The Heavenly Father speaks

The Apparitions of Our Lady at La Salette

1846, La Salette-Fallavaux, France

Our Lady of La Salette appeared to two children in 1846 near the village of La Salette-Fallavaux, in Isère, France. The two shepherd children, fifteen-year-old St. Mary Melanie of the Cross and of La Salette (née Melanie Calvat) and eleven-year-old St. Maximin Giraud, told how on Saturday, September 19, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, while they were tending their servant's cows on a mountain near the alpine village of La Salette, they saw, within a luminous light that shone brighter than the sun, a "beautiful woman" who wept and turned to them both.

First, the "beautiful woman" sits and supports her head with her hands, weeping, and then she stands up and speaks at length. She explains to them that She is weeping because of the prevailing godlessness in society, and urges them to avoid two grave sins that had become common: blasphemy and disrespecting Sunday, when one is supposed to rest from work and attend Holy Mass. She predicts terrible punishments that will come if people do not change, and She promises divine mercy to those who mend their ways. Finally, She asks the children to pray, repent and make Her message known.

Among other things, the Virgin Mary told the shepherd children that the hand of Her Son was so strong and heavy that She would not be able to hold it unless people repented and kept the law of God. If they do not, they will have much to suffer. People did not pay attention to the Lord's Day, and continued to work non-stop on Sundays. Only some elderly women attend Holy Mass in the summer. And when they have nothing else to do in winter, they go to church to make fun of religion. Lent is not observed at all. People cannot swear without lightly pronouncing the name of God. Through disobedience and transgression of God's commandments, the hand of your son becomes heavier and heavier.

She went on talking and predicted a terrible famine and food shortage for them. She said that the potato harvest of the previous year had been ruined for these reasons. When the people found the rotten potatoes, they cursed and blasphemed even more against the name of God. She told them that that year the harvest would be ruined again, that the corn and wheat would turn to dust when threshed, and that the nuts would spoil and the grapes rot.

The light in which She appears and which completely envelops the three of them comes from a large crucifix that She wears on Her chest and which is surrounded by a hammer and tongs. On Her shoulder She wears a chain and next to it there are some roses. Her head, waist and feet are also surrounded by roses. She is dressed in white, with a ruby scarf or bandana and a golden apron. At the end, the "beautiful woman" goes up a slope and disappears wrapped in light.

St. Mary Melanie tells us how the apparition happened: Maximin wanted me to show him a game. It was late in the morning and I said to him that we should pick flowers to build the 'Paradise'. We both set to work. Soon we had collected many flowers of different colors. Angelus ringing could be heard from the small town, for the sky was serene and cloudless. After praying to God what we knew, I told Maximin that we should take our cows to a small open field near a ravine where there were stones to build the 'paradise'. We led our cows to the place indicated and immediately we took our simple snack. Then we proceeded to gather stones to build our little house; it consisted of a first floor, which we called our dwelling, and a floor, which we called 'Paradise'. This floor was decorated with different colored flowers and there were wreaths hanging from flower stems. The 'paradise' was covered with a single wide stone that we had covered with flowers. Around it we had also hung wreaths of flowers. When the paradise was finished, we looked at it. Sleep overtook us, we moved two steps away from there and slept on the grass. The beautiful woman sat down on our 'paradise' without letting it collapse.

Waking up and not seeing our cows, I called Maximin and went up the hill. Seeing that our cows were lying there quietly, I went down and Maximin went up, when suddenly I saw a beautiful light shining brighter than the sun, and I could hardly pronounce these words:

"Maximin, see there? Ah! My God!" At the same time I dropped the stick I was holding in my hand. I don't know what delight flooded me at that moment, but I felt attracted, I felt great awe full of love, and my heart wanted to beat faster than I could run. I looked fixedly at that motionless light, and as if that light had opened, I perceived another one that shone much brighter and moved, and in that light was a beautiful woman sitting on our paradise, supporting her head with her hands. This beautiful woman got up, crossed Her hands a little, and looking at us, She said to us:

"Approach, my dear children, do not be afraid, I am here to make an important announcement to you."

Because of these loving and gentle words, I wanted to fly to Her, and my heart wanted to nestle to Her forever. When I stood very close to the beautiful woman - facing Her, a little to the right - She began to speak and the tears also began to flow from Her beautiful eyes.

"If My people will not submit, I am forced to drop the hand of My Son. It is so strong and so heavy that I can no longer hold it back. For a long time I have been suffering for your sake! If I do not want My Son to turn away from you, I must ask Him non-stop. And as for you, you do not pay attention to it. No matter how much you ask, no matter how much you do, you will never be able to repay the effort I have given Me for you.

I have given you six days to work, for Me I have reserved the seventh, and they will not grant it to Me. That is what makes My Son's arm so heavy. The coachmen do not know how to speak without mentioning the name of My Son in their curses. Both of these things make the arm of My Son so heavy.

If the harvest is ruined, it is only your fault. I showed it to you last year with the potatoes, and you did not pay attention to it. On the contrary, when you found them spoiled, you uttered curses and made use of My Son's name. The potatoes will continue to rot and by Christmas there will be none.

If you have wheat, you shall not sow it. All that you sow the animals will eat, and what grows will turn to dust when the fruit sets. There will be a great famine. Before the famine comes, the children under seven will get a chill and die in the arms of the people who carry them; the others will repent through the famine. The nuts will perish and the grapes will rot."

The beautiful woman who delighted me was for a moment inaudible to me; but I saw Her continue gracefully to move Her lovely lips as if She were speaking. Maximin received his secret then. Then the Most Holy Virgin turned to me, talked to me and revealed to me a secret in French. Here is this secret as She revealed it to me:

"Melanie, what I am about to tell you will not always remain a secret. You can make it known in the year 1858. The priests, the servants of My Son, because of their bad life, their disrespectfulness and their callousness in celebrating the Holy Mysteries, because of the love of money, because of the love of honor and pleasures, have turned into a cesspool of immorality. Yes, the priests demand vengeance, and vengeance hovers over their heads. Woe to the priests and to the consecrated persons who, by their perfidy and their bad way of life, crucify My Son anew! The sins of the consecrated persons are heaven-sent and demand vengeance, and vengeance is imminent, for there is no one left to plead for mercy and pardon on behalf of the people, there are no more generous souls, there are no more persons worthy to offer the spotless sacrifice to the Eternal Father for the benefit of the world.

God will punish in a way that has never been done before. Unhappy inhabitants of the earth! God will unload His wrath and no one will be able to escape so many coinciding evils. The rulers, the leaders of God's people, have neglected prayer and repentance, and the devil has blinded their minds; they have turned into those wandering stars that the old serpent will drag along with its tail to destroy them. God will allow the old serpent to sow discord among the rulers, in all walks of life, and in all families; people will suffer physical and spiritual punishment. God will leave people to their own devices and send punishments that will follow each other for more than thirty-five years.

Society is about to experience the most terrible plagues and the most significant events. Prepare to be ruled with a rod of iron and to empty the cup of God's wrath ...

Italy will be punished for ambitiously striving to shake off the yoke of the Lord of Lords; it will also be exposed to war and blood will flow everywhere; the churches will be closed or desecrated. The priests and religious will be expelled, they will be killed and die a horrible death. Many will abandon the faith and there will be a great number of priests and religious who will renounce the true faith; among these people there will even be bishops. Let the Pope beware of persons who work miracles, for the time has come when the most astounding miracles will take place on earth and in the air ...

Lucifer and a great number of devils will be let loose from hell: they will gradually extinguish faith, even in consecrated persons; they will blind them to such an extent that these persons - if they do not have a special grace - will take on the spirit of these evil angels. In many religious houses there will be a total loss of faith, and this will be the doom of many souls.

The bad books will flood the earth and the spirits of darkness will spread a general slackness everywhere for everything that relates to the service of God. They will have great power over nature; there will be churches to serve these spirits. Persons and even priests will be transported from one side to the other by these evil spirits, because they have not been guided according to the good spirit of the Gospel, namely the spirit of humility, Christian charity and zeal for the glory of God... Everywhere there will be strange miracles, because the true faith will be extinguished and the false light will illuminate the world. Unhappy princes of the Church, who have been occupied only in amassing riches, securing their authority and ruling haughtily.

The Vicar of My Son will have to suffer much, because for a time the Church will be subjected to great persecutions; this will be the time of darkness, the Church will go through a terrible crisis.

Forgetting the holy faith in God, everyone will want to lead himself and be superior to others. The civil and the ecclesiastical authority will be abolished, one will disregard every order and everything just. There will be only murders, hatred, jealousy, lies and discord, without love for the homeland or for the family.

The Holy Father will suffer much. I will be with him until the end to receive his sacrifice.

The wicked will often seek his life without being able to harm him, but neither he nor his successor ... will see the triumph of the Church of God.

Governments will all have the same intention, namely to abolish and make disappear all religious principles to make way for materialism, atheism, spiritualism and all kinds of vices ...

In the holy places the abomination will be seen, in the monasteries the flowers of the Church will perish, and the devil will set himself up as king of hearts. Let the superiors of religious orders exercise caution with the persons whom they are to receive, for the devil will expend all his malice to infiltrate into the spiritual orders persons given to sin, for excesses and the love of sensual pleasure will be spread throughout the world.

France, Italy, Spain and England will wage war, blood will flow in the streets, the Frenchman will fight against the Frenchman and the Italian against the Italian; then there will be a world war that will be terrible. For a time, God will not remember either France or Italy, because the gospel of Jesus Christ will no longer be known. The wicked will bring out all their wickedness; people will kill each other, even in houses they will massacre each other.

At His first stroke of the sword, the mountains and the whole earth will tremble with terror, for the outrages and crimes of men are sky-scraping. Paris will fall victim to the flames and Marseilles will be swallowed up by the sea, many great cities will be shaken and devoured by earthquakes. One will believe that everything is lost; one will see only murders, one will hear only the noise of weapons and blasphemies. The righteous will suffer much, their prayers, their penances and their tears will ascend to heaven and all God's people will plead for pardon and mercy, they will ask for My help and My intercession. Then, by an act of His justice and mercy, Jesus Christ will command His angels to destroy all His enemies. Suddenly, all the persecutors of the church of Jesus Christ and all the people who surrender to sin will perish, and the earth will be like a desert. Then peace will be made and God will be reconciled with people. People will serve Jesus Christ, worship Him and glorify Him. Charity will blossom everywhere. The new kings will be the right hand of the Holy Church, which will be strong, humble, charitable, poor and the true imitator of the virtues of Jesus Christ. The gospel will be proclaimed everywhere and people will make great progress in the faith, for there will be unity among the servants of Jesus Christ and people will live in the fear of God.

This peace among men will not last long. Twenty-five years of abundant harvests will make them forget that the sins of men are the cause of all the tribulations that exist in the world.

A forerunner of the Antichrist will fight with his army composed of several nations against the true Christ, the only Savior of the world; he will shed much blood and will want to abolish worship so that he will be taken for God.

The earth will be punished by all kinds of plagues (apart from the plague and famine, which will be general). There will be wars, and the last war will be waged by the ten kings of the Antichrist. They will all have the same evil intention and they will be the only ones who will rule the world. Before this happens, there will be a false peace in the world. People will be anxious only to enjoy themselves; the wicked will indulge in all kinds of sins, but in the children of the holy church, in the children who practice faith, in those who truly imitate Me, love for God will increase, and they will practice more zealously the virtues that are dearest to Me. Happy can be the humble souls who are guided by the Holy Spirit. I will struggle with them until the time is complete for them.

Nature exacts vengeance for mankind, and anticipating what is to come on the crime-stained earth, she shudders with terror.

Quake, O earth, tremble you who vow to serve Jesus Christ and inwardly worship yourselves, for God will hand you over to His enemy because the holy places are morally degenerate. Many monasteries are no longer houses of God, but pasture for Asmodeus and his.

During this time, the Antichrist will be born, from a Hebrew religious woman, a false virgin, who will be associated with the old serpent, the Lord of Impurity. His father will be a bishop. At birth, he will spout blasphemies and have teeth. In short, it will be the devil made flesh. He will utter horrible cries, work miracles, and feast only on impurities. He will have brothers and sisters, and although they will not be devils made flesh like him, they will be children of the evil one. At twelve they will stand out for their magnificent victories, and soon each will lead an army supported by infernal legions.

The seasons will change, the earth will produce only bad fruits, the celestial bodies will deviate from the ordinary course, the moon will render only a dim reddish light, the waters and fire will cause twitching movements all over the world, and by terrible earthquakes mountains and cities will be swallowed up, etc.

Rome will lose faith and turn into the seat of the Antichrist.

The devils will work great wonders with the Antichrist on earth and in the air, and people will become more and more morally depraved. God will take care of His faithful servants and the well-intentioned people. The gospel will be proclaimed everywhere. All peoples and all nations will know the truth!

I am making an urgent call to the earth. I call the true disciples of God who lives and reigns in heaven; I call the true imitators of the incarnate Christ, the one and only true Savior of men. I call My children, My true devotees, those who have given themselves to Me to lead them to My Divine Son, those whom I carry in My arms, so to speak, those who have lived according to My Spirit. Finally, I call the apostles of the last times, the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who have lived until now despising the world and themselves, being poor and humble, lowly and silent, praying and repenting, chaste and united to God, suffering patiently and unknown to the world. It is time for them to set out and enlighten the world. Go and show yourselves as My beloved children, I am with you and in you, provided that your faith is the light that illuminates you in these calamitous days. May your zeal cause you to hunger for the glory and honor of Jesus Christ. Fight, children of light, you, the few you see, for it is the time of the ages, the decisive end is coming.

The church will be darkened, the world will be stunned. But here come Enoch and Elijah filled with the Spirit of God; they will preach with the power of God, the well-meaning people will believe in God, and many souls will be comforted; by the power of the Holy Spirit they will make great progress in virtue and reject the devilish errors of Antichrist.

Unhappy inhabitants of the earth! There will be bloody wars and famine, pestilence and contagious diseases, there will be terrible plagues of insects, and also thunderclaps, which will make the cities tremble, earthquakes, by which whole countries will be razed to the ground; in the air voices will be heard, people will beat their heads against the wall, they will long for death and on the other hand they will be punished by death, the blood will flow everywhere. Who can possibly stand if God does not cut short the time of trial? Through the blood, tears and prayers of the righteous, God will be softened. Enoch and Elijah will be killed, pagan Rome will disappear, fire will fall from heaven and destroy three cities. The whole universe will be shaken with terror and many will be deceived because they did not worship the true Christ who lived among them. That is the moment when the sun will be darkened and only faith will endure.

The time has come: hell is opening. Behold here the king of kings of darkness. See here the Beast, the Antichrist, with his subjects, pretending to be the Savior of the world. He will proudly rise into the air to ascend to heaven, but he will be vanquished by the breath of the holy archangel Michael. He will fall down and the earth, which will be in constant motion for three days, will open its maw full of fire and he will be sunk with his forever in the eternal abyss of hell. Then the earth will be purified by the water and the fire, all works originating from the pride of men will be destroyed by it, and everything will then be renewed: God will be served and He will be glorified."

After five years of investigation, the Bishop of Grenoble, Philibert of Bruillard, acknowledged that the apparition was credible. The devotion to Our Lady of La Salette was approved by St. Pope Pius IX.

Secrets of the Blessed Virgin: The shepherd children confirmed that their two secrets were revealed to them individually at the apparition site a few days later, on September 25, 1846, although the Blessed Virgin said to them not to speak about them or tell each other until 1858, when they were to be made known. These two mysteries were sent to St. Pope Pius IX in 1851.

There are two versions of the Secret of Melanie, one written by herself in 1851, and the other published in 1879 by the same author in Lecce, Italy, with the approval of the bishop of that city.

The secret which the Most Holy Virgin Mary revealed to Maximin was: "If My people continue in this way, what I have announced will come sooner; if they improve a little, it will arrive a little later. France has corrupted the universe; one day it will be punished. The faith will die out in France: three quarters of the French will no longer practice religion and the other part will practice it superficially. Later, the peoples will convert and the faith will revive anew everywhere. A large country in northern Europe, which is now Protestant, will be converted, and with its help the other nations of the world will be converted. Before this happens, there will be great confusion in the Church and everywhere. Then our Holy Father, the Pope, will be persecuted. His successor will be a chief shepherd whom no one expects. Then there will be deep peace, but it will be short-lived. An inhuman will come to disturb it. Everything I say will come to pass in another century."

It is not known what impression these mysterious revelations made on the Pope. There was a controversy, deliberating whether the secret made known in 1879 was exactly the same as that communicated to Pope Pius IX in 1851. The holy Curé of Ars was undecided about the apparitions for a while, but later he recognized them as supernatural; St. Maximin visited him several times. St. Pope Leo XIII received the visionary Melanie, showing himself particularly favorable to her, and he knew the full content of the mystery. In 1910, when Saint Pope Pius X read an account of Saint Melanie's life, he exclaimed, "La nostra Santa!" and he ordered the beatification process to begin immediately.

La Salette Sanctuary from above

The apparition of Mary in La Salette was the prelude to a series of Marian alarms for prayer, penance, reparation, conversion. In 1858, Our Lady appears in Lourdes as the Immaculate and causes a spring to gush forth; in 1871, she writes to Heaven in Pontmain (La Salette). In 1917, as the Queen of the Rosary, she makes the sun turn like a wheel of fire in Fatima, etc. The place of grace in the Savoy Alps can be reached from Grenoble on the Route Napoleon in a southerly direction via Vicille, La Mure to Corps (70 km).

On September 19, 1971, the 125th anniversary, the Lord said to the then visionary Clemente Domínguez: "Ah, if only attention had been paid to the messages given at La Salette! How much would have been avoided! Poor humanity, which is heading towards the abyss! And to think that I am generous and forgive immediately if you only ask for forgiveness! But it is necessary that you humble yourselves so that I may forgive you. My heart is ready to forgive. But with the proud I also do justice and humble them."

On September 25, 1971, the Blessed Virgin Mary said to him in La Salette: "My dear children, thank you for your pilgrimage to this holy place in La Salette ... Humanity is lost! It has fallen into pride and has turned away from the good traditions. It turns its back on its Heavenly Mother. I, the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, am the Mother of mankind through the Most Precious Blood shed by Jesus on the Cross. Humanity is walking blindly, being led by nefarious shepherds, shepherds who do not care for their sheep, shepherds who live devoted to worldly pleasures, apostate shepherds, namely cardinals, bishops, priests, monks and nuns who act dutifully towards the flock. The world would be in a different situation if the messages I gave in this holy place had been listened to, made known and followed. But most did not believe in them, others contested them, and still others did not care.

Here, at La Salette, I announced many of the evils that would come upon the Church and the world. They are literally coming true and others will eventually come to pass. Everything will be fulfilled, yes, until the last word that I pronounced in this holy place. You can already see the cesspools that I announced here in La Salette in the last century. Many priests leave the altar to marry and live lustfully with a woman. Do you think that this is not a breach of faith? Woe to him who has put his hand to the plow and looks back! Whoever is ordained a priest receives ordination according to the order of Melchizedech and will always be a priest. After his death, he will continue to be a priest in the place for which he will be ordained. I have already wept in that place because of the evils to come. I saw how the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar would be despised, how the Blood of the Divine Lamb would be shamefully desecrated even by priests, how the time would come when Communion would not be shown due reverence.

The time has already come when the Eucharist will be spurned and despised. The Lord's messengers already somehow administer it, without respect and reverence. My children, you should know that the Eucharist should be received worthily, with reverence, inner gathering, devotion and devotion to God. The most dignified attitude is to kneel, bowing the knees before the majesty of Jesus Christ, because He gave His life for the redemption of mankind, He gives His body to eat and His blood to drink, to distribute His graces and to bestow His mercy... humanity!

Jesus is already gradually withdrawing from the tabernacles! There will be cities where only in very few churches Jesus Christ will be present in the Sacrament of the Altar, since many of the so-called messengers of the Lord are members of Freemasonry and no longer consecrate inwardly. Mankind will forever remember My words addressed to My visionaries here in La Salette last century, as they will all come true.

But since I am your Mother, I will protect all you who come to Me. I always repeat to you, I will protect you, I will embrace you and cover you with My holy mantle. I will protect you from the enemy. Do not worry about the upcoming events, because I will be with you in the most terrible moments. Your Heavenly Mother will not be absent from you, just as She was not absent from Jesus on the cross. He was forsaken by all, but He had His Mother there, just as you will have Me ...

Come in multitudes to the holy place at El Palmar de Troya in Spain, where I am presently appearing to some poor sinners who are humble and simple. In that place people pray intensely for all humanity and from there abundant graces will emanate for the Church and for the world... Through My present apparitions in El Palmar de Troya in Spain, the Church and the world will be saved. It is the decisive hour for the Father's wrath, and this place in El Palmar will be the averter of the divine wrath through the many and devout prayers, as well as the sacrifices and penance. All those who frequent Palmar will be enlightened in the Last Times; they will walk in righteousness, but they must pray very humbly, as they will be attacked more frequently by the enemy."

In La Salette, the Blessed Virgin Mary drew attention to the dangers that were approaching and indicated to the Christian people how to avert them. When the foretold came true and the apostasy of Rome was approaching, the Most Holy Virgin appeared in El Palmar to give the Church the last opportunity for salvation and to prepare a place of refuge for those who faithfully follow Her Divine Son.

The Most Holy Virgin Mary, as Our Lady of Lourdes, said on January 28, 1971: "See what paths I make this visionary, My son (Clemente Domínguez), travel: I send him to Marian shrines and places of pilgrimage, as well as to holy places where there have been celestial apparitions. In this way I teach you that there should be unity among the proponents of the apparitions. No one in the world has the power to prevent God from manifesting His omnipotence in a certain place. With this I want to tell you that just as I appeared in Lourdes, I appeared in Fatima, and also in La Salette, Pontmain, Brittany, Guadalupe, Zaragoza, Garabandal, El Palmar de Troya, as well as in many other places."