A Marian apparition took place on September 19, 1846 at La Salette in the French Alps, before two shepherd children: Mélanie and Maximin (illiterate and with almost no religious education at the ages of 14 and 11). The children saw a beautiful lady seated on a rock, her face covered by her hands, as if oppressed by a great suffering. The lady rises and calls to the children: “Come nearer, don't be afraid...!” On her breast they see a large cross (Jesus, covered with blood, in agony) and the instruments of the Passion (hammer, pincers). A few roses form a crown on her head; others are on her shoulders and on her shoes. The lady weeps and says she can no longer stay the arm of her Son; she laments for the fact that Sunday is no longer kept holy; for the many blasphemies that are uttered, and because religion is mocked; we need to pray well morning and evening; and it is important to observe Lent. A spring that beforehand was only seen periodically wells up.

The apparition was recognized as authentic by the local ordinary in 1851. The seers were required to write down (separately) the "secrets" entrusted to them. The pages were sent to Rome, but their content was only published in 2000 (when the relevant archive of the Holy Office was opened to researchers). [*] In the past, the so-called "great secret" revealed by Mélanie in a 1879 publication (with the bishop’s imprimatur), was kept under lock and key by the Congregation. From 1915 to 1966 the circulation of the text published in 1879 was even barred with canonical penalties: suspension for priests and exclusion from the sacraments for lay Catholics.

The recognized part of the La Salette message underscores the importance of prayer and penance in the face of divine justice. In the tradition of La Salette, the Mass formulary on “Mary, Virgin Mother of Reconciliation” was included in the Marian missal of 1986.

[*] cf. M. CORTEVILLE, La grande nouvelle des bergers de la Salette, Paris 2001 (partial publication of a doctoral thesis at the Angelicum, Rome 2000); ID. – R. LAURENTIN, Découverte du secret de la Salette, Paris 2002, 46-49; A. GALLI, Scoperti in Vaticano. I segreti di La Salette, Milano 2007, 55ff. 121 (texts by Maximin and Mélanie.)

The secret written by Maximin indicates great tribulations in the Church and in the world. The faith will undergo a sharp drop, especially in France, but thanks to the conversion of a large country in northern Europe, "now Protestant", the whole world will be converted. There will be a great peace, but only for a brief time, because a monster will arrive to disturb it.

The secret of Mélanie reports more details, among others that if conversions are lacking, there will be terrible punishments, including the destruction of Paris and Marseilles. The Pope will be persecuted and there will be attempts to kill him, but he will triumph. After disorders that shake the world, there will be a new flowering of the Faith, but after some time, the disorder will begin again. The most terrible thing will be unrest between the ministers of God and the religious sisters. The Antichrist will arrive, born of a religious sister. All this would happen within 100 years. For now, we cannot linger on the interpretation of these messages. See the bibliography in LAURENTIN – SBALCHIERO (2007) 511. The most noted historian of La Salette, Jean Stern, missionary of Our Lady of La Salette, reduces the secrets “to pious advice given to Maximin and Mélanie, and expanded by them and attributed to the Virgin later under the influence of unbalanced persons.” (DE FIORES, Dizionario I [2006] 56); cf. J. STERN, La Salette: documents authentiques, 3 vols., Paris 1984-91; ID., La Salette I. Geschichte, in Marienlexikon 4 (1992) 25-27 (26).