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The Tears of Mary, Reconciler of Sinners

Untitled-1Adoration of the Shepherds by Gerard van Honthorst (1590-1656)The Christian people... spontaneously invoked Our Lady of La Salette under the title, Reconciler of sinners. Official church documents make no mention of it among the titles it attributes to Mary. Let us, however, listen to what Vatican Council II teaches:

 

“The Father of mercies willed that the consent of the predestined mother should precede the Incarnation, so that just as a woman contributed to death, so also a woman should contribute to life... she devoted herself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her Son... (B)y the grace of Almighty God she served the mystery of redemption” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, #56).

 

The Meaning of Mary’s Tears


... In her role as Mother, she shared in a singular manner in the salvation accomplished by her Son. This is the meaning of her tears at La Salette... We know that tears are the consummate language of maternal love... we are familiar with the story of St. Monica; what torrents of tears had she shed for her son, Augustine. Well then, Mary’s tears are the expression of her maternal love for us... Her tears speak to us “who pay no heed!”

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A Madagascar Thanksgiving

Untitled-1There are many ways in which we can say thank you! Here are some of the ways we can say thanks in the La Salette world: Merci (French), Misoatra (Malagasy), Danke (German), Mesi (Haitian), Grazzie (Italian), Dzekuje (Polish), Obrigado (Portuguese), Salamat (Tagalog), Dyakuju (Ukrainian), and Kyay Zoo Tin Pa Deh (Burmese).

Every year when we observe Thanksgiving Day (in the U.S. on the last Thursday in November), I recall one of the earliest Thanksgivings I celebrated in Madagascar.

Although Thanksgiving is an American holiday, none of our Missionaries whether they were Malagasy, French or Italian would have any reluctance to join in celebrating this special day.

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Understanding the La Salette Invocation

The La Salette Invocation:
Our Lady of La Salette, Reconciler of Sinners,
pray without ceasing for us who have recourse to you.


Untitled-1Fr. Silvain-Marie Giraud, M.S., La Salette Superior General from 1865 to 1876As familiar as this invocation may be to many of us, perhaps we have more to learn about this central element of La Salette Spiritiuality. The following are reflections from severla authors on this invocation.

 

1) Fr. Donald Paradis, M.S., in the endnotes, #34, of his English translation of “The Book of the Spiritual Exercises of Our Lady of La Salette” by Fr. Silvain-Marie Giraud, M.S. Fr. Paradis gathers several points of information. He begins by saying:

 

That Our Lady of La Salette was invoked very early on as the Reconciler of sinners is beyond doubt. Precisely when and under what circumstances – whether the invocation sprang spontaneously from the lips of pilgrims or is to be attributed to prompting of some sort – cannot be determined with any certainty.

 

1a) “Our Lady of La Salette, Reconciler of sinners, pray without ceasing for us who have recourse to you. – From what lips did this invocation, destined to be repeated so often thereafter everywhere on earth, spring for the first time?

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Learning About the La Salette Charism

Untitled-1Pope Francis in a talk encouraged all consecrated religious to “wake up the world.” Pope Francis named 2015 as “The Year of Religious Consecration”, in order to help religious and others reflect on the life, charism and gift that is religious life for the Church.

And as I personally approach my fiftieth year of religious profession as a La Salette Missionary, I can testify that that I have been asked countless times several questions:

• What is a charism?
• What is the charism of La Salettes?
• How can we – laity and religious alike – live and make known the message of La Salette?


The following questions are given in a catechism format with accompanying reflection questions in order to explain the often-unknown topic our La Salette charism of reconciliation.

a) What is the meaning of the word “charism”?
Many of us are quite familiar with the Greek word, charisma, meaning a special magnetic charm or appeal. From this same root comes the word, charism, describing an extraordinary gift flowing from God’s love to human beings. We will discuss the basics of charism as recognized in the life and ministry of the La Salette Missionaries and those which whom they minister and share this charism.

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The Cross of Mount Gargas

Untitled-1The giant slope of Mount Gargas, with its “new” cross atop this Alpine peak. It was, without doubt, the largest and most beautiful Way of the Cross in our lives. The cross on Mount Gargas, that can still be seen in the audiovisual on the Apparition, was destroyed in a storm. So the idea came to us to replace it during a family pilgrimage.

This idea spread quickly. In a short time, we made ou to La Salette on Saturday August 26, 1978, some eighty of us – pilgrims, parents, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces and asked for a blessing for our our newly fashioned oak cross. The next day, immediately after the Sunday morning Mass, we were off, up the steep incline of Mount Gargas, overlooking the sight of the apparition.

Untitled-2The families together begin their treck up the face of Mount Gargas.The stronger of us carried the cross in turn, while others carried all accessories – cement, water, sand, and tools. The sight of the La Salette apparition was still drowned in a thick fog. But soon, as we climbed the mountainside, we stepped into an area of brilliant sunshine, illuminating the entire chain of the surrounding mountains. We instantly saw this as a symbol of our passage as a family from darkness into light.

Some of the members of this long caravan began to show some signs of fatigue so we decided to make our first stop. A sat and relaxed and took out our rosaries so we could surround the upright cross with our prayers.

We resumed the climb to the very top. Once gathered there, we made preparations for the new foundation. Soon we replaced the old warned stand with a sturdier one and placed the new high cross in its place of honor. Suddenly the clouds below parted, near the scene of the apparition, allowing us also to see the Basilica, to which the cross was oriented. Our mission was completed. We had our lunch and paused for a while to take in our panoramic surroundings.

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The Event of La Salette and Its Spirit

Editor: This article, entitled "La Salette," was originally written by Fr. Roger R. Castel, M.S., for the “Dictionary of Mary,” published in 1985 in New York by the Catholic Book Publishing Company.

Untitled-1La Salette, a French town located in the Alps, was the place at which a Marian apparition occurred in the nineteenth century. On September 19, 1846, Maximin Giraud (eleven years old) and Melanie Calvat (fourteen years old) experienced an encounter with a woman whom they described as a "Beautiful Lady."

The two children were grazing sheep at La Salette, when they saw that this woman was seated and was crying. Upon seeing them, the "Lady" stood up and, while crying, spoke in French and in the local dialect. After that, the woman walked up a steep path and vanished into a bright light. According to the children, the light emanated from a crucifix on the woman's chest. Soon after this event, word spread, and pilgrims crowded the rough paths leading up to the site where the apparition occurred.

There soon arose, a basilica and the first units for lodging. In 1851, the local bishop, Philippe de Bruillard of Grenoble, affirmed the supernatural character of the apparition of La Salette. He based his decision upon a thorough inquiry of the event, complete with interviews of witnesses, and an examination of the apparition's message to the seers. Bishop de Bruillard wished to encourage the faith expression (prayer and devotion) practiced by pilgrims at La Salette.

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Blessed Are The Reconcilers

Untitled-1…Not everyone is capable of playing the role of reconciler. Yet it is probably the most needed gift and service in the Church and world today – whether in the context of a Lebanon war or a Niger famine, or of domestic or pastoral blood-letting. And it is only the compassionate soul, facing its own divisions, that can ever hope to make a difference where leaders and factions are driven by fixed certainties.

To be a reconciler is to be one of those who forever endeavor to flesh out in their complex lives the pattern of the dying and rising mystery of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Instead of reacting to, resisting or reflecting back the negative emotions and attitudes of those around them, whether in a one-to-one, communal, or wider context, they take into their own vulnerable spirit, like Jesus did, the arrogance, hardness, and stubbornness of those they lead or serve or live with, their jealousies, cynicism, and strange motives. This is costly spiritual work. It is the occupation of the saint.

Grace Can Transform Our Heart


When I pray to be a reconciler, I’m praying for the death of my all-powerful ego. I’m praying for the grace to transform, within my own body and soul, within the most redeemed part of me, the sins into graces, the curses into blessings, the destructive forces into life-enhancing gifts. In our imitation of Christ the experience of redemption can come no better than this.

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Mary’s Cross Radiates Freedom’s Light

Untitled-1Polish version of the Weeping MotherThe mid-afternoon sun paled that Saturday, September 19, 1846. “Come quick, Memin, come and see”, a stunned Mélanie stammered. “Come and see a brightness.” “Where?” her puzzled young companion replied. “Over there, see?” And in the ravine where they had shared a meager midday meal of hard bread and goat cheese, and where, not at all routinely they had napped, a globe of dazzling, radiant light swirled.

This brightness eventually parted and the mountain herders saw a pair of very white hands, a face buried in these hands, elbows resting on knees, a woman seated on a pile of stones, weeping. She rose, tall and stately, and gently, reassuringly called the children to herself. Their eyes were soon riveted upon the source of the blinding light that clothed the Beautiful Lady, that enveloped her and embraced them both; what they called the Lady’s lovely cross.

 

The Hour of Jesus


Jesus’ crucifixion – it is history’s critical turning point, human freedom’s finest hour, the hour of Jesus. This was the hour he both dreaded and eagerly anticipated, an hour in which his mother shared deeply. “For this reason does the Father love me that I freely lay down my life that I may freely take it up again” (John 10:17). “If I set you free you will be free indeed. Knowledge of the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).

This gift that Christ brings — that Christ is — is freedom from self-delusion, from all that is self-deception, from all that is escapism, evasion and rationalization. Indeed, there are many ways to tell the story of the cross. According to St. John the Evangelist, it involved a collision between politics and religion. The chief priests and Pontius Pilate conspired to solve the “Jesus Problem” while managing to remain enemies.

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Companions on the Journey

Editor: Fr. Ted Brown, M.S. delivered his talks at a National Gathering of La Salette Associates in Attleboro, MA on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014. About 50 people attended including Associates from the Northeast (MA, and NH) and the Midwest (St. Louis, MO area).

Untitled-1La Salette Associates from the Eastern and Midwest United States, gathering for a workshop on Oct. 4, 2014 in Attleboro, MAThose of you who know me, know that I’m a story teller. I believe that the true meaning of life – the true meaning of the journey – comes through stories.

We often talk about the La Salette Story. The children were told to tell the story – to “make it known”. That’s what they did for the rest of their lives. Here we are, many years later, because they told the story and something came alive in many hearts and they, in turn, retold that story again and again until we heard it for the very first time.

 

We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight


We can reread how the bible summarizes the story of Abraham’s journey from Ur to Canaan: “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).

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Take Mary Home

Fitchburg – Bishop Donald Pelletier of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, came to St. Joseph Parish, Fitchburg, MA, to celebrate the feast of the Holy Cross.

Untitled-1Bishop Donald Pelletier, M.S., Bishop Emeritus of Morondava, Madagascar, and a native of Blackstone and Attleboro, MAAs he welcomed everyone, he noted that Our Lady's Feast Day would be in a few days, September 19. The Mass he presided over fell on the eve of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. He told parishioners the two events were closely connected. Bishop Pelletier who serves in the Diocese of Morondava, Madagascar, has been in the United States in recent weeks, but will soon return to his home diocese.

The Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette is the religious order that once staffed St. Joseph's. Two La Salette priests, Fr. John Hughes and Fr. Laurie Leger still work at the parish.

The apparition of La Salette, from which this order originated, happened on the evening of Sept. 19, 1846, on a mountain in the French Alps. Our Blessed Mother appeared, dressed in white, wearing a gold apron. Around her neck was a bright crucifix. She was also crying. Pictures and statue of Our Lady of La Salette often show her in a seated position, with her face in her hands.

Explaining how the two feasts were aligned, Bishop Pelletier said that we are all sinners and Our Lady, when she appeared, was calling us to conversion.

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