The Miraculous Medal

Andrew Chabak and Dominic Vaccarello, July 2005

The Central Association of the Miraculous Medal
475 Chelten Avenue, Germantown
Philadelphia, PA 19144-5785
1-800-523-3674

History

The Medal of the Immaculate Conception, commonly called the Miraculous Medal , was manifested to Sister (now Saint) Catherine Laboure, a spiritual daughter of St Louise de Marillac and St. Vincent de Paul. This took place in the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Daughters, 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.

Sister Catherine's description of the apparition of Our Lady on November 27, 1830 makes it clear that the Medal originated with the Mother of God herself.

Her feet rested on a white globe… I saw rings on her fingers…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." Catherine heard an interior voice: "these rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them. The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which souls forget to ask." An oval frame formed around the Blessed Virgin, and within it in not necessary, that a person be invested in the Medal by a priest or delegated lay person using the approved rite.

Members of the Association can enjoy a plenary indulgence on the following days: the day of investiture the anniversary of the establishment of the Association (July 8), the feasts of the Queenship of Mary (August 22), St. Vincent de Paul (September 27) Catherine Laboure (November 29). To receive the indulgence, the usual conditions apply: Confession, Communion and prayers for the intention of the Pope. These indulgences are applicable to the souls in purgatory.

The members of this Association incur no obligations. They are encouraged to pray often the words found on the Medal: O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.

* Do not confuse this Association tithe The Central Association of the Miraculous Medal.

The Central Association of the Miraculous Medal

The Central Association was started in 1915 to spread devotion to Mary Immaculate and to her Miraculous Medal. Its secondary purposes are to help men become priests, to aid in the support of inform priests and brothers and to assist the poor.

Origin of the Perpetual Novena

The Central Association of the Miraculous Medal built the exquisite Mary's Central Shrine in Germantown, Philadelphia, PA, in 1927, as the "Center and Heart" of the Association. At this Shrine a Novena of nine consecutive days was held each year in preparation for each of the four principal feasts of Our Lady.

These Novenas proved so popular and Our Lady bestowed her favors so generously that it seemed advisable to hold a Novena service every Monday in the year. Thus began the Perpetual Novena in honor of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on December 8, 1930, just one hundred years after Mary Immaculate manifested the design of the medal to St. Catherine Laboure. Today, nine services are held every Monday at our Central Shrine.

In 1932, a diocesan priest asked and received permission to start the Novena in his parish. Today, the Novena flourishes in thousands of churches and chapels in this country, and in Africa, Australia, America, England, France, Hawaii, India, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Scotland, South America, and elsewhere.

The Ave Maria

The shields of the Hail Mar signify:

Madonna Lily, symbol of virginity and purity of Mary.
Five-Fold Cross of the Holy Land, emblem of Our Lord's Five wounds.
Monogram formed by the intertwined letters of the Latin word Maria (Mary); also the initials of Ave Maria Regina (Hail Mary Queen).
Rose (Rosa Mystica), representing the title Mystical Rose
Star of the Sea (Stella Maris). The name Mary in Hebrew (Miriam) signifies a Star.
Fleur-De-Lis, conventionalized "annunciation Lily," symbol of the Holy Trinity and of the Blessed Virgin.

Prayer of Saint Catherine Laboure

Whenever I go to the chapel,
I put myself in the presence
of our good Lord, and I say to him,
"Lord, I am here. Tell me what
you would have me to do."
If he gives me nothing,
I still thank him since I do not deserve
to receive anything more than that.
And then, I tell God everything
that is in my heart.
I tell him about my pains and my joys,
and then I listen.
If you listen, God will also speak to you,
for with the good Lord,
you have to both speak and listen.
God always speaks to you
when you approach him plainly and simply.

Novena
Novena Exercises Hymn
(All stand)
IMMACULATE MARY
(Lourdes Hymn)
Immaculate Mary,
Your praises we sing,
You reign no in splendor
With Jesus, our King

Chorus

Ave, Ave, Ave Maria!
Ave, Ave, Maria!
Your name is our power,
Your virtues our light,
Your love is our comfort,
Your pleading our might. - Chorus

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Reading of Announcements
and Favors
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Memorare

Priest and People: Remember, O most compassionate Virgin Mary,/ that never was it known/ that anyone who fled to your protection,/ implored your assistance,/ or sought your intercession,/ was left unaided./ Inspired with this confidence,/ we fly unto you,/ O Virgin of Virgins, our Mother;/ to you we come;/ before you we kneel/ sinful and sorrowful./ O Mother of the Word Incarnate,/ despise not our petitions,/ but in your clemency hear and answer them. Amen.

Novena Prayer

Priest and People: 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 the be beneficial to our immortal souls,/ and the souls whom we pray./ (Here privately form our 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 great glory./ Obtain for us also/ a spirit of prayer and self-denial/ that we may recover by penance/ what we have lost by sine/ and at length attain to that blessed abode where you are the Queen of angles and of men. Amen.

An Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

Priest and People: 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,/ ma we be blessed by your loving protection/ and preserved in the grace of you 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.

Priest: O Mary, conceived without sin,
People: Pray for us who have recourse to you.
(3 times)

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Short Sermon
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Hymn-Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above

Hail, holy Queen enthroned above,
O Maria.
Hail, Queen of mercy and of love,
O Maria.

Chorus Triumph, all ye Cherubim
Sing with us, e Seraphim,
Heav'n and earth resound the hymn:
Salve, Salve, Salve Regina.

The cause of joy to mean below,
O Maria.
The spring through which all graces flow,
O Maria.- Chorus

O gentle, loving, holy one,
O Maria.
The God of Light became you Son,
O Maria.-Chorus

Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Humbly let us voice our homage
For so great a sacrament,
Let all former rites surrender
To the Lord's New Testament;
What our senses fail to fathom
Let us grasp through faith's consent!

Glory, honor, adoration
Let us sing with one accord!
Praised be God, almighty Father;
Praised be Christ, His Son, Our Lord;
Praised be God the Holy Spirit;
Triune Godhead be adored! Amen.

Let Us Pray

Priest: God, who left us in this wondrous sacrament a memorial of our Passion, help us, we beg You, so to reverence the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood, that we may always experience the effects of Your Redemption. Who live and reign forever and ever.

People: Amen.

The Divine Praises

Blessed by God.
Blessed be His holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be the name of Mar Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints.

May the Heart of Jesus/ in the Most Blessed
Sacrament/ be praised, adored and loved/ with grateful affection/ at every
moment/ in all the tabernacles of the world/ even to the end of time. Amen.

Sing: O Mary, conceived without sin,
Pray for us, pray for us,
O Mary, conceived without sin,
Pray for us, who have recourse to thee.

Links

Association of the Miraculous Medal: http://www.amm.org/

Miraculous Medal: http://www.cammonline.org/pages/miraculousMedal.html

Prayers for the Miraculous Medal: http://www.cammonline.org/pages/prayer.html

Militia of the Immaculata: http://www.consecration.com/learn-more1.html

Catholic Stores Company: http://www.catholiccompany.com/index.cfm

The Real Presence: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/mirmedal.htm

Sacred heart.com: http://www.sacredheart.com/ReligiousJewelry.htm

Apparitions of Mary: http://www.apparitions.org/rue_du_bac.html

Marian Apparitions: http://members.aol.com/bjw1106/marian5.htm

Mary Pages: http://www.marypages.com/first.htm

Miraculous Medal Apparitions Art Gallery: http://biblia.com/apparitions/medal.htm

Lady of All Nations: http://www.ladyofallnations.org/rudubac.htm

Miraculous Medal and the Immaculate Conception: http://www.frtommylane.com/homilies/years_abc/immaculate_conception2.htm

Miraculous Medal-Catholic Pages: http://www.catholic-pages.com/bvm/miracmedal.asp

Book St. Catherine and the Miraculous Medal: http://www.ignatius.com/ViewProduct.aspx?SID=1&SKU=SCLM-P&Category_ID=1&

Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal: http://www.chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com/EN/H3.asp

Opening Prayer
Priest: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen
Priest: Come O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created
People: And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Priest: Let us pray.
Oh God who did instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through Jesus Christ Our Lord.
People: Amen
Priest O Mary Conceived without sin.
People: Pray for us who have recourse to you. (3 times)

Priest and People: O lord Jesus Christ, who have vouchsafed to glorify by numberless miracles/ the Blesses Virgin Mary,/ immaculate from the first moment of her conception,/ grant that all who devoutly implore her protection on earth,/ may eternally enjoy Your presence in haven,/ who, with the Father and Holy Spirit,/ live and reign, God, for ever and ever. Amen

O Lord Jesus Christ,/ who for the accomplishment of our greatest works,/ have chosen the weak things of the world,/ that no flesh ma glory in Your sight;/ and who for a better and more widely diffused belief/ in the Immaculate Conception of Your Mother,/ have wished that the Miraculous Medal/ be manifested to Saint Catherine Laboure,/ grant, we beseech You,/ that filled with like humility,/ we may glorify this mystery by word and work. Amen.