November 27: OUR LADY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL
It was almost midnight, when Sister Labouré was awakened by someone calling her. She saw at the foot of her bed a beautiful child, beckoning her to follow; arriving at the chapel, she beheld Our Lady, who spoke to her for two hours.
On November 27, while the community was assembled for prayer, Mary came for a second visit. Her head was covered with a soft white veil; she stood on a ball on which was a serpent with crushed head. In her hands Our Lady held a small ball, the globe, with a tiny cross at its tip, and offered it to God as she prayed. Upon her fingers were many rings, filled with precious stones of varied beauty and brilliancy. As rays of light shot forth from these stones, Our Lady lowered her eyes and spoke to Catherine Labouré: “This ball which you see is the world; I am praying for it and for everyone in the world. The rays are the graces which I give to everyone who asks for them. But there are no rays for some of these stones; many people do not receive graces because they do not ask for them.” Then Mary’s arms were lowered, and she became brighter and lovelier; a group of words encircled her head; “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” And a voice said, “Have a medal made according to this picture. All who wear it when it is blessed will receive many graces, especially if they wear it suspended from their necks.” The picture turned and showed the letter “M” surmounted by a cross with a crossbar beneath it; under the initial of the name Mary were the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary: the first encircled by a crown of thorns; the second transfixed by a sword. Encircling the entire picture were twelve stars with a golden frame.
In December 1831, the third apparition repeated the request for the making of the medal. Sister Catherine told her superior and her confessor about Mary’s request. When Father Aladel told the archbishop, his Excellency said, “Have a medal made at once and send me some of the first made.” In June 1832, the first two thousand medals appeared. So many miracles were wrought by the use of the medal, that it was called “The Miraculous Medal.”
Six years later, another desire of Our Blessed Mother’s was answered when an altar was constructed on the very spot where she appeared, in the Chapel of the Apparitions.
Sister Catherine Labouré died in 1876, December 31, and all felt she had gone directly to Heaven. On July 27, 1947, she was canonized by Pope Pius XII. When her casket was opened shortly before, her body looked as lovely as it did when she died fifty-six years before.
The Miraculous Medal is a badge stating that the wearer has one ideal: the Blessed Virgin, and one ambition: to retain purity of soul throughout life by keeping that soul in the state of grace always. Are there any wrinkles in your brows? Well, they don’t belong there. Erase them with the elasticity of Mary’s influence. If you wear Mary’s Miraculous Medal and live for what it represents, you should be one of the happiest persons in the world.
“O Mary, conceived without sin,
Pray for us who have recourse to thee!”
From the Woman in Orbit - A Timeless Marian Treasure Compiled By Sr. Manetta Lamberty, S.C.C.
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