La Salette in Grand Baie on Mauritius Island

In the mid-nineteenth century, there developed , in the world, a great devotion to the Beautiful Lady, manifested by numerous constructions of oratories, chapels and churches.

The Church Arose from the Ground

In 1864 the site was thus erected in the Parish of Our Lady of La Salette. But the Mazery family, the founders and benefactors of the church, realized that the project was too extensive. The project had be reduced in size and the work was suspended: their finances were exhausted.

Several programs, lotteries, and loans were explored. In 1872, we began the most urgent work: roofing, plastering walls, paving and a temporary altar. The construction spanned eleven years. The church was not open for worship until 1875, although even then it was not yet finished.

Early La Salette Devotion Around the World

Grande Baie on the Northern coast of the Island of Mauritius, off the east coast of Africa and Madagascar.

Many early La Salette Shrines arose from the ground, including that of Kodaikanal, in Tamil Nadu, in the State neighboring Kerala, in the extreme South of India, dating from 1866. Similarly, in the Indian Ocean, on the Island of Reunion, a French territory, where, at Saint Leu was erected a church in 1859, dedicated to Our Lady of La Salette. On the Island of Mauritius, less than 125 miles away from the Island of Reunion, while under English control, experienced a similar rise in devotion to Our Lady of La Salette.

The Northern Coast without a Church

On the northern coast today, at Grand-Baie, motorists and bus passengers alike are attracted to a massive black stone structure which seems to rise from the middle of the cane fields. A squat tower emphasizes its unusual architecture. This country church is dedicated to Our Lady of La Salette.

This region, otherwise lacking religious buildings, was studded a fifteen cane fields, each surrounded by its working population and their families. Catholics constituted half of that population.

In 1859, Louis Victor Mazery acquired a set of fields from the Woodford family as well buildings of an old sugar factory whose materials were going to be used for the construction of the new church projected as early as 1858.

Bishop Collier’s Devotion to Our Lady of Salette

Bishop Collier had a special devotion to Our Lady of La Salette. Under his leadership, this Marian devotion developed in Mauritius. At the time, there was much talk about La Salette, and sites were dedicated to the Beautiful Lady in many places. Louis Victor Mazery and his wife decided therefore to erect at Grand Baie a miniature replica of the imposing Basilica under construction on the Holy Mountain. Originally, the plan was to to identical in design to that of the Basilica in France, but much smaller.

Laying the first stone

Distant view of the charming Church of Our lady of La Salette in Grand BaieIn 1862, Louis Victor Mazery hastened to draw up plans for the future church, inspired by the Holy Spirit Father, Joseph François Baud, a self-taught architect. On Sunday, September 25, the laying of the first stone took place. Already stonemasons prepared the basalt blocks. The bishop laid the first stone that contained, sealed in a tube of copper, this inscription: “This 25th day of September of the year of the Lord 1862, the Holy Father, Pope Pius IX ruling on earth the Church of Jesus Christ, the Most Reverend Dr. William Bernard Allen Collier, Bishop of Port-Louis, posed this first stone of the church that is consecrated in the honor of Blessed Virgin Mary who appeared at La Salette.” The work then went smoothly.

Aesthetics and Architecture

Today it takes a lot of imagination to detect any resemblance between the church in Grand Baie and the Basilica of La Salette in the region of Isère, France, which served as a model. Only the portal and the pediment that surmount it can evoke any connection. The promoters of the church parish of Grand Baie had to be content with a single bell tower – a massive and squat one at that – toped by a cross. In fact, the steeple was never finished! But this little La Salette Church, entirely fashioned in dark local basalt stones, is a very original monument for the country and for the time.

No other church on the island has such a simple arrangement of slender columns, with graceful capstones connected gracefully at the center transept; the stone arches testify to a remarkable artistic design. This beautiful religious monument is the pride of the Mauritian heritage. And, of course, the reredos (back of altar) contains a statue of Our Lady of La Salette with Maximin and Melanie.

Note: Fr. Bernard Gaidioz was ably assisted in this article by Bishop Amédée Nagapen, with visuals from Lorraine Descroizilles, Martine Desmarais and John Swainston.
From left: Façade of the Church; sanctuary with its Apparition scene; nave of the Church.

(Reprinted with permission from the La Salette publication, Les Annales, no. 261, November- December 2017, pgs. 16-17)