1846 Grenoble, France or 21st Century USA????

Yesterday at the Mass I attended there was a visiting priest from the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette. He was there to raise funds for his order. At the entrances of the Church were flyers with the story of Mary's apparition there in 1846. & while I am familiar with the apparition, it has been a while since I had read about it. As I read the story anew I couldn't help but think that Mary could very well have been talking about the USA today just as well as 19th Century France.

The above drawing is a rendition oh how Mary 1st appeared to the 2 shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat (14) and Maximin Giraud (11) on 19 Septemebr 1846. As you can see she was weeping. The children would soon find out why.

After telling the children to draw near she stood up & said: "If my people do not obey, I shall be compelled to loose my Son's arm. It is so heavy I can no longer restrain it.

How long have I suffered for you! If my son is not to abandon you, I am obliged to entreat Him without ceasing. But you take no heed of that. No matter how well you pray in the future, no matter how well you act, you will never be able to make up to me what I have endured on your behalf.

I have given you six days to work. The seventh I have reserved for myself, yet no one will give it to me. This is what causes the weight of my Son's arm to be so crushing.

The cart drivers cannot swear without bringing in my Son's name. These are the two things which make my son's arm so heavy." Throughout the whole time she spoke the tears continued to fall.

After telling the children about how the chastisement had already begun for the sins of the people & what lie ahead if they didn't repent she added: "If they are converted, the stones and rocks will change into mounds of wheat, and the potatoes will be self-sown in the land."

Then she asked the children if they prayed & challenging them to grow in prayer she again bemoaned the condition of the people of France. "Only a few rather old women go to Mass in the summer. Everyone else works every Sunday all summer long. And in the winter, when they don't know what else to do, they go to Mass only to scoff at religion. During Lent, they go to the butcher shops like dogs."

Part of the message was only shared individually with each child. they later shared what was told them. The message to Mélanie included the following:"The priests, ministers of my Son, the priests, by their bad life, by their irreverences and their impiety in celebrating the holy mysteries, by love of money, love of honor and of pleasures, the priests have become cesspools of impurity. Yes, the priests are asking for vengeance, and vengeance is suspended over their heads. Woe to the priests and to persons consecrated to God, who by their infidelities and their bad life are crucifying anew my Son! The sins of persons consecrated to God cry out towards Heaven and call for vengeance, and see how vengeance is at their doors."

"The Vicar of my Son will have much to suffer, because for a time the Church will be delivered over to great persecutions: this will be the time of darkness; the Church will have a frightful crisis."

"The holy Father will suffer much. I will be with him until the end to receive his sacrifice."

"Civil rulers will have all one same design which will be to abolish, and to make disappear all religious principle, in order to make way for materialism, atheism, spiritualism and all kinds of vices."

Maximin's private message from Mary included: "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. "

As I said, a lot of what was said sure sounds like what is going on today as well. & I honestly think we had better heed the warning. A warning that has been repeated in the message Our Lady gave at both Fatima & Akita as well as in some of St. John Bosco's dreams like the 1 of the 2 Pillars & many other times & places as well. If we don't listen, do penance as well as pray & work to change our culture voluntarily, then we will leave God no choice but to chastise us. & we can't say He didn't give us plenty of warning beforehand.