The True Secrets of La Salette (1846)
Seeking the Truth Against Sensationalism and Deception
On the evening of Saturday, September 9, 1846, two young shepherds, Mélanie Calvat (14 years old) and Maximin Giraud (11 years old), encountered a wondrous and luminous Lady in tears: the Holy Virgin Mary. Deeply saddened, the Queen of the Universe conveyed a message to them addressed to all. Her unforgettable words mentioned the “strong and heavy” hand of her Son that she could no longer hold back. The cause was the sins of humanity: the violation of the commandment to attend Sunday and holy day Mass, along with blasphemous swearing and neglect of fasting periods. Punishments, especially famine, were imminent. Asking the children how to pray, she recommended at least one Our Father and one Hail Mary when more could not be done.
After a thorough investigation lasting five years, the Bishop of Grenoble, Mgr. Philibert de Bruillard, officially recognized the authenticity of the apparition on September 19, 1851. Additionally, there were two secrets which, after being independently written by each child, were sent to Pope Pius IX in the same year, 1851. Unlike the secrets of Fatima, the secrets of La Salette were not intended for the general public. That is why they were lost in the Vatican archives for almost a century and a half.
An apocalyptic pamphlet
Remaining faithful Catholics, both visionaries had tumultuous lives. Particularly, Mélanie went through many trials, some caused by ecclesiastical authorities. In 1879, the visionary published a small brochure: L’apparition de la Tres Sainte Vierge sur la Sainte Montagne de la Salette (The apparition of the Holy Virgin on the Holy Mountain of La Salette).1 It bears the Imprimatur of the Bishop of Lecce at that time, Mgr. Sauveur-Louis, Comte Zola. Although it was not placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Forbidden Books), several subsequent books containing it were censored.2
Mélanie’s text contains an apocalyptic interpretation of current historical events. Though deserving of special analysis correlated with the visionary’s life, the core of her account concerns the appearance of the Antichrist. Also mentioned is the destruction of divine worship (“anéantir le culte de Dieu”—“annihilation of divine worship”). Descriptions of demonic attacks and pseudo-miraculous manifestations also occupy a significant place. Simultaneously, there are details belonging to an ancient anti-Christological folklore full of fables and exaggerations (the Antichrist will be born with the ability to speak; as soon as he is born, the newborn will utter blasphemies; he will have all his teeth already grown in his mouth, etc.). Written and published over 30 years after the apparitions, Mélanie Calvat’s text mixes elements from the original secret with her own reflections resulting from her apocalyptic readings.
What interests me particularly here is the most famous statement from the entire text:
Rome perdra la foi et deviendra le siège de l'antéchrist. (Rome will lose the Faith and become the seat of the antichrist.)
Comments are unnecessary. I am sure that many of you have read and heard this sentence countless times. Regardless of its meanings, it is absent from Mélanie’s written secret to Pope Pius IX in 1851. In other words, it does not belong to the secret of La Salette, being the result of later interpretations by the author.
The greatest crisis
As I have repeatedly stated, a long list of events from recent decades proves a certain diagnosis: we are living through the greatest crisis in the entire history of the Church. In the circles of those who love the Christian Tradition, this fact is unanimously accepted. In such turbulent times, when trust in ecclesiastical authority is undermined even by those involved (i.e., the Church hierarchs), it is natural for all those aware of the gravity of the situation to seek understanding of such a situation. This is exactly what Mélanie Calvat did, in an extremely turbulent historical context—that of France troubled by the revolts that led to the emergence of the Paris Commune, which, among its numerous crimes, included the execution of Archbishop Georges Darboy (1813–1871). Wanting to draw attention to the terrible situation of her world, Mélanie Calvat presented her vision from 1846 by amplifying its details to make it as convincing as possible. She even added statements that do not appear in her secret sent to the Holy Father. Today, in the year 2024, we have evidence of this.
Discovery of the Secrets
Twenty-five years ago, in 1999, a French theologian, Father Michel Corteville, likely experienced the greatest surprise of his life. Conducting extensive research as part of his own doctoral studies, he discovered in the Vatican archives the original texts of the secrets of the two shepherds from La Salette sent to Pope Pius IX in 1851. As a result of this discovery, in the year 2000, he published a massive work, La grande nouvelle des bergers de la Salette (The Great News of the Shepherds of La Salette), followed shortly thereafter by another, published in 2002, Découverte du secret de La Salette (Discovery of the secret of La Salette). Thus, for the first time in 150 years since their writing, the texts could be read by all interested parties. Therefore, we know with certainty that in the original texts of the secrets, there is no statement saying that “Rome will lose the Faith and become the seat of the antichrist.”
If you are not already familiar with them, you can convince yourself by reading the texts of the secrets further.
The Secret of Maximin Giraud
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 practicing 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 3,1851.3
The Secret of Melanie Calvat
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: The time of the 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.+
A few brief comments
Overall, both secrets have a similar structure to the messages and secret of Fatima. The first interesting detail concerns the chronology of events: Maximin’s secret mentions the year 2000, while Mélanie’s secret indicates “twice 50 years” (which means, from the date of writing the secret, the year 1951). Such details seem to indicate that the time of the prophecies in the secrets has ended. As for the concrete content, there is, first of all, a warning regarding the situation of the modern world, a situation that can only be influenced for the better through penance. If this does not happen, punishment will follow. This punishment concerns especially France, which is mentioned by both visionaries. Additionally, Maximin mentions a nation in Northern Europe, Protestant, which will convert (some have seen here the conversion of Anglican Englishmen, encouraged by the creation, in 2011, by Pope Benedict XVI, of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham).
The mentioned turmoil occurs both in the world and in the Church. Persecutions against the Pope are also mentioned. Interesting is the mention of a pontiff “whom no one expects” (some have seen here the unexpected rise of Pope Pius X, but others have seen here the installation in the seat of Peter of Pope John Paul II). Mélanie mentions, like Maximin, a short period of restoration of Christianity. A Catholic king will have an important contribution to this period of peace. But the world, pacified, will fall again into the disorders of before. If Maximin only mentions a “monster” whose appearance will mark the end of the peaceful period, Mélanie speaks explicitly about the birth of the Antichrist. So, indeed, the essence of Mélanie’s secret is, as in her 1879 brochure, apocalyptic. The visionary’s message announces the beginning of the final episode of world history, before the end.
This apocalyptic aspect of the authentic secret seems to me the most disturbing. If we think about the apparition at Fatima, where such an explicit mention of the Antichrist is missing, we can wonder if harmonizing these visions is possible. Personally, I believe it is. However, this is only possible through an interpretation that targets the deep, spiritual level of both visions. At the same time, I wish to reiterate my previous warnings: both the desire to show to the “blind” that we—those who thinks that the current situation is abominable—are right, and the superficial and hasty understanding of such prophecies can lead to great errors and confusion. That’s why I emphasize, as I have done in other articles, the axiom that God himself has transmitted to us through the first Pope in history, Saint Peter. Although it refers to the prophecies of the sacred texts of Holy Scripture, I believe it must be considered by anyone who wants to understand prophecies such as those of La Salette and Fatima:
Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:20-21).
But if the Holy Spirit is the one inspiring true prophecies, we can easily deduce that their interpretation must also be guided by the same Spirit. Otherwise, we risk mixing our human thoughts into the things that God himself desires to convey to us. It’s a temptation that even a visionary like Mélanie Calvat seems not to have escaped.
The original French text can be read here: http://www.melaniecalvat.org/pp.asp?reference=64&ref_section=16&lg=fr [Accessed: 22 Aprilie 2024]. A 1930 reprint of the text can be read on the French portal Gallica: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k379148g.r=melanie%20calvat?rk=21459;2 [Accessed: 22 Aprilie 2024].
It is about the following works: Combe, Gilbert-Joseph-Emile, Le grand coup avec sa date probable, c'est-à-dire le grand châtiment du monde et le triomphe universel de l'Eglise; étude sur le secret de la Salette, augmentée de la brochure de Mélanie et autres pièces justificatives (1901); Combe, Gilbert-Joseph-Emile, Le secret de Mélanie, bergère de la Salette, et la crise actuelle (1907); Mariavé, Henri, La leçon de l'hôpital Notre-Dame, d'Ypres; exégèse du secret de la Salette (1916); without author: L'Apparition de la Très Sainte Vierge de la Salette (1923).
Both texts are available on the website sspxasia.com (the French original is also provided): https://www.sspxasia.com/Newsletters/2003/Jul-Dec/Secret_of_La_Salette.htm [Accessed: 22 Aprilie 2024].
Very good clarifications, thank you and God bless
The biography of St. Jean Marie Vianney states that he initially promoted devotion to LaSalette but stopped doing so after meeting with Maxime. He later regained belief.