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Mary’s Tears

closeup of statue of the Weeping Mother at La Salette Shrine in France
No one can say that La Salette is a colorless, cold apparition. Our Lady did not appear on this high mountain to hand down a few warnings and prescribe prayers and practices. Nothing calm and cold about this event. The children, Maximin and Mélanie, saw her sitting on a stone, her face in her hands, and she was weeping.
 
Tears are always an overflow. They are pressured out of the heart by an excess of pain or joy. This is a case of pure pain.
 
Tears are not a merely physiological reality. They are also, as is the case here, signs of loving concern. Christ wept over Jerusalem because he was concerned. People weep because they care. Tears are the opposite of fish-coldness, indifference, disinterest and apathy. They signal involvement and the intense will to be part of another person's life.
 
These tears are La Salette's most powerful unspoken message. The beautiful Lady weeps but she never refers to her tears, never so much as alludes to them. They are meant to speak for themselves and they do. They are an unspoken message but they add a crucial dimension to her words. When we read the message of La Salette, we must remember that it was spoken by someone in tears. Without the tears, the ‘a capella’ words would take on an icy aloofness, even a kind of muffled ferocity. The words she spoke had to be spoken. The Lady's ‘problem’ was how to communicate this sad news without sowing worldwide panic and the threat of Armaggedon by famine instead of fire…

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A Song of La Salette

For those who are both devoted to Our Lady of La Salette and fond of poetry, Fr. James P. O'Reilly, M.S., has written a beautiful poetic account of Mary's apparition on the Holy Mountain of La Salette. Line after line, Fr. O'Reilly draws us ever more deeply into the mystery of La Salette, sharing the fruit of many years of meditation. (The stained glass windows below summarize the La Salette Message and are in the Mary Keane Chapel, La Salette Shrine, Enfield, NH. The image of the La Salette crucifix is from the chapel windows in the Hartford House.)

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Another La Salette Apparition

From the title of this article, you may suspect that there may be, literally, another La Salette Apparition besides the one that happened on Sept. 19, 1846. No, that’s not the case. Let me explain.

 

Gatherings of La Salette Laity

 

During this year, the La Salette Missionaries are hosting two gatherings of laity who are connected to or ministry with La Salettes around the world. The first was held in June in the Atlanta, GA, area, entitled the “La Salette Lay Ministry Summit.” About 2,000 people were involved with this wonderful four day gathering, with keynotes for each day, prayer and learning/sharing sessions provided. This Summit was designed to gather laity and La Salettes from around the United States to hear about the La Salette message and learn how to “do ministry” using the La Salette charism of reconciliation as their guide.

 

The second meeting of La Salette Laity was an international one held on the Holy Mountain of La Salette on Sept. 1-10, 2011. Its purpose was similar to the Atlanta meeting but with an extended experience, and an opportunity to meet at the very sight of the Apparition. Each area where La Salettes minister (12 in number) will be represented by at least two laypersons and an accompanying La Salette. The representatives from the United States are: Ellen Herrell from St. Ann’s Parish in Marietta, GA; Isabel Dion (with her husband, Paul, a La Salette alumnus) from St. Christopher’s Parish in Moreno Valley, CA; and myself, Fr. Ron Gagne, M.S., from Attleboro, MA. We spent ten very full days together on the Holy Mountain.

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More Articles …

Small Town Mary

A Thirty-Year Adventure

Frozen in Time – Maximin and Melanie

The Reconciling Message of a Mother

The Structure of the Discourse of the Apparition

The Children of La Salette:

The Message of La Salette

Summary of Apparition

The Message of Our Lady of La Salette:

Mary Chose Maximin and Mélanie