Basilica of Our Lady of La Salette
| Our Lady of La Salette | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | La Salette-Fallavaux, France |
| Date | 19 September 1846 |
| Witness |
Mélanie Calvat Maximin Giraud |
| Type | Marian apparition |
| Holy See approval |
Pope Pius IX Pope Leo XIII |
| Shrine | Sanctuary of Our Lady of La Salette, La Salette, France |
| Patronage | La Salette-Fallavaux, Silang, Cavite |
Our Lady of La Salette (French: Notre-Dame de La Salette) is a Marian apparition reported by two children, Maximin Giraud and Mélanie Calvat to have occurred at La Salette-Fallavaux, France, in 1846.
On 19 September 1851, Pope Pius IX formally approved the public devotion and prayers to Our Lady of La Salette, referring to its messages of apparition as "secrets". On 24 August 1852, Pope Pius IX once again mentioned the construction of the altar to La Salette. The same papal bull granted the foundation of the Association of Our Lady of La Salette, formalised on 7 September.
On 21 August 1879, Pope Leo XIII formally granted a canonical coronation to the Virgin Mary's image at the Basilica of Our Lady of La Salette. A Russian style tiara was granted to the image, instead of the solar-type tiara used in its traditional depictions of Our Lady during her apparitions.
There is also a sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of La Salette in Oliveira de Azeméis, in Portugal, and a shrine in Attleboro, Massachusetts, in the United States, known for its Christmas lights.
In 1846 the village of La Salette consisted of eight or nine scattered hamlets. The population was about 800, principally small farmers with their families and dependents. On the evening of Saturday, 19 September 1846, Maximin Giraud and Mélanie Calvat (called Mathieu) returned from the mountain where they had been minding cows and reported seeing "a beautiful lady" on Mount Sous-Les Baisses, weeping bitterly. They described her as sitting with her elbows resting on her knees and her face buried in her hands. She was clothed in a white robe studded with pearls; and a gold colored apron; white shoes and roses about her feet and high headdress. Around her neck she wore a crucifix suspended from a small chain.
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