On September 19, 1846, on a grassy hill near La Salette, France, two shepherd children, Maxim Giraud and Melanie Mathieu, were tending their flocks. Suddenly, they heard a woman sobbing. They looked down the hill and saw a beautiful woman dressed in dazzling white and gold, with a crown and flowers on her head, sitting on a rock, crying into her hands. They timidly started down the hill to investigate, when the woman stood up and addressed them saying, “Come to me, my children. Do not be afraid. I am here to tell something of the greatest importance.” They came close to her and she warned them of the sins of France and the righteous anger of Our Lord. She said, “If my people will not obey, I shall be compelled to loose my Son’s arm. It is so heavy, so pressing, that I can no longer restrain it. How long I have suffered for you!”

She condemned the profanities against her Son that were so casually and frequently uttered by Frenchmen and Europeans broadly. She denounced those who skip Sunday Mass and mock religion. She prophesied many things, including a great famine which did occur in France the following year. She also especially emphasized the importance of daily prayer. She asked the children, “Do you say your prayers well, my children?” Reluctantly, the children told her that they did not pray very well. She responded so lovingly to them, “Ah, my children, it is very important to say them, at night and in the morning.” After she had told them all of her secrets, she directed them, saying, “My children, you will make this known to all my people.” Then she floated up the mountain and disappeared into the sky.

Practical Lesson

1. Keep Holy the Sabbath: Our Lady mentions specifically that forsaking our obligation to attend Mass on Sunday deeply offends her Son. It is a privilege and a gift to receive her Son in such an intimate way. We must never be ungrateful or cavalier in our attendance.
2. Pray Every Day: Our Lady is very clear to the children: it is paramount to pray everyday. How else can we expect to maintain a relationship with Christ? Our Lady, in her great humility and mercy, does also mention this to the children on the same point, “When you don’t have time, at least say an Our Father and a Hail Mary. And when you can, say more.”
3. Contemplate the Seven Sorrows of Mary: Our Lady has suffered so many indignities at the hands of sinful mankind. We ought to take more time to contemplate her sufferings and make reparations for our sins, and the sins of others, which continue to cause her tears.

Prayer

Most loving Mother of God, who did appear to the children at La Salette, shedding tears for the fate of man and his sinfulness, we beg your pardon and ask you to continue to intercede for us to your Son. Please ask Him to give us the graces to turn from ours sins and towards Him, that we may enjoy everlasting life together with you and all the saints in Heaven. Amen.

Quote

“Come to me, my children. Do not be afraid.”