Our Lady of La Salette, the message of the visionaries of 1846

La Salette: the apparition in the French Alps

Our Lady of La Salette appeared to two shepherds, Mélanie Calvat (14 years old) and Maximin Giraud (11 years old), on September 19, 1846, on a mountain in the French Alps near Corps (Diocese of Grenoble), at an altitude of 1,800 meters. The apparition lasted about forty-five minutes. A “Beautiful Lady,” seated and weeping, presented herself to them with a message in French and in the local dialect (patois), centered on conversion, on the Sunday rest and on the profanation of the name of God. The message ended with a warning about famines and sufferings if the people did not convert.

The visionaries: Mélanie and Maximin

Mélanie Calvat (1831-1904) and Maximin Giraud (1835-1875) were poor children, practically illiterate, who worked as cattle herders in the summer. They did not know each other before the apparition. After 1846, their lives took very different paths: Maximin never entered religious orders, led a restless life and died at the age of 40. Mélanie became a religious, lived in various convents in Europe, and in 1879 published the complete version of the “secret” that Our Lady had entrusted to her. Her complex personality and the apocalyptic content of the secret generated ecclesiastical controversy until the end of her life.

The public message of La Salette

The public part of the message of La Salette focuses on three themes: (1) the disregard for the Sunday rest, “Can you not do anything to sanctify Sunday?”; (2) blasphemy, “They blaspheme the name of my Son, using it as a curse word”; (3) the consequence of infidelity, “If the harvest is spoiled, it is your fault.” The “Beautiful Lady” described herself as the one who “spends her time praying for the people” and suffering for sins. The public message was approved by the Bishop of Grenoble, Philibert de Bruillard, in 1851, only five years after the apparition.

The secrets of La Salette

During the apparition, Our Lady communicated to each visionary a personal “secret,” which they kept for years. The secret of Maximin was revealed orally to Pope Pius IX in 1851 and had no major consequences. The “secret of Mélanie,” published in 1879 with the approval of the Bishop of Lecce, contains prophecies about the decadence of the clergy, the persecution of the Church, the rise of the Antichrist and apocalyptic chastisements upon humanity. This text, more disturbing in content, generated divisions: Rome placed later editions on the Index in 1923, although the public message of 1846 remained approved.

The shrine of La Salette

A shrine was built at the site of the apparition, inaugurated in 1879, at an altitude of 1,800 meters, and it became one of the most important pilgrimage centers in France. The Missionaries of La Salette, founded in 1852 by the Bishop of Grenoble, spread the devotion and the shrine throughout the world. In Portugal and Brazil, there are various religious communities under the patronage of Our Lady of La Salette. The liturgical feast is celebrated on September 19.

La Salette and Fatima

La Salette and Fatima are frequently compared in Mariological literature: both have messages of conversion and penance, both include secrets entrusted to visionaries, both announce consequences for infidelity. The principal difference lies in the context: La Salette (1846) centers on concrete social behavior (Sunday, blasphemy, the harvest), while Fatima (1917) has a universal dimension and includes the call for the consecration of Russia. Both converge in proposing a daily Rosary as a spiritual remedy.

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