ABOUT THE LA SALETTE APPARITION: On September 19, 1846, a "beautiful lady" appeared to two young cowherds- Melanie Calvat, a girl of fourteen and Maximin Giraud, a boy of eleven- on a mountain slope in the hamlet of La Salette in southeastern France where they were pasturing their cattle.

Subsequent questioning of the children by both civil and church authorities established their integrity and the accuracy of their report, which led to affirm and widespread conviction that they had witnessed an Apparition of the Blessed Virgin. The site of the Apparition, set atop a mountain in the Alps has become a vibrant international Shrine to which hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have made their way since that heavenly visit. From the event of the Apparition, the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette were founded and have heeded Mary's call to make known her message of conversion and reconciliation to all her people.

ABOUT THE BOOK: In this book Fr. Emile Ladouceur tells the story of the Apparition in marvelous detail. He has incorporated translated parts of Abbé Bossan's report, "The History of the Apparition", written in 1868 after Fr. Bossan's personal interrogation of the children and a thorough investigation of the surrounding facts.

Fr. Ladouceur, who was widely received as a leading authority on the La Salette Apparition, has examined and studied all extant literature, printed and in manuscript, on the Apparition. He has written the fascinating back story of the children and the apparition and expanded it with an illuminating analysis and commentary of his own, making this book an enjoyable and inspiring exploration of the event, message and mission of the La Salette Apparition.