On November 27 Holy Mother Church honors Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, and the following day, November 28, St. Catherine Laboure, to whom Our Lady appeared, is remembered. It was in 1830 during the second of three visits to St. Catherine, who at that time was a novice for the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, that Mary instructed St. Catherine to have a medal made and distributed with the revealed image. St. Catherine described the image, saying,"
“The Blessed Virgin was standing on a globe, and her face was beautiful beyond words. Her fingers were covered with precious jewels whose light dazzled me. And I heard: ‘Behold the symbol of the graces I shed upon those who ask for them!’ Then an oval frame formed around the Blessed Virgin and I read in letters of gold: ‘O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.’ The vision reversed and I beheld the letter ‘M’ surmounted by a cross, at the foot of the cross, a bar, and below all, the Heart of Jesus crowned with thorns, and the Heart of Mary pierced with a sword. A voice said to me, ‘Have a medal struck after this model. Persons who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around the neck.'”
St. Catherine obeyed our Lady, and the Miraculous Medal, as it eventually became known, gained popularity with the Faithful; many miraculous conversions were connected to wearing this sacramental. Years later St. Maximilian Kolbe made this medal honoring our Lady a significant aspect of his Militia Immaculatae, a sign of consecration to Mary. May we also imitate these Saints and honor our Mother through the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, simply by wearing the medal. Two prayers are given below for this devotion.
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