The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette

  The Philippines is a rich haven for religious shrines. Filipinos naturally express affinity to them. They look to shrines as their sanctuaries and annually look forward to visiting them as they would to close relations and friends.

Shrines take a special part in the culture of Filipinos who are by nature religious. In the indigenous Filipino mind, God is not who is far and separate from the mundane activities of man. God is present in the most common places – in the mountains and rivers, in the rice fields and fishing grounds, in the trees and caves. Human space is also God’s space. For Filipinos, God is not distant. He takes interest even in the most ordinary and everyday activities and concerns. Shrines and churches are sacred spaces people consider as God’s abode.

The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette is one of these places. Through all these years it has become a Mecca to all sorts of people; they come from varied cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. They originate from different regions bringing along with them, as they come to the Shrine, different needs and intentions.

The sacramental ministry takes the center stage in the different types and forms of pastoral activities and services rendered by the Shrine. Daily masses offered by pilgrims are celebrated. A regular schedule for confession is kept. The latter is considered to be very important aspect of the sacramental ministry because majority of the pilgrims come to the Shrine for the purpose of obtaining divine pardon for their sins. Reconciliation is the major theme of the pilgrimages in the Philippines. Para-liturgical services such as novenas, Eucharistic Adoration, benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and processions are regular features of the sacramental ministry in the Shrine.

The provision for counselling services and spiritual direction is considered to be important aspect of the pastoral care of pilgrims. They come to the Shrine with heightened sentiment of openness to God and their visit to the Shrine is usually especial moments of grace. Their experiences during their visit can become flash point in their lives, moments of decisions that could lead to fundamental changes in life.

The programs for the Christian formation of pilgrims and Shrine devotees are also given importance. Spiritual retreats and recollections are frequently held. Leadership seminars and workshops, human development programs, and religious instructions are also regularly conducted. The Marian Retreat Center is a regular venue for Marriage Encounter Groups and other family-oriented renewal programs.

The Shrine has been made popular by the unique natural theme park of the place, the tree-shaded facsimile of the Apparition of Our Lady of La Salette, the Rosary hill overlooking the natural pond, the habitat of wild ducks, the life-sized Stations of the Cross in the vast green lawn of the Shrine gardens and the Last Supper studio added to the meditative ambiance of the gardens. In the late afternoons, people drop by and take a leisurely walk, meditate and pray in this meditation gardens of Our Lady of La Salette.

  THE National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette had its solemn declaration on October 20, 2018, Saturday at 9:00 am. The Eucharistic celebration was presided by Archbishop of Davao Romulo G. Valles, DD, also the president of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

The CBCP voted in favor of granting the title “National Shrine” to the Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette on July 07, 2018. The La Salette Missionaries raised the solemn declaration as an offering to Our Lady on the occasion of Her 172ndfeast day and the Shrine’s golden jubilee on September 19, 2018 and the 70thAnniversary of the Congregation’s presence in the Philippines.

Fr. Joel Dela Cruz, MS is the Rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Biga II, Silang, Cavite. As a Shrine, it has been under the Diocese of Imus, now being led by Bishop Reynaldo G. Evangelista, DD.

The permit to construct a Chapel or Shrine in Silang, Cavite in honor of Our Lady of La Salette, and to have the Most Blessed Sacrament habitually reserved in it for Holy Mass and public adoration was granted by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Imus, Imus Cavite on December 7, 1965. The written permission was signed by the Bishop Artemio G. Casas, Bishop of Imus, and Hernando Godoy, Chancellor.

The La Salette Shrine Chapel was blessed officially and dedicated by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, D.D., Archbishop of Manila on September 19, 1981. It was well-attended by the local folks, local officials, pilgrims, government workers, seminarians, the religious, priests both from the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette locally and abroad including diocesan priests from the Diocese of Imus and elsewhere. Church and government dignitaries also graced the event.

The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette is a living memorial of thanksgiving to God for the gift of La Salette. The shrine means many things to many people. To this sacred place called La Salette come those on pilgrimage for an encounter with the living God. The beautiful natural setting lives and grows as a garden of spiritual blessings as a home for restless spirit, as a haven of reconciliation, as a place of giving and forgiving, as a sanctuary of Christian commitment and responsibility.

The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette is staffed by La Salette Missionaries of brothers and priests of the Province of Mother of Hope (Ina ng Pag-asa). Imbued with the mystery of Reconciliation and moved with compassion for those who seek healing, we welcome all who walk in the garden of fuller life. By our prayers and community life, we join our fellow pilgrims in drawing near to the God who can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Through preaching, liturgy, and devotions we foster the spiritual and communal life, through programs that support and enhance recovery and enrichment, we nurture the personal and interpersonal life.

Our call to service is rooted in the merciful apparition of Mary at La Salette in Grenoble, France from which we derive our inspiration and our participation in the mission of Jesus Christ himself: the reconciliation of sinners and the joy of reconciled life. Like Jesus in search of the sheep gone astray, and like Mary who came to La Salette in tears for those who have wandered far from God, we believe ourselves called to a special apostolate among those in need of reconciliation.