By Fr. Normand Theroux, M.S.

1) How could the Virgin Mary cry at La Salette? Isn’t it true that in heaven, when we see God face to face, we can no longer suffer and therefore cannot cry?

Without doubt those in heaven neither suffer nor weep. The “beatific vision” they enjoy in seeing God face to face is certainly incompatible with suffering and tears. However the Virgin wept at La Salette not because she was sad but because she wanted to emphasize by her tears the alarming scope of her message as the Mother of the Lord. “If my people will not submit, I will be forced to let go of the arm of my Son.”

She cried because she was speaking to human beings who need some signs. On earth, tears are the ultimate sign of sorrow. In addition, Mary’s tears express her deep sadness at not being able to protect her people from coming misfortunes, although her capacity to suffer has passed. 

Of course, if Mary was still living on earth and could still suffer, she would cry with immense sorrow over our sins. The crimes of her people on earth would make her weep – she who experienced in her youth and no doubt still feels the indescribable joy of having been chosen to be the Mother of God.

2) Has the apparition of La Salette been approved by the Catholic Church?

The Pope does not approve by an official and special decree an apparition or private revelation. However, he may express his approval indirectly by allowing the composition and publication of a special Mass honoring the event in question, the public recitation of certain prayers or invocations with indulgences, and even approve the foundation of a religious congregation intended to spread devotion of a particular apparition.

The Bishop of the diocese, however, can make an official pronouncement for or against the truth of an apparition. La Salette was favored with such a statement from Bishop Philibert de Bruillard, Bishop of Grenoble. After many years of prayer, serious inquiries and conscientious and extensive research, Bishop de Bruillard in his doctrinal pronouncement of May 1, 1851 pronounced the following: “We judge that the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin to two shepherds, September 19, 1846, on a mountain in the Alps, in the parish of La Salette… shows all the signs of truth and the faithful have grounds for believing it indubitable and certain.”

3) La Salette was approved by the bishops of Grenoble and several Popes have spoken (about it) in a very complimentary way. Is a Catholic obliged to believe in the apparition of the Virgin at La Salette?

Catholics are bound to believe the teachings of the Bible and the truths of faith declared as such by the Magisterium of the Church. These are the two – and only two – sources of truth imposed on our faith. The Church does not command her followers to believe in a private revelation under pain of sin. The appearances of Mary at Rue du Bac, La Salette, Lourdes, and Fatima, to name but a few, will never be declared truths of faith necessary for our salvation.
God, however, had recourse to this extraordinary means to remind the Mystical Body of Christ of the truths to believe and of the measures to ensure the salvation of souls. That’s why it would be unwise for a true member of the Church to scorn or reject it completely.

4) What does Our Lady mean when she says, “I gave you six days to work; I kept the seventh for myself, and they will not give it to me.” How can the Virgin may speak as if she herself was the author of the commandment which orders us to keep holy the Lord’s Day?

These words of Our Lady, far from confusing us, should reassure us. One who can speak for God so categorically must have a powerful influence on him. Fr. Leon Jambois, M.S., a renowned theologian, speaks authoritatively on the Apparition of La Salette and on the theological significance of her message, and gives a clear answer to this question. 

“These words, far from seeming suspicious, were merely noting the intimate union of the Mother and her Son, her sharing in his kingship, her right to be reverenced as Mother of the Church. She rightfully is respected in the same liturgy which sings of the Kingship of her Son, in which is she is glorified.” 

The powerful love and union of wills between the Son and his Mother Mary can allow her to speak this way.

5) The apparition of Our Lady of La Salette happened in 1846. The message of the Blessed Virgin to the world is more than a century and a half old. Can the words of the Blessed Virgin apply to the difficulties of our own time? Is La Salette always relevant?

The content of the message of Our Lady of La Salette is more relevant today than it was in 1846. The lessons it contains do not apply to a particular class of society or a certain era but to all people of all times.

It was indeed a call to return to Christ. Who would deny that people of our time aren’t misled, or do not need to return to Christ? Daily events, the state of mental fatigue plaguing our world today demonstrate that fact all too well.

Our Lady of La Salette recommended daily prayer. During her discourse, she asks the children, “Do you say your prayers well, my children?” “Not very well, madam,” they reply. “Ah, my children,” Mary responded, “you must say them well at night and in the morning, even if you say only an Our Father and a Hail Mary. When you can do better, say more.”

The Beautiful Lady does not cry over the resounding grave sins of the time. She did not rail against social injustice, theft, murder, and sins of the flesh. Rather, she accuses all her people of forgetting certain commandments of God and the Church, a forgetfulness which is the source of many of the world’s woes.

This is why the violation of Sunday as a day of rest attracted the attention of the Mother of God. “I gave you six days to work; I kept the seventh for myself, and they will not give it to me. This is what makes the arm of my Son so heavy.” And a little later in her discourse she says: “In the summer, only a few somewhat elderly women go to Mass. The rest work on Sundays all summer long. In the winter, when they don’t know what to do, they go to Mass only to make fun of religion. In Lent they go to the butcher shop like dogs.”

She has not failed either to condemn blasphemy. “…those who drive the carts cannot swear without bringing in my Son’s name.”

Forgetting Mass, daily prayer, the Sabbath as a holy day and avoiding blasphemy – in 1846 these were the source of all (many) wounds and misfortunes of the people of God.

Anyone who carefully observes the contemporary scene realizes quickly that these “sions of her people” continue to be the wounds and woes of God’s people” today. Sadly, as the French journalist, Jean Baptiste Alphonse Karr reminds us: “The more things change, the more they stay the same. (Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.)”