...de lo mucho que lo veía...

[Quaeso]

Dime: ¿quieres ser fraile como los que te han cuidado? ¿Quieres que vuelva junto a ti "Mochito" (un gato), o que no se muera nunca tu cabra? ¿Quieres juguetes como los que tienen los niños de la ciudad y del pueblo? ¿Quieres, mejor, el caballo de San Francisco? ¿Quieres que venga contigo Manuel (un chico, su amigo)?
A todo decía que no Marcelino, con los ojos cada vez más abiertos y sin ver ya al Señor de lo mucho que lo veía y de lo cerca que lo tenía de sí.
¿Qué quieres entonces? le preguntaba el Señor.
Y entonces Marcelino, como si estuviera ausente, pero fijando sus ojos en los del Señor, dijo:
Sólo quiero ver a mi madre y también a la Tuya después.-Marcelino ch. 6

The sequence " los ojos cada vez más abiertos y sin ver ya al Señor de lo mucho que lo veía y de lo cerca que lo tenía de sí." Doesn't make much sense to me. Here is my best try:

...and with his eyes each time more open, and without seeing then the Lord, since there was much that he saw, and since he held him closely to himself. ?

But I don't really understand the sense or the letters.

[aleCcowaN]

con los ojos cada vez más abiertos = opening his eyes wider and wider

y sin ver ya al Señor= and no longer looking at the Lord

de lo mucho que lo veía y de lo cerca que lo tenía de sí. = as He was all he could see (as He filled his whole field of vision) for having Him so close to himself.

and then it comes the horrible and unnerving conclusion of this sad sad story, purported to be one of hope

[Quaeso]

Thank you. But I'm disappointed that you didn't like the ending. The point of the story is not that a statue murdered an innocent boy; but that God took to himself a beloved soul through his conversion, faith, and good works.

[aleCcowaN]

It depicts an adult — and not a garden variety adult— failing to protect a child and look after their best interests. He could have granted Marcelino's wish after guiding him through a long, productive and fulfilling life, but, like with the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, the showing off was more important than the right and moral thing to do.

These might-makes-right Fascist narratives are now a part of the past in Spain but they are becoming increasingly trendy in the USA ... o tempora o mores

[Quaeso]

No, with all due respect, there's nothing political at all in this book. And there is no abusive adult, only a crucifix in the attic which is animated by God himself. Another point I believe the author wants to make (and which I believe also), is that heaven is greater than earth; and so what Marcelino gains is much greater than what he loses. In fact the very purpose of life on earth is to gain entrance into heaven, which is what Marcelino accomplishes.