Nagaland and Assam but his achievements "par excellence" has been in taking the Message to Burma (now Mayanamar), where there are today more than 60 flourishing centres. He has translated the literature in Burmese and Tiddim, started his own newsletter and also published a book on Garabandal. Patrick has not turned over the Burma's apostolate to workers he has pesonally trained to leave him free to work in Meghalaya.

In Bombay (now known Mumbai) we have Sr. Rosita Gomes who has travelled thousands of miles to make known the "Message of Garabandal" and now is one of the outstanding Apostle spreading the message today. (to be updated)

Since the demise of Late Fr. Francis Benac, S.J. on 21^st November, 1994 the National Garabandal Centre was run very efficiently by George and Phoebe Doyle alongwith a few dedicated workers. In fact for the past three years they have been running the Centre single handedly with the help of the Marian Seva Sangh and a couple of helpers.

Since March, 2001 Rev. Fr. Francis Mendes has come forward to fill in the place left vacant by Fr. Francis Benac S.J. since November 1994. He has formed a group of 10 dedicated promoters in his Parish, St. John the Baptist Church, Thane (a city on the outskirts of Bombay [now known as Mumbai]. The group meets once a month. They presently manage the complete distribution of the GARABANDAL magazine sent to them by Joey Lomangino from New York, USA to be mailed to 350 subscribers. They have dreams of spreading the Message of Garabandal to surrounding areas. They hope to enroll as many as they can for membership to the Most Holy Rosary Confraternity and also for the recitation of Divine Mercy Chaplet. They recruit on their visits the homes of the Catholic families of the Parish where they are located. They intend to visit other parishes in the Bombay Diocese to propagate the Message of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel of Garabandal and also the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet devotions.

"THE CALL OF GARABANDAL"

As part of the activities at the National Centre, a monthly Holy Hour was started at Seva Niketan in August 1976. At this first Holy Hour it was announced that "The Call of Garabandal" would be out by August 15 and an appeal was made for subscribers. This was the birth of our official journal. That such a publication was mooted and introduced within less than a year of the formation of the National Centre is evidence of the urgent need felt o promote, disseminate the Message and to co-ordinate the activities of the ever growing band of promoters. This magazine had acquired an international aura as it had subscribers from 25 countries other than India and at one time had a total of over 700. However, as of today we have about 300 subscribers. It is interesting to record here that comments of Late Cardinat Parecattil on receipt of the first issue: "Thank you for your letter of August 25^th with which you enclosed a copy of the first issue of 'The Call of Garabandal', the Indian version of NEEDLES, which you took the initiative to publish, as desired by Mr.Joey Lomangino. I am sure this Bulletin will go a long way to promoting devotion to Our Lady and a better understanding of the evens that occurred at Garabandal. kindly forward to me five copies of the Bulletin." George and Phoebe have promoted Garabandal for a quarter century since 1975 and completed 24 years of publication with the last issue of this publication being April / June 2000. Due to George's ill health this publication had to be discontinued. Thereafter, with the kind permission of Helen and John Leriou, the Australian Newsletter was reproduced and sent to all out subscribers untill January 2001. We are indeed very grateful to John and his Australian team for their support during this difficult period Joey and the New York Garabandal Centre has been indeed extremely generous and supportive right through these 25 years. They have now come forward to sponsor and send us their quarterly publication GARABANDAL from the 2^nd quarter (April-June). The National Garabandal Centre are very indebted to them and our subscribers will be indeed greatly surprised to receive this very informative and beautiful four coloured publication.

In retrospect, we have come a long way since that small beginning in 1975. From a steering committee, we now have many Co-ordinators and Co-operators in 13 States of India (out of the 32 states) and also in Nepal, Burma and the Gulf. On his first visit, Joey Lomangino brought a copy of the Version movie and this was our mainstay for some time till in 1979, George and Phoebe produced a slide / tape presentation which we believe was the first of its kind until the New York Centre produced in 1984 an updated version of their previous slide show but this time with a taped commentary. We have made hundreds of sets of our slide / tape show and also of the rosary slides, some of which have even gone abroad. Some of the additions to our promotional material is a video cassette containing the Everson film, the BBC and Australian documentaries. Thousands of scapulars, rosaries and leaflets on the Events have been distributed. On their own initiative, George and Phoebe have produced plastic pendants, wallets, picture post cards all with a piece of the missal "kissed" by our Lady. for the latter, we are grateful to Miss Margarita Huerta of Spain who has generously provided pages of the missal. These have gone to several countries abroad. We hav on sale a number of the important books on Garabandal and some of our own promoters have published inexpensive booklets also (see list). Leaflets received originally from New York have been translated into Marathi, Hindi, Konkani, Telegu, Bengali, Malayalam, Nepali, Burmese and Tiddim. "The Message of Garabandal" is now available with Rev.Fr. George Kammattil V.C. as well as our Centre in English, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil. We hope to come out with in the Konkani language in the near future (a language spoken by many on the West Coast of India).

The Holy Hour started at Seva Niketan in August of 1976 was extended to St. Anne's Church, Mazagon and continues to this day (George & Phoebe's Parish).

The path has not been smooth and in fact of late for the past two years George and Phoebe have had a rather difficult time managing the Centre almost single handed with just Veera Batena helping them out and the Marian Seva Sangh.

The new team under Rev. Fr. Francis Mendes and Mervyn Gonsalves are eager to go ahead and have nothing to fear, under the protection of our Blessed Mother and the guidance of her spouse, the Holy Spirit. We eagerly await the events prophesied by her at Garabandal.

Rev. Fr. George Kammattil of the Vincentian Seminary in Kerala, seminarians handle the distribution of the gratis (free) Garabandal materials. Father George Kammattil is one of the most active promoters of Garabandal in India. Father George Kammattil met with Joey Lomangino to discuss the production and distribution of Garabandal leaflet, videos, holy cards, rosaries and scapulars throughout India and surrounding areas during his recent visit in October 2000.

Letters from India to Joey Lomangino at the New York Center are despatched with a coupon which upon receipt by Father George releases the videos, leaflets and holy cards (rosaries, scapulars and other materials when available).

Several years ago, Father George learned of Garabandal from David Williams who met Joey Lomangino in Chicago in the early 1970s. Together they conceived a plan to help distribute materials gratis in India. Recently it became possible for this plan to develop into a successful system to promote Our Lady's Message.

Benefactors in the United States to cover the costs of printing, video production and shipping fund this Center. Every penny received at P.O. Box 606, Lindenhurst, New York 11757 is used for the spread of the Garabandal Message. You can also correspond with Fr. George Kammattil at: Fr. Rector, Vincentian Seminary, "Christu Nivas", Thrikkakara, COCHIN 682 021 (KERALA), INDIA.

Father Francis Benac, S.J.,² is a very unique person and 1994 held several red-letter days for him. On January 29, 1994 when he celebrated his 90^th birthday, the Seva Niketan Chapel was packed with well-wishers for the Mass he concelebrated with six other priests. A great number of congratulatory messages were read. On November 1, he celebrated 75 years as a Jesuit and on November 21, will commemorate the bestowal of his Holy Orders (60 years).

Father possess almost unlimited energy and manages to devote himself to many activities. Since 1933 as National Sodality Promoter, he has been involved in building Sodality House (now Seva Niketan) and maintaining and extending the Retreat House in Bombay (Bandra) and has toured the continents seeking benefactors for those projects.

In 1974, after meeting Conchita Gonzalez, a seer of the Garabandal apparitions, Father became interested in Garabandal and with his intelligence, resourcefulness and command of languages, soon became the National Garabandal Guardian for all India. In this capacity, he is the editor of the informative publication, The Call of Garabandal. He is conversant with and enjoys the friendship of all the people at the heart of the Garabandal apostolate and is considered an authority on the Garabandal events. Father says that working for Garabandal is a "call", a special grace from God.

This giant of a personality, crammed into an average sized body, is, at times, known and identified according to the various facets of that personality; Our Lady's Beggar, Our Lady's Dynamo, The Firebrand, The Frequent-Flying Father.

He loves two mothers passionately, Mother May and Mother India. In times of need and disaster, he does'nt differentiate between them. When Mother India suffers, Mother Mary also suffers. So he must act.

Learn more about Father Benac and his apostolate through his own words and works.

"I was born on January 29, 1904, in Burgos, Province of Old Castille, Spain. My father, Marino was born in the little town of Benac, French Pyrenees and my Mother, Maximina, in Estella, Navarra. Out of eleven children, I am number seven and by now the only surviving member of the family in the direct line. Two sisters, Maria Joesfa and Maria Rosario both gone to the Lord, had been members of a Secular Institute. A third sister, Maria del Camino who died on March 5, 1993, was a member of the Religious of Mary Immaculate whose Foundress was St. Vincent Maria Lope y Vicuna. On various assignments as Superior she had travelled a lot; following a car accident, she was bedridden for 17 years. She offered all her sufferings for my apostolate."

At the time of Francis' birth, his father was assigned to the Administrative Garrison in Barcelona. Later, in 1909, when his father was appointed Administrative War Commissar in Meililla, Spanish Morroco, the entire family moved there.

Back in Spain: "my first encounter with the Society of Jesus was as a member of the Student's Marian Sodality. It was the later Brother Remingo of the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine and Father James Balasach, my professor at St. Joseph's College in Valencia, who inspired me to join the Society of Jesus."

"My vocation as a missionary was the result of much praying during a six day guided retreat and thinking how I could thank God for the gift of faith given to me. I felt that as a missionary I could share it with millions of people."

"After having read much about India and the 49 million untouchables at that time who had hardly any human rights in society, I felt an urge to go there."

Enter Garabandal : "On September 18, 1966, while in Colombo (Sri Lanka) giving a conference on Sodality Promotion at the Sisters' Marian Hostel, after Mass a Sister gave me a book titled "Under the Shadow of God." This little book dealt totally with the Garabandal apparitions. However, on my way back to Spain, I didn't hear a word about them."

It was later in 1968 when I was giving a retreat to the Sister Servants of Mary in Bronx, New York, that I was introduced to Dr. Jeronimo Dominguez, a surgeon, and his wife, Gladys, who had been to Garabandal during the apparition and made a documentary about them. Providentially it was he who brought Conchita Gonzalez to the United States for the first time, helping her to obtain a nurse's diploma. On January 27, 1974, Dr. Dominguez and his wife introduced me to Conchita. I interviewed her at length."

Joey Lomangino's Trip to India : "It was on November 5, 1975, at the invitation of the late Cardinal's Valerian Gracias and Parecattil, that Joey Lomangino came to India. On arrival in Bombay, I introduced him to the Cardinal. Joey's tour of the country particularly in Madras, Bangalore, Ernakulam and Cochin was really spectacular. I can recall many instant healings worked while Joey blessed the people one by one with his relic medal. Finally, the unexpected happened. The City's Municipal Corporation held a dinner in his honour, which was attended by over 1,000 people."

Again on November 5, 1977, Joey was invited for a second time to India. At Don Bosco's Grounds an altar was erected for Mass. Cardinal Gracias, on climbing up to the platform said: "This is the second largest gathering I have had since my elevation to the Cardinalate."

The First International Congress on Garabandal : "My next encounter with Joey Lomangino was at the International Garabandal Marian congress held at Lourdes on August 18, 1978, attended by over 300 delegates from 26 countries. It was then that Joey invited me to go to the United States to be a guest speaker at Garabandal Centres across the country."

Reports on the Congress have this to say about Father's presentation at that event: "When the lively Father Benac came forward , the listeners saluted his courage and determination as he packed volumes into the scarce 15 minutes allotted to him. He concluded his presentation by exhorting all the delegates to unite with Joey Lomangino to be sure the Message reaches into every corner of the earth ¾ immediately."

After Mass at the Grotto, a memorandum was prepared to be presented to the Bishop of Santander and Father Benac was entrusted to deliver it. When he read the note to the Bishop and came to the request….." that he (the Bishop) invite all the living witnesses of Garabandal to bring their testimonies for his archives before it is too late, which would be an irreparable loss in our opinion," the Bishop just smiled. "We are praying for you that the Holy Spirit may enlighten, guide, and give you strength to bring to a happy end these mysteries of Garabandal."

Tours : Since 1974, Father Benac has recorded visits to over 100 countries on every continent of the world seeking benefactors to help him support and repair the Retreat House which he maintains and supervises in Bombay (now Mumbai). His very convincing appeals had brought him to the attention of Pope Pius XII who referred to him as "Our Lady's Beggar."

Father also uses the opportunities to speak about Our Lady's gracious visits to Garabandal giving the world her Message of love, mercy and hope. He may describe the thrilling experience he shared with a group of English pilgrims on June 13, 1978, at the Pines when the Miracle of the Sun was spectacularly repeated for them. He may relate some of the many unusual and unbelievable happenings he experienced as he carried Our Lady's Messages throughout the world; of the incredible cures that happened before his eyes when using the Garabandal "relic," five of which have been declared as actual miracles; meeting with many people at the heart of the Garabandal apostolate; and of his hopes for the future. He is likely to conclude with a statement that reveals the strength of his inner conviction and the liveliness of his faith in what Our Lady is doing for the world.

On his tours, he also had met with and interviewed three of the seers and their husbands (living in the United States); members of the original commission; Dr. Ricardo Puncernau, eminent psychiatrist from Barcelona; numerous Garabandal promoters, priests and writers; and had a number of audiences with His Excellency Juan Antonia del Val Gallo, who was Bishop of Santander for some 20 years.

In December, 1980, the BBC telecast on the "Everyman" Series, the documentary "Garabandal ¾ After the Visions" which was highly successful and won an award for religious programming. In October of 1981, Father Benac had the occasion to interview the producer of the programme, Bill Nicholson, "[I asked him] why he produced such a programme for a non-Catholic country, a non-Marian country and himself not a practicing Catholic. He explained how at first he had refused but after hearing from an earlier documentary produced by Dick Everson of Minneapolis (Minnesota, U.S.A.), the messages delivered by Our Lady, he said to himself, 'These messages are meant not only for Christians but for the whole world. I will gamble with my reputation and the BBC's money and will make it!' To my question as to how many copyrights to TV stations had been sold.' Asking him furthe, 'In such a case, how many people have received Our Lady's Messages?' He answered, 'One hundred and fifty million.' Our Lady's desire will be fulfilled."

Health Problems³ - Soon after returning from Spain and perhaps due to the exertion during the many months there, Father Benac developed a cardiac condition on New Year's Day, 1993. This necessitated hospitalisation and he was confined to the intensive care unit for a few days. He returned back to Sodality House and was advised to go slowly. He has now fully recuperated and is back directing his apostolate.

His Wishes - Father Benac has two wishes he continually petitions for: "I asked St. Francis Xavier for the privilege of being able to work actively until the end of my life and, so far, he has obtained that from Our Lord for me."

His other wish is that, "I die in India." How could the Lord refuse such a request from a loyal and compassionate son who has spent the greater part of his life caring for the spiritual and material needs of His indigent children.Father Benac concludes, "As for a message to all promoters of Our Lady's entreaties, let this be my prayer for all; Privileged as we have been to be chosen by Our Lady to be her world heralds, let us through prayer and by offering sacrifices ask that the rainbow of her promised AVISO (Spanish for Warning) and MIRACLE may shine soon in the sky for all to believe and bring peace to the world. Let us make many sacrifices; think of the Passion of Jesus and let us confide to our Mother all our hopes."

1. The Garabandal Movement in India - By George Doyle in "The Call of Garabandal" (April/June 1986) and updated upto March 2001.
2. Reprinted from "GARABANDAL" (October / December 1994) and updated.
3. Fr. Francis Benac passed away to his heavenly reward on 22^nd November, 1994 at around 12:30 am early morning. He had just completed 60 years of distinguished priestly service.

Fr. Freddy Alphonso, S.J. - "There is no one so deaf in this world as the one who will not hear the cry of the deaf for help." (Reproduced from "The Call of Garabandal" October / December 1994 issue)

This saying of Fr. Freddy is characteristic of a man who had worked so tirelessly and selflessly for the deaf. His sudden death, therefore, on Friday, June 10, 1994, was a great loss to the deaf and nothing was so pathetic to see than those sad, lost looks on their faces as they formed part of an overflowing church for his exsequial Mass on Tuesday, June 14, 1994.

Fr. Freddy was born on July 28, 1927. The fact that he had a brother and sister with hearing impairment instilled in him the desire to help such handicapped persons and so when he entered St. Stanislaus School in 1955 he wanted to be a teacher. He joined the Society of Jesus on June 20, 1946 and was ordained on March 24, 1961. He served as Socius Novice Master at the Vinayalaya Seminary in 1963, went to Rome in 1966 as Secretary to the Regional Assistant and on his return in 1968 was posted to St. Mary’s, Magazon where he began his ministry to the deaf. In 1970 he was appointed diocesan Chaplain to the Deaf and moved to St. Stanislaus High School where he started a Centre for the Deaf.

In June 1971 he left for the U.S.A. for studies in the field of the deaf and on his return continued his work in Bandra. He conducted a Mass for the deaf in a small chapel attached to St. Peter’s and the service was attended by deaf Catholics and non-Catholics alike. They met after Mass for recreation and education programmes and he arranged countless picnics, retreats and outings. He looked after them with great love and dedication, always reminding them that they were God’s special children.

In addition to his Ministry to the Deaf he was a pioneer in bringing Our Lady of Garabandal’s Messages to India and in other countries also. He, himself, was the first to admit that he did not accept the messages immediately. He had heard about Garabandal when he was at St. Mary’s and in 1971 he stopped in Spain on his way to the U.S.A. to meet a benefactor in Bilbao and at the Jesuit University there a middle-aged brother showed him every possible book in Spanish on Garabandal but he did not evince any interest or the desire to visit the place which was a short journey away.

In the U.S.A. he came in touch with Garabandalists who organised night vigils every week in different churches before the Blessed Sacrament. At one of these he gave an audio-visual presentation of his work for the deaf and at the coffee break was given some leaflets on Garabandal. He decided to read with an open mind was impressed by what he read. He later met Joey Lomangino and Conchita and Mari Loli, but what finally made him change was the Dick Everson documentary which he saw at a home in Brooklyn after Mass for a group of devotees of Our Lady and he immediately asked for a copy, which was sent to him by mail later at Milford, Conn.

When he left the U.S.A. in 1973 and passed through New Zealand and Australia on his way back to India, he showed the film in Auckland and Christchurch, in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and its suburbs and the people were very impressed. Some had heard about Garabandal but were seeing the film for the first time.

On his return to Bombay, Fr. Freddy began speaking about Garabandal and showing the film on a regular basis in Bandra and later, on invitation, in other parishes in the city and then took the Message to Bangalore and Goa also. At every encounter he used the Garabandal relic to pray over people and many healings were reported for which he had a file full. He conducted healing services every Tuesday at St. Peter’s which were attended by numerous people from all over the city.

Fr. Freddy’s death has been a great loss to us promoters of the Messages.

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