History of La Salettes

1846 September 19: the Apparition of the Virgin Mary at La Salette. September 20: the first written account (the Pro narrative).

1847 Winter of '46: the famine, begun in 1845, now rages through Europe. Controversies in the press. Major inquiries about the Apparition - Logier,Ginoulhiac Bez, Long, Lambert - are set forth. September 19: at least 30,000 pilgrims go to the Mountain.In November and December, the bishop presides over the eight meetings of the canonical investigation commission on the truth of La Salette.

1848 Revolution in France: uprisings throughout Europe.

1849 Already 15,000 pilgrims have been inscribed into the Confraternity of Our Lady of La Salette, Reconciler.

1850 On September 25, Maximin meets the Curé of Ars.

1851 Controversy arises over the "Secrets" given to the children. Bishop de Bruillard publishes the Doctrinal Statement of September 19: the Apparition is authentic; public worship is authorized; a church will be built on the site of the Apparition.

1852 The bishop's second Doctrinal Statement, dated May 25.Laying of the cornerstone of the church. A community of diocesan missionaries, called the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, is founded.

1853 Bishop Ginoulhiac publishes a Doctrinal Statement confirming Bishop de Bruillard's decisions and refuting objections by the opposition.

1858 February 2: Fathers Albertin, Archier, Berlioz, Basson, Buisson and Petit take their first vows in the bishop's chapel.

1860 Father Sylvain-Marie Giraud takes first vows. An experienced spiritual author he is named master of novices.

1865 Father Giraud, elected superior general, seeks to foster a genuine religious spirit within the community. He launches the French periodical "les Annales de Notre-Dame de La Salette".04

1869 First Vatican Council begins.

1871 September 17: first La Salette Sisters Congregation is founded.

1875 March 1: Maximin Giraud dies at Corps.

1876 Bishop Fava asks the Missionaries to write new Constitutions. Father Archier is elected Superior General. Father Jean Berthier establishes the first apostolic school in Corps.

1877 Pope Pius IX invites Bishop Fava and Father Henri Berthier to seek Vatican approval of the Constitutions.

1879 Fathers Archier, Buisson, Henri Berthier, Jean Berthier, Perrin and Chapuy are the first to take perpetual vows. The Missionaries of Our lady of La Salette assume responsibility for a mission in Norway for a period of ten years. August 18: the Institute is canonically approved by Rome. April 20-21: Our Lady of la Salette is crowned and the Basilica is consecrated.

1880 Departure for Norway (2 fathers, 2 Brothers, 7 students in theology). In France, laws against the Congregations are passed.

1881 Laws take effect against religious schools. The major seminary is moved to Switzerland.

1892 Fathers Pajot and Vignon find haven in Hartford, CT. The North American experience begins.

1896 A La Salette house of studies is founded in Rome. The number of La Salette Sisters increases to 150.

1899 French La Salettes begin to minister in Madagascar and the Canadian Northwest (Saskatchewan).

1900 In France, "The Law of Associations" is passed. The General Council chooses exile to Tournai, Belgium.

1901-02 The General Administration moves to Switzerland, then to Italy (Salmata) The five first la Salette Missionaries in Poland (Kraków).

1902 Father Clément Moussier leaves from the United States to open a mission in Brazil.

1902 Five  young missionaries from Switzerland leaving for Poland

1904 Mélanie Calvat dies at Altamura (Bari, Italy).

1905 Law of separation of church and state in France.

1914-18 First Worid War. French religious are allowed to reenter France.

1921 American La Salettes join their French brothers in Madagascar (Antsirabe)

1926 Final approval of the Constitutions by Rome.

1921 American La Salettes found the mission of Morondava, Madagascar.

1934 The Congregation is divided into provinces: France, Poland, Brazil, and the United States, where Our Lady of Seven Dolors, in Hartford, CT becomes the first U.S. province.

1935 La Salettes from Poland found a mission in Argentina.

1931 La Salettes from the Hartford Province found a mission in Arakan, Burma.

1938 La Salettes from Switzerland and Liechtenstein become a province.

1939-45 World War II.

1943 Bishop Caillot recalls the Missionaries of La Salette to pastoral service at the Shrine, cradle and motherhouse of the Congregation.

1945 The province of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is established in Attleboro, MA.

1946 La Salettes from Switzerland found a mission in Angola. Centennial celebration of the Apparition. Marian Congress in Grenoble and at La Salette.

1948 La Salettes of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Province (Attleboro) found a mission in the Philippines. Word

1961 The province of Mary Queen is established in St. Louis, MO.

1962 Second Vatican Council begins. Various La Salette foundations in Italy form a new Province: Mary Mediatrix.

1967 A fourth U.S. province, Mary, Queen of Peace, is established in Olivet, ll. La Salettes from Hartford go to Argentina.

1968 Two new provinces are established: Our Lady, Mother of Hope, in the Philippines and Mary, Mother of the Church, in Antsirabe, Madagascar.

1976 The mission in Burma is closed due to persecution and legally enforced attrition.

1985 Renewed and updated after the Second Vatican Council, the Constitutions are approved by Rome.

1988 In Madagascar the province in Antsirabe and region in Morondava merge to become one province. La Salettes from India, educated in the Philippines, open a mission in their homeland (Kerala, India).

1990 La Salettes from Poland begin new works in Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

1991 La Salettes from Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia open a common novitiate in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

1995 .. 96 The 150th anniversary of the Apparition of Our Lady at La Salette. A year of celebration throughout the world.

2000 The four La Salette Provinces in North America (Milwaukee, Hartford, Attleboro and St. Louis) restructure into a new Province: Mary, Mother of the Americas.

2001 India is established as a region.

2002 150th anniversary of Bishop Philibert de Bruillard's pastoral letter of 1852 that led to the founding of t the Congregation of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette.

2006 India becomes a Province

2007 Angola founds a mission in Namibia

2012 Angola is established as a Province

2012 Unification of the Swiss and Polish provinces

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

More in this category:

Go to top