09-19-2021, 10:25 AM
Adapted from the Our Lady of Fatima Chapel email newsletter:
Our Lady of Sorrows and the Circumstances of the Apparition
Since the Assumption of our Blessed Lady into heaven, she has often appeared to her children on earth. But, on the mountain of La Salette, the Virgin Mary appeared as she had never appeared before.
She was seen in grief, with all the signs of a most profound sorrow; she shed abundant tears whilst speaking to the children and she carried on her breast the image of her Divine Son nailed to the Cross, with the other symbols of His sufferings.
Nowhere had she ever invited her people to conversion with words so touching, and in so pressing a manner. Never before did she call sinful men back to Christ, with such a living representation of Calvary, where she stood as the Mother of Sorrows at the foot of the Cross with her dying Son; all, doubtless, on account of the enormity of our sins in this age.
Again, how remarkable that the Apparition should have happened on the eve of the very day which the Church has appointed to commemorate the Seven Sorrows of our Blessed Lady. (At that time, the feast was observed on the Third Sunday of September - Ed.)
One curious fact must not be forgotten, which strikingly supports all the evidence as to the truth of the children's story. The spring, near where Our Lady appeared, had been completely dried up previous to the vision; it began to flow immediately after, and has continued to run rapid ever since in a stream of clear, miraculously curative water. - Edited from the La Salette Story
On September 19th, 1846, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to eleven year old Maximin Giraud and fourteen year old Melanie Calvat on the mountain of La Salette, France. The children were from the town of Corps near Grenoble, in southeastern France and were tending their employer's cattle, high up on the mountainside pasture. Their attention was drawn to a globe of light a short distance away; as they gazed, the globe opened and they saw a beautiful woman seated on some stones which surrounded the bed of a dried up stream. Her elbows rested on her knees while her face was buried in her hands, and she wept bitterly. The children were frightened and did not know what to do, when the lady arose and with a voice in the sweetest of tones, said: “Come near, my children; do not be afraid. I am here to tell you great news.”
The children obeyed and when they were close, they saw that the woman’s countenance was of rare beauty, though her eyes were filled with tears. Her face was so resplendent with light that the noon-day sun lost its brightness; but, her complexion was a pale white such as those who have been bowed down with suffering. Her beauty was radiant; in fact, so dazzling and so glistening that Melanie frequently rubbed her eyes hoping to see better. The lady's head-dress was white and crowned by a royal diadem wreathed with roses of many hues that glittered, while on her bosom rested a golden crucifix, with the pincers and hammer of the Passion. Her majestic beauty was ravishing; and her face exceedingly beautiful, while yet profoundly sad.
The beautiful lady stood tall with her head bent toward the children. Her mien and her manner were reassuring and kind, but also sorrowful. They listened to her sweet, tearful voice dictate to them a message which she asked to make known to all her people. This became known as the Public Message of La Salette. Along with this public message, the lady privately confided a secret to each of the little shepherds as well.
Soon after the apparition occurred, the news spread throughout the French countryside, and not long afterwards, miraculous cures began to be reported. On the fifth anniversary of the apparition, it was officially approved by the Church in a pastoral letter by the diocesan bishop under the title of Our Lady of La Salette.
Our Lady instructed Melanie to make known her secret after the year 1858, and she published it herself in the face of great difficulties. After a thorough investigation, her account was fully approved by the Church. To this day, the contents of the secret are shrouded in confusion and obscurity, which is just where the enemy of souls wishes it to remain; for, it is a message especially significant for these apostate times. With this is mind, we provide below, one of the best pieces ever written on the Secret of La Salette, by the late, great, Solange Strong Hertz; as well as a link to her essay's important sequel:
The Secret of La Salette: Little Apocalypse of Our Lady
Will Rome Lose the Faith?: La Salette Revisited
Our Lady of La Salette
Feast Day Today - September 19th
![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2F66.media.tumblr.com%2Fd...f=1&nofb=1]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F66.media.tumblr.com%2Fd05d3982fbae804abe8a12b1e7e398ff%2Ftumblr_nc596egyBB1rsd0e4o1_500.jpg&f=1&nofb=1)
Feast Day Today - September 19th
Our Lady of Sorrows and the Circumstances of the Apparition
Since the Assumption of our Blessed Lady into heaven, she has often appeared to her children on earth. But, on the mountain of La Salette, the Virgin Mary appeared as she had never appeared before.
She was seen in grief, with all the signs of a most profound sorrow; she shed abundant tears whilst speaking to the children and she carried on her breast the image of her Divine Son nailed to the Cross, with the other symbols of His sufferings.
Nowhere had she ever invited her people to conversion with words so touching, and in so pressing a manner. Never before did she call sinful men back to Christ, with such a living representation of Calvary, where she stood as the Mother of Sorrows at the foot of the Cross with her dying Son; all, doubtless, on account of the enormity of our sins in this age.
Again, how remarkable that the Apparition should have happened on the eve of the very day which the Church has appointed to commemorate the Seven Sorrows of our Blessed Lady. (At that time, the feast was observed on the Third Sunday of September - Ed.)
One curious fact must not be forgotten, which strikingly supports all the evidence as to the truth of the children's story. The spring, near where Our Lady appeared, had been completely dried up previous to the vision; it began to flow immediately after, and has continued to run rapid ever since in a stream of clear, miraculously curative water. - Edited from the La Salette Story
On September 19th, 1846, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to eleven year old Maximin Giraud and fourteen year old Melanie Calvat on the mountain of La Salette, France. The children were from the town of Corps near Grenoble, in southeastern France and were tending their employer's cattle, high up on the mountainside pasture. Their attention was drawn to a globe of light a short distance away; as they gazed, the globe opened and they saw a beautiful woman seated on some stones which surrounded the bed of a dried up stream. Her elbows rested on her knees while her face was buried in her hands, and she wept bitterly. The children were frightened and did not know what to do, when the lady arose and with a voice in the sweetest of tones, said: “Come near, my children; do not be afraid. I am here to tell you great news.”
The children obeyed and when they were close, they saw that the woman’s countenance was of rare beauty, though her eyes were filled with tears. Her face was so resplendent with light that the noon-day sun lost its brightness; but, her complexion was a pale white such as those who have been bowed down with suffering. Her beauty was radiant; in fact, so dazzling and so glistening that Melanie frequently rubbed her eyes hoping to see better. The lady's head-dress was white and crowned by a royal diadem wreathed with roses of many hues that glittered, while on her bosom rested a golden crucifix, with the pincers and hammer of the Passion. Her majestic beauty was ravishing; and her face exceedingly beautiful, while yet profoundly sad.
The beautiful lady stood tall with her head bent toward the children. Her mien and her manner were reassuring and kind, but also sorrowful. They listened to her sweet, tearful voice dictate to them a message which she asked to make known to all her people. This became known as the Public Message of La Salette. Along with this public message, the lady privately confided a secret to each of the little shepherds as well.
Soon after the apparition occurred, the news spread throughout the French countryside, and not long afterwards, miraculous cures began to be reported. On the fifth anniversary of the apparition, it was officially approved by the Church in a pastoral letter by the diocesan bishop under the title of Our Lady of La Salette.
Our Lady instructed Melanie to make known her secret after the year 1858, and she published it herself in the face of great difficulties. After a thorough investigation, her account was fully approved by the Church. To this day, the contents of the secret are shrouded in confusion and obscurity, which is just where the enemy of souls wishes it to remain; for, it is a message especially significant for these apostate times. With this is mind, we provide below, one of the best pieces ever written on the Secret of La Salette, by the late, great, Solange Strong Hertz; as well as a link to her essay's important sequel:
The Secret of La Salette: Little Apocalypse of Our Lady
Will Rome Lose the Faith?: La Salette Revisited
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre