The Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette are a religious congregation of Catholic priests and brothers. Named for the apparition of Our Lady of La Salette in France, there is a parallel religious community of Sisters called the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of La Salette, as well as a lay fraternal group of associates that work in cooperation with the vowed religious. The Missionaries are charged with making known the message of Our Lady of La Salette, which is a call to healing from inner brokenness and a personal reconciliation with God, particularly as related to the first three Commandments. Our Lady had appeared to two children, giving them a message for the world. The Missionaries are commonly known as the La Salettes. Statues from the site of the apparition in the small mountain village of La Salette depict Our Lady addressing two children, with a small hammer and pincers on either side of the cross worn by Our Lady, the hammer symbolizing the instrument that crucified Christ and the pincers the instrument the removed the nails. This crucific was adopted by the La Salettes as their symbol. The Missionaries of La Salette were founded in 1852 by Philibert de Bruillard, the Bishop of Brenoble, in southeastern Frrance. Priests of the congregation were assigned to care for the pilgrims who frequented the mountain shrine. In 1858, these priests formed a religious community under the authority of the Bishop of Grenoble. In 1876, the institute was approved by Rome as a religious community of Pontifical Right. The congregation founded an apostolic school and missionary college in 1876, where students would complete a six-year classical course, after which they may enter a novitiate where they study the vows and obligations of religious life. Upon profession of vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, they would enter the scholasticate in Rome, where they complete their philosophical and theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Recommended Resources
La Salette Matha Province, India
Founded in 1852, the La Salette Missionaries came to India in 1979, and their mission there became a province in 1982. A history of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, and its work in India are featured, with a list of members, its membership policies, a gallery of photographs, and contact information. News and announcements are posted to the site, and provincial circulars are available.
http://www.lasaletteindia.org/
La Salette Missionaries and Shrine
Maintained by the Twin Lakes, Wisconsin La Salettes, the site offers a history of the event that led to the shrine in La Salette, France, when two children were awakened from a nap to see a brilliant ball of light in which a beautiful lady sat weeping with her face in her hands. She spoke to them of the evils of the day and the need for conversion. A shrine was built there six years later.
http://www.lasaletteshrine.org/
La Salette Missionaries: Myanmar District
In 1937, La Salette Missionaries arrived in what is now Myanmar. Conditions were poor, and the American missionaries were in concentration camps during World War II. Situations didn’t improve much after the war, and the La Salettes closed their last mission there in 1976. Reopened in 2004, a new mission was reestablished in the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in 2005. Photos and introductions are provided.
http://www.msmym.com/
From the La Salette Missionaries, Province of Mary, Mother of the Americas, the site tells the story of the apparition of Our Lady in La Salette, France in 1846, as well as the history of Mary of La Salette, an overview of the organization, its founding and its mission. Vocation information, and introductions to significant members of the congregation are included, as well as the La Salette Laity.
https://www.lasalette.org/
Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette
General information about the La Salette Missionaries is presented here, including a history of the congregation, its sanctuaries and locations, as well as the Sisters Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, and its lay organization. Reports from its missions throughout the world are given, and a calendar of events, a gallery of photographs, films, and a library of electronic publications are included.
http://www.lasalette.info/
Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette (Ina ng Pag-asa) Philippines
In the Philippines, the Missionaries of Our Lady of Salette are known s the Ina ng Pag-asa (Mother of Hope) Province. A brief history of the congregation and its work in the Philippines and Tanzania is put forth, along with its ministries, apostolates, and La Salette Laity, including its formation process, vocations, and gatherings. Also included is a photo gallery and contacts.
http://www.lasalettephilippines.org/
National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette
The La Salette story began in 1846, when two shepherd children were confronted with the image of a beautiful woman in a ball of light near La Salette, France. Six years later, a shrine was built on the spot. In 1892, the La Salette Missionaries arrived in Hartford, Connecticut, and have had a presence in the United States since. In 1952, construction began on a shrine in Attleboro, Massachusetts.
https://lasaletteattleboroshrine.org/
North American La Salette Mission Center
The Mission Center is a Catholic non-profit corporation, a ministry of the Province of Mary, Mother of the Americas, representing the American province of the worldwide Congregation of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette. Current and past newsletters are available, along with a list of La Salette parishes and other organizations, and reports on foreign missions.
http://www.lsmc.org/
