Nov. 28, 2012 Wednesday: St Catherine Laboure
St. Catherine Laboure (1806-1876)
At the age of eight, her mother died. She took care of the family. She joined the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul at chatillion in 1830, taking the name Catherine, and was sent to the Rue du Bac Convent in Paris.Almost at once she began to experience a series of visions of Our Lady in the chapel of the convent, and is most remembered by the request of Our Lady to have a medal struck honoring the Immaculate Conception. Her visions were approved as authentic in 1836 by a special commission appointed by the archbishop. She was canonized in 1947.
The medal of the Immaculate Conception, commonly called the Miraculous Medal, was manifested to this spiritual daughter of Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint Catherine Laboure. This took place in the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity, 140 rue du Bac, Paris, France.
Sister Catherine, during her novitiate days, received extraordinary favors from God, such as visions of the heart of St. Vincent and manifestations of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. In 1830 she was blessed with the apparitions of Mary Immaculate to which we owe the Miraculous Medal.
Saint Catherine describes the apparition of our Lady on November 27, 1830, in these words: “Her feet rested on a white globe. I saw rings on her fingers, and each ring was set with gems. The larger gems emitted greater rays and the smaller gems, smaller rays. I could not express what I saw, the beauty and the brilliance of the dazzling rays. A voice said, ‘They are the symbols of the graces I shed upon those who ask for them.’
“A frame formed round the Blessed Virgin. Within it was written in letters of gold: ‘0 Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.’ Then the voice said, ‘Have a Medal struck after this model. All who wear it will receive great graces; they should wear it around the neck.’ At this instant the tableau seemed to turn, and I beheld the reverse of the Medal: a large ‘M’ surmounted by a bar and a cross; beneath the ‘M’ were the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the one crowned with thorns, the other pierced with a sword.”
When Saint Catherine related the vision to her confessor, he asked her whether she had seen any writing on the back of the Medal. She answered that she had seen none at all. He told her to ask the Blessed Virgin what to put there. The Sister prayed to Mary a long time and one day during meditation she seemed to hear a voice saying, “The ‘M’ and the two hearts express enough.”
The Medal was made according to our Lady’s design. It was freely circulated and in a short time was worn by millions. Many graces were given and blessings bestowed until the little Medal of the Immaculate Conception became known by the name it bears today, the Miraculous Medal.
At the age of eight, her mother died. She took care of the family. She joined the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul at chatillion in 1830, taking the name Catherine, and was sent to the Rue du Bac Convent in Paris.Almost at once she began to experience a series of visions of Our Lady in the chapel of the convent, and is most remembered by the request of Our Lady to have a medal struck honoring the Immaculate Conception. Her visions were approved as authentic in 1836 by a special commission appointed by the archbishop. She was canonized in 1947.
The medal of the Immaculate Conception, commonly called the Miraculous Medal, was manifested to this spiritual daughter of Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint Catherine Laboure. This took place in the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity, 140 rue du Bac, Paris, France.
Sister Catherine, during her novitiate days, received extraordinary favors from God, such as visions of the heart of St. Vincent and manifestations of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. In 1830 she was blessed with the apparitions of Mary Immaculate to which we owe the Miraculous Medal.
Saint Catherine describes the apparition of our Lady on November 27, 1830, in these words: “Her feet rested on a white globe. I saw rings on her fingers, and each ring was set with gems. The larger gems emitted greater rays and the smaller gems, smaller rays. I could not express what I saw, the beauty and the brilliance of the dazzling rays. A voice said, ‘They are the symbols of the graces I shed upon those who ask for them.’
“A frame formed round the Blessed Virgin. Within it was written in letters of gold: ‘0 Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.’ Then the voice said, ‘Have a Medal struck after this model. All who wear it will receive great graces; they should wear it around the neck.’ At this instant the tableau seemed to turn, and I beheld the reverse of the Medal: a large ‘M’ surmounted by a bar and a cross; beneath the ‘M’ were the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the one crowned with thorns, the other pierced with a sword.”
When Saint Catherine related the vision to her confessor, he asked her whether she had seen any writing on the back of the Medal. She answered that she had seen none at all. He told her to ask the Blessed Virgin what to put there. The Sister prayed to Mary a long time and one day during meditation she seemed to hear a voice saying, “The ‘M’ and the two hearts express enough.”
The Medal was made according to our Lady’s design. It was freely circulated and in a short time was worn by millions. Many graces were given and blessings bestowed until the little Medal of the Immaculate Conception became known by the name it bears today, the Miraculous Medal.
