Our Lady of La Salette

On Saturday afternoon, September 19, 1846, two children– Maximin Guiraud (age 11) and Melanie Calvat (age 14)– were tending sheep for their employers near La Salette in the French Alps.  The effects of the French Revolution which had terrorized the Church, the blood spilt during the reign of Napoleon, the increasing secularization of social thought, and the rising political turmoil enveloping Europe had taken a serious toll on the faith of the people.  In the parish of La Salette, fewer and fewer people attended Mass and the sacraments were neglected.  Cursing had overtaken praying; licentiousness, purity; and greed and self-indulgence, piety and sacrifice.

While they were tending their sheep, they saw a brilliant light, brighter than the sun.  As they approached, they noticed a “Beautiful Lady” seated on a rock and crying, with her face in her hands.  In tears, she stood and spoke to them in their local French dialect.  She wore a headdress topped by a lucent crown with a band of roses, a dress with beams of light, and slippers edged with roses.  Around her neck hung a golden crucifix: on one end of the cross beam was a hammer and nails, and on the other, a pincher.  Over her shoulders was a heavy chain.