The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud on September 19, 1846, while they were tending cattle on a mountain in France.

Among the handful of well-known Marian apparitions of the last 200 years, Our Lady of La Salette is often mentioned, as it is a unique apparition that came at a pivotal time in the history of France.

Our Lady appeared to two children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, while they were tending cattle on Mount La Salette. The apparition occurred on September 19, 1846, and what's unique about the encounter is that Mary is portrayed visibly crying.

Sabbath rest

Calvat wrote an initial account of the apparition on July 6, 1851, in which she records the words of the Virgin Mary: The time of the God's wrath has arrived! If, when you say to the people what I have said to you so far, and what I will still ask you to say, if, after that, they do not convert, (if they do not do penance, and they do not cease working on Sunday, and if they continue to blaspheme the Holy Name of God), in a word, if the face of the earth does not change, God will be avenged against the people ungrateful and slave of the demon.

France was in a state of political instability during the 19th century, following the French Revolution of 1789. Secularism spread far and wide and efforts were made to abolish Sunday as a day of rest. It was not until 1904 that Sunday became a legal, mandatory day of rest for all workers. At the time of the apparition in La Salette, most laborers in France had to make no distinction between Sunday and the rest of the work week.

Some of Mary's harshest words towards humanity are recorded in the apparition of La Salette, warning of what might happen if the people do not turn back to God.

When St. John Paul II commemorated the 150th anniversary of the apparition, he pointed to Mary's words and explained that she shows us "it is always possible to repent of one's infidelities, in order to build a reconciled humanity and to follow the Lord, for nothing is beyond God's reach."

So while the Virgin Mary may have cried over the sins of humanity, the good news is that there is still hope for conversion.

What we need to do first is turn towards ourselves, repent of our sinful deeds, and then transform the world through our actions.

In that way, we can comfort the Blessed Virgin Mary and turn her tears of sadness into tears of joy, seeing each one of us turn away from our former way of life.