Dear Confreres and friends of La Salette,

It is with great joy that I inform you that, through the initiative of Father Manuel dos Reis Bonfim, Rector of the Shrine of La Salette (France), Pope Francis will officially crown the statue of Our Lady of La Salette on Wednesday, May 18, 2016.

The brief and moving ceremony take place immediately after the General Audience in the St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. On that occasion those invited to greet the Pope personally will include Fr. Manuel, Rector of the Shrine, some members of the La Salette General Council of the Congregation, Fr. Joseph Antin, Vicar General of the Diocese of Grenoble, Sr. Elisabeth, Superior General of the Sisters of Our Lady of La Salette, the Honorable Gilda Perrin, Mayor of La Salette-Fallavaux, among others.

I will take advantage of this grace-filled meeting with Pope Francis to renew the Congregation’s invitation to visit the Shrine of La Salette in France during this Jubilee Year of Mercy and the 170th Anniversary of the Apparition.

The Audience and the ceremony of the Crowning of the Virgin can be followed  on the Vatican website. You may also find it on local stations which ordinarily show the Pope’s Wednesday General Audiences, such as EWTN or Italian Television.

Given the particular importance of this moment and the undeniable relevance for the entire Congregation, I invite every community and each individual member to unite themselves with us this coming Wednesday, May 18, in prayer and in thanking God for this auspicious event.

It will also be a good occasion to further our making known the Apparition of the Beautiful Lady and her message of reconciliation.

I hold all of you in prayer and blessing.

Fr. Silvano Marisa, M.S.,
La Salette Superior General, Rome, Italy