A Warning to those who would dare defy the Mother of God.
Our Lady of La Salette appeared to two shepherd children on September 19, 1846. The first shorter version of the Secret of La Salette was given to Pope Pius IX in 1851 and subsequently approved by him. The later longer and even more controversial version of the Secret was written up by Melanie Calvat in 1878 and published at her own expense in 1879 causing quite a stir especially amongst the Masonic-infiltrated French bishops. The Secret was suppressed through their efforts and the two seers, Melanie Calvat and Maximim Giraud, were demonized and vilified. These are the basic general facts.
However, the slandering and lies spread about the Secret and its messengers are still going on. Case in point, Steven Speray’s latest posting, “Rome Will NOT Become the Seat of the Antichrist” of March 17, 2023. This article of ours is a response and a rebuttal of his article. [Special Note: This author knows Steven Speray and appreciates his work on the truth of the Papal teachings, on Vatican II and other related subjects, these works are quite good, but when writing on prophecy and end time events he is of course even calling the Three Days of Darkness “a myth.” It pains us to do this expose,’ but the truth is the truth.] The La Salette Secret has been buried under an avalanche of lies, hatred, ecclesiastical pressure, calumnies, threats, exiles and falsifications. This has been going on for about the last century and a half. This effort of Satan against the Secret of La Salette has been renewed recently by people who should know better.
Maximum (age 11) and Melanie (age 14) at LaSalette
We will now address the charges of insanity and making up stories; of having fits, being hysterical; and that she was never allowed to make her vows supposedly being told she didn’t have a vocation. To quote Steven Speray directly, Melanie “began making up stories about her childhood, such as playing with the Christ Child and leading wolves, foxes, and snakes in procession through the woods chanting praises to God…” Speray says there was not even a woods in her areas meaning she was insane and not in her right mind. [If the reader wants to read the rubbish Speray prints about Melanie, see the link above.]
The way Speray puts it is that after Melanie was denied a vocation at the convents, she attacked them and then began studying apocalyptic books and the lives of the Illuminati. Speray then states:
“In 1878, new religious orders were being established in La Salette, Melanie claimed she was authorized by God to provide their rules and habits, but her bishop rejected her. She appealed to Pope Leo XIII who in an interview with Melanie also denied her.”
Actually, NONE OF THIS IS TRUE as we shall see in a bit. Speray also says her 1879 publication of the Secret (though approved by the Bishop of Lece) was in 1880 forbidden by the Holy Office to write further tracts. Then he adds this:
“After 3 printings, Rome finally placed the tract on the Index of Prohibited Books in 1923.”
He also adds at the end that Pope St. Pius X implied that the Universe and not Rome was the seat of the Antichrist. Then ends his article with an arrogant, “Case closed.” Really? We don’t thinks so for we are about to reopen the case right now with this response: Your article Steven, is the rot and rubbish of the Masonic infiltrators posing as “Catholic” bishops of France. This is where all this sort of thing started because the Masons hate the Mother of God and Her prophecies and the Catholic Church as well. We have three well-documented sources who say different Mr. Speray. Now let’s reveal the real truth about Melanie, Maximim and the Secret of La Salette.
Our first source is a highly recommended video presentation entitled, “Melanie, La Salette and the Discovery of the Secret of 1858” put out by the Mission of Divine Mercy Monastery – Sanctuary and Retreat Center. This video is about an hour long and well worth the view and listen. The following is from the notes we made from it.
It is noted that there are under 20 apparitions that have been approved by the Vatican and La Salette is one of them.
It is also noted that Saint Joan of Arc suffered a similar fate as Melanie in the regard that she was called a heretic and a witch. It took 500 years for the Church to rectify this mistake and canonize her a saint. So we shouldn’t be surprised that Melanie was controversial along with her Secret.
The brother giving this talk got his information from a French book, “Discovering the Secret of La Salette.” It is only in French and he knows French and so translated pertinent parts for his talk. It was written by Father Corteville who made a very well documented thesis on the book. The Vatican’s Angelicum found the book worthy of a doctorate of theology. This is no small matter.
There is a portion on the history of France after the French Revolution. The French Masonic revolution was inspired by Satanists to destroy Catholic France. The Catholic bishops after the French Revolution had to submit under Napoleon to the new Masonic Republic or suffer death. 30 million priests and bishops left France. A few, who didn’t submit, went into hiding. Pope Pius VI condemned the French Revolution but Napoleon invaded Rome and took the Pope prisoner.
After the death of Pope Pius VI, a new pope, Pius VII was elected and he made a concordat with Napoleon. This was most unfortunate, for it put the Church in France under the power of Napoleon. In a sense, Napoleon owned the Church in France and appointed bishops favorable to the Masonic Republic. These Masonic “plants” in France took over key positions in the French Church and it is these Masonic bishops who opposed Melanie, Maximim and the Secret of La Salette.
Furthermore, it must be understood about a very little known fact. That is that both Melanie Calvat and Maximim Giraud had very terrible and abusive parents. Maximim’s parents were both very abusive; his father being a drunk and obviously was not taught the faith at all. Melanie too, had abusive parents with her father trying to shoot her when she was an adolescent and her mother kicked her out of the house forcing her to live in the wilderness. Melanie was very much psychologically affected by this all her life. But it is these two who suffered a great deal who were the ones that Our Lady of La Salette chose to appear to in 1846.
Another little known fact is that Melanie when only 10 years of age was given the stigmata that was verified by several prelates of the Catholic Church. She had this stigmata all her life and could be numbered among those who are referred to as “victim souls.”
Melanie was brought to a convent where she was educated and became intellectually astute. She could write and the Sisters of the convent saw in her a holy wisdom and that she was kind and charitable. In the course of events certain French bishops (Napoleon’s “plants”) had her transferred to convents in Austria where she did not know the language and at another time to a convent in England. She was more or less a prisoner in these places. She had to write notes to the police outside and in this way was released to go back to France.
It should be understood too, that before the apparitions on the Mountain of La Salette, Melanie and Maximim did not know each other. They met the day before the apparitions. They were not that close either.
It should be noted too in the history of France during the time leading up to the apparitions that after Napoleon had died, a Catholic Monarchy had been reestablished for a time but then Napoleon’s son, Napoleon the Third took power. So the persecution of the Church continued.
Bishop Gabriard (phonetic spelling) who was a very holy bishop who had stayed in France during Napoleon’s reign and persecutions, became Melanie’s bishop. Melanie confided the Secret she was given on September 19, 1846 to him and in turn to Pope Pius IX in 1851. After this the holy bishop was replaced by one of Napoleon’s “plants.”
Before continuing on about the Secret, it must be pointed out that most likely the Blessed Virgin picked both of these abused children as vessels for Her Apocalyptic Secret containing dire warnings to the Church, because these two know what it is to suffer for they did suffer persecution because of the Secret. It has been said that if Saint Therese had to suffer and endure what Melanie did she most likely would have succumbed. That’s a strong statement in Melanie’s favor.
In 1878 Melanie wrote the Secret (the longer version) and in 1879 had it published at her own expense. Also in 1878 Pope Leo XIII called Melanie to Rome to talk with her. She stayed in Rome for five months. Remember, this was at the Pope’s request and he interviewed her and was very much interested in the Secret. Remember also that it was this Pope who saw in vision what Satan wanted to do with the Church. He was given the original Saint Michael’s prayer which now has been truncated down to much less and finally eliminated altogether by the Novus Ordo Vatican II sect today.
It was also explained in this video, in detail, that the shorter version of the Secret given to Pope Pius IX in 1851 was substantially the same as the later longer Secret written by Melanie in 1878. The shorter version was given to Pope Pius IX because Melanie wanted to just give him a sense of what the Secret was about. She also did not want to worry the Pope with the apocalyptic elements and details. So the first Secret was substantially the same but more of an outline of the later 1879 published version. The full Secret was much more (at least 20 times) more intense with much more details than the 1851 version. But still they were essentially the same message with one just giving more details about the same subjects.
There are still a few details to be spoken of that concern how the messages were transmitted. Our Lady of La Salette did not speak in French. She spoke more of a “language of the soul.” When Our Lady spoke, Melanie in her mind knew what she meant. This may be a very difficult thing to understand but this writer can understand what is meant here because his own mother was a mystic and seer and has investigated Marian apparitions and their revelations all his life.
Furthermore, Father Corteville investigated Melanie’s character carefully and could see that although Melanie had emotional “wounds” from childhood and even though she had had demonic attacks against her, found her to be lucid, rational, well-balanced and a very holy charitable kind-hearted soul.
So ends the first evidence from our first source. This out-ways what Speray has said of Melanie and the Secret. But there’s more from sources who knew her personally.
Our second set of evidences come from a 96 page book called, “The Apparition of the Blessed Virgin on the Mountain of La Salette.” This book is not to be confused with the 36 page booklet by the same title. The 96 page book not only has the long version of the Secret of 1879 but also a section entitled, “Supporting Documents…” It is from this section we get further evidence regarding the Secret and specifically of Melanie Calvat by the bishops and priests, etc. who actually knew her in person and tell of her character.
In this section of the book, we have the letters of Bishop Zola and others who give their testimony. The first extract is from a “Letter from the Very Reverend MSGR. Zola to Mr. Girard, Editor of ‘La Terre Sainte,’ at Grenoble.” June 6, 1872. In this letter, Bishop Zola states in part:
“No certificate of Melanie’s good conduct is needed to prove the need of becoming converted and doing penance, nor to certify the great and important messages of La Salette, which have been given by Melanie, nor to give their true value to these revelations which has been somewhat disturbed by the calumnies spit up against that poor child…” [pp. 47-48.]
Next, we quote from the Letter from MSGR. Zola to Mr. Amedee Nicolas, Attorney, 64 Senac St. Marseilles.” [ Lece, January 5, 1880.] The good Bishop Zola writes:
“I am truly astonished over the turmoil which is now taking place in France as the result of the publication of the story and the Secret of Our Lady of La Salette. A few days before your letter of December 22nd arrived, I replied to a similar letter, written by the Vicar General of… on order of his bishop who was on the point of imposing canonical censures on Melanie’s pamphlet and the persons propagating it in his diocese.
“As for myself, I do not know how to account for such an opposition as has been raised in France by the clergy and even by some bishops to the story that is already public knowledge. I am speaking of the Secret, for you must know, Sir, that in 1873 Father Bliard published that selfsame Secret in Naples, (though omitting a few particulars) followed by a series of letters on the same subject. That pamphlet appeared with the permission and imprimatur of the Curia of His Eminence Cardinal Xyste Riario Sforza, Archbishop of Naples, whose sanctity and wisdom are well known even in France.
“The said Secret was submitted in 1851 in the original to His Holiness Pius IX of blessed memory and to several bishops and cardinals, and finally it was submitted to a much respected and worthy personage of great authority, (whom it is not appropriate to mention by name here) and I very well know, it was not in the least blamed or censured.
“After all that it would have been very wrong of me to refuse my permission to the editor who wanted to publish that same Secret in 1879. The editor was within his rights, and I myself, that is to say my Episcopal Curia, had on that occasion, merely to conform to the rules and prescriptions established by the Church; in fact, by the constitutions of Pius IV, Dominici gregis, the bishop must only oppose the publication of such books ‘qui vel heretici sunt, vel de heretica pravitate suspecti, vel certe moribus, vel pietati nocent.’ [In other words, heretical – Author.]
“Now, one could not find anything blameworthy like that in Melanie’s report; one would rather be convinced that it is destined and has the power to do good, to impress hardened hearts, to bring the wicked back to good ways, and to reaffirm the faith in tepid souls who are wavering because of the terrible chastisement with which an avenging God threatens our unjust society.” [pp. 54-55.]
Bishop Zola says later in this letter that since the Secret was already made public with the approval of the Holy See and with approbation of the Princes of the Church he felt it justified that his Episcopal curia gave approval also. He then states:
“Since that time I have had occasion to discuss Melanie and her Secret with prelates and cardinals, men who are greatly revered in the Church for their virtue and prudence in governing the flock as well as for their wisdom in discerning spirits. Well, I can assure you on my conscience that the judgment of such respected pastors has invariably been very favorable to the good shepherdess. I omit the names of some and cite only certain names with which you will certainly be familiar, such as: Cardinal Xyste Riaria Sforza, Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Guidi, Msgr. Mariano Ricciardi, Archbishop of Sorrento, Msgr. F.X. Petagna, Bishop of Castellamere di Stabia
“The considered testimony of these illustrious prelates has confirmed me once and for all in my sentiments of esteem toward Melanie, whose virtues I admired as much as her well considered and thought-out judgment, such as is only rarely met with in women. Besides, having the manuscript of the Secret in my hands for quite a long time, I can testify to the fulfillment of the predictions which it contained, and I can now vouch for it before God.
“Therefore, I am convinced of the authenticity of the revelations…” [pp. 56-57. Emphasis, author’s.]
In a letter from Bishop Zola to Father Isidore Roubaud dated May 24, 1880, Bishop Zola explains that on July 18, 1851 that Father Gerin, rector of the Grenoble cathedral, and Father Rousselot, honorable Vicar General delivered to Pope Pius IX the letters from the Bishop of Grenoble and those of Melanie and Maximim which contained their secrets.
Bishop Zola further explained that Melanie did not send His Holiness Pius IX all of the Secret but only those parts which the Blessed Virgin inspired her to write at that time concerning the reproaches addressed to the clergy and of those things which concerned Pius IX personally.
From this same letter it is revealed that:
“Mr. C. R. Girard, the learned editor of ‘La Terre Sainte’ at Grenoble, having received Melanie’s Secret from Father Bliard, published his booklet in 1872 entitled: ‘The Secrets of La Salette and Their Importance.’ That pamphlet was only the first of five very important tracts that appeared later by the same author and are intended to justify and confirm the revelations of La Salette as well as to defend them against the attacks of enemies.” [p. 64.]
Later in this same letter we read:
“Those works of Mr. Girard have been honored by the approbation and benediction of His Holiness Pius IX and by the encouragement of several Catholic theologians and bishops. ‘L’Avenir Devoile’ also contained in its supplement the Message in approximately the same form as that published by Father F. Bliard.
“I can also tell you that for several years while I was Abbot of the Canons Regular of the Lateran at Santa Maria di Pie di Grotta at Naples, I had occasion as Superiior of that Order to be in touch with greatly respected prelates and Princes of the Roman Church. They were fairly well informed about Melanie and her Secret and had received almost all of the document. Well, all of them without a single exception passed an entirely favorable judgment on that divine revelation and the authenticity of the Secret. I limit myself to mentioning to you among others: Msgr. Petagna, Bishop of Castellamare di Stabia, who had the guardianship of the shepherdess of La Salette for several years, Msgr. Mariano Ricciardi, Archbishop of Sorento, His Eminence Cardinal Guidi, His Eminence Cardinal Xyste Riario Sforza, Archbishop of Naples… These holy and venerable pastors have always spoken in a manner to profoundly confirm me in my own belief, which henceforth became unshakable, of the divine origin of the revelations included in the Secret of the shepherdess of La Salette. I also know from a RELIABLE SOURCE that our Holy Father Leo XIII has also received the same document in ITS ENTIRETY.” [pp. 64-65. Emphasis in first paragraph – author’s. Emphasis in second paragraph, in the original.]
Before we go further with the letters of Bishop Zola there is one short very important letter of Bishop Petagna which should be referenced here. This is the “Letter from MSGR. Petagna to the Most Reverend Bailles, former Bishop of Lucon.” March 5, 1872. It is addressed, “Most Reverend Bishop: J.M.J.”
“I was greatly dismayed on hearing of the calumnies that have been spread concerning the conduct of the shepherdess of La Salette, and that such calumnies have even been brought to the ears of His Holiness, Pius IX. As my illness prevented me from writing you, I asked the Very Reverend Father Zola, Abbot of the Canons Regular of the Lateran, who is her confessor, to take my place and to ask you to do everything possible to make truth triumph over untruth.
“Today, I can only confirm what Reverend Father Zola has written to you, that the pious shepherdess’ conduct is most edifying, that for about five years during which I have had her under my guardianship, she has never left this place and that she is not amassing money as is claimed, for I am the one who is providing for all her needs; nor is she disobedient to her superiors.
“So I beseech you, Monsignor, to let the Holy Father know the truth, as soon as you may judge it to be convenient, so as to deliver him from the sorrow which such calumnies cause him.
Faithfully yours –
Francois-Xavier Petagna.” [Ibid, p. 53.]
[Emphasis, this author.]
The next excerpt is from the “Letter from MSGR. Zola, Bishop of Lece to Father Isidore Roubaud – At St. Tropez (VAR) – Bishop’s House, Lece. May 24, 1880. As for the Secret in Melanie’s pamphlet:
“As for the Secret which was printed in Lece, I assure you that it is identical with the one given to me by Melanie in 1869. In the later one she merely filled in the gaps, the little reticences which however were far from adding anything to, or removing anything from, the substance of that document. I have had it examined by my Episcopal Curia in accordance with the rules of the Church, and my Vicar General found no reason whatever for opposing the publication of the Secret and gave his permission for printing in these terms: ‘NIHIL OBSTAT, IMPRIMATUR’ to the person who wished to publish it at his own expense in accordance with his pious intentions.
“That approbation as it appears at the end of the pamphlet was properly given on November 15, 1879. The pamphlet was really and entirely written by Melanie Calvat, the shepherdess of La Salette, surnamed Mathieu. It is impossible to have any doubts about the authenticity of the tract.” [p. 67. Bold emphasis in the original.]
In this same letter, immediately after the above Bishop Zola addresses the issue of the characteristics and qualities of Melanie:
“Now concerning the person of Melanie herself, I can attest before God that this pious daughter, this virtuous and privileged soul whom some wicked people have tried to vilify by making her the object of their detestable and gross slander and their haughty disdain, is in no way deceitful, insane, deluded, conceited or calculating. I have on the contrary had occasion to admire the virtues of her soul as well as the qualities of her mind during all that period of time, when I had her under my spiritual direction, that is from 1868 to 1873.” [p. 67. Emphasis – this author’s.]
After the time Melanie was under the spiritual direction of Father Zola, Father was raised to the bishopric of Ugento but stated that he still continued to have written contact with her. In this same letter he added:
“I can state that up to this moment her edifying life, her virtues and her writings have profoundly impressed on my heart the sentiments of respect and admiration which I most certainly have concerning her. Our Holy Father Leo XIII deigned to honor Melanie in 1879 with a private audience and charged her also with compiling the rules of the new Order as advocated and required by Our Lady of La Salette and entitled: ‘THE APOSTLES OF THE LATTER DAYS.’ In order to work out its wording, the former shepherdess lived for five months in the convent of the Salesian Sisters in Rome. During that time she became better known and more esteemed, particularly by the good Sisters who have given most favorable testimony concerning the fortunate shepherdess of La Salette.” [pp. 67-68. Emphasis in the original.]
As if all the foregoing is not enough, in the “Letter from MSGR. Zola, Bishop of Lece to Reverend Father John Kunzle, General Director of the Priest-Adorers of Switzerland, Germany and Austria-Hungary, at Feldkirch, Austria,” dated March 5, 1896, states. “that all those letters were faithfully reproduced, and at this time I would not retract a single word of what I have at various times written on the subject.” [p. 70/]
Further on in this letter he states:
“I can state under oath, that during all that time when I was charged with the direction of Melanie, I was always edified by the virtuous and exemplary conduct of this good daughter, as Msgr. Petagna had himself been before me, and other worthy prelates who had occasion to confer with her. She has never given the slightest cause for leading me to believe that she was deluded, proud, self-seeking or worse, as her adversaries or most of the adversaries of La Salette in France say and write.” [pp. 70-71. Bold emphasis in the original.]
The issue of the pamphlet being placed on the Index is taken up by the good bishop:
“….pressure was brought to bear on the Holy See to have Melanie’s pamphlet placed on the Index. Several have claimed that on that occasion a number of cardinals came together to pass judgment on it; about that I know absolutely nothing; but I can state with certainty and even officially that all efforts to obtain a formal prohibition of the tract were in vain.
“Only at the end, in order to somewhat pacify the French prelates who continued to war on the Secret, did Cardinal Caterini, the Secretary of the Holy Office, write a letter in which he stated that the Holy See had been displeased over the publication of the Secret (alluding especially to the part concerning the clergy), and that it did not judge it opportune to leave it in the hands of the faithful.
“That is all they were able to obtain from Rome.
“But the press, lying as usual, printed that the Holy Office had issued an absolute prohibition against the pamphlet, which soon caused doubts to arise in weak souls concerning even the reality of the apparition of Our Lady of La Salette.
“In reality, Melanie’s pamphlet has never been placed on the Index. The desire was merely manifested not to see it in the hands of the faithful precisely because of the part which concerned the clergy. But there was not a word in that pamphlet that could lessen the authenticity of the Secret nor the value of the prophecies which it contained.” [Ibid. pp. 72-73.]
In 1880, it was Bishop Cortet of Troyes who requested Melanie’s pamphlet be put on the Index of Prohibited Books. Pressure was put on Cardinal Caterini, Secretary of the Holy Office to officially write a letter to that effect. Because of this threat, this cardinal wrote a letter dated August 8, 1880 that “It has not pleased the Holy See that the said pamphlet was made public…” The cardinal’s letter also requested “that Melanie’s pamphlet be retrieved from the hands of the faithful if, as the Bishop stated, ‘the Secret was causing trouble in France,’ the Cardinal had added: ‘but keep it in the hands of the clergy so that they may profit by it.’” [Ibid. p. 78.]
There was a definite undercurrent of Masonic prelates within the French clergy to squelch the Secret by trying to have it censured even through use of threats. But their efforts failed in part. We now quote a letter of Melanie to Father Roubaud which reduces the Cardinal Caterini letter to its proper significance. The letter of Melanie is dated August 25, 1880.
“Very Reverend Father,
“Do not be in the least disturbed over what the devil is doing by means of men; the dear Lord permits it in order to strengthen the faith of true believers. The persons to whom I have applied at Rome belong, one to the Congregation of the Index, the other to that of the Holy Office or Inquisition, which is the same thing. Niether the one nor the other knew of Cardinal Caterini’s letter. That made them say that it was someone acting independently of the Pope and even of the Congreations of the Index and of the Inquisition.” [ Ibid. p. 80.]
The two persons of whom Melanie speaks were Cardinals – one of them being Cardinal Ferrieri. Also Msgr. Pennachi, Consulter of the Index, wrote to her the same declarations as the two Cardinals. So given this information, it follows that Cardinal Caterini had simply written a private letter, falsely putting his colleagues of the Holy Office and even the Holy See under obligation, for which the Cardinal’s secretary had written a letter making excuses to Bishop Zola, adding he had been forced to do so.
Shortly before Melanie passed on to her eternal reward, she wrote a letter to Mr. De La Rive wherein she stated she had the Secret reprinted in Lyon this year (1904). At the close of her letter she put forth this protest:
“I vehemently protest against any text that one may dare to publish after my death.
“I also protest:
“1. Against the very false claims of those who have dared to say and write that I had embellished the Secret;
“2. Against those who claim that the Queen of Wisdom did not desire to have the Secret passed out to all Her people.” [Letter of Melanie Calvat, Shepherdess of La Salette. October 18, 1904.
Ibid. p. 84.]
Now finally on the later claims of the pamphlet of 1879 being put on the Index, we have the Diocesan Bulletin of Reims of May 25, 1912 wherein Canon Frezet stated the following:
“…We said in effect… that the tissue of rudeness and nonsense published under the title of “Secret of La Salette’ etc… or “Secret of Melanie[‘ etc… had been placed on the Indes on June 7, 1901, and on April 12, 1907.’” [Ibid; “Has Melanie’s Secret Been Censured by Rome?” p. 86. Emphasis in original.]
Knowing these statements to be erroneous, the Marqois de la Vauzelle wrote to His Eminence Cardinal Lucon, Archbishop of Reims, about this on November 6, 1912. His Eminence replied with a letter dated November 27, 1912. The Cardinal said he would submit his questions to the Very Reverend Father Lepidi, Master of the Sacred Palace, member of the Holy Office and the Index.
Father Albert Lepidi, O.P. replied from the Vatican on December 16, 1912 the following:
“Here is what I have been able to gather from reliable information in the mater of the Secret of La Salette in its relation to the Roman Congregations of the Index and the Holy Office.
“1) The Secret of La Salette has never been condemned in any direct and formal manner by the Sacred Congregations of Rome.
“2) Two books by Mr. Gilbert Joseph Emile Combe have been condemned by the Index; the one in 1901; ‘Le Grand Coup avec sa Date Probable,’ a study on the Secret of La Salette augmented Melanie’s pamphlet and other supporting evidence. The other book in 1907: ‘Le Secret de Melanie et la Crise Actuelle.’
“These condemnations concern the two books directly and formally, which were written by Mr. Combe and no way the Secret.” [Ibid. p. 87. First bold emphasis in the original; second bold emphasis, author’s.]
At the end of this study of the Secret of La Salette as contained in Melanie’s 1879 pamphlet we find the following:
“In the issue of December 31, 1915, of the ‘Acta Apostolicae Sedis’ there appeared, as coming from the Holy Office under date of December 21, 1915, a ‘Decree’ which did not bear the signature of any of the Cardinal dignitaries or members of the Sacred Congregations, but only that of its Notary Louis Castellano, and moreover without mentioning any date either of the voting of the ‘Decree’ in a meeting of the Congregation of the Holy Office, nor of its submission to and approval by Pope Benedict XV…
“Now, it is true that this ‘Decree’ forbids ‘treating and discussing the question of the Secret of La Salette.’ But it carries absolutely no censure whatever either of Melanie’s pamphlet or of the Secret in particular, nor does it prohibit one from possessing it, reading it or distributing it.
“This ‘Decree’ therefore permits Catholics to enjoy the high authorization conferred on Melanie’s pamphlet by the Imprimatur first of Cardinal Riario Sforza, Archbishop of Naples, then of Msgr. Zola, Bishop of Lece, not to mention the approbations of Cardinals Ferrieri and Guidi and even of Pope Leo XIII, who not only twice accepted its authoress, but even charged Mr.Amedee Nicolas, attorney of Marseilles, ‘to write a pamphlet in explanation of the entire Secret so that the people would understand it well.’” [Ibid. p. 89. Bold emphasis in the original except the last which is the author’s.]
That is all we gleaned from our second source, the 96 page book, “The Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin on the Mountain of La Salette.” Being that the aforementioned book only presents facts up to 1915, we did further research concerning a 1923 claim of Melanie’s Secret being put on the Index by Pope Pius XI. The last part of Mr. Speray’s article states:
“After 3 printings, Rome finally placed the tract on the Index of Prohibited Books in 1923. Her new version of the secret of La Salette was forbidden.”
Sounds convincing doesn’t it? Yet, he produces no quotes of the text and no real evidence of how this came about. So we did our own research. What we found was interesting.
A journalist, writing for the “Remnant Newspaper” by the name of Solange Strong Flertz presented a short history of Melanie’s Secret. He presented the same material we presented from our second source cited above but went beyond that to include how it is the 1923 prohibition came about. An over-zealous man who appeared to be for the Secret actually did great harm to bringing about the censure. Whether this was by design or not we will take up later. This article states:
“When this brochure, which has provided so much of the substance of these lines, was reprinted under Fr. Lepidi’s Imprimatur in 1922 after years of oblivion, the adversaries of La Salette were bound to react, inasmuch as any clear exposition of the facts relating to the unjust suppression of the Secret could not fail to renew public interest in it.
“An unfortunate incident played into their hands, when an ill-advised partisan of the Secret, a certain Dr. Gremillon of Montpellier; took it upon himself to distribute a thousand copies of the brochure to all ranks of the clergy. Under cover of the brochure’s Imprimatur and using a pseudonym, he appended to its legitimate contents an injurious twelve-page letter dated February 2, 1923 in which, among other things, he labeled the priesthood as a whole as ‘sewers,’ taxed St. Thomas Aquinas with ‘obscurantism’ and wound up by declaring that the Pope should impose the Secret of La Salette on the faithful as an article of faith. The copies were expedited in wrappers proclaiming, ‘Big News! A voice from heaven! A message from the Blessed Virgin is declared authentic by the Vatican. A bludgeon blow to the clergy. See a letter at the end from Dr. Henry Mariave’ to the Abbe’ Z. dean of a parish in Montpellier.’
“Reaction on the part of the Holy Office was swift. On May 10, 1923 a decree was issued ‘proscribing and condemning’ the entire brochure, designated by the title, ‘The Apparition of the Most Holy Virgin on the Mountain of La Salette, on Saturday, September 19, 1945.’ That apparition took place in 1846 and not in 1845 would alone serve to invalidate the decree, besides the fact that for over 43 years Melanie’s account of the happening had incurred no condemnation whatsoever from any authorized quarter. To make matters worse, the Holy Office took its fateful action in a session held on the previous day, when Fr. Lepidi was ill and unable to make an appearance, either to defend the Imprimatur he had accorded the original publication or to repudiate the unauthorized letter which had been attached to it.
“Could the brochure have suffered condemnation without Dr. Gremillon’s outrageous letter? Ultimately the responsibility lay with the reigning Pope, who was then Pius XI. As it was he was placed in the uncomfortable position of apparently proscribing what three predecessors, Pius IX, Leo XIII and St. Pius X, had actively promoted, and what, in the case of the brochure itself, one of them had actually mandated. As the years rolled on, the wistful conclusion reached at the time by many of the bewildered faithful is being heard with increasing frequency as time goes on: ‘The Holy Father is a prisoner in the Vatican, at the mercy of his ontourage for his information!’” [“The Remnant Newspaper – Will Rome Lose the Faith? (La Salette Revisited) by Solange Strong Flertz. www.remnantnewspaper.com. Emphasis, author’s.]
It should be noted that when the author of the above article says “brochure,” he is referring to Melanie’s 1879 pamphlet which was reprinted in 1904 and again in 1922 with the Imprimatur of Father Lepidi. It should be noted that after the suppression of the Modernists by Pope Saint Pius X these Masonic infiltrators began to immediately “rise to the surface” after his death. By the time of Pope Pius XI were very much entrenched within the Church and had great influence and power over the papacy. In 1958 they realized there goal in capturing the Papacy during the October Conclave of that year.
The writer of the above article also notes that the Secret of La Salette “broke free” of all restrictions when Paul VI abolished the Index of Forbidden Books in 1966. By then however, the damage had been done and the Catholic Church had already gone into eclipse with a counterfeit “church” put in its place.
Our third source comes from the research of Gary Giuffre which we present in our large work entitled, “The Church in Eclipse: The Pope in Exile.” We quote several prophecies of the Secret (which we will not reproduce here) and then present our own research on these prophecies as well as those of Mr. Giuffre’s. The pertinent excerpt follows:
“Regarding the veracity of the La Salette apparition, modernists erroneously challenge it and the modern church has suppressed it. But the Bishop of the diocese of La Salette published in 1851 a mandate which in part said: “(The apparition) has within itself all the characteristics of the truth, and that the faithful are justified in believing it is beyond doubt ad for certain.” This mandate was sent to Rome and received the approval of Pope Pius IX.
` “Approved by Popes Pius IX and Leo XIII, yet virtually concealed for 70 years, the Secret of La Salette read concerning the Pope in exile:
“…The Vicar of My Son will have much to suffer, as for a time the Church will be the victim of great persecutions; this will be the hour of darkness. The Church will suffer a terrible crisis…”
“The Holy Father will suffer greatly. I will be by his side to the end in order to receive his sacrifice. The wicked will make several attempts on his life but they cannot harm him. But neither he nor his successor (Here Melanie inserted in parenthesis the words, “who will not reign long) will live to see the triumph of the Church of God…”
Gary Giuffre tells us: “The La Salette devotion and particularly, the Secret of La Salette, stired up so much hostility against the seers Melanie and Maximim, that, to this day, the reputation of those devout souls are still called into question. Fierce hostility to the Secret soon developed within a certain coterie of the clergy, possibly where Masonic infiltration had been most effective. Melanie and Maximim became the targets of vicious attacks, particularly among members of the French hierarchy.”
It is interesting to note that the French bishops who so violently opposed the young seers were literally stopped “dead in their tracks.” According to the following account of that time:
“Four French Bishops devoted themselves to the work of suffocating the belief (in La Salette) among the population. But they all died in tragic and mysterious circumstances. Bishop Ginovuhac of Grenoble, who had confined the young Melanie in an English convent in order to silence her, died shortly afterwards in a madhouse. His successor, Bishop Fava, who also did everything possible in order to halt the dissemination of the (La Salette) devotion, was found dead, stretched out on the floor, stripped, with disfigured eyes, and clenched fists. Bishop Gilbert of Amieins (and later, Bourdeaux), who had said: ‘The Secret of La Salette is nothing more than a tissue of profaneness, lies, and exaggeration,’ shortly after 18 August 1889, was found dead in his room, also having fallen to the floor. And, during his funeral, his coffin crashed from the catafalque. Archbishop Darboy of Paris, who personally interrogated Maximim, causing him great psychological disturbance in order to learn the Secret of the Virgin, and being perturbed by not obtaining it, had said to the boy: ‘The words of your beautiful Lady contain stupidity, as stupid as will be your Secret.’ This brought the response from the boy: ‘It is as true, that I have seen the beautiful Lady, as I am certain that before three years are out, you will have been shot.’ The time for revolutionary movement of the Communes had not yet come, nor had it been foreseen by the complacent and careless France of the Second Empire. But, on 24 May 1871, this prediction also came true: the Archbishop was shot by the Communards of Paris” [“La Salette: 19 September 1846 (‘I fatti sono…fatti’), CHIESA VIVA, No. 143, November 1972, Brescia, Italy. Page 4.]
Because of continued attacks by the Masonic-infiltrated French hierarchy, Melanie had to have the Secret of La Salette printed up at her own expense in 1879. But copies of this publication distributed in France were confiscated by orders of the French (Masonic-controlled) prelates. Eventually, the French hierarchy threatened Rome with the cut-off of “Peter’s pence” (material needs for the support of the Pope) unless the Vatican would agree to curtail officially the circulation of the Secret, even though its dissemination was favored by Popes Pius IX and Leo XIII.
Publication put out between the year 1879 and 1900 foretold of the coming of the Antichrist, possibly inspired by the Secret of La Salette, drew the greatest opposition from the Masonic enemy embedded within the Church, especially France. These books were put out by highly respected clergy and laymen in the Church. These included Bishop Salvator Grafen Zola, Henry Edward Cardinal Manning, the eminent English Cardinal who drafted the decree on papal infallibility for Pope Pius IX at the First Vatican Council, and Frederick William Belle. By 1910, the references to a long-suffering pope; Rome becoming the seat of the Antichrist; the true Church being eclipsed and other clues concerning the End Times Remnant Church and attacks on the papacy formed a common thread between the classical interpretations of Scripture prophecy and the latest warnings from Heaven.
[Note: All the foregoing is taken from our work, “The Church In Eclipse: The Pope in Exile” by Diamond Star Research – pp. 33-34. Bold emphasis is Author’s.]
It should be further pointed out that the eclipse and the long-suffering Pope is a reference from the Secret concerning the eclipse of the Church during the 1958 Conclave and Cardinal Siri’s election as pope and his subsequent forceful removable from the throne and his 30 plus years in imprisonment in Roman Palace by Masons embedded within the Vatican. See our Expose’ Series, Volume 3: “1958 Conclave: Masonic Takeover of the Catholic Church” at this link: www.diamondstarlightbeacon.com/publications/
It should be apparent to the critical thinking reader that most all of La Salette has come true. The Vatican II Novus Ordo sect, the counterfeit “church” has eclipsed the true Catholic Church which is now in scattered remnants. Rome (the Vatican in particular) has indeed lost the faith and has become a seat of antichrists – maybe not THEE ANTICHRIST but several forerunners since the Conclave of 1958. Priests have become “cesspools of impurity” and much more. There are such deluded souls who still think La Salette is still coming – wake up – La Salette has been happening for the last 60 plus years!
The suppression and vilifying of the La Salette Secret is only a part of the overall picture of the Masonic conspiracy to take over the Church. Other Marian apparitions have suffered also such as Lourdes, 1858 (the Secrets there Saint Bernadette took with her to her gave); then Fatima, 1917 (almost completely falsified including the principle Seer Sister Lucy by the false “church”); then there was Lipa 1948 (was attacked and suppressed as recounted in “Lipa” by June Keithly) and finally Necedah 1949-1950 ( was vilified, facts falsified and was put into obfuscation by Church officials as recounted in this author’s work, “Trial by Deception, the Truth Denied.” This last book and our work on Fatima, “The Falsification of Fatima” can be found at this link: www.diamondstarlightbeacon.com/publications.
[Author’s Note: It is interesting to note that both my mother, Mary Ann Van Hoof (the Necedah mystic) and Melanie Calvat (and even Maximim) both were abused as children and had a difficult life. Also the accusations leveled at Melanie of being insane, self-serving, proud, making things up and wanting to amass money were the same accusations leveled against my mother. In both cases, Necedah and La Salette these accusations were FALSE. This author’s investigations of this in both cases, has been fully documented.]
Lastly this author has investigated Marian apparitions (including those of his own mother in Necedah) all his life and has known the truth regarding the La Salette Secret for many years, getting his information from original sources and those who not only knew Melanie but knew her well. Melanie Calvat and Maximim Giraurd were true mystics and Melanie’s Secret of 1879 is authentic.
Rome HAS LOST THE FAITH and it WILL become the seat of the Antichrist! The Mother of God has spoken!
The defense rests! CASE CLOSED!