ENFIELD — La Salette Shrine in Enfield, know for its daily masses and holiday light display, will close permanently on Oct. 1.

The announcement from the Very Rev. William V. Kaliyadan, the Provincial Superior for the North American Province, follows a decision made last year by the order’s governing body to focus its efforts on the National La Salette Shrine in Attleboro, Mass.

The order no longer has enough members to operate.

“The difficult decision to close the Shrine and its ministries is because of the declining number of vocations in the La Salette Community,” Kaliyadan wrote in a statement posted to the shrine’s Facebook page Tuesday.

The shrine is spread over roughly 28 acres along Route 4A. One of its neighbors is the Enfield Shaker Museum, which has been in talks with the La Salettes about purchasing the land, said Carolyn Smith, acting director of the museum.

The land originally belonged to the Shakers, and the La Salettes bought it from them in 1927. There are five historic Shaker buildings on the property.

“We are in conversation with La Salette and nothing is official, or firm, at this point. But we are hopeful that we will be able to expand the museum to include the property at La Salette,” Smith said. “We would love to have the whole property. Whether or not that’s possible, I do not know.”

Smith said the two organizations have been speaking “pretty continuously since last fall” and that it is “way, way, way too early” to talk purchase prices.

The land is assessed at around $2.3 million, according to town records.

The Rev. John Sullivan, who has served as the shrine’s director for several years, said that the Shrine will host a celebration on Sept. 19, the Feast Day of Our Lady of La Salette, which recognizes the day in 1846 when the Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to two children on a mountain side in La Salette, France.

“We don’t really know the future. I just know we leave here on the 30th of September,” said Sullivan, who will be reassigned to a parish in Georgia after La Salette closes. “We no longer will function as a shrine after that date.”

The shrine will continue to hold daily Mass until it closes, and visitors are welcome to come stroll the grounds.

Sullivan said he would miss Enfield and the greater Upper Valley community.

“Remember the message of La Salette, which is a call to reconciliation,” Sullivan said. “I pray that people will come to not be divided, but that politically and religiously we can work closer together for the common good of everybody. That’s the biggest gift I hope that we leave, that we plant those seeds.”

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.

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