Miraculous Medal
from
the book: 33 Days to Morning Glory
by
Fr. Michael E. Gaitley, MIC pg. 2169,170
Like the scapular, the miraculous medal is a
sacramental. It originated from an apparition of Mary to St. Catherine Laboure,
a French nun, living in Paris. The specific apparition that has to do with the
miraculous medal occurred on November 27th, 1830.
In that vision of November 27, St. Catherine saw Mary
standing on a half-globe, with a serpent crushed beneath her feet and her hands
bejewelled with rings, holding a small golden globe with a cross on it. Bright light shone from some of the jewels on
her fingers. Suddenly, the small golden
globe disappeared from Mary’s hands, and she opened her arms outward. The light
from the jewels extended out from her hands and a semi-circle frame with an
inscription in gold: “O,Mary,
conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
The vision seemed to rotate and on the reverse side.
Catherine saw the letter “M” with a
cross on it and surrounded by twelve stars. The cross stood on a horizontal
bar. Under the “M” were two hearts engulfed in flames, one encircled in thorns,
and one pierced by a sword.
Mary then told Catherine, “Have a medal struck upon this model. Those who wear it will receive
great graces, especially if they wear it around their neck.”
Mary explained the meaning of the medal to Catherine
as follows. Mary is Queen of heaven and
earth. She crushes Satan who is helpless
before her, under her foot. ( see Gen.
3:15 ). Her arms are open and the many rays of light are graces she obtains for
those who request them. The dark jewels, the ones that are not full of light,
represent the graces that are available but that people don’t receive because
they don’t ask for them.
The inscription, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee,”
refers to Mary’s Immaculate Conception, which means that from the first moment
of her conception, she was free from all stain of original sin.
On the back of the medal, the twelve stars which surround
Mary, represent the twelve Apostles, who represent the whole Church. The “M” is
for Mary and the cross is the Cross of Christ, the symbol of our redemption.
The horizontal bar represents the earth. The placement of the cross and the bar
on, and in the letter “M” shows Mary’s participation in the Cross of Christ and
in our world. The two hearts are those of Jesus and Mary burning with love for
us all.
With the Church’s approval, the first “Medals of the
Immaculate Conception” were made in 1832, and almost immediately reports of
miraculous cures began to spring up so much so that the medal became known as
the “miraculous medal”
Since the time of the apparitions, millions of
medals have been distributed around the world, especially by people like
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. It’s reported that her Missionaries of
Charity currently distribute 1.8 million medals per year.
The miraculous medal received liturgical approbation
( special recognition and approval for public prayer) at the direction of Aloisi
Cardinal Masella, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, in 1895. It’s
one of only three sacramentals in the Church to be so liturgically honored,
sharing this distinction with the rosary and the brown scapular.
Far from being a good luck charm or superstition,
powerful conversions have taken place through Mary’s intercession and the use
of the miraculous medal.
One of the most famous conversions happened to
Alphonse Ratisbonne, a Jewish atheist, on January 20, 1842. He despised the
Church and the Catholic faith, especially since his older brother Theodor
converted to Catholicism and became a Catholic priest. On a dare from a
Catholic friend, Baron de Bussieres Ratisbonne began to wear the miraculous
medal and to recite the Memorare
prayer to prove the fruitlessness of what he thought were just the ridiculous
superstitions of the Catholic religion.
On January 20th, Ratisbonne accompanied Baron de Bussiers into
a church, what is now the Basilica of St. Andres delle Fratte in Rome, where
the Baron had some business to attend to. When the Baron returned to him, he
found Ratisbonne weeping and kissing his medal saying, “I saw her! I saw her!”
