We Would Love
to Keep in Touch!
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| Yvonnique (right) with other Lay La Salettes on the Holy Mountain in September 2011 |
Editor: Yvonnique Leroy is a member of one of several groups of Lay La Salettes, people from around the world dedicated – along with the La Salette Missionaries – to the mission of reconciliation. She is 54 years old, married, with two children. She lives in the city of Saint-Leu, on the Island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, off the east coast of Africa.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born on the Island of La Réunion, in the town of Saint-Leu, located on the west coast of the island. My mother had thirteen children, but I have known only six of them. Now my two brothers and I are the only remaining children. I grew up in a family involved in both the Hindu and Catholic religions. It was more or less natural, here, under the colonial influence that sometimes we went to the Hindu temple and at other times went to the Catholic Church. Most of my friends had similar experiences.
What brought you to belief in Jesus Christ?
For my twenty-second birthday, a girlfriend gave me a copy of the Bible. Some time after Mass, the priest spoke to me about my situation of being involved in two religions. He said that, as the Bible says, “We cannot serve two masters.” He challenged me to choose one family of faith that would be become my home. I went away somewhat upset but confident at the same time.
How did your family react to the priest’s suggestion?
I spoke with my mom, a Hindu, and told her that I felt I wanted to follow Jesus. She said that she was fine with my decision. I told her that I hoped that she would accompany me on my new journey of faith. Each day I asked the Lord to make me strong, and keep my eyes fixed on him. Having experienced La Salette devotions as a child, I also spoke in prayer to the Beautiful Lady of La Salette that she would hold my hand and help me follow in the footsteps of her Son.
Then you moved to the big city…
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| Yvonnique meets Fr. Silvano Marisa, M.S. (right), soon to become La Salette Superior General |
Yes, at the age of 28 I went to France and made my home in Issy-les-Moulineaux, in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, on the banks of the Seine River. There I got married to Philippe, a native of Lorraine in northeastern France. I had various jobs, including serving as an office worker, a host at summer camps, and a sales assistant. Our son, William, was born the following year.
We lived near Paris for seven years. During that time, my mother visited two or three times. It was an opportunity for me to pray over her, away from her temples. Gradually she began – little by little – to pray to Jesus. She eventually converted to Catholicism. I thank the Lord for this special grace.
Then our family was transferred back to the Island of Reunion where we have stayed established our permanent roots. There we raised our two children, William and Delphine. Now I spend my free time as a volunteer.
How are you involved in your local Catholic Church?
I am responsible for the Rosary Teams in my parish of Our Lady of La Salette. I now accompany our catechumens on their journey to Baptism. But I also take care of my family and my friends and I'm also close to some older, more isolated people. Soon I will take part in prison ministry, visiting the inmates.
How is the mission of Our Lady
of a Salette part of your life?
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| Group Picture of participants of the First La Salette International Lay Encounter in September 2011 |
You should know that devotion to Our Lady of La Salette has existed in Saint-Leu since 1859, thanks to Father Sayssac. Our Lady of La Salette permeated my childhood. During the yearly La Salette Novena we used to make the pilgrimage walk of 5 kilometers (about three miles). We joined our friends – as children it was a joyful, party environment. Prayer was secondary.
When I arrived to live near Paris, I already had a longstanding connection with Our Lady of La Salette. In 1989, my first time on the Holy Mountain, I felt such peace and serenity. I immediately felt attracted to our Weeping Mother. There the Lord touched me; I was truly converted. I knew I could not live without Mary and her Son. There I consecrated my life to her.
You are a Lay La Salette: what does that mean for you?
I had the grace and joy to participate in the First International Meeting of La Salette Laity in September of 2011 at La Salette. I thank the Lord for being able to share those moments with other La Salette Laity from around the world. Since that meeting, I have decided to create a group of La Salette Associates in my hometown of Saint-Leu. Being a La Salette Associate, it is very important for me to share my spirituality and live the charism of reconciliation with others.
Do you wish to say anything else about La Salette?
Our La Salette family is a place for meeting, sharing, conversion, and friendship. The Beautiful Lady mentioned repeatedly her Son’s love for us all. She is there to show us the Way and we need to share that same love with others. Whenever I go back to La Salette, I still have the same feeling –
one of being overwhelmed with love and full of hope. “Do make it known to all my people” are the words that made me a missionary. I remain faithful to that gift and I try to convey the Word of God to "all her people."
La Salette Devotion on the Islands of Reunion and Mauritius
This shrine dedicated to Our Lady of La Salette at Saint-Leu on the Island of Reunion is a popular pilgrimage site. Devotion to La Salette arose when, in March of 1859, a cholera epidemic ravaged the Island of La Réunion. The parish priest of Saint-Leu, was ordained a priest in Dauphiné on the very same day of the Apparition of the Beautiful Lady at La Salette, September 19, 1846. He vowed to build a chapel in honor of Our Lady La Salette if the epidemic spared his parish. So it did and the promise was fulfilled. Also it was under identical circumstances that another Shrine to Our Lady of La Salette was erected on Mauritius, a neighboring island 110 miles away.
La Salette in Mauritius: (left) map indicating La Salette at Grande Gaube,
northeast shore; (right) La Salette Chapel and Shrine at Grande Gaude,
Island of Mauritius