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Summary
Six thousand feet up in the French Alps, the Blessed Virgin Mary
is believed to have come to 11-year-old Maximin Giraud and 14-year-old Melanie Calvat-Mathieu while they tended sheep. Her appearance
in sorrow and tears called for conversion and penance for sins. |
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Timeline
| Nov 7, 1831 |
Melanie Calvat-Mathieu is born in Corps, France. |
| Aug 26, 1835 |
Maximin Giraud is born in Corps, France. |
| Sept 19, 1846 |
Melanie and Maximin are out tending sheep and encounter a glowing
globe of light. A beautiful weeping woman wearing a high headdress of roses, a silver robe, a gold aprn, white shoes, and a golden crucifix hanging from a chain around her neck, appears sitting on a rock
and she relates how the offenses of men such as not reverencing the name of God and work on Sundays will result in calamities,
including a potato famine in 1846-7 and disease. The woman entrusts each child with
a secret and encourages them to pray and then ascends the hill and disappears. |
| Sept 1846 |
The bishop of the diocese, Mgr Philibert de Bruillard
of Grenoble, begins the official inquiry into the phenomenon.
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| Oct 1846 |
The prophecies of La Salette are widely circulated. |
August 1848 |
Father Rousselot, Vicar General of Grenoble,
and appointed reporter on the apparitions, answers twelve objections
to the truth of the events in his report entitled "The Truth
about the event of La Salette" was addressed to Pope Pius IX |
| July 3, 1851 |
Cardinal Boland, archbishop of Lyon, remained skeptical and Maximin and Melanie were made to record the secret given to each of them
in the presence of Church officials and deliver their statement
to the Bishop. [ Read Maximin's Secret | Read Melanie's Secret ] |
| July 6, 1851 |
Melanie rewrites the Secret to fix a chronological error she
identified in her original and re-submits her statement to the Bishop. |
| July 18,1851 |
The documentary letters are transmitted to Pope Pius IX by two
accredited messengers, MM. Rousselot and Gérin. The secret is placed in the archives of the Vatican. |
| Sept 19, 1851 |
Mgr de Bruillard publishes a pastoral letter for the fifth anniversary
of the Apparition in which he affirmed that the apparition "has
within itself all the characteristics of the truth, and that the
faithful are justified in believing it beyond doubt and for certain" |
1851 |
Melanie became a nun taking the name Sister Mary of the Cross with the Sisters of Providence and then transferred to the Sisters of Charity. |
| May 1, 1852 |
Mgr de Bruillard announces in a pastoral letter the erection
of a shrine on the mountain of the Apparition and the institution
of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, commissioned to serve
the shrine. |
May 25, 1852 |
The first stone of The Shrine of La Salette was blessed by Mgr
de Bruillard. The Shrine was built near the location of the apparition
at the center of a mountain ring formed by the Gargas and the Chamoux.
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| May 1853 |
Mgr Ginoulhiac, is appointed bishop of Grenoble after the reisgnation
of Mgr de Bruillard. |
Nov 4, 1854 |
The Bishop issues a pastoral letter which condemned a memorandum
published in Grenoble addressed to the Pope against the judgement
of 1851. Ginoulhiac additionally renews his predecessor’s
doctrinal judgement in a more explicit and this time definitive
way. |
1855 |
Melanie was allowed to transfer to an English Carmelite convent. |
1860 |
The local bishop forbade her from speaking publicly so she returned to France to join a convent at Marseille. |
1867 |
Her identity was discovered and she left for Naples. In Naples, she wrote down the secret for theOrder of the Apostles of the Last Days (men) and Order of the Mother of God (women). |
Dec 26, 1870 |
Melanie’s writes a letter to Fr Bliard. |
| Aug 18,1872 |
700 pilgrims from Paris, later joined by other groups from Dijon,
Ars and Lyons, participate in France's First National Pilgrimage
and travel to La Salette. |
| March 1, 1875 |
Death of Maximin. He had entered the seminary but never reached ordination. |
Nov 15, 1879 |
Last manuscript of the secret of La Salette written by Melanie in 1873 and published in 1879 as a booklet with the imprimatur of Bishop Salvtore Luigi Zola entitled Apparition of the Blessed Virgin on the Mountain of La Salette. This version of the secret is much longer and contains more detail. It also predicted the future apostacy of Rome. |
1879 |
The completed basilica was consecrated. |
| Dec 15, 1904 |
Death of Melanie in Naples |
1923 |
Melanie's secret of 1879 was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books |
October 1999 |
Melanie's 1851 secret was rediscovered by Fr Michel Corteville in the Vatican Archives. |
Photo Gallery
Click here to view
images from La Salette.
Messages
The central theme of the Virgin's messages was turn away from
sin and do penance or undergo terrible suffering.
Click here to read the messages
of La Salette.
Miracles and Signs
During interrogations from the local authorities, the children were taken
to the site of the apparition. A man broke off a piece of rock at the
spot of the Virgin's appearance and uncovered a spring. The spring was
found to have healing powers which inspired the bishop to begin an official
inquiry. Twenty-three cures were attributed to the mountain spring in
the first year after the apparition.
Additionally, hundreds of miraculous cures have also been reported
at the Basilica of La Salette.
Prophecies
In December 1846, most of the popular crops were disease stricken,
and in 1847 a famine hit Europe which resulted in the loss of approximately
one million lives, including one hundred thousand in France alone.
Cholera became prevalent in various parts of France and claimed
the lives of many children.
Description of the Virgin
"The clothing of the Most Holy Virgin was silver white and
quite brillliant. It was quite intangible. It was made up of light and
glory, sparkling and dazzling. There is no expression nor comparison to
be found on earth. The most Holy Virgin had a yellow pinafore.
"What am I saying, yellow? She had a pinafore more brilliant than
several suns put together. It was not a tangible material; it was composed
of glory, and the glory was scintillating, and ravishingly beautiful.
"The crown of roses which she placed on her head was so beautiful,
so brilliant, that it defies imagination. The different colored roses
were not of this earth; it was a joining together of flowers which crowned
the Most Holy Virgin.
"The Most Holy Virgin was tall and well proportioned. She seemed
so light that a mere breath could have stirred her, yet she was motionless
and perfectly balanced. Her face was majestic, imposing. The voice of
the Beautiful Lady was soft. It was enchanting, ravishing, warming to
the ears.
"The eyes of the majestic Mary appeared thousands of times more beautiful
than the rarest brilliants, diamonds, aand precious stones. They shone
like two suns; but they were soft, softness itself, as clear as a mirror.
"The Holy Virgin had a most pretty cross hanging around her neck.
"The Holy Virgin was crying nearly the whole time she was speaking
to us. Her tears flowed gently, one by one, down to her knees, then, like
sparks of light they disappeared. They were glittering and full of love.
I would have liked to comfort her and stop her tears."
- Melanie Mathieu (1851)
The Secret of La Salette
The secret was given during the second stage of the apparition, when the Virgin Mary was standing upright and talked to the children. The secret has been written down in several versions and is the subject of much controversy.
There are at least eight preserved writings of the Secret of La Salette
(3 by Maximin and 5 by Melanie) including the originals written in 1851
and the final version written in 1879. The final version has received
the imprimatur of Salvatore Count Zola C.R.L., Bishop Zola of Lecce, Italy. There is one lost version written by Melanie in 1861.
In 1880 Pierre-Louis-Marie Cortet, bishop of Troyes, denounced the Lecce-imprimatured book to the Holy Office, and in turn Prospero Cardinal Caterini, secretary of the Congregation of the Holy Office, wrote back to him, to Vincenzo Maria Sarnelli, bishop of Castellammare di Stabia and to Pierre Archier M.S., superior general of the Missionaries of La Salette. The controversy ensues.
The two writings of July 1851 agree on the essential, but differ in their
developments and even their tonality: the secret of Maximin is shorter,
simpler, and less serious. Mélanie is concerned to be understood
by the recipient, and 'not to cause him too much sorrow', as she said,
but this did not prevent the tears of Bishop de Bruillard.
Maximin initially wrote his Secret
at the palace of Bishop de Bruillard on the evening of July 3, 1851.
He was asked to rewrite it again because of spots of ink. The soiled autograph
was burnt.The Bishop affixed his own seal to it and to send it to the
pope. The sealed envelope was countersigned by two witnesses at 7:00 pm.
Melanie wrote the Secret a first time, on July 3, in Corenc, at the Sisters of Providence. She
sealed it at 10:00 am, and it was carried at the Bishop's House. She chose
to rewrite the secret on July 6 because she believed she misrepresented
the chronology of events. After Melanie hand delivered the document, Bishop
of Bruillard read the document before sealing it.
Below is the text of the secret as written for written for Pius IX in July 1851 and discovered by Fr. Michel Corteville in the Vatican Archives in October 1999. Please note that this is not the final version of the secret written in 1879.
| In
French
Click here to read Melanie's Secret in English | In
French
Church Approval
Mgr de Bruillard published a pastoral letter Sept 19, 1851 for
the fifth anniversary of the Apparition in which he affirmed:
"We judge that the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin to the two cowherds
on the 19th of September, 1846, on a mountain of the chain of Alps, situated
in the parish of LaSalette, in the archpresbytery of Corps, bears within
Itself all the characteristics of truth, and that the faithful have grounds
for believing it Indubitable and certain."
On November 4th, 1854, Mgr de Ginoulhiac issued a pastoral letter which
condemned a memorandum published in Grenoble addressed to the Pope against
the judgement of 1851. He additionally renews his predecessor’s
doctrinal judgement in a more explicit and this time definitive way.
Click here to read the
official statements.
Prayers
PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE
Remember, dear Lady of La Salette, true Mother of Sorrows, the tears which thou didst shed for me on Calvary; be mindful also of the unceasing care which thou dost exercise to shield me from the justice of God; and consider whether thou canst now abandon thy child, for whom thou hast done so much. Inspired by this consoling thought, I come to cast myself at thy feet, in spite of my infidelity and ingratitude. Reject not my prayer, 0 Virgin of reconciliation, convert me, obtain for me the grace to love Jesus Christ above all things and to console thee too by living a holy life, in order that one day I may be able to see thee in Heaven. Amen
Books
Barsotti, Divo. Una madre tra noi: il messaggio della Madonna. Padova:
Edizioni
Messaggero, 1985.
Bassette, Lous. Notre-Dame de La Salette et le bienheureux Pierre-Julian
Eymard: La Salette et quelques historiens. Grenoble: Eymond, 1960.
Bloy, Leon. She who weeps: Our Lady of Salette. Fresno, CA: Academy Library
Guild, 1956.
________. Le symbolisme de l'apparition. Paris: Lemercier, 1925.
Boissarie, Prosper Gustave. Heaven's recent wonders: The work of Lourdes.
Ratisbon, NY: F. Pustet Co., 1909.
Corteville, F. Pie IX, le pere Pierre Semenenko, et les defenseurs du
message de Notre-Dame de La Salette. Paris: Association Les Enfanta de
N.-D de La Salette et St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, 1987
Corteville, Michael. The Great News of the Shepherds of La Salette. 2000.
Laurentin, René and Corteville, Michel. Discovery of the Secret of La Salette. 2002
Dion, Henri. Maximin Giraud, berger de La Salette, ou La fidelite dans
l'epreuve. Montsura (France): Editions Resiac, 1988.
Jaouen, J. A Grace Called La Salette.
Kennedy, J. S. Light on the Mountain.
Laurentin, Renee and Corteville, Michael. Discovery of the Secret of La
Salette, 2002.
Le symbolisme de l'apparition. Paris: Lemercier, 1925.
Paradis, D. The Missionaries of La Salette.
Roetheli, Ernst W. La Salette: Geschichte der Erscheinung. Freiburg (Switzerland):
Kanisius Verlag, 1990.
Schlewer, M. All My People.
Videos
Our Lady of La Salette: A Message and a Mission
Shrines
Official La Salette
Shrine (France)
National Shrine
of Our Lady of La Salette (Attleboro, MA)
La Salette Missionaries
and Shrine of Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, (U.S.A)
Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette -Enfield, NH
The Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette-Altamont, New York
Parishes
Our Lady of La Salette - Canton, GA, USA
Our
Lady of La Salette -Sulphur, LA, USA
Our Lady
of La Salette - Brazil
Devotions
Missionaries of La Salette - Province of Mary, Mother of the Americas
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