Nuestra Señora de La Salette de Silang - The Reconciler of Sinners
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| Nuestra Señora de La Salette de Silang |
Of all these apparitions of the Blessed virgin Mary, France was given a privileged to be the cradle of some notable Marian apparition from the past centuries. It was in this countries where the apparitions in Rue de Bac in Paris, Lourdes, Laus, Pontmain took place and gained much popularity and importance.
One of the these important apparitions of the past centuries that left a significant impact in Church history is the apparition in the mountains of La Salette where she appeared to two shepherds to give a stern warning to the world that it is still relevant to our time.
The Visage of the Virgin
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| The first phase of the apparition |
"The clothing of the Most Holy Virgin was silver white and quite brillliant. It was quite intangible. It was made up of light and glory, sparkling and dazzling. There is no expression nor comparison to be found on earth. The most Holy Virgin had a yellow pinafore. What am I saying, yellow? She had a pinafore more brilliant than several suns put together. It was not a tangible material; it was composed of glory, and the glory was scintillating, and ravishingly beautiful.
The crown of roses which she placed on her head was so beautiful, so brilliant, that it defies imagination. The different colored roses were not of this earth; it was a joining together of flowers which crowned the Most Holy Virgin. The Most Holy Virgin was tall and well proportioned. She seemed so light that a mere breath could have stirred her, yet she was motionless and perfectly balanced. Her face was majestic, imposing. The voice of the Beautiful Lady was soft. It was enchanting, ravishing, warming to the ears. The eyes of the majestic Mary appeared thousands of times more beautiful than the rarest brilliants, diamonds, aand precious stones. They shone like two suns; but they were soft, softness itself, as clear as a mirror. The Holy Virgin had a most pretty cross hanging around her neck.
The Holy Virgin was crying nearly the whole time she was speaking to us. Her tears flowed gently, one by one, down to her knees, then, like sparks of light they disappeared. They were glittering and full of love. I would have liked to comfort her and stop her tears."
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| The second phase of the apparition |
It was in the middle of September 19, 1846, Maximin Giraud and Melanie Calvat-Mathieu, who were looking after their cows, high up on the hills above the village, when Mary appeared before them. Even if they were asked separately they would say the same thing about what they saw.
At first, they saw a great lightand a beautiful lady emerged. She was sitting on on the rock crying, her face was covered with her hands and told them that unless people repented she would be forced to let go the arm of her Son because she could no longer hold back. Mary went on to complain that she never stop praying to her son for them, but the people still worked on Sundays and that people should not forget to say their prayers, even just one Our Father and one Hail Mary would be enough. She also spoke of coming punishments for these sins. The following day, after the apparition, the dried up fountain began to have a flowing water. Additionally, hundreds of miraculous cures have also been reported at the Basilica of La Salette that still occurs at present.
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| The third phase of the apparition |
he central theme of the Virgin's messages was turn away from sin and do penance or undergo terrible suffering. In the messages of La Salette, the Blessed Mother lamented the wrong doings of the people, especially on not observing the Holy Days, most especially Sundays.
"Only a few rather old women go to Mass in the summer. All the rest work every Sunday throughout the summer. And in winter, when they don't know what to do with themselves, they go to Mass only to poke fun at religion. During Lent they flock to the butcher shops, like dogs.....
She further stressed this when she mentioned the pain of her Son, Jesus: "'I have appointed for you six days for working. The seventh I have reserved for myself. And no one will give it to me.' This is what causes the weight of my Son's arm to be so crushing."
The Virgin also predicted the Potato famine that will take place from in 1846 until 1847 as the result of the sins of the people: "If you have grain, it will do you no good to sow it, for what you sow the beasts will devour, and any part of it that springs up will crumble into dust when you thresh it. A great famine is coming. But before that happens, the children under seven years of age will be seized with trembling and die in their parents' arms. The grownups will pay for their sins by hunger. The grapes will rot and the walnuts will turn bad...." The famine resulted in the loss of approximately one million lives, including one hundred thousand in France alone.It is also known that the Virgin gave each child a secret that will be placed in writing in 1851 in the presence of Church officials and deliver their statement to the Bishop. It is also interesting that the secrets that the Blessed Mother that was given to each them did not revealed its contents until their deaths. When the secrets were discovered in the Vatican Archives in 1999, the contents of the secrets were alarming for it gave a more serious warnings to the people if they did not repent.
“If my people continue [to commit sin], what I will say to you will arrive earlier, if it changes a little, it will be a little later.
France has corrupted the universe, one day it will be punished. The faith will die out in France: three quarters of France will not practice religion anymore, or almost no more, the other part will practice it without really practicing it. Then, after [that], nations will convert, the faith will be rekindled everywhere. A great country in the north of Europe, now Protestant, will be converted; by the support of this country all the other nations of the world will be converted. Before all that arrives, great disorders will arrive, in the Church, and everywhere. Then, after [that], our Holy Father the Pope will be persecuted. His successor will be a pontiff that nobody expects. Then, after [that], a great peace will come, but it will not last a long time. A monster will come to disturb it.
The priests and the Sisters, and the true servants of my Son will be persecuted, and several will die for the faith of Jesus Christ. (...) [Among] God’s ministers, and the Spouses of Jesus-Christ, there will be some who will go astray, and that will be the most terrible. A famine will reign at the same time. (...) If the face of the earth does not change, God will be avenged against the people ungrateful and slave of the demon.
After all these will have arrived, many will recognize the hand of God on them, they will convert, and do penance for their sins. "
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| The apparition site |
After five years of investigation, the Bishop of Grenoble, Philibert de Bruillard announced in 1851 that the apparition was to be a true revelation and authorized the commencement of the following of Our Lady of La Salette with the following statement:
"We judge that the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin to the two cowherds on the 19th of September, 1846, on a mountain of the chain of Alps, situated in the parish of LaSalette, in the archpresbytery of Corps, bears within Itself all the characteristics of truth, and that the faithful have grounds for believing it Indubitable and certain."
This determination was later confirmed by his successor, Bishop Ginoulhiac, in 1855. In May 25, 1852, The first stone of The Shrine of La Salette was blessed by Mgr de Bruillard. The Shrine was built near the location of the apparition at the center of a mountain ring formed by the Gargas and the Chamoux and the Shrine became a Basilica and it was completed and dedicated in 1879.
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| Nuestra Señora de La Salette de Silang Altar image |
The center of La Salette devotion is in Silang, Cavite founded in 1968. The beginnings of the devotion to Notre Dame de La Salette in the country was quite unique. The devotion to the Virgin of La Salette arrived as a vow of an American priests after they were spared from the dangers of the Second World War.
In November 1941, three newly ordained La Salette priest, namely : Rev. Fr. Joseph Descoteau, Rev. Fr. John Doherty and Rev. Fr. Fred Julien boarded the SS President Grant in San Francisco to sail to the La Salette Missionaries in Burma. On December 8, Pearl Harbor was bombed and America was at war with Japan. The passengers of the ship were ordered to disembark and sleep on the shore.
During that time, Manila was occupied by the Japanese who placed all foreigners under house arrest. The three priest sought and found refuge with the Jesuits. In 1944, Fathers Descoteau and Julien were moved to Los Banos, a hill country 40 miles of Manila, where they joined other internees; two bishops, 243 priests, nuns and brothers plus 2000 Protestant Missionaries and their families. Father Doherty remained in Manila.
Having discovered the Japanese plan to execute the internees, General Douglas McArthur mapped out daring rescue. In early morning of February 23, 1945, while Japanese were doing their calisthenics, some 200 U.S. paratroopers dropped from the heavens and separated Japanese from their guns. As the first paratrooper touches the ground, the Filipino guirellas scouts hidden in the nearby mountain surrounded the camp and begun their attack.
Father Julien recounts that :"A fierce battle took place. Bullets flew over our heads. We all lay flat on the ground praying the rosary. I was convinced some of us would die. Trembling from head to foot and unable to control my head pounding on the ground, I promised Our Lady of La Salette to erect a shrine in her honor should she help me survive."
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Nuestra Señora de La Salette de Silang
The Pilgrim/processional image
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Soon the three La Salette priests were reunited and deported to the states where they petitioned the Seven Dollar Province to allow them to return to the Philippines. Back in Los Banos in 1944, Bishop Constance Jurgens invited Fathers Descoteau and Julien to come to Isabela, a province up north, to help when the war was over. A postulatum, therefore, petitioning for the Philippine mission and signed by the La Salette in Texas and Louisiana was presented in the Provincial Chapter in 1948. But the decision is to maintain Burma. Henceforth, all ensuing correspondences were addressed to Father Elmeric Dubois, the Provincial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Province, eventually paving the way to acceptance of the Philippine Mission.
The beginnings of the Shrine
After seventeen years, Father Alphonse Dutil, the Superior General, allowed Father Julien to return to the Philippines. In 1962, he was FEATI University Chaplain in Manila and in 1964, Father Paul Douillard, MS, the Vice-Provincial told him: "You may go to Silang to fulfill your promise but we neither give you money nor help."
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| National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Silang, Cavite |
A rose grower became interested in project and donated 100 potted roses. From there, thousands were propagated. The sale of plants and flowers was brisk. Soon the income allowed the hiring of two more helpers.
In 1965, Father Julien celebrated his 25th anniversary as a priest and visited the States. During his six months visit, he was able to raise a decent amount for his projects in the shrine, from his anniversary gifts, rummage sales, card games and other ways and means that his friends and relatives did to help. This enabled Father Julien raised enough money to built a multipurpose, one-storey building. The building, consisted of a chapel, a gift shop, a storage room, Father's bedroom and cooperative store owned and managed by his employees.
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| The stone statues depicting the La Salette apparitions |
The exact measurement of the Shrine in La Salette, France were obtained and work began. The blessing of the shrine took place on September 19, 1968. Over 500 people marched, sung and prayed during the inauguration. Soon afterwards, the St. Joseph's Dormitory with sixteen bedrooms, four people to a room was constructed. The adobe ground took time, patience, and plenty of determination to carry on the work. The Church was finally blessed on September 19, 1977 - The Feast of Our Lady of La Salette.
Today the facsimile is surrounded by beautiful gardens and a well-landscaped property which draws many people. Many also were the school groups, parish organizations, who, while on an excursion, would stop by to visit the Shrine and hear once more the message of Our Lady of La Salette.
Upon reaching the age of 70, Father Fred Julien returned to the United States on July 31, 1979 - seventeen years from the day he promised to build a Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette. His remains are laid to rest in the burial grounds of the La Salette Missionaries at the Shrine.
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| Nuestra Señora de La Salette during the Grand Marian Procession in Intramuros, Manila |
At present, the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette continues to hold retreats, pilgrimages, recollections among many others for the nourishment of the souls of the faithful. The La Salette missionary sisters coordinates with different private and government agencies on programs for the those people with illness, disabled, and victims of natural disasters and they give shelter for the homeless kids and orphans.
The pilgrim image of Nuestra Señora de La Salette constantly joins the annual Grand Marian Procession in Intramuros, Manila as an avenue to further propagate the devotion to the Lady of La Salette, the Reconciler of Sinners. The Feast of Notre Dame de La Salette is commemorated every September 19, the day of the apparition and pilgrims from all over the country visit the National Shrine in Silang, Cavite.
Before speaking, the Lady communicated with signals. Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, irradiated the light of the Resurrection. The brilliance of her face was so much that Maximino was unable to look permanently, and Melanie was dazzled by her presence. Her vestments, like Christ on the mountain the day of the Transfiguration, were resplendent with light. The light came from the big Crucifix on her chest. Through her appearance at La Salette, Mary continues to carry her mission received at the foot of the Cross: embrace suffering and pain for us, to give us life in the faith.
However, it is up to us if we will heed her message of repentance and conversion. We have been forewarned by the Vigin in La Salette on the punishments that the world will receive, if we do not respond. How could we resist the tears of her who is “compelled to pray without ceasing for us”, of Her who is so maternally attentive to every detail and happening in our lives: our struggles and our faults, our choices and our daily cares.
Faithful to the mission she received on Calvary, Mary never ceases to recall to us the means which have been given to us to return to her Son: for we cannot, without His aid, build our lives and our world. To reject His grace cannot fail to have most serious consequence. Mary, our Reconciler, came to La Salette to recall this truth to her people.
Nuestra Señora de La Salette de Silang, Ipanalangin mo kami!
References:
"A Brief History of the Philippine Province", Retreived from September 17, 2017 from http://www.lasalettephilippines.org/brief-history.html.
Barcelona, Mary Anne, "Ynang Maria: A Celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines", Edited by Consuelo B. Estepa, Ph.D. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc, 2004.
Barsotti, Divo, "Una madre tra noi: il messaggio della Madonna". Padova: Edizioni Messaggero, 1985.
Bassette, Lous, "Notre-Dame de La Salette et le bienheureux Pierre-Julian Eymard: La Salette et quelques historiens". Grenoble: Eymond, 1960.
Bloy, Leon, "She who weeps: Our Lady of Salette". Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1956.
Corteville, Michael, "The Great News of the Shepherds of La Salette". 2000.
Laurentin, Renee and Corteville, Michael, "Discovery of the Secret of La Salette", 2002.
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