We Would Love
to Keep in Touch!
(Editor: Fr. Jean Curtet, M.S. (1909-1993), a renowned theologian and writer, shared this article with his community in the years following Vatican II, published in the La Salette Periodical in April of 1968. We publish it in five installments, of which this is the first.)
“Henceforth we no longer know Christ
We must adopt a similar attitude towards La Salette. St. Paul did not know the Christ of history, but the Christ transfigured by the Resurrection. And, of course, it is this mystery of the Resurrection which gives meaning and value to everything in Christianity. La Salette, also, as an event of history, keeps receding more and more into the past, like a flower yielding its fruit. And in its case, too, we must enter into its mystery.
St. John made this transition with reference to the Synoptics. The Christ of history now became the light which illumines every person. He will recount the meeting at Jacob's well, but as an occasion to illustrate the springing up of the water of eternal life. We need to make a similar transition with regard to the apparition of La Salette.
For many years La Salette was known and made tangible, as it were, through the impact it had on the two children, through the events which it foretold, through the extraordinary movements of people which it drew to itself and who converged on it from countries far and near, through the miraculous cures and the wondrous conversions which were the answer to faith in the apparition and so many signs from Heaven confirming the reality of Mary's visit.
Fr. Sylvain-Marie Giraud, M.S. (1830-1865), second Superior General (1865-1876)In the midst of all this invocation was heard: Reconciler of Sinners, and the devotion to Our Lady under that title was everywhere propagated by the Missionaries of La Salette. One of them, Father Sylvain-Marie Giraud (1830-1885), would see in La Salette “a great mystery”, and one which included the role of Our Lady as Reconciler.
This will be the prevailing viewpoint for many years, until the centennial of 1946 which, while refocusing attention on it, will also bring out that, upon a more profound study, it is not Mary who is most in evidence, in the apparition, but rather “her Son” whom she presents to us, and “her people”, and she invites us to contemplate that Son in the act of reconciling her people with the Father. Henceforth, then, we no longer know La Salette—we in turn can say—except as revealing to us this mystery of reconciliation.
Reconciliation is an aspect of the salvation wrought by Christ and revealed to us by St. Paul; it is he who provides a theological explanation of the apparition. All the members of our Congregation agree in seeing in this concept of Reconciliation a wealth of doctrine which is no doubt none other than the “Great News” with which we ourselves must first become imbued so that in turn we may communicate it to a world torn by disunity.
La Salette Crucifix with its hammer and pincersBut, since La Salette, too, is a mystery of reconciliation, it is both normal and necessary that we find the Cross therein—and, in fact, it is the central feature of the apparition. The two children saw it very clearly and freely contemplated it, whereas it was not allowed them to fix their gaze on Our Lady's features.
This is obviously a significant detail of the apparition. For we find the Cross today in the Sacrifice of the Mass, that supreme act of worship on which Mary insisted so much; we find that it is—as ever—a scandal to the world, an enduring sign of contradiction among God’s people, the stumbling-block which sets people against God and which causes his very name to be blasphemed; the same Cross at the foot of which Mary stood for three hours on Golgotha.
Reconciliation, then, is a love which is stronger than sin. And hence, too, St. Paul's declaration that he wanted to know and preach nothing else, henceforth, “but Jesus and him crucified”.
At La Salette our distinctive sign has always been the Cross; the love of which emblem impelled Mary to visit us; this same divine love touches God’s people in their innermost beings; it breaks down every resistance and changes hearts of stone into hearts of flesh as people contemplate her who has “taken such pains” for us, in spite of our sins.
A painting depicting the view from the front door of the Basilica on the Holy Mountain with the pilgrims
“Henceforth we no longer know Christ
according to the flesh” (2 Corinthians 5:16)
We must adopt a similar attitude towards La Salette. St. Paul did not know the Christ of history, but the Christ transfigured by the Resurrection. And, of course, it is this mystery of the Resurrection which gives meaning and value to everything in Christianity. La Salette, also, as an event of history, keeps receding more and more into the past, like a flower yielding its fruit. And in its case, too, we must enter into its mystery.St. John made this transition with reference to the Synoptics. The Christ of history now became the light which illumines every person. He will recount the meeting at Jacob's well, but as an occasion to illustrate the springing up of the water of eternal life. We need to make a similar transition with regard to the apparition of La Salette.
For many years La Salette was known and made tangible, as it were, through the impact it had on the two children, through the events which it foretold, through the extraordinary movements of people which it drew to itself and who converged on it from countries far and near, through the miraculous cures and the wondrous conversions which were the answer to faith in the apparition and so many signs from Heaven confirming the reality of Mary's visit.
The Mystery of Reconciliation
Fr. Sylvain-Marie Giraud, M.S. (1830-1865), second Superior General (1865-1876)In the midst of all this invocation was heard: Reconciler of Sinners, and the devotion to Our Lady under that title was everywhere propagated by the Missionaries of La Salette. One of them, Father Sylvain-Marie Giraud (1830-1885), would see in La Salette “a great mystery”, and one which included the role of Our Lady as Reconciler. This will be the prevailing viewpoint for many years, until the centennial of 1946 which, while refocusing attention on it, will also bring out that, upon a more profound study, it is not Mary who is most in evidence, in the apparition, but rather “her Son” whom she presents to us, and “her people”, and she invites us to contemplate that Son in the act of reconciling her people with the Father. Henceforth, then, we no longer know La Salette—we in turn can say—except as revealing to us this mystery of reconciliation.
Reconciliation is an aspect of the salvation wrought by Christ and revealed to us by St. Paul; it is he who provides a theological explanation of the apparition. All the members of our Congregation agree in seeing in this concept of Reconciliation a wealth of doctrine which is no doubt none other than the “Great News” with which we ourselves must first become imbued so that in turn we may communicate it to a world torn by disunity.
But, More Precisely, What Is This Reconciliation?
It is, in a word, what took place on Mount Calvary. The reconciliation of humanity with God was accomplished through the death of Christ, through the blood which he shed on the Cross as proof of his incredible love for us.- • “We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10).
- • “He has reconciled you in his body of flesh through his death” (Colossians 1:22).
- • “By his Cross he has reconciled us, Jews and Gentiles, in one Body” (Ephesians 2:16).
- • “He has reconciled to himself all things, making peace through the blood of his Cross” (Colossians 1:20).
- • “Now that we are justified by his blood, we shall be saved through him from the wrath to come” (Romans 5:9).
- • “For when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. And not only this, but we exult also in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:10,11).
Reconciliation and the Cross
La Salette Crucifix with its hammer and pincersBut, since La Salette, too, is a mystery of reconciliation, it is both normal and necessary that we find the Cross therein—and, in fact, it is the central feature of the apparition. The two children saw it very clearly and freely contemplated it, whereas it was not allowed them to fix their gaze on Our Lady's features. This is obviously a significant detail of the apparition. For we find the Cross today in the Sacrifice of the Mass, that supreme act of worship on which Mary insisted so much; we find that it is—as ever—a scandal to the world, an enduring sign of contradiction among God’s people, the stumbling-block which sets people against God and which causes his very name to be blasphemed; the same Cross at the foot of which Mary stood for three hours on Golgotha.
The Sign of Contradiction has now become the Emblem of Everlasting Love
Yet this same Cross is the supreme proof and everlasting emblem of the greatest love the world has ever known! Indeed it has become a focus of universal attraction: “When I shall be lifted up from earth, I will draw all things to myself”. The passage in 2 Corinthians 5:14 begins with this affirmation: “The love of Christ impels us because of the thought that One died for all”. And in Romans 5:8, St. Paul reminds us that the proof of God's love for us is the fact that “when as yet we were sinners, Christ died for us”. Humans, who had nothing to expect but divine wrath, receive instead divine forgiveness.Reconciliation, then, is a love which is stronger than sin. And hence, too, St. Paul's declaration that he wanted to know and preach nothing else, henceforth, “but Jesus and him crucified”.
At La Salette our distinctive sign has always been the Cross; the love of which emblem impelled Mary to visit us; this same divine love touches God’s people in their innermost beings; it breaks down every resistance and changes hearts of stone into hearts of flesh as people contemplate her who has “taken such pains” for us, in spite of our sins.
A painting depicting the view from the front door of the Basilica on the Holy Mountain with the pilgrims(Republished from the La Salette publication, Reconciliare, April, 1968,pgs. 1-3)