Apparitions and Miracles :

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (1830)

On November 27,  1830, St. Catherine Labouré was awakened by a voice directing her to a chapel.  When she entered the chapel, she saw a vision of the Blessed Mother who told her that “times are evil in France and the world”.   The Blessed Mother directed to medals that would confer graces on those who wore them. With this medal, the Blessed Mother promised that “All those who wear it will receive great graces; these graces will be abundant for those who wear it with faith.” The medal bears an image of Our Lady standing on the world, the serpent crushed under her feet, with arms extended and graces pouring forth from her hands. On the reverse is a cross surmounted by the letter ‘M’ and beneath it the side-by-side symbols of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, all encircled by twelve stars. The medal symbolizes Mary’s perfect spiritual union with Jesus’ redemptive mission, and, consequently, her intercessory role in salvation history as the mediatrix of God’s graces to mankind through her Son.

St Catherine Labouré who lived in Paris followed the Blessed Mother’s direction and had the Miraculous Medal inscribed with “Ô Marie conçue sans péché, priez pour nous qui avons recours à vous‘ (O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee).   Saint Catherine died in 1876.  Her  body was found incorrupt in 1933 and remains  on display in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris.

The Blessed Mother under the title Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal is celebrated on November 27.