Discuss Church teachings about the pilgrimage site and what you expect to learn from visiting the site

At the moment, my French is progressing quite well. I have just learnt how to say ‘Church Teachings’, which when translated in French is enseignements église. John Paul II said this about the Our Lady of La Salette Pilgrimage Site, "In this place, Mary, the loving Mother appeared manifesting her pain for the moral evil caused by humanity. Her tears help us to understand the seriousness of sin and the rejection of God, and at the same time it is a manifestation of the passionate fidelity that her Son has for each person, even though His redemptive love is marked by the wounds of treason and abandonment by men." Many pilgrims including myself visit the apparition site of La Salette. We all feel individually called by the beautiful lady that reminds us God is present in each our lives." How can we not respond to such affection? How can we withstand her constant tears that cry and intercede for us? She is close to us with her motherly consideration, in each moment in our lives. Without her guidance we cannot establish new lives or a new world. To turn down everything she has done would lead to serious consequences. Mary our advocate, came to La Salette to remind us of this. We have forgotten what the Gospel has told us. Think about her apparition and her words, we should be inspired to answer to her cry, to relive her pain and suffering, to return to God with all our hearts through her Son Jesus Christ.

When I visit our Lady of La Salette, I expect to learn a lot of things, but I also expect to see and feel change in myself after journeying to such a sacred place. I expect that I will feel significantly closer to God and Mary. I expect to find great moral significance. I expect that my values will change and I will want to change the way I live my life. I will want to help people and take action in the world. I will want to spread God's word and basically just follow in Jesus' footsteps and live how God wants us to live.

So far, it sounds like this is going to be the experience of my life. Au revoir!

Describe the term 'marian apparition' and explain its relationship to visiting pilgrimage sites

Earlier I talked about the weather in France and I wasn't sure what the weather is like there this time of year. According to Accuweather, this is what the weather will be like in Grenoble, France (which is 50 miles north of the Our Lady of La Salette pilgrimage site) over the next few days.

I'm really getting excited about the fact that I am now booked in to visit one of the eight official Marian apparitions. A Marian apparition is an event in which the Virgin Mary appears to one or more people. An example of a Marian apparition is when Mary appeared to the two children Maximin Giraud and Melanie Calvat in Our Lady of La Salette. I believe Mary appears to us because she wants to take action on something or deliver a message to us and we as Christians are engaged by the fact of her actually appearing. For the people involved in the apparition, they become drawn by the message and focus more totally on God. Their love for others grows deeper. They become drawn into the cross of Jesus as an everyday reality of Christian life. They are led to live the evangelical poverty of Jesus based on total dependence on God. Personally, I am kind of scared of the idea, but at the same time so fascinated by it.

The term Marian apparition relates to visiting pilgrimage sites because for some of the sites, it is the reason why they are so well known and it is also the reason we visit them. The Our Lady of La Salette pilgrimage would not be so significant if a Marian apparition had not occurred there. Pilgrims all over the world, including myself, visit these pilgrimage sites to become closer to Mary and God, and seek healing and prayer. For example, my friend who was terribly sick, visited Our Lady of Fatima because the Fatima water is supposedly meant to miraculously heal the sick.

Identify and explain the importance of the pilgrimage site to Christians

Next year, I intend on going on the Our Lady of La Salette pilgrimage in France. The Our Lady of La Sallete pilgrimage site is one of the eight officially recognised places where Marian apparitions have occured. This will be my first visit to an officially recognised Marian apparition site. I will most likely be embarking on my journey to Our Lady of La Salette this time next year because the weather is just right. It isn't too hot and it isn't too cold. Although, I don’t know what the weather will be like because I haven't travelled to France before.

Below is a satellite view of the Our Lady of La Salette pilgrimage site in France and what is around it.

This pilgrimage site in particular is of such great importance to Christians. It is important because it is a site where Mary had an apparition and one of only eight that is officially recognised by the Pope. Mary is considered of the most important people within Christianity, she is considered important because not only is she the mother of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, she is the mother of all Christians. Our Lady of La Salette is the same place that the Virgin Mary appeared, weeping bitterly, to the two children Maximim Giraud and Melanie Calvat on the 19th of September, 1846.