Shrine of La Salette

THE BASIC FACTS

THE DATE

September 19th, 1846

THE LOCATION

La Salette is found about 30 miles from Grenoble in southeastern France, 6,000 feet above sea level, amid the Rhône-Alps.

THE SEERS

Melanie Calvet, called Matthieu, aged 15, and Maximin Giraud, aged 11. Later in life, both attempted a religious vocation, but it was not their calling in life.

THE MESSAGE

Our Lady complained about lukewarmness, religious indifference, sinfulness and a general carelessness about religion and lack of love of God, which was replaced by a love of the world. Our Lady said she could barely hold back the hand of Jesus from punishing the world. Even the clergy were and would be corrupt in future times, to the point where Rome would lose the Faith and become the seat of the Antichrist. (click here for more)

THE CONSEQUENCES

God will chastise the world, both in their time (the 1800’s) and in our future times. Our Lady said that God would send
“most terrible scourges and of gravest events. Mankind must expect to be ruled with an iron rod and to drink from the chalice of the wrath of God.”

Lucifer and his devils would be unleashed from Hell and they would gradually destroy the faith of very many, including religious orders. Men will only focus on themselves, riches and pleasures, which will result in hatred, jealousy, lies, rebellion and murders.
This will lead to many wars, including many bloody civil wars, and a world war, which will be appalling. People will be massacred, even within their homes.

Then God, in reply to the endless prayers and penances of the few faithful ones, will show His might and anger, destroying His enemies in a frightful way. Mankind will repent and reform, but only for a short while of about 25 years, after which they will have forgotten what had happened and return to their former ways. This will open the door to the Antichrist. (for full message click here)

LESSONS TO LEARN

We can look at La Salette and its events as a tourist or as a pilgrim. In other words, we can look at it materially or spiritually; superficially or in-depth. I would like to think that if Our Lady took time to come to La Salette, and then spent her time there weeping, then we need to look at it very seriously indeed. In fact, did not Our Lady tell the children to make her message known?

If Our Lord and God was so frightfully angry with the world in the mid-1800's, then what can He be thinking of the world today?

The answer to that question is frightening. Of course, God, in His mercy, has allowed a few more apparitions in the meantime, but they only serve to underline and hammer home what Our Lady made known at La Salette.

The world has grown increasingly evil since 1846. The lukewarmness and indifference, of which she complained of then, has now begun to be a mass apostasy from the Faith, as spoken of by Our Lady at Fatima.

Pope St. Pius V said that: “All the evils of the world are due to lukewarm Catholics.” We should also take note of the words of Pope St. Pius X, who said: “All the strength of Satan’s reign is due to the easygoing weakness of Catholics.”

The world and the Faith is collapsing around us, and we are just like the Israelites in the desert under Moses, of whose behavior St. Paul warns us, saying: “Neither become ye idolaters, as some of them, as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play’” (1 Corinthians 10:7), while Our Lord warns us: “They did eat and drink, they married wives, and were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark: and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:27).

Bad times are coming and now is the time to build the ark, and not to thinking about eating, drinking and playing. Our Lady of La Salette complained: “People will think of nothing but amusement. The wicked will give themselves over to all kinds of sin.” Let us not be among those, but let us be among those who are leading ever increasingly spiritual lives, while ever detaching ourselves more and more from this sinking world.

At La Salette, Our Lady came to bring mankind back to a true sense of values, which is nothing other than loving God with our whole heart, our whole mind, our whole soul and with all our strength. Today, that kind of love is reserved for the riches, pleasures and treasures of the world. Where our treasure is, there also is our heart, said Our Lord. Let us withdraw our hearts from the fake treasures of the world, and place them in the true treasure, which is not of this world, but of Heaven.

Remember, that Our Lord said: “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13). St. James adds: “Know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

So let us not waste our time on vain, passing, frivolous, superficial things, but let us fashion for ourselves true gold and true silver by our prayers and penances. Time is short, eternity is endless! Our Lady came sorrowing at La Salette, weeping over our sins! At Lourdes, twelve years later, she would tell St. Bernadette that she, Our Lady, would not make Bernadette happy in this world, but in the next! Our Lord said the same thing to His Apostles at the Last Supper: "Amen, amen I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20). Why do we fool ourselves thinking that somehow we are to find happiness, joy, peace and comfort in this world? That will come once we have valiantly fought our battles against the devil, the world and our own flesh! Then comes the joy, the exultation, the peace and eternal rest! So let us to turn to Our Lady of La Salette and ask her for the true dispositions needed to fight the good fight and earn the crown of glory! Ave Maria!

La Salette is still a small village of only around 200 people, in the south eastern region of France, approximatelyt 50 miles south of the rather small city of Grenoble (150,000+ inhabitants today). The apparition of Our Lady took place in the mountains, about three miles from La Salette, on September 19th, 1846. The building of a church, on the site of the apparition, was begun in 1852, six years after the apparition, and was completed in 1865. It received the honorary title of "basilica" in 1879. Today, there is a Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette located there, but sadly, it is only a minor place of pilgrimage today.

The shrine finds itself situated high in the Rhône-Alps, at the altitude of just under 6,000 feet, and is located 9 miles from the nearest town. Access today is relatively easy, with the advent of cars and buses, yet, even so, the lukewarmness that Our Lady complained about in 1846, is just as strong, of not stronger today, as is witnessed by the relatively few pilgrims who frequent the shrine. Sadly, most could be called "tourists" rather than "pilgrims." The mountain scenery around the shrine is spectacular and it is surrounded by a network of walking trails, making La Salette an ideal place for spiritual retreats and walks.

Inside, the basilica's nave is bordered by two rows of Byzantine columns supporting the Romanesque vaulted ceilings. A mosaic of Christ crowns the apse. The transept has three medallions representing the stages of the apparition (the weeping, the message, and the departure). The basilica also includes a small museum documenting the history of La Salette.

Looking down the nave into the sanctuary of the basilica

A photo of the table used for Mass in the sanctuary

A close up of the altar in the sanctuary of the basilica

A small museum is also a part of the shrine

Though pilgrims do come to the shrine, their numbers have dwindled over the years. However, from time to time, impressive attendances can still be seen populating the shrine and its surrounding hills and mountains.

Three series of statues have been erected at La Salette to represent the three stages of the apparition, Our Lady weeping, the children approaching and then the ensuing conversation with the Sorrowful Mother