In her first manifestation to Sister Catherine, July 19, 1830, the Immaculate Virgin announced the disasters which threatened France; grief was depicted upon her countenance, tears stifled her voice, she earnestly recommended prayer to appease the wrath of God.
Sixteen years later, this Mother of mercy, appearing to two little shepherd children upon one of the summits of the Alps, repeated, in a most solemn manner, the same warnings and the same counsels. The first apparition remains in obscurity, but a knowledge of the second has been spread throughout the world, and with most consoling results. The miracle of La Salette has greatly increased devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and given Christians a clearer idea of the important duties of penance and prayer, which, in reality, are the embodiment of all practical piety.
We quote the best authenticated account of La Salette, that of the Abbé Rousselot, who himself received it from the mouths of the children.
"Two peasant children, Mélanie Mathieu, aged fourteen years, and Maximin Giraud, aged eleven, both simple and ignorant, as might naturally be expected of their age and condition, were together upon the mountain of La Salette, which overlooks a village where they were at service under different masters. Their acquaintance was very slight, their first meeting having been only the day before the occurrence we are about to relate. When the Angelus announced the hour of noon, they went to soak their hard bread in the water of a spring. After this rural repast, they descended a little farther, and laying down their crooks beside another spring, then dry, they seated themselves a slight distance apart, upon a few stones which had been piled up there, and went to sleep.
"It was Saturday, September 19th, 1846, and eve of the day on which fell the Feast of Our Lady's Seven Dolors.
"'After taking the cows to water, and eating our lunch,' says Maximin, 'we went to sleep beside a stream, and very near a spring which was dry. Mélanie awoke first, and aroused me to hunt our cows. We crossed the stream, and going in an opposite direction, saw our cows lying down on the other side, and not very far off.'
"'I came down first,' says Mélanie; 'when I was within five or six steps of the stream, I perceived a light like that of the sun, but even more brilliant and not the color of sunlight, and I said to Maximin: Come quick to see the bright light down here.' 'Where is it?' inquired Maximin, coming towards me. 'I pointed with my finger in the direction of the spring, and he stood still when he saw it. Then the light seemed to open, and in the midst of it appeared a Lady, she was seated, and her head resting upon her hands.' 'We were both frightened,' continues Maximin, 'and Mélanie, with an exclamation of terror, let fall her crook.' 'Keep your crook,' said I, 'as for me, I am going to keep mine. If it does anything to us, I will give it a blow with my crook.' And the Lady arose. She crossed her arms, and said to us: 'Come to me, my children, do not be afraid. I am here to tell you something very important.' All our fears vanished, we went towards her and crossed the stream, and the Lady advancing a few steps, we met at the place where Mélanie and I had fallen asleep. The Lady was between us, and she wept all the time she was talking. 'I saw her tears flow,' adds Mélanie.
"'If my people,' said she, 'do not humble themselves, I shall be forced to let them feel the weight of my Son's uplifted arm. I have stayed it heretofore, but it now presses so heavily that I can scarcely support it much longer. And all the while I am suffering thus for you, I must pray without ceasing if I wish to prevent your abandonment by my Son. And, moreover, you do not appreciate it.'
"'In vain will you pray, in vain will you strive, never can you recompense what I have undergone for you. I have given you six days of the week wherein to work, the seventh I reserved for myself, and even that is denied me! It is this which weighs down my Son's arm.'
"'Even those who drive carts must curse, and mingle my Son's name with their oaths.'
"'These are the two things that weigh down my Son's arm.'
"'If the harvest fails, it is for no other reason than your sins. I tried last year to make you see this in the failure of the potato crop. You took no account of it. On the contrary, when you found the potatoes rotted, you swore and mingled my Son's name with your maledictions. The potatoes will continue to rot, at Christmas there will be none.'
"I did not know what this meant," said Mélanie, "for in our part of the country we do not call them potatoes. I asked Maximin what they were, and the Lady said to me:
"'Ah! my children, you do not understand me, I will use other language.'
"The Blessed Virgin now repeated the preceding in patois, and the remainder of her discourse was also in patois. We give the translation as follows:
"'If you have wheat, it must not be sown, the animals will devour what you sow; and should any remain, it will yield naught but dust when threshed.'
"'There will be a great famine. Before the famine comes, little children under seven years of age, will be seized with fright and die in the arms of those who are holding them. Some will do penance by reason of the famine. Even the nuts will fail and the grapes rot.'
"After these words, the beautiful Lady continued to speak aloud to Maximin. Though seeing the motion of her lips, Mélanie hears nothing. Maximin receives a secret in French. Then the Blessed Virgin addresses herself to the little girl, and Maximin ceases to hear her voice. She likewise confides to Mélanie a secret in French, but a more lengthy secret it appears than that entrusted to Maximin. Continuing her discourse in patois, and so as to be heard by both, she adds: 'If they turn aside from their evil ways, the very rocks and stones will be changed into heaps of grain, and potatoes will be found scattered over the fields.'
"The Queen of Heaven then addressed herself more directly to the children.
"'Do you say your prayers with devotion, my children?'
"'Oh, no, Madame,' they both answered, 'we say them with very little devotion.'
"Our divine Mother continued: 'Ah! my children, you must say them fervently evening and morning. When you have not the time, and cannot do better, say an Our Father and a Hail Mary; and when you have the time you must say more.
"'No one goes to Mass, except a few aged women; all the rest in summer spend Sunday working, and in winter, when at a loss for something to do, they go to Mass only to ridicule religion; and during Lent they frequent the shambles as if they were dogs.'
"After a few more words, reminding Maximin that he had already seen the failure of the grain, the august Queen finished in French as follows: 'Ah! my children, tell this to all my people.' And before leaving them, she repeated the command.
"The two children add: 'Then she ascended about fifteen steps, to the place where we had gone to look after our cows. Her feet barely touched the surface of the verdure, which did not even bend beneath her, she glided over the surface as if suspended in the air, and impelled by some invisible power. We followed her, Mélanie a little ahead, and I two or three steps from the Lady's side. The beautiful Lady was now gently elevated to about the height of a yard,' said the children. 'She remained thus suspended in the air for a moment. She glances up to Heaven and then at the earth, her head disappears from our view, next her arms, and lastly her feet. She seemed to melt away. There remained a brilliant light that gleamed upon my hands, and the flowers at her feet, but that was all.'
"At the first words of his son's narration, Maximin's father began to laugh, but very soon recognizing the marks of incontestable sincerity, he hastened to comply with his Christian duties, so long neglected. The neighboring inhabitants followed his example, there were no more blasphemies, no more profanation of Sunday, the whole country was soon transformed, even maternally. Like those of Jonas to Nineveh, the prophetic warnings of the divine Messenger were conditional. They were fulfilled in general, as can still be remembered."[23]
The apparition of La Salette, as is the case with all extraordinary events, was variously appreciated even among Catholics, some receiving the account with enthusiastic confidence, others strongly contesting the reality. But for a long time doubts have ceased, Providence having, by numberless miracles, confirmed the faith of those who believed; and the mountain sanctified by Mary's presence, has never ceased to be visited by pilgrims from the most distant countries. Mgr. De Bruillard, Bishop of Grenoble, anxious to prevent illusion on so important a question, nominated a commission composed of most competent persons, to examine and pass judgment upon this apparition. The result being in the affirmative. His Grace, in a circular of September 19th, 1851, declared as follows:
"We assert that the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to two little peasants, the 19th of September, 1846, upon one of the peaks of the Alps, situated in the parish of La Salette, of the archpresbytery of Corps, bears every mark of truth, and that the faithful are confirmed in believing it indubitable and certain.
"Wherefore, to testify our lively gratitude to God and the glorious Virgin Mary, we authorize the devotion to Our Lady of La Salette."
The circular, before publication, was submitted to the Holy See, whose approval it received, and Mgr. De Bruillard's two successors have always endorsed his appreciation of the apparition.
Consequently, this devotion is invested with every guarantee of authenticity that the severest criticism could exact.
A church of the Byzantine style and graceful appearance is erected upon the holy mountain, near where the apparition took place. The identical spot remains uncovered, and the grass still grows upon the soil hallowed by Mary's sacred footsteps; a series of crosses, fourteen in number, to which are attached the indulgences of the via crucis, indicate the path she took. The spring, formerly intermittent, has been inexhaustible since the apparition, and its waters have worked miracles. Near the church, a convent has been built to accommodate the numberless pilgrims, who daily resort hither in the favorable season. Numerous chapels, dedicated to Our Lady of La Salette, are scattered throughout Christendom, and abundant graces repay the faith of those who in these sacred shrines invoke her intercession.