Our Lady
of La Salette

On Saturday, September 19, 1846, the "Beautiful Lady" appears to two children from the Corps in the French Alps: 11-year-old Maksymin Giraud and almost 15-year-old Melania Calvat, who guard their cows in the La Salette hall on Mount Planeau, at an altitude of 1,800 meters . In the valley of the brook, they suddenly notice a ball of fire - "as if the sun had fallen there". In dazzling brightness they recognize a seated woman with her elbows resting on her knees and her face hidden in her hands. The Apparitions was approved in September 19, 1851.

The beautiful Lady stands up and speaks to them in French:

"Come closer, my children, do not be afraid, I am here to tell you great news."

He takes a few steps towards them. Becoming sure, Maximine and Melania run down the hill. They are standing right next to her now. The beautiful lady cries all the time. She is tall and full of light. Dressed like local women, in a long dress, in a large apron around the hips, in a scarf crossed over the chest and tied with a knot on the back, in a peasant's bonnet. A wide, flat chain runs along the edge of her scarf. Another chain holds a large crucifix on her breast. Under the arms of the cross, on Christ's right hand, there are pliers, and on the left, a hammer. All the light flows from the figure of the Crucified, from which the apparition is made, the light that creates a sparkling diadem on the beautiful lady's forehead. Roses surround her head with a wreath, trim her scarf, decorate her shoes.

Here is what the Beautiful Lady says to the shepherds, first in French:

“If my people refuse to give up, I will be forced to let go of my Son's arm. It is so strong and heavy that I cannot hold it any longer. How long have I been suffering for you! If I do not want my Son to abandon you, I must constantly ask Him for it, and you do not do anything about it. No matter how you prayed, I don't know what they did, you will never be able to compensate for the effort I have undertaken for you. I gave you six days to work, I reserved the seventh and they don't want to give it to me. This is what makes my Son's arm heavy! The coachmen also curse, mixing the name of my Son with curses. These are the two things that make My Son's arm so heavy. If the harvest goes bad, it is only your fault. I showed it to you last year on potatoes. But you didn't do anything about it. On the contrary, when you found rotten potatoes, you cursed by mixing my Son's name with curses. They will continue to break, and this year for Christmas there will be none at all."

Melania is embarrassed by the word 'pommes de terre'. In the local dialect, potatoes are referred to as "las truffas". So the Shepherdess turns to Maximinus … but the Beautiful Lady warns her:

"Don't you understand this, my children? Let me tell you otherwise in a moment"

The beautiful lady repeats the last sentence and leads a further conversation with the Corps:

“If you have grain, you don't have to sow it. Whatever you sow will be eaten by vermin, and whatever arises will crumble to dust when threshing. There will be a great hunger. Before the famine comes, children under the age of seven will chill and die on the hands of those holding them. Others will repent of hunger. The nuts will turn wormy and the grapes will rot."

At this point, the Beautiful Lady entrusts a secret to Maksyminus, and later - to Melania. Then he says to both children:

“If they repent, the stones and rocks will turn into heaps of grain and the potatoes will plant themselves. Are you praying well, my children? "

"Not really, Lady!" - both answer.

"Ah! my children, it is necessary to pray well in the evening and in the morning. If you do not have time, say at least "Our Father and Hail", and if you can, pray more. In the summer, only a few elderly women go to Mass. Others work all summer on Sundays. In winter, when they don't know what to do, they go to Mass. only to mock religion. During Lent, they eat meat like dogs. My children, have you not ever seen broken grain?"

"No, Lady" answer the children. Then the Beautiful Lady turns to Maximinus:

“But you, my child, must have seen them once, at Coin, with your father. The owner of the field then said to your father, "Come and see my grain rotten." You went together. Your father took two or three ears of corn in his hands, crushed them, and everything fell to dust. You guys came home later. When you were about an hour away from Crops, your father gave you a piece of bread, saying, "You have a baby, eat bread this year, because I don't know if anyone will eat it next year if the grain continues to deteriorate like this."

And the Beautiful Lady ends, not in a dialect, but in French:

"Well, my children, make it known to all my people"

Then he moves forward, crosses the stream and, without looking back, repeats with emphasis: