Marian devotion
Our Lady of La Salette
La Salette, France
The apparition of the Virgin Mary to two pastors in 1846.
On September 19, 1846, the Virgin Mary appeared to two pastors: Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, on the mountain of La Salette, in the French Alps.
The apparition of La Salette
La Virgen estaba sentada sobre una piedra, llorando. Les dijo: «Si mi pueblo no quiere someterse, me veré obligada a dejar caer el brazo de mi Hijo.» Les pidió que rezaran el Rosario y que hicieran penitencia.
La Salette is one of the most important shrines in France. The pilgrims go up to the mountain to venerate the Virgin crying.
Documentary update: Our Lady of La Salette
Where is and what is commemorated
The shrine of Our Lady of La Salette is located in La Salette- Fallavaux, in the French department of Isère. The place is associated with the account of Maximin Giraud and Mélanie Calvat, two shepherds who said they had found a "Bella Lady" on September 19, 1846, in the mountain pastures located on the village. The official source of the sanctuary presents the message in the framework of a call to conversion addressed to the whole people.
Documented history, message and tradition
The narrative transmitted by the sanctuary describes the Lady sitting and crying, with a crucifix on her chest, and then standing while talking to the two children. It is the account of the seers as the institution of the sanctuary retains it; the fact sheet does not make it an independent civil chronicle or mix the public message with the secrets communicated individually to the pastors. The source itself distinguishes the message given to both of the material communicated separately and of the subsequent publication associated with Mélanie.
After the event of 1846 an ecclesial research was opened. On September 19, 1851, after a long and rigorous investigation by the source, the Bishop of Grenoble, Mgr Philibert of Bruillard, recognized the authenticity of the apparition by a commandment. In 1855, his successor Mgr Ginoulhiac confirmed the decision after a new investigation. The date of 1851 and the confirmation of 1855 are not an inference of the popularity of the sanctuary: they are the data offered by its institutional source.
The sanctuary and the pilgrimage
In May 1852 the bishop announced the foundation of a sanctuary with church and accommodation for pilgrims. Mountain, reception and prayer are part of the identity of the place. The official website maintains veneration hours and presents the sanctuary as a space for mass, confession and pilgrimage. The map's coordinate has been placed at the mapping point of the sanctuary identified by OpenStreetMap, with location accuracy, not as an affirmation that each episode of the story happened exactly in that node.
Ecclesial State
The state registered for this advocation is aprobadaon 19 September 1851 and as a source the Sanctuary of La Salette. "Adopted" refers to the ecclesial recognition of the apparition by the bishop of Grenoble; it does not mean that every healing, devotional formulation or subsequent account is automatically certified. Mary's veneration is still oriented towards God and Christ, and intercession is not confused with worship.
Sources of this enlargement
- Sanctuary of La Salette: history and recognition.
- Sanctuary Notre-Dame de La Salette.
- OpenStreetMap: sanctuary point.
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