Reflections on the Anniversary of the La Salette Apparition

“Come closer, my children; don’t be afraid. I am here to tell you great news.”

Our Lady of La Salette;
artist: Mrs. Roskos of Marietta, GeorgiaThe great news Mary announced is expressed in the symbol most associated with La Salette: the distinctive crucifix she wore bearing the instruments of Christ’s passion. To the left of Jesus’ outstretched arms are pincers and to his right, a hammer. The traditional interpretation holds that the hammer represents sin by which Jesus was crucified to the cross, and the pincers, by which he was removed from the cross, represent reconciliation.

The religious habit of La Salette priests and brothers is a black cassock and sash around the waist – and this crucifix worn around the neck and tucked into the sash to the left, a constant reminder of Mary’s merciful apparition, and of Jesus’ saving death, and of the La Salette mission of reconciliation.

Reconciliation and the rainbow

“Reconciliation” has become shorthand for the message of Mary at La Salette and is the focus of the readings for the feast day Mass. The first reading for the La Salette Feast Day Mass (Genesis 9:8-17) recounts the aftermath of Noah’s flood. After God had washed away the sins of the world, God established a binding covenant with humanity and with all creation never again to destroy the world in the waters of a flood.

The sign and reminder of that solemn pledge is the rainbow linking heaven and earth and symbolizing God, humanity, and creation reconciled and in harmony once again. The rainbow is a symbol of that all-embracing reconciliation.

La Salette, Reconciliation, and Truth

The work of reconciliation – so urgent today on so many levels – is hard work. I recall that between 1990-1993, when South Africa was moving towards ending forty-five years of apartheid, the way forward to national unity was through the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: not just reconciliation but truth and reconciliation.

Wounds can’t be treated unless they are first exposed and named. Truth is the prerequisite for reconciliation. That is what Mary did at La Salette: she spoke the truth about French society at that time and she named the sins that alienated people from God.

Two aspects of Mary’s message

Two aspects of her message speak to us on this anniversary of the apparition. First, Mary does not address large systemic issues caused by governments or institutions or society as a whole. She instead says that what makes the punishing arm of her Son so heavy is that people are using his name in vain, working on the Lord’s Day, neglecting prayer, and mocking religion.

Let’s not be distracted by the particulars of her complaint in that time and place, as if those are the major issues for us today. What she describes are actions that are all done by ordinary, everyday people like Maximin and Melanie and you and me. She addresses personal behavior, which is something within our immediate ability to address and change.

As individuals, our ability to address such pressing problems as racial injustice, white supremacy, economic inequity, discrimination, environmental degradation, and other such issues will be limited. Not all of us can be Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King, Jr. or Mother Theresa who can claim a place on the world stage and effect societal and global change.

But each of us can address the behaviors in our lives that contribute to inequity, or disrespect of others, or prejudice that wounds our families and relationships and society. To be ambassadors of reconciliation requires that we first name the truths of our lives, as Mary did at La Salette. That is hard and soul-searing work, but truth comes before reconciliation.

The second aspect of her message that speaks to us is how closely it is related to environmental concerns. In this, Mary stands in the tradition of biblical prophets like Hosea and Elijah. She says that alienation from God – the Creator and source of life – results in wheat that crumbles to dust, walnuts that are worm-eaten, grapes that rot, and potatoes that are spoiled in the field. \

The dire consequence of all this is that children die in their mothers’ arms – disasters always land hardest on children. But if people return to God – the Creator and source of life – rocks will become heaps of wheat and potatoes will be self-sown in the field.

The world of 1846 and now

These realities of nineteenth century France are evocative for us in the twenty-first century. To be clear: we are not living in the nineteenth century – we don’t believe that natural disasters are sent by God to punish sin. Rather, it is increasingly clear that human activity contributes to natural disasters.

Scenes from the Shrine on the Holy Mountain of La Salette in France in FranceWe see out-of-control wildfires, more destructive hurricanes and longer hurricane seasons, heat records being shattered repeatedly, floods here and droughts there, shrinking polar icecaps, and disappearing rain forests – all of these conditions and more arise in part from arrogant human abuse and exploitation of the world the Creator has entrusted to us. Mary’s message, like the covenant God made with Noah after the flood, embraces all of creation – humans and the natural world.

Our alienation from the natural world cries out for reconciliation. We must first tell the truth about the causes of environmental degradation and then be reconcilers, mitigating threats by positive action. Again, we may not be players on the national or global stage but each of us in our lives can take actions that preserve and protect our precious God-given world. We can be ambassadors of reconciliation on behalf of the environment.

Many years after Mary appeared at La Salette speaking the truth and urging reconciliation, she speaks to us still today. The tears of the Beautiful Lady, at the foot of the cross and at La Salette, are an invitation to reconciliation and new creation.

In our hands is the hammer that can inflict more damage and drive the nails of alienation deeper into our society and world and environment. In our hands are the pincers to undo the damage, to effect small changes in our lives, to be ambassadors of reconciliation. Today, Mary urges us as she did Maximin and Melanie: “Well, my children, you will make this known to all my people.”

Fr. Thomas L. Leclerc, M.S.
Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture
Emmanuel College, Boston