At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a young nun was privy to several apparitions of the Virgin Mary. In the second one she was told to create a medal, the use of which has since become one of the most popular among the many approved practices available to members of the Roman Catholic Church. The story of the Miraculous Medal begins with the arrival of Catherine Labouré (1806-1876) at the Convent of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris, France, in 1830. Just four days after her arrival, she had the first of a series of visions, though not of Mary.
On the evening of July 18, she went to bed praying for a vision of the Virgin. She was awakened around 11 P.M. and instructed by a child dressed in white to go to the chapel. There Sister Catherine had her first encounter with the Virgin, in which she was told that she was being given a mission that would entail much suffering on her part. She was also instructed to tell no one but her confessor. The Virgin had predicted some hard times in the immediate future for the Parisian clergy, but noted that the convent would not be disturbed. In fact, within a few days revolution broke out in Paris. The archbishop was forced into hiding. She also predicted that in some 40 years, the ruler would be forced off the throne and the then-Archbishop of Paris killed. These events occurred during the Franco-Prussian War.
On November 27, the second vision of the Virgin occurred, also in the sanctuary. Mary appeared dressed in white and standing on a globe. A smaller globe held in her hands was raised and then disappeared. Mary then dropped her hands to her side and extended them forward with the palms forward as if offering a blessing to the world. Rays of light flowed from her hands and she told the young visionary that they represented the graces she would bestow on all who but asked. Then, an oval of golden letters appeared around the Virgin spelling out a brief prayer. Then the vision changed and she saw a large M surmounted by a cross. Below were the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus. She was given the instruction to have a medal struck after the fashion of what she had just seen. Graces would come to those who wear the medal. This vision was repeated in December, and in the following March, but Sister Catherine's confessor was somewhat cold to the idea. Finally, after the vision reappeared in September, he conferred with the archbishop of Paris, who ordered the medal struck.
The first of the Miraculous Medals, as they came to be known, appeared in 1832, and the first "miracle" attached to them concerned the former archbishop of Malines, who had fallen from his faith and was dying. The archbishop of Paris presented him with one of the new medals, and shortly thereafter the archbishop recanted his errors and died reconciled to the church. As stories of other miracles arrived at his office, the archbishop became its enthusiastic backer. Meanwhile, Sister Catherine was sent to a hospice outside of Paris where she worked with the poor for the next 46 years. No one but her confessor ever heard the story of her visitations from Mary. She was not called to testify at the formal inquiry made in 1936. She did write her account of what occurred in 1856 and added to it shortly before her death. In 1875, she also made known the events to her very surprised Mother Superior and added that Mary had requested a statue of her with the globe in hand be placed in the convent chapel.
Sister Catherine became Saint Catherine in 1947. The church instituted recognition of the apparition in which the Miraculous Medal first appeared for November 27. Millions of the Miraculous Medal have been distributed, and many copies of the statue at the convent in Paris can now be found in Catholic churches around the world.
Sources:
Dirvin, Joseph I. St. Catherine Labouré of the Miraculous Medal. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday Echo Book, 1965.
Englebert, Omer. Catherine Labouré and the Modern Apparitions of Our Lady. New York: P. J. Kennedy & Sons, 1958.
Sharkey, Don. The Woman Shall Conquer. Kenosha, Wis.: Franciscan Marytown Press, 1976.
