Our Lady of La Salette | Simply Catholic - Guest Post

Our Lady of La Salette | Simply Catholic Our Lady of La Salette Michael R. Heinlein 3 min read On Sept. 19, 1846, Our Lady visited La Salette, a little town buried in the French Alps. Those who saw her were two young cowherds who had uncharacteristically fallen asleep on the mountain side. As the young girl Mélanie Calvat started to rouse the young boy Maximin Giraud, hoping to resume their chores, she saw a ball of fire atop a nearby stone bench. The children saw a lady in the light, hunched over with elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. While the children were still, the lady invited them to come near: “Come near, my children, do not be afraid. I am here to tell you great news.” The shepherd children later recalled that, as the lady spoke to them, she wept often. She spoke French, in the local dialect, making her understandable and relatable to the children. The lady’s message that day was a warning for those who had strayed from the path laid out by her son. “If my people refuse to submit, I will be forced to let go the arm of my Son.” She expressed her dismay with using her Son’s name in vain, ignoring the command to keep holy the Sabbath and seeing religion as unnecessary or as fodder for mockery. The lady admonished the risk of losing souls: “If the harvest is ruined, it is only on account of yourselves.” She instructed, “if you have wheat, you must not sow it. Anything you sow the vermin will eat,” adding “a great famine is coming.” In hope, the lady promised that should her people be converted then “rocks and stones will turn into heaps of wheat, and potatoes will be self-sown in the fields.” She was adamant that this message should be made known to all her people. As the lady’s message concluded, she climbed a path that led to a stream, and, as she looked heavenward, she disappeared into the light before it vanished from the shepherd children’s sight. Not immediately realizing who appeared to them, but came to realize their visitor of the Blessed Mother. After interrogation and investigation, the local bishop eventually declared the messages five years after the Marian apparition as authentic and worthy of belief. Records of personal, secret messages to each of the children remain unclear and a topic of dispute. This includes the claim that Mary revealed to Mélanie that Rome would eventually lose the Faith and become the seat of the Antichrist. Mary’s messages at La Salette move us to sorrow for sins and greater discipleship. Ultimately the apparition reiterates her tireless intercession for us before God’s throne. La Salette also emphasizes Mary’s role as one who reconciles sinners with God, who summons us to contrition, conversion and discipleship. Michael R. Heinlein is editor of Simply Catholic.