The Miracle of the Miraculous Medal
Let’s be honest, we need all the help we can get this side of Heaven. Thanks be to God we have been given the grace of faith (and all that contains) combined with supernatural miracles to help lead the way. Speaking of miracles, did you know that the Miraculous Medal is one of our biggest known miracles that comes directly from Our Lady? It is not only a supernatural wonder, but an incredibly powerful sacramental we should know and utilize.
Designed by the Mother of God herself, the Miraculous Medal is one of the most recognized and popular devotional items associated with miracles and conversions worldwide. So what is the story?
The Story
It was almost midnight when Saint Catherine Laboure was awakened by a whispering voice saying, “Sister … sister … sister.” A series of mysterious events led her to a chapel where the Blessed Mother Mary appeared and sat down near the altar. Instinctively, St. Catherine knelt at her feet in awe and wonder, rested her hands on Mary’s lap, looked into her eyes, and had what is known to be a “heart-to-heart” conversation with the Queen of Heaven. Later, St. Catherine would describe that night as “the sweetest moment of my life.” We can only imagine.
Only four months later, in November of 1830, Mary appeared to St. Catherine again at the Re de Bar Chapel … only this time Our Lady was standing on a globe. Dazzling rays of light streamed from her outstretched hands. Framing the apparition was an inscription that read, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” When Mary spoke to St. Catherine she instructed her: “Have a medal struck upon this model. Those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around the neck. Those who repeat this prayer with devotion will be, in a special manner, under the protection of the Mother of God. Graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.”
With approval of the Catholic Church, the first medals were made in 1832 and distributed in Paris. Only ten of the original medals are known to exist today, and one of them is housed at the Miraculous Medal Shrine.
Almost immediately, the blessings that Mary promised showered down on those who wore her medal. First the Daughters of Charity began wearing them and giving them to the elderly and the sick. Immediate miraculous healings, cures, and conversions began occurring. Before long, all of France was clamoring for what people were referring to as the “Miraculous Medal.” Use of the Medal spread from country to country and, at the time of St. Catherine’s death in 1876, more than a billion medals had been made. Today, the Medal is still drawing down from Heaven blessings for both body and soul.
The Symbolism of the Miraculous Medal
The Miraculous Medal was originally called the “Medal of the Immaculate Conception” but, because of the numerous accounts of miracles by those who wore it, people began to call it the Miraculous Medal, and the name stuck. The Medal is not only a condensed version of the Catechism on Mary, but a visual reminder of our salvation through Jesus Christ.
The Miraculous Medal: Front Side
The front side of the Medal depicts Mary Immaculate, her hands open with rays of light pouring forth from them. St. Catherine Laboure saw Our Lady appear like this and heard her say, “Have a medal made according to this model. Everyone who wears it around their neck will receive great graces.” Mary stands upon the globe as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Her feet crush the serpent’s head which professes that Satan and all his followers are helpless before her (Gn. 3:15).
The year 1830 stamped on the Miraculous Medal is the year the Blessed Mother gave the design of the Miraculous Medal to St. Catherine. The reference to “Mary conceived without sin” supports the dogma of the Church that Mary is indeed immaculate, aka. born without sin — “The Immaculate Conception of Mary.” This means that Mary was sinless, “full of grace” and “blessed among women” (Lk 1:28). The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed twenty-four years later in 1854, and then confirmed when Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France in 1858.
The Miraculous Medal: Back Side
On the reverse side of the Medal, the Cross and the letter M symbolize the close relationship of Mary to the suffering, passion, and death of her Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. The cross symbolizes both Christ and our redemption, with the bar under the cross as a sign of the earth and the Altar – for it is on the altar at Mass that the sacrifice of Calvary continues to be present in the world today. The M signifies “Mary” and “Mother.” The interweaving of Mary’s initial and the cross shows Mary’s close involvement with Jesus, His Passion, and our world. In this, we see Mary’s integral part in our salvation and her role as Mother of the Church.
Beneath the Cross, bar, and the M are two hearts side-by-side: the Sacred Heart of Jesus crowned with thorns and the Immaculate Heart of Mary pierced by a sword. The two hearts represent the love of Jesus and Mary for us. The twelve stars signify, moreover, the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles who represent the entire Church as it surrounds Mary. The stars also recall the vision of Saint John, writer of the Book of the Apocalypse (Rev. 12:1) in which “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.”
What makes this medal so miraculous?
In addition to the hundreds of thousands of miracles that have been attributed to the Miraculous Medal worldwide, one must keep in mind that the very source of the Medal’s power is from Heaven — it is the promise made by the Queen of Heaven, our Blessed Mother, that has the Universal Church’s approval and blessing.
Mother for the whole world
The Miraculous Medal is a heavenly gift to us from our (spiritual) Mother, Mary. She desires for us to wear it as a heavenly gift with love and trust — not as a superstitious lucky charm. Mary loves us with a love we cannot understand, and she wants more than anything to help us. We need only to wear the Medal with love and trust, and as her true children with the intention to imitate her virtues, grow deeper in faith, and see beyond our own needs by helping the poor, sick, forgotten, and lonely.
The Medal around our neck is more than just a sacramental, although that in and of itself is powerful enough. This tangible sign serves as a reminder that the Mother of our Lord is with us, too, always ready to listen to us, ease our suffering, comfort us when we mourn, heal our souls and bodies, and rescue us in times of trial through her most powerful intercession. As the dispenser of God’s grace, Our Lady wants to intercede for us. We need only trust in her as our most loving Mother.
Today’s Modern World
Rest assured, Mary and her Miraculous Medal are just as important today than ever! They are the solution to all the difficulties we now face, both personally and globally. Perhaps more now than ever, we need our Blessed Lady’s comfort, peace, and protection. In a sermon given in the 1930’s, Father Moran told his attendees:
“Our Blessed Mother asks you to look upon [the Medal] not as an ornament but as a sign that she has fashioned … a sign that has come out from the great depths of her love for you. This Medal brings to you a message, an assurance not only that she is concerned with everything that worries you, but the Medal brings to you a guarantee that she has for each one of you — saint or sinner, fervent or negligent — that thing which we call love, that thing which we call affection … Let this sink in: You were in Mary’s Heart when she appeared to St. Catherine.”
Yes, Mother Mary, the Queen of Heaven and earth, had YOU in mind when she gave to the world her Miraculous Medal. So then, let us start wearing the Medal faithfully and without delay. And with it, allow your spiritual Mother’s love and peace to permeate your soul. Commit yourself to her and to become like her in virtue by always wearing it. If you do, you will surely one day hear from an unexpected passerby, “You remind me so much of Our Lady.” What a compliment.
May our Mother always protect and guide you. Mother Mary, pray for us!
An Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
O Virgin Mother of God, Mary Immaculate, we dedicate and consecrate ourselves to you under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. May this Medal be for each one of us a sure sign of your affection for us and a constant reminder of our duties toward you. Ever while wearing it, may we be blessed by your loving protection and preserved in the grace of your Son. O most powerful Virgin, Mother of our Savior, keep us close to you every moment of our lives. Obtain for us, your children, the grace of a happy death; so that, in union with you, we may enjoy the bliss of heaven forever. Amen.
[Repeat 3 times …](If Priest is present): O Mary, conceived without sin.
(People): Pray for us who have recourse to you.
Miraculous Medal Novena Prayer
O Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively confidence in your all-powerful and never-failing intercession, manifested so often through the Miraculous Medal, we your loving and trustful children implore you to obtain for us the graces and favors we ask during this Novena, if they be beneficial to our immortal souls, and the souls for whom we pray …
(… here privately form your petitions …)
You know, O Mary, how often our souls have been the sanctuaries of your Son who hates iniquity. Obtain for us, then, a deep hatred of sin and that purity of heart which will attach us to God alone, so that our every thought, word and deed may tend to His greater glory. Obtain for us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial, that we may recover by penance what we have lost by sin and at length attain to that blessed abode where you are the Queen of angels and of men. Amen.
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