National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, Attleboro, Massachusetts

National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, Attleboro, Massachusetts


Pillars & Foundations documents an exploration of communities, as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe. 

Reflecting on my 2018 Journey

Prior to discussing Our Lady of La Salette further, please humor me as I reflect.

This blog has documented a year long journey that has taken me to over 50 different churches, shrines, temples and faith centers. Most of these I was privileged to attend a service and to mingle with community members. It has be a terrific experience exploring faith, religion, community, charity, and I am better off as a consequence. It is fitting that I write about the shrine of La Salette in Attleboro as my experience touring the lights in 2017 with my wife, drinking hot chocolate, warming ourselves by a fire, watching a candle light procession of Silent Night at a manger, and seeing families experience the joy of this scene, perhaps melted away a little bit of cynicism inside me. The choice to pursue this path had come in parallel to reading Thomas Merton, listening to podcasts such as Contemplify and Mindfulness Mode which nourished the exploration. Lately I've taken to reading Thich Nhat Hanh (Peace in Every Step, Living Buddha Living Christ), as well as Story of a Soul by Thérèse of Lisieux, which I only recently began. 

 I find these memoirs and philosophical works are somewhat grounding for me in a time of increasing social division, cynicism, and an environment where people tend to default to judgements on each other, that correlate to mere microcosms and represent misunderstandings of the whole. It is sadly a world where it is socially acceptable to utilize negativity to combat negativity. I needed a means to help me cope, and hopefully guide me to be above the fray. Additionally my hope is that this journey, and perhaps my new found interests assist me in being much more of a glass-half-full individual, a cliché that I find fitting to quickly describe my intent, without the depth of detail it deserves.

Lit up snowflakes adorn trees, signs scattered throughout the camps tell stories of Christmas and St. Nicholas (photos don't exactly do it justice- especially photos taken on an iPhone!)

The Shrine & The History

The appeal of this Shrine is grounded both in Christian faith, but also the nostalgia surrounding this Christmas light show across the large campus. It lasts over a month long through December, this season ending on January 6th, opened from 5:00-9:00 pm. The lights are at times simple, but on the whole dazzling as trees, outlines of angels, doves, stars and Christmas trees reflect on a pond and deck every corner, every grotto, every station of the cross, and brighten every crucifix on the extensive grounds. This has been a tradition since 1953, and undoubtedly multiple generations as well as various people passing through have created cherished memories here.

Inside the Shrine, separate from the church/sanctuary, for a donation prayer candles can be lit

The La Salette Story

The origin of the story behind the Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette is traced to an appearance of the Virgin Mary before two children in the French Alps town of La Salette. The appearance occurred in 1846 and shortly after a Missionary was established in 1852. The Attleboro Massachusetts shrine is a satellite location founded in 1942 with the current site opening in 1953. Today Our Lady of La Salette is active in their surrounding community in addition to having a church on campus which provides three weekend Masses, one of which is in French.
The Sanctuary of the Church. We saw one of La Salette's priests perform a Christmas Carol concert, he played guitar, had an excellent voice leading the audience in sing-alongs which included an adaptation of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."

The Festive Environment

The smell of the burning wood certainly adds a bit of fun to the atmosphere!

The site of the shrine boasts a cafeteria which serves Franco-American/Canadian style meat pies, amongst other options. Hot chocolate and cider are big sellers. Fire pits are located outside of the cafeteria and families roast marshmallows. Christmas carols are piped through the air while the surroundings twinkle with the decorative lights. 

There also is a two-room museum that must have hundreds (at least) of nativity scenes on display from around the world and the United States. A large scale nativity scene also is situated amongst the lights and this includes actual live animals. 

Just a small taste of many Nativity scenes!

These are super tiny!! Some talented craftspeople constructed these.



This one was human/life scale

I bet someone cut their fingers a couple of times making this unique Nativity!

Linus from Peanuts (Luke 2: 8-14, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown).

A small area of children's carnival rides and some concession stands with the usual suspects (fried dough, cotton candy) is also part of the festivities.

It's animated in case you were wondering!

Pilgrimage Site


Various prayer routes and shrines adorn the site in addition to the main shrine to the apparition. A series of steps leads to a crucifix on a hill where devotees can kneel on every step as the climb to the top. 



The crucifix atop the hill where people can kneel to make up the stairs as an act of faith and prayer 




Community Activity/Charity


Our Lady of La Salette enriches Attleboro and the greater world in various ways beyond their parish and their Christmas festival. This includes a Monday night dinner for those in need which is said to serve approximately 100 area people. They run a substance abuse bereavement group to provide support to families and friends impacted. They also do work with Esperanza International to provide housing for those in need.








The Festival of Lights at Our Lady of La Salette, while especially meaningful for those raised in a Catholic or Christian tradition, is bound to be a fun activity for anyone who enjoys bright lights and the holiday season.

Text and photographs by George Parks
Sources are embedded in links



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