The Congregation of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, an international religious community of priests and brothers, is founded on the Apparition of Our Lady of La Salette which occurred on Sept. 19, 1846. Two poor unsuspecting children, Maximin Giraud and Melanie Calvat, met Our Lady in a mountaintop ravine near the hamlet of La Salette. She asked these two children to “make (her) message known to all (her) people.”
Within a few years, the local Bishop founded the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette. They are
committed to minister in collaboration with laity, other religious, and local clergy to promote the message of Mary at La Salette and the ministry of reconciliation.
They are Catholic laity inspired by the Apparition of Our Lady of La Salette who want to connect themselves more closely to our Weeping Mother and the principles of spirituality contained in her message at La Salette. As Our Lady requested in her merciful apparition, these devoted people pray each day, reflect on the scripture and her message and make her message known whenever the opportunity arises.
La Salette Laity are in over twenty countries around the world and have established programs of ongoing formation, living and ministering as co-missionaries, connected with the La Salette Missionaries.
La Salette Laity are open to anyone 18 years of age or older who would like to grow daily in their knowledge and appreciation of the La Salette Apparition and her mandate to make her message known. There are no costs involved in becoming part of the La Salette Laity. It simply requires brief reflection time each day and willingness to attend local presentations about the La Salettte topics and the lifestyle of La Salette Laity.
The steps of this personal commitment include filling out the enclosed form and promising to:
1) Reflect daily, using the “La Salette Laity Handbook: 31 Days of Apparition Reflections, Vol. One”;
2) Pray daily an Our Father and a Hail Mary;
3) Learn more about the four topics of La Salette Spirituality: La Salette, Community, Ministry, and
Spirituality. This can be done by attending La Salette talks, Retreats, or Days of Recollection offered
locally or by viewing DVDs or reading books or other free materials on La Salette;
4) Participate in a ministry in your local parish or nearby La Salette ministry, sharing your La Salette spirituality in the place where you worship and minister. If time does not allow, certainly your primary call to your family can also be seen as your primary ministerial responsibility.
Being a La Salette Associate is another way to be part of the La Salette Laity. Founded in the early 1970s, the Associates are groups of committed Catholics across North America who wish a fuller and more regular formation and community involvement with the La Salette Missionaries.
They pray each day but also have monthly meetings to pray together and learn more about the La Salette message and mission, attend a yearly retreat and serve as co-missionaries in nearby La Salette ministries.
As a sign of their commitment, each year they make public promises (near the La Salette Feast, Sept. 19th) to continue their journey of ever-closer bonding to the communities of La Salette Religious and Associates. This is for them a time of celebration of their vocation and recommitment to Mary’s message of hope and reconciliation.
For more information please contact Fr. Jim Henault, M.S Missionaries of La Salette • Lay Ministry Office 4545 Anderson Road • Orlando, FL 32812 Tel: 678-471-6427 • Email: jahenault@msn.com