Theology of History
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The Judgment of Nations - XV
Our Lady of La Salette:
The Prophecies
Officially Revealed & Liberated
Recently TIA received a strong complaint regarding the prophecies of Our Lady of La Salette to the two children Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, in La Salette-Fallavaux, France. The reader claimed that no solid proof existed for the “alleged” words of Our Lady saying “Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist,” and thus these prophecies should not have published in an article on the TIA site.
Further, the protester argued, Pope Leo XIII forbade Melanie to continue to write and spread the “supposed Secret” and Pope Pius XI condemned it. The seer Melanie exhibited bizarre behavior and acted erratic, and she invented the “longer secret” that included the prophecy about priests becoming cesspools of impurity and Rome losing the faith. Moreover, the different versions of the six secrets she wrote, some long and some short, is evidence in itself as to her duplicity and no one can be certain what to believe.
Even independent and traditionalist priests say this, our reader insisted as the only “evidence” for his position. It is rather ironic: The critic accuses Tradition in Action of having no evidence, and then only offers hearsay accusations by anonymous websites and priests as proof for his accusations.
In fact, until recently, it was difficult to speak on the secret of La Salette with any authority precisely because that topic was silenced by the corrupt Cardinals and Bishops of France of that time, which was the late 19th century. These high authorities in France and Rome did all in their power – which was a lot – to keep the Secret from being known and believed. It did not serve their personal interests to spread a prophecy that warned “the Priests have become cesspool of impurity. Yes, the sins of priests cry out for vengeance and vengeance looms over their head!”
In 1915, 11 years after the death of Melanie, the French Cardinals managed to have the Holy Office promulgate a decree (in a highly irregular manner, let it be noted) NOT declaring the message false, but rather forbidding the faithful worldwide to comment on the message or discuss it publicly. (1) This is one reason so many rumors and doubts have circulated around the messages written by both Melanie and Maximin.
The Discovery of the Secret of La Salette
Several months ago I heard about a book The Discovery of the Secret of LaSalette by Fr. René Laurentin & Fr. Michel Corteville, translated and published in 2002 in French and released in 2024 in English. The book is actually a summary of the first part of the monumental 5,000 page doctoral thesis of Fr. Corteville, who was allowed access to the up-to-then tightly closed La Salette files in the Vatican archives.
The co-author is Fr. Rene Laurentin, a progressivist and one of the last living Vatican II periti (he died in 2017 at age 99). Well known as a modern scholar of Mariology, he himself tells us that he was quick to jump in to monitor the revealing of the discoveries of Fr. Corteville because of the “animated questions” that might arise. Also he presented the excuse that he feared that parts of the study “might be stolen from him by a media company.” (2)
My suspicions are his purpose in reviewing the book was to give a progressivist tone and interpretations to the more alarming parts of the Secret, especially regarding the newly revealed part of the Secret on the Apostles of the Last Days and their role in the coming Chastisement. And, in fact, that part of the Secret is only summarized by the authors in their own words: We are not given access to the exact words in the writings of the seer Melanie.
Notwithstanding, he affirms the authenticity of the eight messages uncovered in the Vatican archives (six by Melanie and two by Maximin), which are duly presented.(3)
The authors also provide ample letters and documentation that the La Salette message and secret received the approval of Popes: Pius IX, Leo XIII and St. Pius X; Saints: St. Peter Eymard, St. John Bosco, the Cure d’Ars, and many high Prelates. (4)
Secret is liberated for discussion
Most important, especially for those who would like to publicly discuss the La Salette Secret, Laurentin and Courtville announce that the message of La Salette is officially “liberated” from the bizarre silence placed upon it more than a century ago. The prior prohibition against commentary was lifted because the Vatican itself allowed Fr. Corteville to search its archives, publicly defend his thesis and publish part of it for everyone to read.
As the authors note: “The opening of the archives of the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith de facto marked the end of this constrained silence.” (5) So the Secret of La Salette can be read and commented on now by all Catholics.
This book also rehabilitates the seers Melanie Calvat and Maximim Giraud, presenting them as persecuted messengers of Our Lady who were faithful to their mission to the end. Again, we are given new information that helps to explain the insistence of Melanie and Maximim on making the message of Our Lady known as time went on. The authors explain that the last words of Our Lady to the children that day of September 19, 1846, were these: “My children, you will pass this on to all my people.” (6)
They were, therefore, merely complying with her order, and they continued to obey the Queen of Heaven – despite the strongest opposition - until their deaths in 1874 (Maximin) and 1904 (Melanie). Both children would resist the orders of high Church officials in order to carry out the heavenly command and be faithful to the mission Our Lady gave them.
In the next article, the 1878 Secret will be published in its full, with the approval of the Vatican, thus giving all the liberty to comment and discuss the topic.
To be continued
Our Lady of La Salette wept throughout the apparition
Even independent and traditionalist priests say this, our reader insisted as the only “evidence” for his position. It is rather ironic: The critic accuses Tradition in Action of having no evidence, and then only offers hearsay accusations by anonymous websites and priests as proof for his accusations.
In fact, until recently, it was difficult to speak on the secret of La Salette with any authority precisely because that topic was silenced by the corrupt Cardinals and Bishops of France of that time, which was the late 19th century. These high authorities in France and Rome did all in their power – which was a lot – to keep the Secret from being known and believed. It did not serve their personal interests to spread a prophecy that warned “the Priests have become cesspool of impurity. Yes, the sins of priests cry out for vengeance and vengeance looms over their head!”
In 1915, 11 years after the death of Melanie, the French Cardinals managed to have the Holy Office promulgate a decree (in a highly irregular manner, let it be noted) NOT declaring the message false, but rather forbidding the faithful worldwide to comment on the message or discuss it publicly. (1) This is one reason so many rumors and doubts have circulated around the messages written by both Melanie and Maximin.
The Discovery of the Secret of La Salette
Several months ago I heard about a book The Discovery of the Secret of LaSalette by Fr. René Laurentin & Fr. Michel Corteville, translated and published in 2002 in French and released in 2024 in English. The book is actually a summary of the first part of the monumental 5,000 page doctoral thesis of Fr. Corteville, who was allowed access to the up-to-then tightly closed La Salette files in the Vatican archives.
Releasing the known secrets & published with Vatican approval
My suspicions are his purpose in reviewing the book was to give a progressivist tone and interpretations to the more alarming parts of the Secret, especially regarding the newly revealed part of the Secret on the Apostles of the Last Days and their role in the coming Chastisement. And, in fact, that part of the Secret is only summarized by the authors in their own words: We are not given access to the exact words in the writings of the seer Melanie.
Notwithstanding, he affirms the authenticity of the eight messages uncovered in the Vatican archives (six by Melanie and two by Maximin), which are duly presented.(3)
The authors also provide ample letters and documentation that the La Salette message and secret received the approval of Popes: Pius IX, Leo XIII and St. Pius X; Saints: St. Peter Eymard, St. John Bosco, the Cure d’Ars, and many high Prelates. (4)
Secret is liberated for discussion
Most important, especially for those who would like to publicly discuss the La Salette Secret, Laurentin and Courtville announce that the message of La Salette is officially “liberated” from the bizarre silence placed upon it more than a century ago. The prior prohibition against commentary was lifted because the Vatican itself allowed Fr. Corteville to search its archives, publicly defend his thesis and publish part of it for everyone to read.
Saints who gave their approval to La Salette
This book also rehabilitates the seers Melanie Calvat and Maximim Giraud, presenting them as persecuted messengers of Our Lady who were faithful to their mission to the end. Again, we are given new information that helps to explain the insistence of Melanie and Maximim on making the message of Our Lady known as time went on. The authors explain that the last words of Our Lady to the children that day of September 19, 1846, were these: “My children, you will pass this on to all my people.” (6)
They were, therefore, merely complying with her order, and they continued to obey the Queen of Heaven – despite the strongest opposition - until their deaths in 1874 (Maximin) and 1904 (Melanie). Both children would resist the orders of high Church officials in order to carry out the heavenly command and be faithful to the mission Our Lady gave them.
In the next article, the 1878 Secret will be published in its full, with the approval of the Vatican, thus giving all the liberty to comment and discuss the topic.
The seers at the time of the apparition,
Maximin, age 11, Melanie age 14
To be continued
- “A decree was promulgated on December 21, 1915 which ordered “the faithful of all countries to abstain from treating or discussing this said question under whatsoever pretext or form, either in books, pamphlets or articles signed or anonymous, or in any other way.” Although the action is duly recorded in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis for December 31 of that year, certain irregularities were soon noted in its regard. To begin with, it carries signatures of no Cardinals or members of the Sacred Congregation, but only that of its notary, Luigi Castellano. Also, there is no mention of the date on which the Holy Office presumably met to vote on this piece of legislation, nor any reference to its ever having been submitted to Pope Benedict XV for final approval. Although the decree forbade all discussion of the Secret and specifies penalties to be imposed on transgressors, no censure whatever is attached to the text of the Secret itself, as would be expected in the circumstances. There is not even a prohibition against possessing, reading or distributing it” René Laurentin & Michel Corteville, The Discovery of the Secret of LaSalette, Holy Water Books, 2024, p. 394. ;
- Laurentin served as a consultant to the Preparatory Theological Commission of the Second Vatican Council on parts of the Marian doctrine in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. He was a strong promoter of the purported Marian apparitions of Medjugorje and Vassula Rydén,a twice married Greek schismatic who claimed to receive heavenly messages.
- Laurentin & Corteville, The Discovery of the Secret of LaSalette, “Chapter 4, The Eight Preserved Versions of the Secret,.” pp 59ff.
- Ibid., “Chapter 6: Important unexpected Testimonies of writers, spiritual persons, Saints, Bishops and Popes,” pp 181.ff
- Ibid., “Conclusion,” p. 286
- This instruction is stressed by Courtville and Laurentin, who recount it seven times in their work. Ibid., pp. 7, 8, 91, 91, 274, 277, 285.
Posted September 15, 2025
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