Before the apparition, La Salette was an unknown hamlet lost in one of those giant crevices of the French Alps. Early on September 19, 1846, the two children climb the slopes of the Mount Sous-Les-Baisses, each urging four cows up the mountain. Contrary to their habits, the two children lay down on the grass and fell asleep. The September sun was relaxing and the sky was cloudless. The chattering brook highlighted the mountain stillness. These were quiet moments.
Mélanie woke up with a start and shook Maximin! “Mémin, Mémin, get up! Let's go look for our cows. I don't know where they are!” Near the small brook on one of those stone benches there was a globe of fire. A woman appeared within the light; she was sitting, her head in her hands, her elbows on her knees, in deepest grief.
The Lady rose slowly. The children had not moved. She spoke to them in French: “Come near, my children, do not be afraid. I am here to tell you great news.” They approached the Lady. The beautiful Lady spoke to the two shepherds. “She wept all the while she spoke to us”, said Maximin and Mélanie later. “We listened. All our attention was on her.”
Mary's message to the two children at La Salette was the warning of a mother concerned over her wayward children. She complained: “If my people refuse to submit, I will be forced to let go the arm of my Son” and more specifically: “Those who drive the carts cannot swear without using my Son's name...they labor all day Sunday...there are none who go to Mass...when they do not know what to do, they go to Mass just to make fun of religion...” She warned: “If the harvest is ruined, it is only on account of yourselves...If you have wheat, you must not sow it. Anything you sow the vermin will eat...A great famine is coming...” She promised: “If [my people] are converted, rocks and stones will turn into heaps of wheat, and potatoes will be self-sown in the fields...” She pleaded: “Well, my children, make this known to all my people...”