ST CATHERINE LABOURE - 28 NOVEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN NOVEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 28th of November

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST CATHERINE LABOURE, RELIGIOUS

The medal of the Immaculate Conception, commonly called the Miraculous Medal, was manifested to a 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 favours from God, such as visions of the heart of Saint 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.

ST CATHERINE'S OWN ACCOUNT

St Catherine describes the apparitions 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: ‘O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee’. Then a 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 St Catherine related the vision to her confessor, he asked 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.

PROMISE:

“Those who wear it will receive great graces. They should wear it around the neck.” The Medal had originally been called the “Medal of the Immaculate Conception”, but so many remarkable graces and favours were soon granted through it that it quickly became known as the “Miraculous Medal”. [St Catherine is also commemorated on December 31.]

(From: “The Woman Shall Conquer”, paper edition, by Don Sharkey, Prow Books/Franciscan Marytown Press, Libertyville, IL, 1954)