The apparition at La Salette:

19 September 2019

"If my people will not obey, I shall be compelled to loose my Son’s arm. It is so heavy, so pressing that I can no longer restrain it. How long I have suffered for you! " Our Lady of La Salette

The apparition at La Salette occurred in 1846 at Corps, Grenoble in France. The apparition occurred only once wherein the Blessed Virgin appeared to two children Melanie Clavat aged fourteen and Maximin Giraud aged eleven years who lived in the village of Corps not far from Grenoble in France. Our Lady spoke at length and with tears giving revelations for the future of France and the world.

The Apparition:

On 19th September 1846, the two children Melanie and Maximin who were cowherders were climbing the slopes of Montsous-les-Baisses, urging the cows along when they came upon a bright light which Melanie described as brighter than the sun. In her written account of the apparition she writes, “I felt full of tremendous loving wonder and respect. In that light I saw a very beautiful woman sitting on a rock, her elbows on her knees and her hands covering her face.” The Lady stood up crossed her arms in the sleeves of her gown and said, “Come nearer, children, do not be afraid, I am here to tell you great news.” The Lady looked very sad and had tears streaming down her face. She spoke at length of wanting people to repent and stop blaspheming and working on Sundays. She said “If my people will not obey, I shall be compelled to loose my Son’s arm. It is so heavy, so pressing that I can no longer restrain it. How long I have suffered for you! If my Son is not to cast you off, I am obliged to entreat Him without ceasing. But you take no notice of that. No matter how well you pray in the future, no matter how well you act, you will never be able to make up to me what I have endured for your sake.”

She spoke about the absolute importance of prayer, Sunday Mass, Lenten practices, observance of Sabbath and of not taking the name of the Lord in vain. She warned them of a famine and epidemic, which struck Europe in the winter of 1846-1847, especially France and Ireland. She also reassured them saying: “However, if people repent, the stones and the rocks will become piles of wheat. My children, you must make this known to all people.”

Our Lady then gave each of the children a secret which Melanie wrote down as instructed by Our Lady which she handed over to Pope Pius IX in 1851. She asked the children “Do you say your prayers well, my children?” and both Melanie and Maximin said “we say them hardly at all”. Our Lady then told them “Ah, my children, it is very important to say them, at night and in the morning. When you don’t have time at least say an Our Father and a Hail Mary and when you can, say more.” As she spoke she said “My children, you must make this known to all people” and slowly walked up the hill and disappeared.

Devotion:

After carefully studying all the aspects of the message the bishop of the diocese, Bishop de Bruillard of Grenoble, announced in 1851, “We declare that the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to two children on September 19, 1846 on a mountain in the Alps in the parish of La Salette bears in itself all the marks of truth and that the faithful are justified in believing without question in its truth. And so, to make our lively gratitude to God and the glorious Virgin Mary, we authorise the cult of Our Lady of La Salette.” Following this declaration, there was a mighty resurgence of faith in the entire diocese. He also authorized the building of a church, which was completed in 1865.

In 1879 Pope Leo XIII raised it to the level of a Basilica. The Missionaries of La Salette were founded in 1852, and a congregation of sisters was founded in 1872. St. John Vianney, although initially hesitant, became an ardent supporter of the apparition later in his life. His parish in Ars was part of the Grenoble Diocese. The devotion was further confirmed by many popes since the time of Pope Pius IX. Of the two visionaries Maximin died at the age of forty and Melanie lived in several convents and died in the year 1904.