The Marian Era Part 2: Apocalyptic apparitions of the Great Monarch

 

There have been several apparitions of the “Virgin Mary”, but two stand out: La Salette and Fatima. They are special because of the secret message of the Virgin Mary that had to be conveyed to the pope, delivered within a prophetic – even apocalyptic – framework. Though these apparitions may at first seem far removed from the mystery of a small village priest in Rennes-le-Château, on closer inspection, there are many parallels – and some areas of common interest.

La Salette

The apparition of the “Virgin Mary” at La Salette appeared on September 19, 1846. The apparition was witnessed by two children, Maximin Giraud and Melanie Calvat, who had only known each other for two days. Maximin was 11, Melanie was 15. Each was entrusted with a secret. They guarded this secret for five years, before transmitting it to Pope Pius IX.
Though Maximin and Melanie would be prepared for a religious life after the apparition, neither were specifically religious – and definitely not at the time of the apparition. Maximin had not received any schooling or knew the catechism. He ran away from church if taken there by his father, and only with difficulty did he succeed in learning the Pater and the Ave Maria…They were two people apparently in the right location at a specific time – when “something” made its apparition. When the apparition was communicating her secret to Melanie, Maximin amused himself throwing stones… for the rest of his life, he would never shed this child-like behaviour.

The enigma of La Salette is best described in the details of the events themselves. On the evening of the apparition, Maximin gave his first account of the event before the Pra family, without really understanding all that he was saying. But when he went to bed and wanted to say a Pater and an Ave, as the apparition had asked him, he could not remember what he had to say and he cried…
Though the apparition was soon classified as the “Virgin Mary”, the witnesses themselves made it clear that the apparition never identified herself as such. “I saw a Lady as brilliant as the sun whom I believe to be the Blessed Virgin; but I have never said that it was the Blessed Virgin.”

The writing of the secret

As both children were uneducated, they went to school, to learn and write. It would be through that method that they would communicate with the Pope. When that moment came, Maximin was taken to the Bishop’s Palace. M. Dausse, who accompanied him, recommended that he think very carefully about what he was going to do. The child had no worries: “I remember very well what was said to me. You will see how I write rapidly without looking for my words.” What would happen next is very similar to automatic writing, known through séances with the dead.

Maximin & Melanie

The account states that "Maximin held his head in his hands, dipped his pen in the ink pot and heedlessly shook it over the parquet floor. The witnesses, observing him from afar, reprimanded him for this unseemly behaviour. He took up his pen and wrote: ‘On September 19 1846, I saw a Lady as brilliant as the sun whom I believe to be the Blessed Virgin; but I have never said that it was the Blessed Virgin. It is for the Church to judge whether it really was the Blessed Virgin or some other person, from what I am now going to say. In the middle of her speech, she confided it to me following this phrase: the grapes will rot and the nuts will go bad.’"
"Maximin showed this to M. Dausse, who found it acceptable, and then he got down to writing rapidly at his desk, without pause as though he were copying out a text. As soon as he had finished writing, he stood up and threw the sheet he had just written into the air. ‘Now, he said, I am rid of that; I have no more secret and am like the others. People won’t need to come and ask me any more; they can go and ask the Pope; he will speak if he wants to.’"
The two witnesses saw this sheet of paper on the floor: it was an untidy work, written aslant and speckled with ink blots. The teenager was made to re-do it. He balked at this, but nevertheless did as he was asked. They rang for the Bishop, who ordered Maximin to place what he had written in an envelope and to seal it. M. Dausse asked the Bishop to read the text for fear of sending the Pope something unworthy of His Holiness. The Bishop hesitated, then took this advice. Maximin then sealed the envelope, stamped with the episcopal seal. M. Dausse and Canon de Taxis wrote on the envelope certifying that Maximin had written and signed the contents himself, without being influenced.

The secret

The Pope would soon know the secret, but others tried to court him, to find out what this apparition had told him. Maximin’s father died in 1849, making him an orphan at the age of 14. In 1850, he was placed in the custody of his legal guardian, but was then courted by a count who stated he would offer him his castle if he would divulge his secret. Later, Maximin admitted: "I was about to betray the secret, when all of a sudden my memory failed; I found it impossible to articulate a word; I remained dumb and I understood my fault." It is an amazing phenomenon if true and an important message to both children, who would never divulge the secret. Their task as messengers was performed to perfection – but it also seems it was performed with divine guidance, whereby the presence of “the woman” remained close – or was at least able to influence the witnesses.

The secret of La Salette, a century before the third secret of Fatima would become the centre of controversy, has resulted in enormous speculation. In December 1871, there appeared a booklet entitled "The secrets of La Salette and their importance. Latest revelations of forthcoming events." The author, a certain M. Girard, claimed to be revealing the true text of Maximin’s secret – the text of his first draft, covered in ink blots, which the seer had to re-do.
Maximin was not slow to answer: he denied the text in the most vigorous terms. He stated that “Mgr de Bruillard, M. Gérin and M. Rousselot assured me that the secrets had not been violated either in the Bishop’s palace of Grenoble or during the journey to Rome, and that the Holy Father alone had broken the seal that I myself had affixed in the presence of the Bishop, Canon de Taxis and M. Dausse. Consequently and in the light of these proofs, the secret was not violated as far as I am concerned; the only one who knows it is the Holy Father, unless His Holiness has communicated it. He alone is the owner and master of this secret. As for me, I shall be in the future what I have always been in this matter: impenetrable. And if at any time I were commissioned to divulge it to the public, I would not do so without the consent of my bishop, who himself would refer to Rome. Many people ask me whether the text quoted in M. Girard’s book is that of my secret. I never answer this question for reasons that are easy to guess.”

Maximin never revealed his secret. Pope Pius IX consigned the letters of Maximin and Melanie (whose message we will return to later) to the archives, with the possibility that it would eventually be published, but none of his successors ever did.
It was Benedict XV who, in 1915, put a stop to any further controversy: “The Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office orders all the faithful, whatever country they may belong to, to abstain from dealing with or discussing the matter in question…" The secret remains… but two years later, the Virgin would appear at Fatima, as if she had to take matters into her own hand again…

Fatima

It seems that Fatima was a better prepared attempt of the divine to contact Mankind.
In Fatima, we are confronted with three children, well instructed in their religion, forming an inseparable trio when they go out to graze their parents’ flocks. At Fatima, an angel announces the arrival of the “Queen of Heaven” – once again, there is no clear identification that this is the Virgin Mary; it is just “assumed” that it can “only” be her. Both apparitions are a light phenomenon, with Fatima’s apparition being “more brilliant than the sun”. Many have compared the apparitions with the vision of the "Woman clothed in the sun" of the 12th chapter of the Apocalypse.
Whereas La Salette was a one-off event, at Fatima, there would be a total of six apparitions, starting on May 13, 1917. Still the witnesses were given a secret, on July 13. It is on October 13, 1917 that she performs a great miracle, “which all shall see so that they may believe".

Two of the witnesses, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, were to die as children, but the third, Lucia de Jesus Santos, would live until February 13, 2005. The first secret was a vision of hell and a prediction of the imminent death of two of Lucia’s cousins, which occurred in February 20.
Lucia described it as such: “Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant.”
This vision of hell is similar to the many visions of hell or purgatory that many mystics have seen before and since… and it does not sit within a pure Christian mythology either.

Lucia revealed the second secret to the Vatican in July 1941, following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. The secret itself included the assertion that if Russia was converted back to Christianity, many years of war and persecution could be avoided.

The Third Secret

Of all secrets, the third secret of Fatima is the most speculated upon. Lucia informed the Vatican in June 1943. She was in poor health and only wrote the text in January 1944. The Vatican refused to accept it. Lucia thus stated the secret had to be revealed upon her death, or at the latest in 1960.
The document was placed in the Secret Archives of the Holy Office on April 4, 1957 and would be periodically consulted by various popes – each would keep the contents of the document a secret and Lucia herself kept her silence after 1960.
The envelope was brought to Pope John XXIII on August 17, 1959. “After some hesitation”, His Holiness said: “We shall wait. I shall pray. I shall let you know what I decide”. Paul VI read the contents on March 27, 1965, and also returned the envelope to the Archives of the Holy Office, also deciding not to publish the text. John Paul II, asked for the envelope following the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981. Once again, it was returned to the archives.
But it is clear that this assassination attempt was a turning point in the events surrounding the third secret. Pope John Paul II – and the gunman – believed that the pope should have been dead. Both believed that it had been divine intervention that had diverted the bullet slightly. On the occasion of a visit to Rome by the then Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, the Pope decided to give him the bullet which had remained in the jeep after the assassination attempt, so that it might be kept in the shrine. By the Bishop's decision, the bullet was later set in the crown of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
A connection between the secret and the assassination became the subject of a book by Nigel West, published in 2000. It would not be long afterwards before Pope John Paul II authorised the revelation of the third secret – after discussions with Lucia herself. Let us also note that Pope John Paul II used a slight variation of the reverse image of the Miraculous Medal, revealed by the Virgin at the rue du Bac, as his coat of arms: a plain cross with an M in the lower right quadrant of the shield.

Though labelled a secret, in 1917, it was a prophecy: “If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI. […] To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”

Penitence! Penitence!

As is well known, Pope John Paul II immediately thought of consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary after the assassination and he himself composed a prayer for what he called an “Act of Entrustment”, which was to be celebrated in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major on June 7, 1981. He entrusted the Church to the “Immaculate Heart”, asking that she helped him in his mission. In a letter dated November 8, 1989, Lucia confirmed that this solemn and universal act of consecration corresponded to what Our Lady wished: “Yes it has been done just as Our Lady asked.” It was the year when communism would collapse…

Communism had been at the centre of the second secret, and it was also at the centre of the third. After all, the apparition in 1917 was the year when Russia, a normally very religious nation, would turn communist. Sister Lucia had already given an indication for interpreting the third part of the “secret” in a letter to the Holy Father, dated 12 May 1982: “The third part of the secret refers to Our Lady's words: ‘If not [Russia] will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.”
It is a matter of historical fact that the Pope, following the failed assassination attempt, would rally the world leaders, in an effort to end the Cold War, which happened at the end of the 1980s.
But it is clear that the Pope expressed his gratitude and hoped for the “Queen of Heaven’s” divine guidance. For the message of Fatima was an urgent call to conversion and penance. But for the pope, it was also a question of belief. The third part of the secret is a symbolic revelation, referring to this part of the Message, conditioned by whether we accept or not what the Message itself asks of us: “If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, etc.”
Though prophetic, the actual message of the Virgin, repeated by both Lucia and the pope, was a call for penance. “We saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!'.”

Apparent contradictions

Ferrer received his vision of his mission when he was on the brink of death. It was a personal experience and even though he would be a close ally of the pope, its nature is different from the Marian apparitions.
For one, if the Virgin Mary wanted to give a statement to the pope, why did she not appear to him? Why use two small children as intermediaries? The logical answer seems to be that in this method, the entire world would know of the existence of her message, as well as a confirmation that a supernatural power is able to manifest into this realm and is able to express a specific desire. At Fatima, the spectacle of October 13 was specifically so that all could see and believe the miracle of the sun.
Secondly, whereas Ferrer would become a saint and was blessed with specific graces, Melanie and Maximin constantly stated they were merely messengers: they had not been blessed – if anything: cursed. And throughout the rest of their lives, it is clear that though they had a great devotion to La Salette, their future lives remained largely ordinary. Later in life, Maximin stated: “We were but a channel, like parrots that repeat what they have heard. We were stupid before the apparition, we were stupid after the apparition and we shall be stupid all our lives.”

The apocalypse

Penance also sits at the heart of Maximin’s revelation. Despite the fact that the message of Maximin remains unknown, it is known that the core of the message was about the world’s future and the desire of God for this future. The stress seems to have been on a world-wide movement, whereby the world would turn again devotedly to God, and live a penitent lifestyle, which would result in the Apocalypse – whereby the miserable world would be substituted with a better one – like Paradise, but better.
Questioned by Father Giraud, Superior General of the Missionaries of La Salette, about the content of these secrets, Pius IX replied: "You wish to know the secrets of La Salette? Well, it is this: ‘If you do not do penance, you will all perish!’" The call for penance was also repeatedly spoken by the two witnesses themselves.

The message of La Salette is therefore not new. Vincent Ferrer would travel around Europe in the early 15th century, calling for penitence, converting thousands of people across the continent, in a similar effort that the mass conversion of people would lead to the arrival of the “New World”, via the Apocalypse. There is little difference between Ferrer’s preaching, with the full backing of Pope Benedict XIII, or the dedication of Pope John Paul II. Both also had their origin in divine revelations, as Ferrer was also a mystic.

Melanie Calvat had a passion for reading mystical writings and revelations. According to Mgr de Bruillard, the first person to read Maximin’s secret, the apparition warned us about serious spiritual and temporal evils that threatened the world. This evil seems to have largely been identified as materialism and communism, whereby large groups of people were living without a belief in God.
This absence of belief in God was apparently seen as a major inhibitor for the End of Times.
In 1871, on the 25th anniversary of Pius’ election, de Bruillard said to a French deputation presided over by Mgr Forcade of Nevers: There will be a great wonder that will astonish the whole world. This wonder, however, has to be preceded by the triumph of the Revolution. The Church will have much to suffer: her ministers and head first and foremost will be dishonoured, persecuted and martyred."

Melanie’s secret

Melanie was told that what the Lady was going to tell her did not have to remain a secret. She could tell it in 1858 – which would be the year of the apparition of Lourdes. Lourdes is a far more popular pilgrimage site then Fatima and La Salette. It was last visited by Pope John Paul II in August 2004. It is the positive message of the apparition that is what has made many people – and above all the Church – prefer Lourdes above La Salette.

When Melanie revealed the contents of her secret, the Church was not happy with it. Though the apparition spoke highly of the Pope – and Melanie would always be positive to that office – the same could not be said of the priesthood. In 1903, Melanie repeated the message of her secret: "the bishops, those who considered themselves referred to in the Secret, are the enemies of this merciful Secret, just as the high priests condemned the divine Savior to death! . . . And inasmuch as the Mother of God and of all Christians by adoption at the foot of the Cross has recommended that her message in its entirety be made known to her people, what are we waiting for to obey the Virgin Mother, seeing that every day we behold the punishments announced by the Secret taking place?”
In short, Melanie had stated that the “Lady” was upset with the corruption of the priesthood; it is clear that the behaviour of the priesthood was an important contribution to the events of the 20th century, whereby communism and materialism were often reactions against the attitude of the clergy. But in the 19th century, the Lady’s message came as an utter surprise. Many people, when they heard Melanie’s secret, were convinced that Melanie had made it up, so sure were they that our Lady would never say such terrible things about the clergy.
Melanie replied: "No, no, the Seat of Wisdom never spoke ill of the Ministers of the Altar! [She] pointed out the diseases infecting the souls of the pastors of God's people. Those who have forgotten prayer and penance and filled their hearts with affection for transitory things, their faith has cooled. . . Instead of rebelling, they should have entered into themselves, revived their faith, their charity, wisely regulating their conduct in accordance with the examples of Jesus, our divine Master and model."

It hardly needs pointing out that Melanie’s message did not go down with the priesthood. A schism appeared between the clergy surrounding Melanie and the pope. Pius IX and his successor Leo XIII always stood by her. Pius IX even relieved her of her religious vows, so she could pursue her mission. But she had to flee to Italy, where she could publish her secret. The ire of the French bishops was beyond what would be deemed normal. They even pursued her in Italy, applying heavy pressure on Rome to have the Secret put on the Index. They did not succeed.

Monarchy

The apparitions of La Salette and a return to monarchism have always been closely linked. Some believed that the entire episode was engineered (by humans) to promote the cause of a pretender to the French throne. Whenever confronted with pretenders, Maximin would shrug them quickly aside. But in spite of this rejection when courted, many have observed that he was often drawn to such royalist circles, without ever revealing anything of the secret. Observers have noted that “without ever revealing anything of the secret, but, by his attitude, letting it be understood that Heaven was interested in the restoration of the most Christian Monarchy.” In a letter dated July 24, 1874, Maximin himself wrote: “I am still confident that our King will come… [The Republic is failing] by not going to fetch the King and offer him what is his due, at least for the salvation of France.”
La Salette and Fatima have made it clear that the apparition was specifically interested in worldly affairs: political agendas. The apparitions clearly considered communism and materialism evil – an absence of God – and a French Republic must have come a close second, especially in a France where the call for a monarch was still very much alive.

Comte de Chambord

After the death of his father, Maximin was adopted by the Jourdain family, a family of retired traders. He had other benefactors, including the Spanish Comte de Penlaver and the Marquise de Pignerolles. The Marquise offered him a large sum of money if he would go to Frohsdorf in Austria to meet the Comte de Chambord. Fr. Parent states that "Maximin was a loyal supporter of the Comte de Chambord. We have two proofs of this. Following the example of the Carthusians and other religious, who stamped their products with their coat of arms, he too had his coat of arms. They were suggested to him by the Comtesse de Chambord, then painted by M. de Grammont, who explained their meaning on February 2, 1869: three lilies, the symbol of attachment to Our Lady of La Salette, to the Pope and to the King.”

Problems with authority

When Maximin would move to Paris, where he wandered from place to place for several months. Bad companions tried to lure him into places of debauchery, but he always saw through their intrigues. Intriguingly, Maximin often went to the Church of Saint Sulpice, where he would sit at the bottom of a statue of the Virgin Mary. It became his sanctuary.
André Douzet has furthermore been able to confirm that Emma Calvé (her latter name orthographically changed, as happens with so many actors) was indeed related to Melanie Calvat. However distant, it should be clear that Melanie would have been more predisposed to share with family than strangers…

Melanie’s life was similar to Maximin: a constant onslaught of people either trying to get the secret out of her, or trying to contain her within four walls, where she would never speak again. Sections of the French clergy, where Saunière had clearly protectors but also adversaries, would hunt her down. Those who had fallen foul of the French clergy themselves, would take her into their circle – and it is in this circle that Saunière was. But the body of organisations that “sponsored” Saunière, also appear in the story of La Salette – and later Fatima.

After the apparition, Maximin spent the summer holidays at the Grande Chartreuse. It is a connection that he shares both with Vincent Ferrer (whose brother was Secretary General of that Order) and Saunière himself.
The female witnesses have specific connections with the Carmelites. On October 10, 1850, Mélanie entered as a postulant of the Sisters of Providence at Corps, at their convent at Corenc. She took the habit in 1851 under the name of Sister Mary of the Cross. But when the time came for her to take her vows, Mgr Ginoulhiac, who succeeded Mgr de Bruillard, thought it better to postpone them. Mélanie refused to accept the required year’s probation, with the result that an English prelate, Mgr Newsham, Bishop of Hexham. She quickly disappointed the expectation of the English bishop, who soon lost interest in her, and we next find her in the Carmelite convent in Darlington. There are different versions of her entry into Carmel. But the Carmelites record that she was welcomed and introduced into the cloister to be looked after. She showed a desire to remain, and she received the habit on February 23, 1855. However, with the objection that she had a "mission" to discharge on behalf of the Lady, Mélanie refused to make her profession, then – constrained by her superiors, she says – she brought herself to do so, but interiorly she did not take the vow of enclosure. When she wanted to leave, attempts were made to restrain her, so she threw letters over the enclosure wall to let it be known that she was being sequestered. Hoping to avoid all scandal, Mgr Hogarth had her taken back to Marseilles.
After the Queen of Heaven had appeared to Lucia in Fatima, she would also enter the Carmelite Order, where she would remain until her death in 2005.

The Great Monarch

So what would be the particular mark of Maximin’s secret? Principally, it would seem to proclaim the triumph of the Church and above all it would seem to designate the political saviour, referred to in so many prophecies by the popular name of the Grand Monarch.
Maximin is supposed to have said that de Chambord would never ascend the throne of France, but "It is God’s will that we keep the secret. The reestablishment of the royalty is reserved to God Himself alone". Perhaps that would explain the Prince’s hesitant attitude in 1873.
Is it within this area that we need to search for the role of Saunière? Is it within this line of visionaries that we also need to place Salvador Dali, who saw the region of Perillos as a pivotal location for the “abduction of Europe”. And it is Guy Patton who has expressed a specific focus on the role of the Priory of Sion and the European movement – and Patton is not the only person; earlier, authors like Jean Robin have done the same. Robin even hinted at the possibility that the Lady of Salette’s attitude towards the French clergy almost suggested that inside that clergy was a secret group of people – priests – that were working towards a cause that might date back to the times of Vincent Ferrer himself. It is a cause that was close to Pedro de Luna, allied to the Perillos family, and which he may have propelled forward, in the midst of the French clergy. But that is a different story…

continued >>

Filip Coppens