Description
Statues from the site of the apparition in the tiny mountain village of La Salette, in the commune of Corps France depicti Our Lady addressing two children. The distinctive La Salette crucifix bears a small hammer and pincers on either side of the cross as worn by Our Lady. The hammer traditionally symbolizes the instrument that crucified Christ and the pincers symbolize the instrument that removes the nails. The crucifix was adopted by the La Salette as their distinctive symbol.
Worldwide, the religious institute numbers over one thousand members located in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. In North America the members work in more than a dozen U.S. states and in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The congregation helps maintain devotional religious shrines, such as the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and works in various Catholic parishes throughout the country. The La Salette Shrine in Attleboro is particularly well known for its Retreat Center and its "Festival of Lights" during the Christmas season which attracts over 250,000 visitors yearly.
In Latin America, Africa, Australia and Asia, the community does missionary work in a number of countries, including Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, India, Madagascar, Myanmar and the Philippines. The congregation continues to care for pilgrims at shrines, serves its University system in the Philippines and conducts retreats at its centers and conducts parish missions, serves in home and foreign missions parishes, guides youth ministries, operates counseling centers, and provides personnel for chaplaincies in hospitals and in the military.
Read more about this topic: Missionaries Of La Salette
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