Notre Dame de La Salette in resin
On September 19, 1846, a “Beautiful Lady” appeared before two children from Corps, in Isère, France: Maximin Giraud aged 11 and Mélanie Calvat aged 14, who had their flocks on the top of the mountain of La Salette, 1800 meters above sea level. Sitting and crying, the Lady got up and spoke to them for a long time, in French and the local dialect. Then he climbed a steep path and disappeared into the light. He had a crucifix on his chest. On one side of the crucifix there was a hammer and on the other side there were pliers. The hammer represents the sinner nailing Jesus to the cross and the pliers symbolize the faithful removing Jesus' nails. On September 19, 1851, after a rigorous investigation of the witnesses of the event and the content of Our Lady's messages, Bishop Bruillard, Bishop of Grenoble, declared that: “We believe that the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to the two shepherds, on the 19th of September 1846, on a mountain in the Alps, located in the parish of La Salette, contains within itself all the characteristics of truth, and that the faithful have grounds for holding it as indubitable and certain.”