Maximin Giraud and Mélanie
Calvat / OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE (1846)
STATUS: APPARITION APPROVED BY THE
CHURCH – one of the few apparitions that has also received Vatican
approval as well as approval from the local bishop.
::::::::::::
For the story of La
Salette, I will quote the account of the apparition to the children,
and the story of how the Secrets told to them were eventually written
down and sent to Bl Pius IX from a book recounting the famous Marian
apparitions entitled '
'The Sun Her Mantle' by John Beevers, (published by Browne and Nolan, LTD / The Richview Press, Dublin 1953).
(Any additional sources,
observations and / or notes from me about the texts and a chronology
of events as they occurred will be added in parentheses like this, or
clearly indicated in separate sections, or marked as OBSERVATIONS or
NOTES, etc.)
Also, I will include
the ORIGNAL VERSIONS of the SECRETS of La Salette that the two
seers sent to His Holiness Bl Pius IX in July 1851 and were
rediscovered in the Vatican Archives by Fr Michel Corteville in
1999: he published the copies of Secret complete with images of the
letters and the original envelopes in which they were sent.
This publication of the
original Secrets cannot be a hoax as the letters complete with
childish handwriting, various misspellings and the envelopes match
eyewitness descriptions of the letters before they were sent to the
Pope. Source for the original Secrets and images I have found on the
'Miracle Hunter's Website' which quote Fr. Michel Corteville's
findings,
!!! IMPORTANT NOTE
REGARDING THE CONTROVERSY of the LAST VERSION OF MÉLANIE'S SECRET -Apparition
of the Blessed Virgin on the Mountain of La Salette
originally received an Imprimatur from the Bishop of Lecce, but
bitter controversy over the contents of the Secret arose even after
receiving the Imprimatur.
The
controversy over whether the Imprimatur should be revoked and the
publication banned was so dire, that the
Holy See ordered a ban on the matter in December 1915 declaring that the question of the Secrets
should NO LONGER BE TREATED or DISCUSSED IN ANY FORM under PAIN OF DEPRIVATION OF THE SACRAMENTS, and if a priest, they be deprived of
saying Mass, etc.:
"It
has come to the knowledge of this Supreme Congregation that there
are still persons, even ecclesiastics, who, in spite of the answers
and decisions of the Sacred Congregation itself, continue, by books,
pamphlets, and articles published in periodicals, whether signed or
anonymous, to discuss the question of the Secrets of La Salette, its
various texts, its adaptations to our present times or to the future
- and these, not only without the approbation of their Bishops, but
even in spite of their express prohibition. In order that these
abuses, which are hurtful to true piety, and seriously attack
ecclesiastical authority, may be repressed, the same Sacred
Congregation orders the faithful of all countries to abstain from
treating and discussing this said question, under whatsoever pretext
or form, either in books, pamphlets, or articles signed or and
anonymous, or in any other way.
This decree
is not contrary to the devotion to the Blessed Virgin, invoked and
known under the title of 'Reconciler of La Salette'.
Then,
a reprint of the 1879 Secret was put
on the Index of Forbidden Books in 1923
– it has been debated that the reprint had bad unapproved material
added and was condemned, not the original 1879 booklet, but since the
Holy See had condemned any
and all treatments and discussions past that date,
it appears the placement of the pamphlet on the Index was not due
just to the added material but also the general order of ordered in
the 1915 Decree issued from the Holy See.
TO
DATE, the 1915 DECREE IS STILL IN EFFECT:
after only just discovering this, I was concerned I may not ever be
able to post the Secret at all, but it appears that only PERSONAL
COMMENTARIES, INTERPRETATIONS, and DISCCUSIONS on the Secret IN ANY
FORM is FORBIDDEN: the Secret may still be reprinted, but without any
further commentary. We may have the text, read it, print it, but not
comment publicly or write any commentaries on it.
Therefore,
I will post the original version of the Secrets of 1851 sent to Bl
Pius IX, and ONLY Maximin's Second Version as it CORRESPONDS WITH THE
ORIGINAL of 1851 as there is no question to their authenticity and
therefore do not even need a commentary or explanation, thereby
remaining obedient to the Holy See.
As this article will be
long, it will be section into parts.
::::::::::::::::::::::
::::::::::::::::::::::
PART ONE: THE
APPARITION “The Tears of Our Lady”
(From 'The Sun Her
Mantle', pp. 22-33)
“The little town of
Corps, some thirty miles south of Grenoble, was a mean and
poverty-stricken place in the 1840s. Most of its thirteen hundred
inhabitants were indifferent or hostile to religion, and it is said
that, to be the Curé of Corps, a priest needed 'an iron character
and a will of steel, with a heart incapable of being hurt by the
insults and discourtesy to which he would be constantly subjected.'
Here, on November 7, 1831
were born Françoise Mélanie Calvat and, on August 27, 1835, Pierre
Maximin Giraud, both into poor and shiftless families. Maximin´s
father was a wheelwright, a trade which should have brought him
sufficient income, for Corps was a posting stage on the main road
between Grenoble and Gap, but he neglected his work and spent too
much time and money drinking in cafés. So he was always poor and
sometimes penniless, and his home was a squalid hovel. His first
wife died soon after Maximin was born, and his second wife was a
woman who behaved like the wicked stepmother in a fairy-tale.
Maximin would often have gone hungry but for one of his little
brothers who shared his food with him. From time to time, his
fathers made half-hearted efforts to send Maximin to school, but the
boy was a perpetual truant and knew neither how to read and write.
He was almost as ignorant in religious matters, going neither to Mass
nor catechism classes. His father tried to teach him the Our Father
and the Hail Mary, but without success. With a few other boys hos
own age, Maximin lived an uncontrolled, irregular life, hanging round
the two hotels when the stage-coach arrived, gathering
horse-droppings from the road, taking his father's goat to pasture
and some days doing nothing at all, and getting his food where and
when he could.
Mélanie's father worked
in a timber-yard and he. Too, was desperately poor. As a little
child, Mélanie was sent out to beg in the streets of Corps From the
age of eight, she went to work with the farmers of the surrounding
district, looking after the cows as they grazed on the mountain
slopes. During December, January and February, when the heavy snow
kept the cattle indoors, she returned home to her family in Corps and
helped her mothers to look after her brothers and sisters. She never
went to school and was ignorant of the catechism. She could just
manage to stumble through an Our Father in French, for the local
patois (i.e. local peasant dialect) was her natural speech as it was
for Maximin, although his life in the town and in its cafés had
given him a better, though far from good, knowledge of French.
Mélanie´s life was one of unremitting work. One of her employer's
said: ' At dawn she took the animals to their pastures and returned
with them in the evening. Then she had a meal and went straight to
bed.'
In the summer of 1846, she
was working for Baptiste Pra, a framer of Ablandins, one of the
hamlets which made up the commune of La Salette. She knew nothing
of Maximin. Their homes were at the opposite ends of Corps, she was
only at home in the three winter months and there was almost four
years' difference in their ages.
Another farmer of
Ablandins, Pierre Selme, employed a youth to tend his cows, but the
lad fell ill, and on Sunday, September 13, Selme came down to Corps
to see Giraud, the wheelwright and asked him to lend him Maximin to
look after his cows for a week. At first, Giraud was reluctant but,
after much talking, he consented and so, next day at three o'clock n
the morning, Pierre Selme called, collected Maximin and led him to
Ablandins. He had been warned that Maximin was scatter-brained and
so he kept him under close watch. Every day he went with him and
worked cutting hay near the pasturage so that he could keep an eye on
him, fearing that, if left to himself, Maximin would allow the cows
to stray and perhaps injure or kill themselves by a fall into one of
the many ravines which cut into the mountain-side. For this was very
different country from the low, lush meadows of Normandy or any of
the great pasture-lands of France. The cows ate thin, wiry
mountain-grass, picking their way cautiously along the steep slopes
more than five-thousand feet above sea level. At one spot there was
a small plateau crossed by a stream and, on the first day, Selme led
Maximin to it to show him where he could water the cows.
During the early part of
the week, there was no meeting between Maximin and Mélanie who was
tending cows nearby, but on the Thursday evening they met as they
were taking the cattle home and spoke to each other. Next morning
their little herds were on adjoining pastures, for Baptise Pra,
Mélanie's employer, had told her to take his cows on to land next to
that where Selme's animals were grazing, and the two children spent
the afternoon together. In the evening they separated with the
words: “We´ll go to the mountain again tomorrow. And we´ll see
who is up and awake first.”
+++
When Saturday morning
came, Maximin was up first and he and Mélanie, each driving their
little herd of cows, met outside the village as the first rays of the
sun touched the peaks far above them. Loulou, Maximin's dog, ran
barking ahead and Pierre Selme came a few yards behind, his scythe on
his shoulder. Maximin, always lively, sang and shouted as they made
their way up the long steep slopes, but Mélanie still half asleep,
was silent. At their destination, the two children went to their
separate pastures, but were within a hundred yards of each other.
Selme got on with his hay making. The morning went peacefully, as
the cows ate and the children sat on the grass taking no notice of
each other. At midday, the sound of the Angelus bell came from the
church at La Salette three kilometres away. Selme shouted to
Maximin, telling him to water the cows, and Maximin called across to
Mélanie to ask her to go with him.
They drove their animals
to a spot where the stream – the Spezia – had been partially
damned by stones and lumps of turf, and waited until the cows had
drunk all they wanted. Then they headed them to a fresh patch of
grass and went off themselves to a spring – the People´s Spring –
which came out of the earth near the left bank of the Spezia. Big
stones were placed around it and on these they sat and ate – hunks
of rye bread and the hard sour local cheese. It was a perfect early
autumn day. The sun was warm. There was no breeze and the ring of
the mountains stood sharp and clear against a blue and cloudless sky.
Before long, three other children came to the spring, two boys and a
girl who were also tending cows up the mountain. They had already
eaten, and, after a drink, stayed a few minutes joking with Mélanie
and Maximin before going back to their work. After they had left,
the two children crossed over to the right of the Spezia and walked a
few paces to another spring known as the Little Spring. It was dried
up, but they dropped their satchels out on the grass. (…) Whatever
the reason, they slept for more than an hour – something there were
both unaccustomed to do in the middle of the day.
Mélanie was the first to
wake She leapt to her feet. Where were the cows? She saw no sign of
them and shook Maximin awake.
“Memin! Memin! Our
cows! I don´t know where they are. We´ve got to find them
quickly.”
Maximin, thoroughly
alarmed, jumped up and ran with Mélanie across the Spezia and up the
side of the little alley through which it flowed. The cows were
safe, lying quietly chewing the cud on the spot where they had left
them. The children counted them. There eight. Everything was all
right, but they must now be driven back to the meadows where the
day's grazing had begun. In their panic, the children had left
their satchels behind on the stones by the Little Spring and Mélanie
turned round to run back and fetch them.
A globe of dazzling light,
almost too bright to be gazed upon, was revolving upon the stones.
Later Mélanie said: “It was as if the sun had fallen there.”
She halted and turned to Maximin who was a few steps behind her.
“Look, Memin! Look down
there at that light!” she cried.
The lad ran up to her and
then he too saw the globe of light. He was terrified and so was
Mélanie who remembered that she had often been told she would see
the devil unless she began to say her prayers regularly and stopped
mocking those who did.
Like those earlier
shepherds who 'were overcome with dear' when 'the glory of the Lord
shone about them,´ they stood paralysed with terror, watching the
globe begin to swirl and, as it were, boil within itself as it grew
in size until it was just over five feet across. It shone and
glittered with a living fire so intense that the children had to
shade their eyes and screw them up before they could bear to look at
it. Slowly the globe began to open and within its shifting splendour
they could see the figure of a seated woman, her elbows on her knees
and her face in her hands.
The children's fear
increase. “Oh my God!” cried Mélanie and dropped the stick she
was carrying. “Pick it up!” urged Maximin. “I´ve got mine
and will give her a good thump with it if she tries to do anything to
us.! Mélanie picked up her stick and they continued to stare at the
apparition.
As they watched, the Lady
took her hands from her face, stood up and folded her arms across her
breast. She spoke:
“Come nearer, my
children. Don't be afraid. I have come to give you important news.”
Her voice, low and
musical, banished their fear. They ran and jumped across the stream.
The Lady moved to meet them. When she spoke again, the children
were standing in front of her, so near the no-one could have squeezed
between her and them.
In the years that
followed, Mélanie and Maximin were to describe their ´Beautiful
Lady´ to thousands of people. She was tall. They had never before
seen so tall a woman. Her shoes were white, studded with pearls and
with a square gold buckle. They were edged by very tiny roses of all
colours. Her dress was also white and sewn with pearls and fell from
her throat to her feet. Its sleeves were long and wide and
completely hid her crossed hands. From her waist hung what the
children described as a long apron of shimmering gold, unadorned by
any pattern or gems. Around her shoulders was a white shawl edged,
like her shoes, with roses of every colour. She word two gold
chains: one, of large, flat six-sided links, was just above the
border of her shawl; the other was round her neck and supported a
crucifix nearly ten inches ling with the figure of Christ outshining
in brilliance everything else about her. One the left arm of the
Cross was a hammer, on the right a pair of pincers. Upon her head
was something the children called a bonnet, but, from their
description, it sees that we should call it a crown, a diadem or a
tiara. It was some eight inches high and seemed to be made of light.
A garland of roses circled its base where it met her head. Shafts
of light sprang from these roses.
The whole effect of the
Lady was one of crystalline light. The children could see through
her, could see the grass and land behind her, and she was ringed by a
broad aureole of almost blinding light close to her body. Beyond
that was a second aureole, softer and less dazzling, which also
enveloped the children. They noticed that neither they nor the Lady
cast a shadow.
As a man, Maximin (later)
wrote: “There was nothing in her dress that belonged to earth. It
was all of light, but a light quite different from any other.”
At no time during the
apparition's stay could Maximin see her face. It was not veiled, but
its brightness blinded him. Mélanie, however, saw it, but all she
could say of it was that is was “very pretty”.
Throughout the meeting,
the Lady wept. Mélanie said: “She wept all the time she spoke to
us. I clearly saw the tears flowing.” These tears fell as far as
hew knees where they melted and disappeared into the enveloping
light. With these tears in mind, it is well to note that the day,
September 19, 1846, was an Ember Day, a day of penitence, and, before
the reform of the breviary by Blessed Pius X, the feast of the Seven
Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin was celebrated on the third Sunday in
September. So, on that particular Sunday, priest and religious had
on their lips the words of the office at the first Vespers: “O
Virgin, daughter of Sion, they sorrow is as great as the ocean
...what floods of tears the Virgin Mother sheds and how great is the
grief that pierces her heart.” Throughout the day, as the sun
drove westwards, these words were going up from cathedrals,
basilicas, parish churches, from monastery choirs and convent
chapels, from Pope and village curé, from abbot and novice. In
every continent and country, the sorrows of the Mother of God were
being recounted, but on this lonely mountain in France two children
saw her tears.
They did not understand
them. After her last few words, Mélanie thought she was a woman
crying because her husband wanted to beat and kill their children.
Maximin was sure it was a woman who had taken to the mountains to
escape the violence of her son.
And now to what the
Beautiful Lady said. As we have seen, her first words were:
“Come nearer, my
children. Don't be afraid. I have come to give you important news.”
She went on: “If my
people will not submit I shall be compelled to let go the arm of my
Son. It is so heavy and so powerful that I can no longer sustain it.
For how long have I
suffered on your behalf!
If I do not want my Son to
abandon you, I must pray to Him ceaselessly, though you take no
account of it.
Pray as much as you like,
do as much as you like, but you will never be able to repay me for
the trouble I have taken over you.
I have given you six days
in which to work. I have reserved the seventh for Myself and yet you
do not wish to let Me have it. (Observation: it is apparent Our Lady
is quoting a message from Our Lord.)
The carters never swear
without using the name of my Son.
These are the two things
which are weighing down so heavily the arm of my Son.
If the harvest is spoilt,
it is only because of you. Last year, I showed you this in the
potato crop, but you took no notice. On the contrary, when you saw
the spoilt potatoes, you swore, using the name of my Son. The
potatoes will go on rotting and, by Christmas this year, there will
be none.”
The children did not
understand her. Mélanie could not grasp what what pommes de terre
(potatoes) meant. The only pommes she knew grew on apple
trees. She looked puzzled and turned to Maximin to see if he could
explain.
The Lady checked her.
“Can't you understand,
my children? I will tell you in different words.”
And she repeated the
message about the harvest in the local patois, speaking it as easily
as if she had been born and bred in the district. She continued,
still using the patois.
“If you have wheat, do
not sow it, for pests will devour all that you sow, and any of it
that ripens will fall to dust when it is threshed.
A great famine will come.
Before it comes, little
children under seven will be seized with a palsy and will die in the
arms of those carrying them. The rest of the people will suffer
their penance through the famine.
The nuts will be
grub-ridden and the grapes will rot.”
At this point, Mélanie
ceased to hear the Lady's voice, although she saw her lips move and
Maximin listening with great attention. Then she heard the voice
again, but it was silent for Maximin. As she spoke to Mélanie,
Maximin behaved like a bored child, taking off his hat and twirling
it round on the end of his stick, or flicking the pebbles at his feet
with the stick and sending them rolling to the feet of the Lady.
The voice resumed for the
both of them:
“If the people change
their hearts, the stones and the rock will turn into heaps of wheat
and the fields will now themselves with potatoes.
Do you say your prayers
well, my children?”
They both answered:
“Hardly at all.”
“Ah, my children, you
must say at least an Our Father and a Hail Mary. When you can, say
more.
During the summer, only a
few elderly women go to Mass. The rest of the people work in the
fields throughout Sunday in the summer. In the winter, when they
have nothing to do, they go to Mass only to jeer at religion. And in
Lent, they go to the butchers as if they were dogs.”
(OBSERVATIONS: note this
was said during a period after France had just suffered the
masonic-influenced anti-Catholic French Revolution, which had
decimated piety and religious observance among the populace. Around
this time The Curé of Ars also turned his irreligious and
spiritually decimated parish of Ars into a spiritual haven, which he
accomplished through a lifetime of heroic efforts of austere
sacrifice and penance, battling against the very vices of the morally
decrepit populace mentioned by Our Lady above.)
Our Lady: “Have you
ever seen spoilt wheat, my children?”
They both said they had
not.
She turned to Maximin.
“But my child, you
certainly saw it once – when you went with your father to Coin (a
hamlet near Corps). There was a man there who asked your father to
go with him and see his ruined wheat. He went, took two or three of
the ears of wheat and rubbed them in his hand. They crumbled to
dust. On your way back, when you were still half-an-hour's walk from
Corps, your father gave you a bit of bread and said 'Here child, you
can still eat bread this year, but, if things go on like this, we
don't know who will eat it next year.'”
“That's right, Madame,”
exclaimed Maximin. “I didn't remember it as first, but I do now.”
He remembered going to Coin with his father to buy an ash-tree-
Everything had happened as the Lady said. Now came her final words:
“Well, my children,
spread this message among all my people.”
She spoke this in French,
and them moved forward, Maximin stepping aside to let her pass. She
crossed the Spezia, brushing a great stone which had been rolled into
the stream to make an easy crossing-place when the water was high
with the melting snows. After she had gone a few yards, she spoke
again without turning around, repeating with a little more emphasis
her final word to the children:
“Be sure. My children,
to spread this message among all my people.”
The children began to
follow her. The side of the valley had two parallel paths up to the
top. Half-way up, a third tack crossed them. She used them all,
tracing a wide S which, it was afterwards discovered, was in shape a
reproduction in miniature of the Way of the Cross.
(OBSERVATIONS: of interest, this detail was confirmed again by Our
Lady Herself to the mystic Marie-Julie Jahenny November 29, 1877
saying she traced the Way of the Cross on the mountain of La
Salette.)
The children noticed her
feet did not touch the grass. Maximin said: “She moved as though
she hung above the ground and someone were pushing her.” Just
before she reached the top of the slope, she stopped and rose some
four or five feet in the air, remaining there for about half a
minute. She raised her eyes to the sky and then looked towards the
distant horizon away to the south-east the direction of Italy and
Rome. She no longer wept but her expression was one of great
sadness.
She began to disappear, to
'melt' as the children said, starting with her head which, quickly
followed by the rest of her, was veiled by the same brilliant light
which heralded her appearance.
It was then the children
first realised they had not been talking with a fellow human being.
“Perhaps she is a great
saint,” Mélanie said. And Maximin answered: “If we had known
that she was, we would have asked her to take us with her.” As he
spoke, all that remained visible of the Lady was her shoes and he
jumped forward to grab one of the roses decorating them. But his
hand caught only emptiness. Mélanie told him: “She does not want
to be seen so that we shall not be able to watch where she goes.”
The globe of light which
had absorbed the Lady stayed for a few seconds and then it faded into
the light of common day.
They went back to the
Little Spring to collect their satchels. The dog, Loulou, was still
there, asleep with his muzzle on his paws, just as he had been during
the whole time of the apparition. The children remembered that he
had not barked at the stranger, which he certainly would have done
had the Lady been of flesh and blood. Accompanied by the dog, they
returned to the cows, still grazing peacefully where they had left
them, and they saw again the three children who had joined them
earlier at the People's Spring. This time they did not speak to
them, but they spoke to each other about the Lady. Maximin said:
“She once stopped speaking, although I saw her lips were still
moving. What was she saying?” She told me something,” Mélanie
replied, “but I don't want to tell you what is was, she forbade me
to.” “Oh, that's all right, Mélanie. She also told me
something, and I don't want to tell you about it either.”
It was time to being the
journey back to La Salette. Pierre Selme had finished his work and
left, not worrying about Maximin since he was with Mélanie whom he
knew to be trustworthy.
So, in the mellow light of
that autumn evening, the children drove their cows down the mountain,
chattering as they went, interested in their experience but very far
from realising its significance, totally unaware that their future
had been transformed, that there were was no longer of any question
of their spending their lives in the hard humble way of peasants,
quite unable to see, however dimly, that they were now different and
set apart from all their companions; nor were they to know that, once
they had spoken of what they had seen and heard they would set into
motion great events, that they and their story would become the cause
of bitter controversy (…) .
(End of the Excerpt from
'The Sun Her Mantle').
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PART TWO: THE
RELUCTANCE TO REVEAL THE SECRETS –
As we have seen from the
account above, there was one part during the apparition when Our Lady
spoke with each seer privately, one child not hearing what the other
was told. Of interest, we see that they were not supposed to reveal
even to each other their given Secret.
The children admitted they
were told by the Lady not to reveal their individual Secrets.
For the first five years
after the Apparition, the children remained true to this order.
When interrogated about
the secrets, even bribed, threatened and cajoled to reveal them –
Maximin and Mélanie were adamant in keeping their secrets at all
cos
I am including several
interrogations that different members of the clergy conducted as
recounted in 'The Sun Her Mantle' to show how adamant the children
where in not revealing them:
+ + +
(From the 'Sun Her
Mantle', pp. 45-53)
“In January, 1847, a
priest, the Abbé Lagier came to Corps to stay with his father who
was dying. During the time he was there, he questioned Mélanie and
Maximin with great thoroughness. He enjoyed some advantages that
other inquisitors lacked. A native of Corps, he spoke the local
patois, he was in no hurry and he came in winter when the throngs of
curious spring and summer visitors had gone. He spent one session
with Maximin and three of nearly five hours each with Mélanie. He
wrote down what they said as they said it. He declared: 'I wished
only to discover the truth and so I had only one aim: to report my
interrogations in exactly the same words as were used without
worrying about repeating myself or being too diffuse.'
He questioned them closely
about the actual physical facts of the Apparition, but turned all his
guns on Mélanie in an effort to get her to tell him the secret
message given her by the Lady. A translation of part of this
interrogation will show the kind of ordeal to which the children were
submitted.
The Abbé Lagier began:
(Abbé Lagier) “Did it
never enter your head to kneel down?” (Before the Lady.)
(Mélanie): “Oh! No!”
(Mélanie smiled as she replied.)
“Now you're going to
tell me what she said to you.”
(Mélanie smiled again.)
“Oh! No.”
“You could tell it
easily to a priest you know, a priest of your own church.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because ...”
“Come, why not?”
“Oh! No.”
“You could tell it
easily to a priest who knows hot to keep a secret. Your secret can
very easily be kept by a priest who is told all kinds of secrets and
who is bound by conscience to preserve them. It seems to me that if
she was the Blessed Virgin, she would not have forbidden you to tell
it to priests – to other people, yes, but not to priests. I can't
see any reason preventing you from telling them. Besides, you are
still very young and you need advice. Many people could be told your
secret and keep it safe – priests whom you trust or some other
decent, trustworthy person, say your father or mother.”
“No. I will not talk
about it.”
“Not to anyone?”
“I don't want to talk
about it.”
“Not to someone who is
discreet?”
“Discreet or not, I
don't want to talk about it.”
“You can ….”
“No, I won't.”
“Why not?”
“I don't want to.”
“Do you think that if
you did tell it, it would not be kept absolutely safe?”
“Even if it were quite
safe, I don't want to tell it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I was forbidden
to tell it and I don't want to tell it and I shall never tell it.”
“Is this secret about
Heaven or Hell?”
“It's about what it is
about; if I told you, you would know it and I don't want to tell it.”
“But without saying what
it is, you could quite well tell me if it is about religion or
something else.”
“No matter what it's
about, I don't want to tell it.”
“Very well, since you
don't want to tell me, I shan't ask you any more about it. It
obviously concerns only you.”
The Abbé Lagier pretended
to sharpen his pencil and said:
“I should be glad if it
concerned me, me and other priests. I should then feel happy at
having come here in spite of my father's illness.”
Mélanie did not speak.
She bent her head.
“You're not going to say
anything?”
She looked up, smiled ans
asked:
“What do you want me to
say?”
“Look, Mélanie, I must
say this too you: If you were asked to tell your Secret to the
Bishop, who is the successor of the Apostles, and by the Supreme
Pontiff, who is the successor of Jesus Christ, I've enough confidence
in you to believe that you could tell them.”
“Oh! No.” (Lagier
notes that Mélanie said this with 'astonishing assurance'.)
“What!”
“No! No! I should not
speak.” (Lagier says: Í trembles at the assurance of these
words.´)
“Listen, my child. What
you have just said bewilders me. I can hardly explain what I feel.
I just don't know what to think when I hear you say that you would
not tell your secret even to my Bishop, a saintly man consecrated to
God, or to our Holy Father, the Pope, the representative on earth of
Jesus Christ. Why, I would tell them everything that I have done or
thought, all the things it would be hardest for me to say to anyone
else in the world. It would not trouble me to tell them of my worst
faults.”
Mélanie stopped him and
said:
“Yes, so would I. I
would tell them those things, but not this.”
“In this case, my poor
Mélanie, it must have been the devil you saw and not the Blessed
Virgin, since if the Blessed Virgin forbade you to tell the secret to
priests it would mean that she had no respect for the priests of the
religion of her Son.” Lagier then paused and asked: “Are you
hurt by what I just said?”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. Why should I be
hurt?”
The questioning continued,
but in the end the Abbé Lagier was glad to admit defeat.
“Yes, Mélanie, you must
not tell your secret – not to anyone. Since she has forbidden it,
you must die rather than tell it.”
Mélanie said nothing.
Lagier asked:
“Would you suffer, would
you die rather than tell it?”
“Yes.”
“Because she ordered you
to die rather than reveal it?”
Lagier says: “The child
was silent and I stopped, feeling it was quite enough to have
tormented her with the same question for three hours.”
Maximin was equally
resolute in defending the secret of the message given to him. Here
are some of the things said to him by various people and his answers.
“You want to be a
priest. Very well. Tell me your secret and I will look after you.
I'll write to the Bishop who will see that you pay nothing for your
education.”
Maximin: “If I have to
tell my secret to be a priest, then I will never be one.”
“You must reveal your
secret to a priest when you confess, for you must hide nothing from
him.”
Maximin: “My secret is
not a sin, and at confession we have only to tell out sins.”
“What if you forget the
secret?”
Maximin: “God could make
me remember it again if He wanted.”
“But if He didn't want
to, your secret would be lost.”
Maximin: “That's nothing
to do with me. God will tell it to someone else if He wishes.”
“What if you had either
to tell you secret or die?”
Maximin: “I should die.
I should not tell.”
(…)
A priest who talked with
them three months after the apparition wrote to the Bishop of
Grenoble: ´They know nothing. They don't even know the great truths
of religion, yet when they speak about Our Lady they are little
Doctors. No matter what one says, whether to intimidate or confute
them, they answer in a way which both baffles and disarms one.´
Perhaps the most important
witness in this quality in the two children is the Abbé Dupanloup.
He was made Bishop of Orléans at the end of 1849. The year before,
in June, he arrived in La Salette. He was then superior of the
seminary at Chardonnet and, aged forty-six, was at the height of his
powers, a man of wide experience, clear judgement and much learning.
He came to La Salette prejudiced in advance against the story, for
all the accounts of it which he had read struck him as far too
enthusiastic and uncritical. Each year he stayed with friends on
their estate near Grenoble and it was they who urged him to try to
get to the truth of the matter.
(:..)
Like the Abbé Lagier he
(i.e. Abbé Dupanloup), was profoundly impressed by the tenacity with
which they held on to their secrets. He tells how he tried to break
down Maximin's resistance. He had a valise which he opened and
locked by a secret device. Maximin´s curiosity was aroused by this.
He demanded to be shown how it worked.
“It is my secret,”
said the Abbé Dupanloup. “You refuse to tell me yours, so I shall
not tell you mine.”
“It's not the same
thing.”
“Why?”
“Because I have been
forbidden to speak about my secret. No one has said you must not
tell yours.”
The Abbé Dupanloup was
not to be moved. From time to time, he opened and shut his valise,
taking care that Maximin did not see how he did it. Time and time
again, Maximin tried to persuade him to tell.
“I should like to very
much,” the Abbé said; “but you must tell me your secret if I
do.”
At this, all Maximin's
curiosity vanished. But, after a time, he returned to the attack,
got the same answer and reacted in the same way. Finally the Abbé
said; “Well, at least, as you want to know my secret, tell me
something of yours. I'm not asking you to tell me all of it, but
only to tell if it is something pleasant or unpleasant. That's won't
be telling me your secret.”
Maximin said. “I
can't.”
Another time, the Abbé
tried a new temptation. He put in his purse a handful of gold coins
and left it lying in his room when Maximin was due to visit him. The
boy, as usual, ferreted around, discovered the purse, tipped the
coins onto the table and started playing with them.
The Abbé then said to
him: “If you tell me as much of your secret as you feel able to, I
will give you this gold for you and your father. You can have it all
with a clear conscience, for I have plenty of money for the rest of
my journey.”
Until he spoke, Maximin
had been completely absorbed in playing with the coins, but the
moment he heard this proposal, his face became grace, he jumped up
from the table and walked away saying, “I cannot.”
The Abbé assumed a
mocking tone: “Perhaps you don't want to tell me your secret
because you haven't one. Perhaps it's all a joke.”
Maximin's reply was: “Oh
yes, I have one, but I cannot tell you about it.”
“Who has forbidden you?”
“The Blessed Virgin.”
The Abbé Dupanloup says:
“I then stopped my useless struggle. I felt that the lad's dignity
was more than mine. With friendly respect, I placed my hand on his
head and said, 'Goodbye, my dear child. I hope the Blessed Virgin
will forgive me for all the tests I've put you through. Be faithful
all you life to the grace you have received.' After a few seconds,
we parted, never to see each other again.”
(End of the Excerpt from
'The Sun Her Mantle')
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
OBSERVATIONS: In the
beginning as we can see, the children were forbidden by Our Lady to
reveal their Secrets and were not even going to tell their local
Bishop or even the Pope himself, and were ready to die to keep them
private – how were they later convinced to write them down for
Pope Pius IX?
According to the book the
'Sun Her Mantle' it was the scandalous 'Incident of Ars' that caused
members of the clergy to finally pry the secret from them and have
them sent to the Pope order to clear up the scandal and prove the
Apparition was either real or fake, once and for all.
Maximin himself confirmed
this later to a lady from Nantes named Marie des Brulais in 1851 a
year after the incident, saying that his foolishness at Ars caused
the secret to eventually be sent to Rome. Marie des Brulais would
later publish her interview with Maximin about the incident in the
1852 edition of 'L'Echo de la Sainte Montagne'.
Before I recount the
'Incident of Ars', here is a Recapitulation of a Chronology of
Events after the Appearance of the Apparition at this point:
(September 19, 1846) –
THE APPARITION of LA SALETTE OCCURS
(September 1846) –
Bishop Mgr Philibert de Bruillard of Grenoble begins the official
inquiry into the phenomenon and sets up two commission to
investigate: one made up of the cathedral canons, the other of
professors from the Grand Séminaire
(Summer of 1847) –
Bishop Bruillard tasks Canon Rousselot, professor of Theology at the
Grand Séminaire, and Canon Orcel, the Superior there, to investigate
the matter.
(October 1847) – the two
Canons draw up their report, and the Bishop establishes another
commission to investigate – 20 cases of healings were considered,
and at last the commission declared themselves convinced of the truth
of the apparition. Bishop Bruillard relaxes a little of the his
restrictions on the clergy and permitted them to them accompany
pilgrims to the site. The Bishop also gave permission for Canon
Rousselot to publish a book on La Salette entitled “The Truth about
the Happening at La Salette” based on his and Canon Orcel's
original investigations.
However, the formal
approval of the apparition was in preparation, t
(September 1850) - The
Scandalous 'Incident of Ars' occurs – which nearly threatens the
proceedings.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PART THREE: THE
SCANDALOUS INCIDENT of ARS – Maximin, while in a foul mood,
either intentionally or unintentionally, casts discredit on the
Apparition and fools St. John Marie Vianney, the Curé of Ars, into
thinking it was a hoax – he believed this for several years
I will use several
sources here to piece the event together; (1) the 'Sun Her Mantle',
(2) the account of the incident as found in the 'The Curé of Ars:
St. Jean Baptise Marie Vianney', by Abbé Francis Trochu, (TAN
Publishers, 1977. Reprinted from the 1927 Burns & Oates and
Washbourne edition), and, (3) the Interview with Maximin published in
'L´Echo de the Sainte Montagne', by Marie Des Brulais in 1852.
As usual, any personal
observations or clarifications made by me will be indicated with
OBSERVATIONS / NOTES, etc. in capitals.
::::::::::::::::::
(NOTE: To place the
Incident in Context - the Vicaire, or pastoral assistant of the Curé
of Ars, Abbé Raymond, became prejudiced against La Salette and
objected to the Curé of Ars blessing and handing out medals and holy
water from La Salette. His prejudice against La Salette would later
influence events at Ars).
Excerpt from the 'Curé
of Ars, pp. 378-379:
:::::::
Excerpt from the 'Sun
Her Mantle', pages 56 -58:
(NOTE: Starting from the
point where The Curé of Ars´ pastoral assistant, Abbé Raymond, was
prejudiced against La Salette from the beginning):
“The Curé's vicaire,
Abbé Raymond, did not believe in La Salette. He had made the
pilgrimage to the mountain and had met Maximin there. They boy's
manner had antagonised him and he was violently prejudiced against
the whole business.
Maximin had no business to
go to Ars for, in leaving the diocese of Grenoble, he was going
against the wishes of his Bishop. But, in the Spring of 1859,
Maximin was a boy of fifteen, sick to death of lessons and living
with nuns.
(NOTE: after the
apparition he had been sent to a school to be educated by nuns.)
(Maximin) made several
attempts to escape from the school room, once going to Ablandins and
offering to work for Baptiste Pra. Each time he was brought back,
but after the last escapade he went to live with his uncle – his
father had died the year before. Yet he still felt himself a
prisoner, for a tutor was engaged who worked him hard and kept strict
guard over him.
Towards the end of August,
a Marist priest, Father Bonnefous, arrived in Corps. He was a
fervent believer in La Salette, but unfortunately he also believed he
had been chosen to do great thing with Maximin. He suggested to him
that he should go to Lyons to continue his studies with the Marist
Fathers there. Maximin had no great wish to study anywhere, but he
was overjoyed at the thought of going to Lyons, so Father Bonnefous
returned there to see if the Fathers were willing to accept Maximin
as their pupil. A month later, he was back in Corps with the news
that the Fathers were agreeable although they could not waive all the
school fees.
Then stepped forward
Monsieur Houzelot, who sold ecclesiastical jewellery and metalwork in
Paris, Monsieur Verrier, a business-man from Baen, and Monsieur
Brayer – all three of them devout believers in the truth of L
Salette. They offered to share all the expense of sending Maximin to
Lyons. This was an act of genuine charity, but – perhaps
unconsciously- they were stirred by another motive. At this time,
the Baron de Richmont was claiming to be Louis XVII and his many
partisans included these three. They believed that the secrets given
to the children concerned the Baron and hoped that testimony from La
Salette would give a great fillip to the cause. Monsieur Houzelot
was a little shaken when he showed Maximin a small portrait of the
Baron de Richmont and asked him if he had ever heard of Louis XVII
and got the reply that Maximin knew of only one Louis – Louis
Philippe and about him very little. But the three men were not
daunted by this ignorance. They felt that Maximin was a politically
valuable asset to their cause and must be treated with kindness and
generosity. They also decided that Maximin must go to see the Curé
d'Ars, apparently in the hope that the saintly priest would be able
to extract the secret. The reason given for the trip to Ars was that
Maximin was to consult the Curé about his vocation. It certainly
was one reason, but behind it was this other one, this political one.
Maximin was willing to go
anywhere to get away from Corps and he enthusiastically agreed to go
to Ars. His uncle gave him permission to be away for one week, and
on, September 22, Maximin accompanied by Brayer and Verrier, set off
from Corps. They spent the night in Grenoble. Next morning, the
Bishop sent a message to Maximin forbidding him to leave the diocese,
but in the evening the party took the coach to Lyons.”
(OBSERVATION: Note the
lack of OBEDIENCE to the Bishop – no doubt the devil was given a
foothold at this point to cause havoc.)
Continuation of the
excerpt:
“Thy had been joined by
Maximin's sister, Angélique, and the four of them arrived at Ars at
about half-past six on the evening of September 24, The Curé was
saying his Office, so they say the Abbé Raymond who took them to the
Providence, the orphanage for girls established by the Curé years
before. There they demanded to know the reason which had brought
Maximin to Ars. He was told it was because the boy wanted to get
from the Curé useful advice about his future, whereupon the Abbé
Raymond said: ´But how can he be uncertain about his future if he
has seen the Blessed Virgin if she has spoken to him, if she has
confided a secret to him?´ And he immediately launched into a bitter
diatribe against La Salette. Turning to Maximin he said: ´See here,
Maximin, if you still have the audacity to claim that you have seen
the Blessed Virgin, you are a liar.´ Maximin replied: “I have
never said that I saw the Blessed Virgin. All I've said was that I
saw a beautiful Lady. But say, if you want to, that I'm a liar. Why
should I care?'.
The Abbé´s final words
that evening were: ´La Salette must be smashed. The lad is lying.´
Before he slept, he told the Curé of Ars that Maximin had stated
he had never seen the Blessed Virgin.
Next morning Maximin and
his companions arrived at the church about nine o´clock. Maximin
knelt before the Curé and talked with him for a few minutes. He was
greeted with the words: ´So you are the one who has seen the Blessed
Virgin?' In what tone they were said we do not know, but it was not
the happiest approach after M. Raymond´s accusations of the
preceding night. It is not certain what was Maximin´s reply, but
the old priest and the boy stayed talking for a short time. (…)
(Maximin) said the Curé had advised him to return to Grenoble and
put himself at the Bishop´s disposal and he was taken back to the
church for another interview.
Later that day and during
the next, the Curé declared: 'Maximin has seen nothing, if what he
says is true … if he has told me the truth, he has not seen the
Blessed Virgin.” And from that moment he no longer autographed
pictures or blessed medals of La Salette.”
:::::
WHAT HAPPENED?
The Curé of Ars insisted
he had made no misjudgement of Maximin. The Curé of Ars recounted
the following to a priest named Abbé des Garets, as well as another
priest:
“One cannot believe in
La Salette if what the lad said to be true. He told me: ´I have not
seen the Blessed Virgin, but it has done nobody any harm. I want to
make a general confession and enter a monastery. 'My child,' I said,
´if you have lied, you must retract your lies.´ `Oh, it's not
necessary,´ Maximin said, ´they've not hurt anyone, and some people
have even been converted by them. And when once I'm in a monastery,
I shall say that I have told everything and have nothing more to
say.´ ´My friend,´I said, ´I cannot take the responsibility of
this on myself. I must consult my Bishop. ´Very well, consult
him!´ The Curé telling this, added: ´People say that I was deaf,
but I heard him clearly.´.” (The Sun Her Mantle, p. 63)
According to the Abbé
Champon, who became Maximin's tutor from October 1853 and March 1856,
he said Maximin admitted to him and his sister:“I had heard that
the Curé of Ars read the secrets of one´s conscience and I wanted
to make sure of this myself. So I confessed to him and said that
everything I had recounted about the apparition of the Blessed Virgin
was untrue and that I had seen nothing. The Curé of Ars believed
me, and so he can't read one's conscience – he's like everyone
else.” (The Sun Her Mantle, pp. 63-64)
The author of the 'Sun Her
Mantle' notes we have to take into account this admittance from
Maximin came from a roundabout way, it was told years after the event
by Abbé Champon's sister who in turn related the event to a canon,
who then later repeated it to Monseigneur Giray in 1917, which would
be sixty one years afterwards. But it is one account that explains
why the Curé was so adamant that Maximin had said he lied and had
not seen anything, and continually affirmed he understood what the
youth said, he was not deaf as claimed, however, Maximin contradicts
this in a written defence he wrote in November of 1850 right after
the Scandal occurred in Ars, and, after he was brought before a
tribunal of priests and laymen presided over by the Bishop and
heavily questioned about the affair in October. (He must have then
realised how damaging his little escapade in Ars was):
“I, Maximin Giraud,
state the following facts to pay homage to the truth and for the
greater glory of God and in honour of the Blessed Virgin:
1, I did not confess to
the Curé of Ars.
2, Neither in the sacristy
nor behind the altar of the church at Ars did the Curé question me
about the apparition or about my secret. He said only things to me:
that I should go back to my diocese and that I ought to be very
virtuous after such a grace.
3, In anything I said to
the Curé of Ars or to Monsieur Raymond, I said nothing contrary to
what I have said to thousands of other people since September 19,
1846.
4, I have never said my
secret was about Louis XVII.
5, I take back nothing of
what I have said to the Bishop of Grenoble and to so many others
about the happening at La Salette. I am ready to swear to all this
on oath.” (The Sun her Mantle, pp. 60-61).
Despite this declaration,
the Curé of Ars repeated again what Maximin told him, and so Maximin
wrote a letter to the Curé in which he once more insisted it is he
who must have misunderstood him, and continued to misunderstand him,
adding: “I never meant to say to you, nor have I ever seriously
said to anyone else that I saw nothing and that I had lied in making
my story known, and that I persisted in my lies for three years
because of the effect they had. When I left the sacristy, I said to
you at the door – and I said nothing else –that I had seen
something and that I did not know if it was the Blessed Virgin or
another lady. Then you stepped forward into the crowd and that was
the end of our talk.” (The Sun Her Mantle, pp. 61-62)
So, the Curé heard one
thing, while Maximin continued to insist he never said what the
venerable priest was claiming he said.
As stated earlier, we also
have another account from Maximin himself dated 1851 and published in
1852 when he explains the 'lies' he told the Curé of Ars referred to
the little schoolboy lies he told when he didn't want to say where he
had run off to when skipping his lessons or, when he didn't do his
school work. The Curé of Ars assumed he meant he was lying about
the apparition at La Salette, but he assumed the wrong thing, and
Maximin left him continue to assume that at the time.
From Mademoiselle Marie
des Brulais of Nantes – her interview with Maximin in September 27,
1851 about the Incident at Ars, published in the 1852 edition of
'L´Echo de la Sainte Montagne (pp. 230-231) :
QUESTION: “Why, child,
did you surrender yourself into their hands?” (I.e. the three
political intriguers who took him to Ars in the first place.)
ANSWER: “Hey! To see
the country ...”
Q: “What a road you
were entering upon, you poor, imprudent child! What were you
thinking of?”
A: “Ah! I have been
very foolish, it is true; but all the same, it is that which marched
the Secret to Rome!
Q: “How so?”
A: “Well! you will
see: Mgr the Cardinal knew all the noise which they made in the
newspapers because of the Curé of Ars, and then, he wanted to have
the Secret. The Pope asked for it, and the Bishop of Grenoble sent it
to the Pope: there you go.
Q: “But what happened to
the Curé of Ars? Will you tell me something about it?”
A. “Here: These three
gentlemen took me to the Curé of Ars to have me consult him, as they
said, on my vocation. M. le Curé advised me to return to my diocese;
and these gentlemen were very angry about it: they told me that I had
misunderstood and they sent me back to him. I went to his
confessional, since we hardly speak to him except there. The Curé of
Ars is almost deaf and you can't hear him too well, because he's
missing a lot of teeth. He asked me if I had seen the Blessed Virgin
and I answered him: I do not know if it is the Blessed Virgin; I saw
something ... a Lady ... But if you know that it is the Blessed
Virgin, you have to tell all these people, so that they believe in La
Salette.”
Q: “They assure, my dear
child, that you accused yourself to the Curé of Ars for having told
lies: is it true?”
A. “Ah! I said that I
had sometimes told M. le Curé de Corps lies. "You must
retract," said the Curé of Ars to me. - No, I replied, I cannot
retract for that: it is not worth it. - He told me I had to; and I
replied: Since it's over, I can't anymore: it's too old ... -
Q. “But what did you
mean?”-
A. (Said with
confidence.) I meant my little lies to M. le Curé de Corps, when I
did not want to tell him where I was going or that I did not want to
study my lessons.”
Q. “So I see that the
Curé of Ars understood that these lies you were talking to him about
were related to the Apparition?”
A. “Yes! he understood
like that, at least that is what has been written in the newspapers.”
Q. “But you did not
confess?”
A. “No. I was in the
confessional, but I had not said my Confiteor and I had not gone
there to confess.”
Q. “They add that you
retracted in front of the Vicar of Ars?” (NOTE: this is Abbé
Raymond.)
A: “Not at all!”
Q. “What did the Vicar
say to you?
A. “Ah! he said that I
had made a story and that I had not seen the Blessed Virgin; then I
was not in a very good mood, I said to him: ´'Put it if you want
that I have told lies and have seen nothing.'. After that, I walked
away.
(End of Quote)
NOTE-What to make of
this? Basically, Maximin angrily replied to Abbé Raymond's curt
accusations he could call him a liar if he wanted as he didn't care
what Abbé Raymond, thought but it was taken out of context by the
Abbé who continued to believe Maximin was lying about La Salette.
And, as a result, he was the first one to say to the Curé that
Maximin was lying about the apparition and therefore has set the
foundation for the Curé's first impressions.
Then, we have an account
from Maximin in that he let the Curé assume he was lying about La
Salette, when he was really talking about a completely different set
of circumstances regarding his school days and the lies he told then
which had nothing to do with the apparition.
Maximin said he did tell
the Curé at the end of their meeting he saw 'something', a
'beautiful lady', but it is possible the ambiguity left about his
'school day lies' is what lingered, and this is what the Curé
remembered. Why Maximin did not take more care to clarify things
right away we may never know, but if the anecdote from Abbé Champon
quoted above about Maximin wanting to test the Curé´s gift of
reading consciences has any validity, perhaps it was true Maximin
wanted to test him and purposely left this ambiguity about lying in
order to do so, and, may even have lied and said he saw nothing to
test him further, unaware of the serious backlash this would cause
and eventually confessed years later to his tutor about what he had
said. We note that he wrote in his public explanation of the event
to the Curé of Ars that "I never meant to
say to you, nor have I ever seriously said to anyone else that
I saw nothing and that I had lied in making my story known.”
In other words, he didn't
mean what he said, and, it was not to be taken seriously (if he did
lie and said he saw nothing at La Salette to test the Curé), but the
damage was done.
Then, we have to take into
account another explanation: Maximin also said he could hardly
understand the Curé when speaking due to his lack of teeth, and said
he was forced to answer 'yes' or 'no' to his questions, not knowing
what he was really saying, and as a result, not knowing to what he
was assenting or denying. So, it could also have been a
misunderstanding from all sides. Perhaps we will never fully know
what happened.
We do know Maximin said:
“The Curé had the devil in his ear when I spoke to him.” To
which it was said to him: “And you had the devil on your tongue.”
The author of 'The Sun her Mantle' writes that Maximin laughed in
agreement. (p. 64).
::::::::::
The Aftermath:
This torment The Curé of Ars felt over
La Salette continued for several years right up until October 1858
when for two weeks in particular he felt like his soul was literally
being dragged over a rough road. He finally begged God to given him
a sign, no doubt a sign confirming it was indeed a real apparition,
and at once felt peace. He then desired to see a priest from
Grenoble in order to tell him what had just interiorly happened with
him. His desire was granted when the very next day on October 11
when the parish priest of the cathedral of Grenoble came and asked
what he thought of La Salette. The Curé said 'I think that one can
and that one should believe it.' Then, after praying to Our Lady of
La Salette for help in raising a sum of money he needed to fund a
mission, that very evening before he went to bed, the Curé found
the bedside table covered in gold coins. He gathered them up and
went to bed. He got up the next morning, the table was covered with
gold coins once more. He took all these events as a sign and said:
“Don't you think that after that I should believe in La Salette?”
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::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PART FOUR: THE PLAN TO
HAVE THE SECRETS WRITTEN FOR THE POPE
Maximin was correct in
that his visit to Ars and what happened there was an act of his
foolishness, but it did bring about one good effect – it forced the
two seers to send a copy of their secrets to the Pope.
The first person to set
the wheel rolling in that direction was Abbé Raymond who still
determined to quash La Salette, and he wrote to the Archbishop of
Lyons, Cardinal de Bonald, who also did not believe in La Salette,
and told him his version of the events at Ars. Upon hearing about
the scandal at Ars, the Archbishop was determined to put an end to
the 'fake' apparition of La Salette through demanding to know what
was in the Secrets. Either the children had no secrets, or, the
absurdity of the contents would prove that La Salette was indeed a
false apparition.
As the author of the 'Sun
Her Mantle' points out, the Archbishop of Lyons knew better than to
simply go over the head of the Bishop of Grenoble and and arranged
all accordingly so it would be sheltered behind the authority of the
Pope.
Early 1851, he secured
assistance from Cardinal Gousset, the Archbishop of Rheims, who was
currently staying in Lyons on his way to Rome. Cardinal Gousset
agreed to ask the Pope to send the Secrets via him through the
Archbishop of Lyons.
Pope Pius IX indeed gave
the order, and so the Archbishop of Lyons sent the official request,
at first under the guise of asking if the seers were willing to tell
their secrets so they can be sent to the Pope. No doubt this was a
test: it had been duly noted they children had been adamant on not
revealing anything, but would they refuse an official order from the
Pope if he gave it? The request could not be disregarded and so
Canon Auvergene was sent to interview Maximin to receive his
response:
(Excerpts from the 'Sun
Her Mantle', pp. 67-71)
Canon Auvergene: “Maximin,
I'm going to speak to you about an important matter. Promise not to
repeat what I am going to say to you.”
Maximin: “Yes,
Monsieur.”
“Can the Church make a
mistake?”
“No, Monsieur.”
“Can the Pope, the Vicar
of Christ, make a mistake when he speaks in the name of the Church?”
“No, Monsieur.
“So if the Pope asks you
for your secret, you will tell it to him.”
“I am not in the
presence of the Pope. When I am, I shall see about it.”
“What do you mean –
you'll see about it? Do you mean that if he orders you to tell him
you secret, you'll refuse to tell him?”
“If he orders me to, I
shall tell him.”
“Well, my child, I'm
happy to see you in such a good frame of mind. I am going to Corenc
straight away to see Mélanie and find out if she feels like you
about telling her secret to the Pope if he orders her to.
Canon Auvergne went off
to Corenc where he found Mélanie reluctant to discuss her secret.
Over and over again she said: “The Blessed Virgin has forbidden me
to speak of it.” “But Mélanie,” the Canon insisted, “the
Church needs to know your secret so be sure of the truth of La
Salette. Surely you will tell it at the orders of the Pope?” But
all the Mélanie would say was: “I will tell it only to him and no
one else must know what I say.” She refused to send her secret to
the Pope through any bishop or archbishop.
Five days later M.
Rousselot took the road to Corenc to see what he could do to persuade
Mélanie.
(M. Rousselot): “If the
Sovereign Pontiff command you to tell him your secret, will you
obey?”
“Yes, Monsieur.”
“You will tell him
willingly?”
“Yes, Monsieur.”
“And you will tell it
without any fear of offending the Blessed Virgin?”
“Yes, Monsieur.”
“So if the Pope order
you to give you secret to someone whom he has chosen to receive it
and forward it to him, will you tell it to this person?”
“No, Monsieur, I want to
tell it only to the Pope and only when he orders it.”
“But if the Pope demands
to know your secret, how will you let him have it?”
“I shall tell him in
person, or I shall write it for him in a sealed letter.”
“And who will you get to
send this sealed letter to the Pope?”
“Monseigneur the
Bishop.”
“Won't you send it by
anyone else?”
“I will send it either
by Monseigneur or by you.”
“Won't you send it to
the Pope by the Archbishop of Lyons?”
“No, Monsieur.”
“Nor by any other
priest?”
“No, Monsieur.”
“Why not?”
“Because there is not
much belief in La Salette at Lyons. Besides, I don't want anyone to
unseal my letter.”
“When the Pope knows
what your secret is, will you be upset if he publishes it?”
“No, Monsieur. That
will be his affair.”
The Archbishop of Lyons
had met his match in Mélanie. An account of these conversations
with the children was sent to him but two months had passed without
any reply, so the Bishop of Grenoble wrote to the Pope and sent him
the same account of the conversations. Word came from Rome that the
Pope, Pius IX, would accept the secrets through Monseigneur de
Bruillard.
On July 2, an emissary of
the Bishop, M. Dausse, brought Maximin to the episcopal palace.
(NOTE: Benjamin Dausse was a prominent and pious layman of Grenoble
who enjoyed the complete confidence of Bishop Bruillard) On the way
there, Maximin chattered away in his usual lively manner. M. Dausse
tried to make him realise the seriousness of what he was about to do.
“You must think of what you are going to write. Try hard to
remember every word of your secret so that you will leave nothing
out.” Maximin replied: “Oh, I'm not worried. I remember all of
it perfectly. You see – I shall write it down quickly without
having to think.”
Arriving at the palace,
Maximin was taken to a room on the second floor overlooking the Place
Notre-Dame and placed at a desk. The Bishop summoned a canon, M. De
Taxis, and ordered him stay with M Dausse and keep watch over Maximin
until he had finished writing. He then left the room.
Maximin put his head in
his hands for a few seconds, dipped his pen in the ink pot and shook
it on the parquet floor. “Where do you think you are – in an old
shed?” snapped M. Taxis. Maximin glanced at the ink splattered
floor, said nothing and began to write. After a little time he
showed M. Dausse what he had written. (NOTE: at that point he had
written the date of the Apparition of La Salette, what he saw, and
declared his following statement was what she told him in the midst
of the apparition after the prophecy of the nuts rotting.)
M Dausse told him that
what he had written was all right, but the he must now write out the
secret.
Maximin returned to the
desk, wrote for a short time at great speed, then jumped up, flung
the sheet of paper in the air and danced about, crying: “Now I'm
like everybody else. No one need come to question me any more. They
can go to the Pope and ask him questions. He will answer them if he
wants to.” Then he ran to the windows to look in the square
outside. The two men picked up the paper from the floor, saw it was
covered with blots and ordered Maximin to copy it out again. “Is
that how one writes to the Holy Father?” protested M Taxis. When a
fair copy was made, the Bishop was told. He came in and, at the
insistence of M. Taxis, read the messages to make sure it was not
unworthy of being sent to the Pope. Maximin then put the paper in an
envelope and the episcopal seal was imposed.
That same evening, M.
Dausse and M. Taxis went to Corenc to collect Mélanie's secret. She
wept and refused to give it up, but at last said she would write it
next day. At eight o'clock in the morning she kept her word. She
wrote for an hour, calmly and seriously and without a pause, covering
three pages of narrow-lined note-paper. Without reading it through,
she placed it in an envelope which she sealed and addressed to: “His
Holiness Pius IX in Rome.”
A few hours later, she
asked to see M, Rousselot. She told him she had made a mistake in
writing that two events would take lace on a certain date. Actually,
the events would come at separate dates. M. Rousselot assured her
that she would be allowed to rewrite her message. This she did in
Grenoble on July 6, at a convent of the Sisters of Providence and in
the presence of two witnesses. Once again she wrote steadily, only
pausing to ask for the exact meaning of the word 'infallibly' and for
the selling of 'corrupt' – she said she was writing 'corrupt
cities.´ She also wanted to know how to spell 'anti-Christ'. This
second version was sealed up and it was this which was delivered to
the Pope. The first remained with the Bishop of Grenoble.
M Rousselot and a
companion arrived in Rome on July 11, and a private audience with the
Pope was arranged for a week later.
Pius IX welcomed them
warmly and then, in their presence, unsealed the messages. He first
read that of Maximin. When he had finished, he commented: “It has
the frankness and simplicity of a child. He turned to Mélanie´s
message. “As he read it, his expression changed. His lips
tightened and his cheeks flushed. In a grave voice he said: “I
must read these letters again at my leisure. Disasters threaten
France, but Germany, Italy and the whole of Europe are guilty and
deserve punishment, I am less afraid of open and declared impiety
than indifference and respect for convention. It is not without
reason that the Church is called militant and you see here its
commander.” As he said this, the Pope tapped himself on the
breast.
Several years later, the
Superior of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette was received
in private audience by Pius IX and he asked if the secrets could not
be disclosed. The Pope replied: “So you want to know the secrets
of La Salette? Well, here they are: unless you repent you will all
perish.”
(End of Except from the
'Sun her Mantle')
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
APPROVAL GIVEN AFTER FIVE
YEARS OF INVESTIGATIONS.
The Apparitions of Our
Lady at La Salette was approved in November 1851 by Bishop Bruillard
a few months after the Secrets had been delivered to Bl Pius IX in
July 1851.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PART FIVE: The ORIGINAL
SECRETS:
:::::::::::::::::::::
MAXIMIN'S FIRST VERSION OF
HIS SECRET:
On September 19, 1846, we
saw a beautiful Lady. We never said that this lady was the Blessed
Virgin but we always said that it was a beautiful Lady.
I do not know if it is the Blessed Virgin or another person. As for me, I believe today that it is the Blessed Virgin. Here is what this Lady said to me:
"If my people continue, what I will say to you will arrive earlier, if it changes a little, it will be a little later.
France has corrupted the universe, one day it will be punished. The faith will die out in France: three quarters of France will not practice religion anymore, or almost no more, the other part will practice it without really practising it. Then, after [that], nations will convert, the faith will be rekindled everywhere.
A great country, now Protestant, in the north of Europe, will be converted; by the support of this country all the other nations of the world will be converted.
Before all that arrives, great disorders will arrive, in the Church, and everywhere. Then, after [that], our Holy Father the Pope will be persecuted. His successor will be a pontiff that nobody expects.
Then, after [that], a great peace will come, but it will not last a long time. A monster will come to disturb it.
I do not know if it is the Blessed Virgin or another person. As for me, I believe today that it is the Blessed Virgin. Here is what this Lady said to me:
"If my people continue, what I will say to you will arrive earlier, if it changes a little, it will be a little later.
France has corrupted the universe, one day it will be punished. The faith will die out in France: three quarters of France will not practice religion anymore, or almost no more, the other part will practice it without really practising it. Then, after [that], nations will convert, the faith will be rekindled everywhere.
A great country, now Protestant, in the north of Europe, will be converted; by the support of this country all the other nations of the world will be converted.
Before all that arrives, great disorders will arrive, in the Church, and everywhere. Then, after [that], our Holy Father the Pope will be persecuted. His successor will be a pontiff that nobody expects.
Then, after [that], a great peace will come, but it will not last a long time. A monster will come to disturb it.
All that I tell you here will arrive in the other century, at the latest in the year two thousand."
Maximin Giraud
(She told me to say it some time before.)
My Most Holy Father, your holy blessing to one of your sheep.
Grenoble, July 3,1851.
::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::
MELANIE'S FIRST VERSION OF
HER SECRET:
J.M.J.
Secret which the Blessed Virgin gave me on the Mountain of La Salette on September 19, 1846
Secr[e]t.
Mélanie, I will say something to you which you will not say to anybody:
Secret which the Blessed Virgin gave me on the Mountain of La Salette on September 19, 1846
Secr[e]t.
Mélanie, I will say something to you which you will not say to anybody:
The time of God's wrath has arrived!
If, when you say to the people what I have said to you so far, and what I will still ask you to say, if, after that, they do not convert, (if they do not do penance, and they do not cease working on Sunday, and if they continue to blaspheme the Holy Name of God), in a word, if the face of the earth does not change, God will be avenged against the people ungrateful and slave of the demon.
My Son will make His power manifest! Paris, this city soiled by all kinds of crimes, will perish infallibly. Marseilles will be destroyed in a little time. When these things arrive, the disorder will be complete on the earth, the world will be given up to its impious passions.
The pope will be persecuted from all sides, they will shoot at him, they will want to put him to death, but no one will not be able to do it, the Vicar of God will triumph again this time.
The priests and the Sisters, and the true servants of my Son will be persecuted, and several will die for the faith of Jesus-Christ. A famine will reign at the same time.
After all these will have arrived, many will recognize the hand of God on them, they will convert, and do penance for their sins.
A great king will go up on the throne, and will reign a few years. Religion will re-flourish and spread all over the world, and there will be a great abundance, the world, glad not to be lacking nothing, will fall again in its disorders, will give up God, and will be prone to its criminal passions.
[Among] God's ministers, and the Spouses of Jesus-Christ, there will be some who will go astray, and that will be the most terrible.
Lastly, hell will reign on earth. It will be then that the Antichrist will be born of a Sister, but woe to her! Many will believe in him, because he will claim to have come from heaven, woe to those who will believe in him!
That time is not far away, twice 50 years will not go by.
My child, you will not say what I have just said to you. (You will not say it to anybody, you will not say if you must say it one day, you will not say what that it concerns), finally you will say nothing anymore until I tell you to say it!
I pray to Our Holy Father the Pope to give me his holy blessing.
Mélanie Mathieu, Shepherdess of La Salette, Grenoble, July 6, 1851.
J.M.J.+
:::::::::::::::::::::::
::::::::::::
For Comparison: MAXIMIN'S
SECOND VERSION
A few weeks after the
first version of the Secret were sent to Bl Pius IX, Benjamin Dausse,
who witnessed Maximin and Mélanie write their letters, asked Maximin
if he would send some remembrance of the event. Maximin surprisingly
answered the request by writing the secret down again in a letter to
him dated August 11, 1851:
“On 19 September 1846, I
saw a lady bright as the sun, I believe to be the Blessed Virgin. But
I never said it was the Blessed Virgin. I’ve always said that I had
seen a beautiful lady, but never the Blessed Virgin. It is the Church
to judge by what I will say if this is truly the Holy Virgin or
anyone else for what I will say here after. She told me in the middle
of the story, after the grapes will rot and nuts will spoil. She
began by telling me:
If my people are not
converted what I say will happen sooner, otherwise it will happen
later. Three quarters of France will lose the Faith and the other
quarter will practice it with lukewarmness; then afterwards the Faith
will reappear in France. A Northern country, now Protestant, will be
converted, and with the support of this country the other nations
will convert. There will come a peace, and after that peace there
will come a monster who will disturb the peace, and peace will come
when all nations will be converted. The Pope's successor will be
someone that nobody expects. He will not be Roman (written in the
margin). The monster will come during the peace, and peace and the
monster will come in the 19th or 20th century at the latest. You will
not tell this to anyone. You will not tell this to anyone. This
is all She told me.
Maximin Giraud, shepherd
August 11, 1851 at Grenoble.
(OBSERVATIONS of importance regarding the dating:
Benjamin Dausse declared that at the time of this writing Maximin
was still somewhat unlearned, the schooling he received after the
apparition at La Salette was still basic at this point we note, and
Dausse was of the opinion Maximin believed he was living in the 18th
rather than in the 19th century. Therefore, the timing Maximin gave
regarding the fulfilment of the prophecy could be corrected to read
"20th or 21st century.")
Of interest, Bl Pius IX's
sermons seemed to be influenced by Mélanie's secret of La Salette in
which he hoped for God to send a Great Leader to deliver the Church.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PART SIX: The
FULFILMENT of the OTHER PROPHECIES Mentioned at La Salette -
the prophecies Our Lady foretold regarding the great famine later
came true. Here is how they were fulfilled as recounted in 'The Sun
Her Mantle´, (pp. 108-109):
“(Our
Lady) spoke of the recent bad potato crop and declared that the
potatoes would continue to rot. They did and not only in France.
The winter of 1846 saw Ireland ravaged by the great potato famine. A
secular historian has said that a characteristic of the pestilence
which impressed all observers was ´the universal, infiltrating
stench of the rotting plants. This smell of the charnel house went
for to induce many of the peasantry, and still more of their social
superiors, to believe that they were confronted by no ordinary
trouble, but that this was a visitation from on high, a scourge to
punish the sins of the people.' The Census Commission of 1851
estimated that about a million of Ireland's people died of famine.
The next year, 1847, March 24 was observed throughout the United
Kingdom with very great solemnity, for it was appointed by Royal
Proclamation as a day of ´general fast and humiliation before
Almighty God, in order to obtain the pardon of our sins, and that we
may, in the most devout and solemn manner, send up our prayers and
supplications to the Divine Majesty for the removal of those heavy
judgements which our manifold sins have most justly deserved, and
which Almighty God is pleased to visit the iniquities of this land by
a grievous scarcity and dearth of divers articles of sustenance and
necessaries of life.'
In the
winter of the same year, 200,000 people in Scotland had to be given
food from the State to enable them to live to the next harvest.
Nearly a fifth of the population of Belgium were getting food from
charitable organisations. There were food riots in Belgium, France
an England. In France, 72,000 people died in 1854 and another 80,000
the next year – all of starvation. All Europe was short of food,
not only because of potato blight, but because of abnormally bad
grain harvests – also prophesied by Our Lady.
She
also warned that children would die and this, too, was fulfilled in
the great outbreak of cholera in which hundreds of thousands died,
the majority of them children. In 1849, there were 53,000 deaths
from cholera in England and Wales and some 30,000 in Ireland. In
1854, 150,000 people died of cholera in France. During these five
years 1849-54, it is reckoned that in Europe, including Russia, some
three-quarters of a million people died from cholera.
Our
Lady spoke of the plague that was to rot the grapes. It duly came at
the end of the 1860s in the shape of phylloxera which, between 1870
and 1905, laid waste practically every vineyard in Europe.”
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July 31, 2020
