The devotion commonly known as that of the Miraculous Medal owes its origin to
Zoe Labore, a member of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, known
in religion as Sister Catherine [Note: She was subsequently canonized], to whom
the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared three separate times in the year 1830, at the
mother-house of the community at Paris. The first of these apparitions occurred
18 July, the second 27 November, and the third a short time later. On the second
occasion, Sister Catherine records that the Blessed Virgin appeared as if
standing on a globe, and bearing a globe in her hands. As if from rings set with
precious stones dazzling rays of light were emitted from her fingers. These, she
said, were symbols of the graces which would be bestowed on all who asked for
them. Sister Catherine adds that around the figure appeared an oval frame
bearing in golden letters the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us
who have recourse to thee"; on the back appeared the letter M, surmounted by a
cross, with a crossbar beneath it, and under all the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and
Mary, the former surrounded by a crown of thorns, and the latter pierced by a
sword.
At the second and third of these visions a command was given to have a medal
struck after the model revealed, and a promise of great graces was made to
those who wear it when blessed. After careful investigation, M. Aladel, the
spiritual director of Sister Catherine, obtained the approval of Mgr. de Quelen,
Archbishop of Paris, and on 30 June, 1832, the first medals were struck and with
their distribution the devotion spread rapidly. One of the most remarkable facts
recorded in connection with the Miraculous Medal is the conversion of a Jew,
Alphonse Ratisbonne (q.v.) of Strasburg, who had resisted the appeals of a friend
to enter the Church. M. Ratisbonne consented, somewhat reluctantly, to wear
the medal, and being in Rome, he entered, by chance, the church of Sant'
Andrea delle Fratte and beheld in a vision the Blessed Virgin exactly as she is
represented on the medal; his conversion speedily followed. This fact has
received ecclesiastical sanction, and is recorded in the office of the feast of the
Miraculous Medal. In 1847, M. Etienne, superior-general of the Congregation of
the Mission, obtained from Pope Pius IX the privilege of establishing in the
schools of the Sisters of Charity a confraternity under the title of the Immaculate
Conception, with all the indulgences attached to a similar society established for
its students at Rome by the Society of Jesus. This confraternity adopted the
Miraculous Medal as its badge, and the members, known as the Children of
Mary, wear it attached to a blue ribbon. On 23 July, 1894, Pope Leo XIII, after a
careful examination of all the facts by the Sacred Congregation of Rites,
instituted a feast, with a special Office and Mass, of the Manifestation of the
Immaculate Virgin under the title of the Miraculous Medal, to be celebrated
yearly on 27 November by the Priests of the Congregation of the Mission, under
the rite of a double of the second class. For ordinaries and religious communities
who may ask the privilege of celebrating the festival, its rank is to be that of a
double major feast. A further decree, dated 7 September, 1894, permits any
priest to say the Mass proper to the feast in any chapel attached to a house of
the Sisters of Charity.
JOSEPH GLASS
Transcribed by Michael T. Barrett
Dedicated to the past and present members of the Children of Mary
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X
Copyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight
Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
The New Catholic Encyclopedia: NewAdvent.org