MAXIMIN GIRAUD and MELANIE CALVET (of La Salette) – (1846 onward) - “KING OF FRANCE” – “THE REAL HIDDEN KING OF FRANCE” – “IDENTITY OF THE KING” SECRETS, Etc.
VERY SUSPECT
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I’ll shall start with the case of Maximin as I’ve had a few people contact me asking what do I make of the situation of him telling Henry V, the Count Chambord, that he would not rule France?
Since Marie-Julie Jahenny and other mystics literally mentioned Henry V by name as the Great Monarch, then Henry V died not long after, how do we come to terms with this?
First: I must point out again Marie-Julie Jahenny, Ven. Mother Bourg and a third mystic called the ‘Mystic of Tours’ have stated in their prophecies that God intendeds to send the King back, and, Marie-Julie Jahenny specially hints at a miraculous resurrection, and that it will sometime in a future epoch. Her texts specifically point out he is still the chosen king. Ven. Mother Bourg also identifies him by name and God will return him. Of interest, other prophecies that give a general date regards to the centuries he will come say the king will come in the c. 1800s AND c. the 20th / 21st centuries. So we have that to consider! (I’ve gone into considerable detail on that on the Marie-Julie Jahenny blog site, click here.)
Next, turning to Maximin: he was easily misled and often fed misinformation by a few people during his life, some hoping to use him to further their own ends and, in one case, even make a profit. We can’t overlook how he entered a partnership with a liquor dealer who hoped to use his famous name as the ‘seer of La Salette’ to sell more of his wares as Maximin apparently was in real need to earn a living, having been unable to hold down any steady employment for very long due to one circumstance or another, in addition to his distracted and restless nature since being neglected during his childhood, making it difficult for him to settle anywhere.
Regarding the political intrigues regarding the identity of the ‘true’ king - this misinformation started early after the apparition of La Salette.
After the apparition, it was decided the two children should be educated, and so, their carefree, solitary days as peasants on the mountain were at an end when they were now under constant scrutiny and placed into the care of the convent of the Sister of Providence in Corps in 1846.
Completely uneducated, they could finally read and write French fluently by the time they left the school, but, still only had “a rudimentary knowledge of the subjects taught in a convent school of that period,” according to John Beevers in his book “The Sun Her Mantle” (p. 44) If we consider the time, that was certainly not an extensive education by today's standards.
Maximin in particular found this grade school period tough. He never had to be disciplined as he ran wild and was left to his own devises, practically raising himself on the hillsides around La Salette before all this happened. By the time 1850 came he was then fifteen years old and sick to death of lessons and living a disciplined life with nuns. He even made several attempts to escape the school. Eventually, after another attempt trying to escape, he was brought to live with his uncle and a tutor was hired, but this was not any better: the tutor worked him hard and Maximin always felt like a prisoner. By August of 1850, a misguided priest believed he was destined to ‘do great things’ for Maximin, possibly have him enter a religious vocation, and suggested to Maximin that he should go to the Marist Fathers in Lyons to finish his studies. (Maximin would later admit he never, ever had a religious vocation.)
They obviously had no idea Maximin was not interested in continuing his studies at all, he was more interested at that time in getting away and seeing things. He admitted later he was more interested in getting away from Corps as fast as he could and get see things out in the world. Seeing his eagerness, they must have assumed he was interested in his education, but, the Marist Fathers said they could not waive all the school fees.
This is where the trouble begins.
Three men came forward, willing to pay for his education expenses. Monsieur Houzelot, who sold ecclesiastical jewelry and metalwork in Paris; Monsieur Verrier, a business-man from Baen; and a certain Monsieur Brayer.
These men truly did believe in La Salette, but, they were also supporters of another cause, as the author of ‘The Sun Her Mantle’ writes (page 57):
“At this time, the Baron de Richmont (sic.) 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.”
So, we can see Maximin, even with his rudimentary education from the convent school, had never even heard of the past Kings of France, and barely knew anything of the man currently holding, (or should I say, usurping!) the throne in France, who at the time was Louis-Philippe.
However, despite this reaction from Maximin, these three men were not put off, and, got the notion in their heads to take Maximin to Ars to visit the famous saintly Curé, their excuse was to see what the saint would say about a vocation for Maximin. (Possibly, they felt they could do this while on the way take Maxmin to his schooling in Lyons).
The local Bishop sent a message to Maximin he was not to leave the diocese (possibly due to the fact the examination into La Salette was still underway.) But this was ignored. Going to see the Curé or Ars over a ‘consultation about a vocation’ was certainly an ‘innocent’ pretext to skirt the bishop’s orders, and, the fact they really wanted to see if the saintly priest with the discernment of souls could somehow get Maximin to reveal details of his secret.
Apparently, this deceit finding a pretext to disobey the bishop and have Maximin go to Ars allowed the devil to gain a foothold into matters, which would put the whole matter of La Salette itself into question. This become infamously known as the ‘Scandal at Ars’.
Maximin admitted he was only interested in ‘getting out’ and of course was eager to go where these three men took him. To make a long story short, (I’ve written more details in the page on La Salette, you can read it by clicking here), he insisted he had not made a confession with the Curé, he did not confess to the Curé and, (although this contradicts other testimony he gave!) and would even admit to the fact he actually wanted to test the man to see if he truly could read souls: testimony from the Curé himself said the boy told him La Salette was not real and that he had lied about what he saw, or, made it appear La Salette was not real, (while Maximin apparently allowed the Curé to misunderstand what he was referring to with regards to his ‘school boy lies’, and twisted things to test the Curé), but then, Maximin would try and cover with the excuse the Curé didn’t understand him. (The Curé admitted he heard him perfectly.) In all, this boyish impishness to test the Curé, and which to this day is still difficult to tease out regarding the details, caused horrific harm for a time – the Curé stopping believing in the apparition of La Salette and refused to support it until he received a spiritual consolation about the matter later. Maximin would later agree with a laugh to the observation that he had a ‘devil on his tongue that day’ he talked with the Curé.
The ‘Incident of Ars’ caused such a furor that Maximin was compelled to write an explanation later to silence the various rumors he had caused due to all this when he was vigorously questioned by the bishop and a council of priests in October 1850:
He wrote in November of 1850:
“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 two 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.” (Source: The Sun her Mantle, pp. 60-61).
So, we know he never said the secret had something to do with Louis XVII, (obviously people believed it did); and, with the recent discovery of the original Secret sent to Bl. Pius IX, we know for certain the Secret mentions nothing about the monarchy. There is no mention of the restoration of the French throne at all in his two versions of the Secret.
Of interest, his 'friends' finally took him to see the famous pretender whom he recogised thanks to the portrait they showed him, but after having told his usual account, (ie of La Salette it appears), he confided to the person who had introduced him to this quite ludicrous prophecy regarding the future : “He, (the Baron?) must be told to cut himself off from his favourites, because his life is in danger ! ” followed by a brief “ Let’s go ! ” A strange encounter! Maximin suddenly makes up strange warnings and prophecies on the go?
(At least according to this article: "Maximin's Secret' - on the Catholic Conter-Reformation site).
Very strange, was he getting caught up in all the excitement of this political intrigue? He was constantly getting drawn into royalist circles after that.
The point is, thanks to these three intriguers who took Maxmin to Ars, no one knows how much of this Louis XVII pretender nonsense was left rambling in his head by the time he met with Henry V.
There are conflicting reports, from what I can find:
*) He first went to see Henry in Venice in 1865, but was refused to be seen for some reason. (I can’t find a reliable source on this yet.)
*) We do know Maximin had a rather wandering lifestyle, unable to settle anywhere and willing to go wherever things seemed to lead him. One of his generous benefactors, Marquise de Pignerolles, took him to Frosdorf in 1865 to meet with the exiled Henry V. Their interview took place at the end of April 1865. I have not found out what was spoken between them on this date – some sites conflate it with the next date below ---
*) In 1873 he meets with Henry V in Frosdorf. One report claims we do not know what they said, another claims Maximin told him: “I came to tell you that you should not attempt to become king of France, that it cannot be done and you know why.” Henry V would then remark to to his secretary Count Henri de Vanssay after this visit: “Now, I am certain that my cousin Louis XVII exists. I will therefore not ascend the throne of France. But God wants us to keep it a secret. It is He alone who reserves the right to re-establish Royalty.” So, Maximin apparently succeeded in convincing Henry that Louis XVII was still alive.
This was a sad turn as other prophecies have already shown that Heaven has confirmed the side-branch Henry V comes from as the legitimate line via Charles X, and therefore, Henry is the next king. (I.e the Apparitions of Tilly in France, and the prophecy of Bl. Catherine Racconigi concerning side-branch of the Royal line of France. Click here to see a full article explaning how Henry V is still the chosen king as according to all these prophecies.) There cannot be a Louis XVII descendant in the wings if Heaven already recognizes Charles X and his line!
So, It is obvious Maximin relayed some strange notion regarding Louis XVII to Henry when we know Maximin’s secret never gave any such detail, and, the first ever information he learned regarding Louis XVII came from a bunch of men who tried to use him to satisfy their own curiosity and political ends, and in the process created some serious scandal at Ars which nearly discredited La Salette itself.
Then, lo and behold, according to a site I found, it seems Maximin then completely changed his tune and was indeed loyal to Henry V as the true King of France, even if in exile! And that he should come save the country!
Maximin: (in a letter dated July 24, 1874) “I always have confidence that our King will come... The Chamber (of Deputies) is failing in its mission and (President) Mac-Mahon in his duty, by not going to look for the king and him offer what is owed to him, at least to save France.” (Source given is ‘Le Hidec’, p. 86)
Remember, this is when the White Flag controversy was still going on – Henry V was alive and it was debated whether the Chamber should give him the throne for the sake of peace in France between the various political factions, provided he accept a constitutional monarchy under the Tricolor of Revolutionary France. It looks like even Maximin supported this notion for the sake of saving France by having the President make an offer of what is due him, the throne at least, but, we know from the prophecies of Marie-July Jahnny this is not Heaven’s plan. Heaven rejoices that Henry rejected this idea, even costing him the throne at the time, courageously defending the White Flag of France representing Catholic France under the rule of an absolute Catholic king, not a puppet of the Revolution.
So, it is obvious Maximin had no idea regarding Heaven’s plans regarding the restoration of the French Monarchy: he first got caught up in a mess of pretender conspiracy theories regarding Louis XVII; and then later supported Henry V, and, that he should take what the President should offer, (some have suggested he told Henry to take the throne on condition he leave it should Louis XVII appear!) I do not know how true that is. Therefore, he was obviously not given a revelation from Heaven on this matter.
There are accounts online he even wrote a ‘secret’ regarding Louis XVII and his ‘hidden descendants’, this sounds pretty implausible, or, someone making it all up, knowing what we do of Marie-Julie Jahenny’s prophecies.
So frankly, I personally find any mention of a different ‘secret’ by Maximin very suspect. He himself admitted the original secret of La Salette had nothing to do with a Louis XVII, and here we see a new secret concerning possibly ‘Louis XVII’s descendants’ popping up? He never admitted to having another private vision, so I consider it very suspect.
Also, there are some French sites that are literally adding a sentence to the rediscovered Secret sent to Pope Pius IX, saying 'a Great Monarch will come to France', but this is not in the 1999 / 2000 publication at all - someone is daring to add to Maximin's secret!
You can see a facsimile of the rediscovered original secret (click here) on the Society of St. Pius X District of Asia Newsletter - complete with the proper translation - Maximin does not mention the restoration of the Monarchy at all.
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As for Melanie, my section on her ideas of the King is going to be short, as whatever notions she had regarding the royal line was obviously wrong. She believed the pretender Naundorf – that he was Louis XVII, (and therefore one of his descendants would have to be the Great Monarch), but, Marie-Julie Jahenny specifically stated he was not the promised King of the prophecies.
For the sake of ruling Naundorff out: DNA testing on the remains of Naundorff were compared with DNA results from Marie-Antoinette and other royal maternal relatives - the findings were published in 1998 in the European Journal of Human Genetics (1998) 6, pp. 383-395: the researchers concluded that there were significant differences between his and their genetic sequences which made it unlikely that that Naundorff was the son of Marie-Antoinette. So, he and is descendants are not the legitimate heirs of Louis XVII - Naundorff is not Louis XVII. Mélanie admitted in so many words her belief in Nuandorf did not come from a mystic revelation, but 'from history', so these latest DNA findings shows her knowledge or opinion of history has proven to be completely inaccurate as well.
Regarding the future restoration of the Monarchy, when Mélanie became Sister Marie de la Croix, she wrote on January 29, 1883 to Canon de Brandt:
“At
this moment, France no longer wants a king... When the time comes,
God will find the king to give to humiliated France…”
Mélanie
added on April 29, 1884:
“God
will give us a king, and a king we don’t think about.”
So, she just repeated already known prophecies, and was completely incorrect on the descent of the royal line. Obviously, Melanie did not receive any revelation regarding the identity of the future king himself.
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