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The
Meaning of the Miraculous Medal
 The
Front Side - On the front of the Miraculous Medal, Mary
stands on
a globe, representing the earth, with a crushed snake under her
feet. This image represents Mary's role as "Queen of Heaven
and Earth". The snake represents Satan, who was defeated by
Mary's obedience to God. The rays coming from her hands
symbolize the graces Mary gives to those who ask her. The year
1830 commemorates the year that the Blessed Mother appeared to
St. Catherine Laboure.
 The
Reverse Side - On the reverse side of the Miraculous Medal
is a cross and the
letter "M". The cross represents Christ's sacrifice
for our salvation, while the bar under the cross stands for the
Earth. The "M" stands for "Mary" and her
true devotion both to Jesus and to her children on Earth. The
two hearts are the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Sorrowful
Heart of Mary. The entire image is surrounded by twelve
stars. The stars can represent both the twelve Apostles and the
verse from the Book of Revelation, "a great sign appeared
in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her
feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars" (Revelation
12:1).
The
Promises of the Medal
During
Our Lady's visit to Catherine on November 27,1830, rays of light
flowed from rings on her fingers that were made of precious
stones. However, some of the stones on the ring did not
shine. Mary explained:
"These
rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them.
The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which
souls forget to ask."
Mary
then spoke of the medal with these words:
"All
who wear it will receive great graces; they should wear it
around the neck. Graces will abound for persons who wear it with
confidence."
The
medal is simply a visible sign of the inner devotion the wearer
has to Mary and to her Son, Jesus.
The
Life of Saint Catherine Laboure
 Catherine
Laboure was was born on May 2, 1806. In her youth she was
affectionately called Zoe, after the patron saint whose feast
was celebrated the day she was born. Her parents were successful
farmers in the village of
Fain-les-moutiers in the Burgundy region of France. Catherine
was one of 17 children and was the second daughter. When she was
only nine years old, her mother died. From that time on Catherine
adopted Mary as her mother. She declared, "Now,
dear Blessed Mother, now you will be my Mother!" She
received her First Holy Communion at age 12. From that time she was determined
to pursue a vocation to the religious life, like her older
sister, Marie Louise, who joined the Sisters of Charity. At the
age of 22 Catherine asked her father for permission to begin
a vocation, but he refused. It was not until January 22,1830 at
the age of 24 that she finally entered
religious life at the Hospice de la Charite in
Chatillon-sur-Seine. After a postulancy of only three months she was sent to the Motherhouse
of the Sisters of Charity in Paris.
The
Apparitions
Catherine
had been at the motherhouse for only six months when the Blessed
Mother appeared to her. At 11:30pm on July 18, 1830, Catherine
was awakened  when
she heard a voice speaking to her.
She saw a little boy with blue eyes and golden
hair who she recognized as her guardian angel. He led her to the
chapel where Our Lady appeared and sat in the Director's chair
near the altar. She was wearing a white dress with a blue veil.
At the urging of her angel, Catherine
ran to Mary and knelt beside her. She rested her head in Mary's
lap and looked up into her eyes as she listened to her speak.
Mary told Catherine
that God had a special job for her to do, and also warned of a
great time of upheaval soon to occur in France. Catherine
reported the apparition to the community's Confessor, Father Jean Marie Aladel.
He advised her that the apparition was only a dream that she
should try to forget.
In
the late afternoon of November 27, 1830, while at prayer with
the other Sisters of Charity, Our Lady appeared again to
Catherine. In this second apparition
she first appeared in a pure white dress with a white veil. In
her hands she held a golden ball topped with a cross. Her
appearance soon changed as she revealed to Catherine the image
of the medal she wanted to be made. This was the first time the
world saw the words:
"O Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to thee."
At
the end of her visit, Our Lady asked Catherine to
keep the apparitions a secret from everyone except the Confessor
for the community, Father Aladel. However, when Catherine went
to him for a second time he again told her she had "too
much imagination".
In
December of 1830, Our Lady appeared to Catherine for the last
time. This visit was similar to the visit in November, however
this time Mary said: "You will not see me any more, but you
will hear my voice during your prayers.
The
Chapel of Our Lady Of the Miraculous Medal - Paris, France
Making
the Miraculous Medal
On January 30 1831, Catherine
received the habit of the Daughters of Charity and was sent to
work at Enghien Hospice in a suburb near Paris. In the Spring
she again tried to convince Father Aladel to create Our Lady's
medal, but he continued to refuse. In the autumn she asked for
the third time, warning that "The Virgin is angry"
with the delays. When Father Aladel finally told the Archbishop
of Paris of Our Lady's request, he was told that the medal
should be made immediately. Unfortunately, a deadly outbreak of
cholera delayed the creation of the medal until May of 1832. The
first order was for 20,000 medals and distribution began on June
30, 1832.
The
Miracles
Originally, the name of the medal was "Medal of
the Immaculate Conception", however stories of miracles
related to the medal were reported almost immediately and the
medal came to be called "Miraculous".
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In
Paris, an 8 year old girl was the only one her class that
did not wear a medal and was the only one who caught
cholera. She was given a medal and returned to school the
next day.
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A
woman who was pregnant contracted cholera and was thought
close to death. After being given the medal she had a smooth
delivery and both mother and baby were found to be healthy.
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A
child who had been unable to walk was healed when he wore
the medal on the first day of a novena.
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In
1842 a young man named Alphonse Tobie Ratisbonne experienced
a conversion. From a Jewish family, Ratisbonne had a deep
and very public hatred of Catholicism. During a trip in
1841, he unexpectedly spent some time in Rome and met Baron
Bussieres, a newly converted Catholic. The two had an
argument about the Faith and the Baron gave Ratisbonne a
Miraculous Medal, challenging him to wear it and recite the
prayer the Memorare. Shortly after, Our Lady appeared
to Ratisbonne in exactly the same way as on the Miraculous
Medal. He was converted immediately and was baptized that
same night.
After
only four years the number of medals that had been distributed
numbered in the
millions, and by Catherine's death in 1871 the number was in the
billions.
Catherine's
Secret
In
May 1835, Catherine pronounced her vows as a Sister of Charity of poverty, chastity,
obedience, and stability. For more than forty years she
continued to work at the hospice caring for the elderly men who
were patients there. Despite the millions of medals that had
been distributed around the world, no one except Father Aladel
knew the name of the nun who had received the apparition of the
Miraculous Medal. When
Father Aladel died in 1865, Catherine was left with no one in
whom she could confide.
 In
May 1876, Catherine was aware that the end of her life
was near. She had been trying for many years to have a statue
made of the Virgin holding the golden globe. Since Catherine could not ask Father Aladel for help,
she asked Mary for advice on how to proceed. Forty-six years
after the initial apparition, Mary gave Catherine permission to
share her story. The statue was ordered in June and Catherine
died, content that her work had been completed, on December 31,
1876. When she was beatified on May 28, 1933 her body was
exhumed and found to be incorrupt. Catherine's body now rest in
the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal where Mary
appeared to her. Catherine was canonized by Pope Pius XII on
July 27, 1947.
"You
watch over the Church for you are its Mother. You watch over
each of your Children. From God, you obtain for us, all graces
that are symbolized by the rays of light which radiate from your
open hands, and the only condition that you demand of us is that
we approach with the confidence, the hardiness, and the
simplicity of a child. And it is thus that you bring us before
your Divine Son." - Pope
John Paul II on his visit to the Chapel on May 31,1980.
*
Information and pictures from the books St.
Catherine Laboure of the Miraculous Medal, Catherine
Laboure - Visionary of the Miraculous Medal, and the website
of The Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris,
France.
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