Over the many years since the La Salette Apparition in 1846, many theologians, noted writers and even popes have expressed their appreciation for its message and mission. Here are but few examples for your reflection.
Pope Pius IX (1792-1878)
(from left) Pius IX; Leo XIII by Internet Archive Book Images; Pius X
In 1870, in a brief address to M. Similien, author of a book on La Salette, Pope Pius IX wrote:
"We rejoice that you, docile to our counsels and inspirations of your piety, have not shrunk from any work to propagate the worship of the Mother of God and to increase the splendor of the Temple dedicated to her on the mountain of La Salette."
He had declared to Bishop Ginoulhiac, Bishop of Grenoble, that it was necessary to maintain devotion to Our Lady of La Salette and said shortly before his death: "Tell the Bishop of Grenoble that I want to crown Our Lady of La Salette."
Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903)
Pope Leo XIII told Bishop Paulinier, Archbishop of Besançon:
"Instead of wishing to weaken the worship which is rendered to Mary on the high summits of the Alps, I wish to give her a new consecration, the double privilege of the erection of his sanctuary in a minor basilica, and of the solemn crowning of her image."
In an audience of April 17, 1888, Pope Leo XIII said:
"Oh, I bless with great affection La Salette, (and) all that is La Salette."
Pope Pius X (1835-1914)
Under the pontificate of Pius X, in 1904, all the pilgrims of La Salette were able to participate in the jubilee graces of the Immaculate Conception, and at the Marial Congress organized in Rome to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of this dogma, La Salette had a place of choice.
Pope Pius XI (1857-1939)
In 1937, Pope Pius XI granted 500 days of indulgence to the recitation of La Salette's "Memorare" and 300 days indulgence to the La Salette Invocation "Our Lady of La Salette, Reconciler of sinners, pray without ceasing for us who have recourse to you."
Pope Pius XII (1876-1958)
(from left) Pius XI by Alberto Felici, 1932; Pius XII; John XXIII
In 1960, Pope Pius XII to Mgr. Harscouët, bishop of Chartres and Congress President, who had informed the Pope of the Congress in 1946. Pius XII replied:
“‘France, the kingdom of Mary’, so experienced by current events, will unite to celebrate the centenary of the Apparition of La Salette and revive her filial piety towards her august Protectress."
To the Superior General of the Missionaries of La Salette, who had announced to him the Marian Congress and the centenary, Pius XII sent an autographed letter which began as follows:
"Our devotion to the Most Holy Virgin Mary, in the Immaculate Heart of which we have consecrated the Church and the world, can only expand before the gentle prospects that your letter lets us see about the next Centenary of the Apparition of Our Lady of La Salette…
“No doubt, too, that the celebration of this Centenary cannot but contribute much to a renewed spiritual fervor to the recovery of a world still so overwhelmed by the consequences of (World War II) and especially of the dear country of France that she would want always to affirm, we truly hope, it’s true happiness and its full prosperity, the kingdom of Mary.”
Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
In 1946 during the festivities of the La Salette Centenary in 1946, His Excellency Monsignor Roncalli, – soon to become Pope John XXIII – then Apostolic Nuncio in Paris and representative of the Holy Father at the solemnities, addressed the crowd of pilgrims on the Holy Mountain:
"We work a lot for peace, we talk a lot in Paris these days, but there will never be a pacification between human beings without their reconciliation with God and this cannot be achieved without prayer and penance, so the centenary message of La Salette is more than ever a pressing reality… True civilization is found in Christianity and true peace in the prayer, the Our Father, which teaches us to forgive one another, to reconcile ourselves with God and with our brothers (and sisters).”
Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)
Pope John Paul II wrote a
letter to Rome Chapter Members on May 4, 2000:
“On behalf of the Church I warmly thank you for your efforts in recent years to expand the field of your apostolate, especially in India and the countries of Eastern Europe, with plans to establish yourselves soon in Indonesia and Myanmar…
Pope Saint John Paul II, August 1993; Pius XII, photo: The Vatican; John XXIII, 1959
In the light of Our Lady of La Salette's message, you give an important place to the ministry of reconciliation… In fact, ‘the Church, as a reconciled and reconciling community, cannot forget that at the source of her gift and mission of reconciliation is the initiative, full of compassionate love and mercy, of that God who is love and who out of love created human beings; and he created them so that they might live in friendship with him and in communion with one another’ (
Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, n. 10)…
“As I wrote on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady: ‘La Salette is a message of hope, for our hope is nourished by the intercession of her who is the Mother of mankind’ (Letter to Bishop Louis Dufaux of Grenoble, May 6, 1996; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, July 3, 1996, p. 8).
“May the proclamation of this hope always be at the heart of your encounter with the men and women of today! Through it our contemporaries can be assured that divisions are not irreparable and that it is always possible to repent of one's infidelities, in order to build a reconciled humanity and to follow the Lord, for nothing is beyond God's reach.”
(Reprinted for the La Salette Publication, Our Lady’s Missionary)
St. Peter's Basilica at Early Morning, photo: Andreas Tille