" Melanie, what I'm going to tell you now won't always
be a secret: you can publish it in 1958"
"Melanie, what I'm going to tell you now won't be a secret; it's the Rule
which you will make my daughters, who will be here, follow exactly
when it is approved by the superiors.
1. Members of the Order of the Mother of God will love God above all things and their neighbor as themselves for the pure love of God.
2. The Spirit of this Order is none other than the Spirit of Jesus Christ in itself and the Spirit of Jesus in souls.
3. The members of this Order will apply themselves to studying Jesus Christ and imitating him, and the more Jesus is known, the more they will humble themselves at the sight of their nothingness, their weakness, their inability to do any real good in souls without divine grace.
4. They will be perfectly obedient in everything and everywhere.
5. Each of them will preserve himself in great chastity of body and spirit, so that Jesus Christ may make his dwelling in them.
6. The members of this Order will have but one heart and one soul in the love of Jesus Christ.
7. I want my children to be naked, stripped of everything.
8. They will have great charity, without limits; they will suffer everything from everyone, following the example of their Divine Master, and will make no one suffer.
9. Members of the Order will obey their superiors and pay them the honor and respect due to them, with great simplicity of heart.
10. The superior will watch over the observance of the rule with gentleness; from time to time she will consult with the Missionary Father who will take care of your souls, in order to be helped in the good government of the house; she will be the most humble and will be more severe for herself than for the others. She will correct her daughters' faults with great gentleness and prudence; she will always lift her soul to God before making a correction.
11. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in the sanctuary day and night, during the months of September, February and May, where members of the Order will be happy to spend happy hours when charity or the salvation of souls do not keep them elsewhere.
12. They will lead a very interior life, albeit a laborious one, uniting the contemplative life with the active life; they will sacrifice themselves and make themselves all victims of Jesus and of Jesus crucified.
13. They will receive daily, with true piety, the Bread of Life; you may, however, withhold communion from some members when you see that they are not following in the footsteps of Jesus crucified.
14. In addition to the fasts commanded by the Church, they will fast during the months of September, February and May. They will make use of some instruments of penance; those who are too weak and unable to perform the works of atonement, will humbly and meekly offer their infirmity to Jesus Christ.
15. They will fast every Friday and do some penance. All these works will be offered for the souls in Purgatory, in favor of the conversion of sinners and for their own advancement in the love of God.
16. The members of the Order will be very humble and gentle towards the seculars, and will receive them with great kindness; those who are the most humble will have the first place in the heart of Jesus as well as in mine.
17. The members will have but one heart and one soul; none will hold to his own will.
18. They will be angelically pure; they will observe great modesty in everything and everywhere.
19. All will keep a great silence, carefully avoiding useless conversations with strangers.
20. The subjects who wish to be received will be in the most sincere disposition to give themselves entirely to God and to sacrifice themselves for His love. They will be attached to obedience, which will lead them to heaven.
21. They will not be admitted to the number of postulants until they have made a 12-day retreat, during which they will make a confession to work with all their strength to sanctify themselves and acquire the virtues proper to the Missionary Father, confessor of the Community; if they are willing to work with all their strength, to sanctify themselves and to acquire the virtues proper to a Victim who wants to immolate himself every day for the God of heaven and earth, they will be received into the Novitiate and will spend three months before taking the habit of the Order; and they will remember that they have been received into the house of the Mother of God only to work at their sanctification through prayer, penance and all the works that concern the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
22. My missionaries will preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its purity throughout all the earth.
23. They will preach the reformation of hearts, penance and the observance of the Law of God; they will preach on the necessity of prayer, on the contempt of earthly things, on death, judgment, heaven and hell, on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They will strengthen men in the faith, so that when the devil comes, many will not be deceived.
24. New subjects will be trained in the Christian virtues and practices of humility, charity, obedience, renunciation and gentleness.
25. the novitiate will last six years; those who have given proof of solid virtues and who wish to join the ranks of the combatants of Jesus Christ in this Order, will ask the Superior for this grace on their knees, and after you have made known to them their obligations to the Rule I am giving you, if they promise to observe it faithfully, you will receive them.
26. Prayer will take place in common in the sanctuary, at a suitable and established hour.
27. What is necessary to sustain life and to work for the glory of God is to be eaten in the common refectory; while the body is given what it needs, the soul is strengthened by holy reading during the meal.
28. Great care is to be taken of infirm and sick members.
29. If one member offends another by word or deed, let him make amends as soon as possible.
30. All members of this Order will genuflect whenever they pass in front of the Tabernacle where Jesus Christ is.
31. Whenever the subjects meet, one will say: "May Jesus be loved by all hearts!"; the other will reply: "So be it".
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32. The nuns will say the Office, like the nuns of Corenc near Grenoble; chapters and other practices will be done in the same way.
33. All members will wear a cross like mine.
Make Our Lady of La Salette known through your faith!
"I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in."
How will you respond to God's invitation?