Excerpts from The Pastoral Letter of Mgr de Bruillard, Bishop of Grenoble, on the Fifth Anniversary of the La Salette Apparition

September 19, 1851 -"We judge that the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin to the two cowherds on the 19th of September, 1846, on a mountain of the chain of Alps, situated in the parish of LaSalette, in the archpresbytery of Corps, bears within Itself all the characteristics of truth, and that the faithful have grounds for believing it Indubitable and certain." (art. 1).

"Hence, in order to bear our warmest gratitude to God and to the glorious Virgin Mary, we authorise the devotion to Our Lady of La Salette. We allow the clergy to preach on this great Event and to draw the practical and moral consequences arising from it." (art. 3)

"We expressly forbid the faithful and the clergy of our diocese ever to speak or write against the Event which we proclaim this day and which, henceforth, demands the respect of all." (art. 5)

"We entreat you, our dear brethren, for the sake of your heavenly and even earthly interests, seriously to examine yourselves, to do penance for your sins, and particularly for those committed against the second and third commandments of God.) We entreat you, our dearly beloved brethren: make yourselves docile to the voice of Mary who calls you to penance, and who, on behalf of Her Son, threatens you with spiritual and temporal ills if, remaining insensitive to Her maternal warnings, you harden your hearts."