On the night of July 18, 1830, St. Catherine Labouré was awakened by her Guardian Angel, who said, “Come to chapel; the Blessed Virgin is waiting for you.” The Blessed Virgin Mary told her, “My child, the good God wishes to entrust to you a mission.” The mission that God wanted to entrust to Catherine was made manifest to her on November 27, 1830. It was the mission of making and distributing the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, now known as the Miraculous Medal.
Our Lady appeared to Catherine standing on a globe and dressed in white having with a long white veil which fell to her feet. The Virgin held in her hands, at the height of her shoulders, a golden ball which she seemed to be offering to God as she raised her eyes to heaven. Her fingers were covered with rings whose precious jewels sparkled brilliantly and showered down innumerable rays of light on the globe beneath her feet, almost obscuring the view of her feet. Mary lowered her eyes and looked directly at Catherine. Mary said nothing, but Catherine heard this message, “The ball which you see represents the world, especially France, and each person in particular. These rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them. The jewels which give no rays symbolize the graces that are not given because they are not asked for.” Then the apparition changed. Our Lady appeared with a white dress, a blue mantle, and a white veil which draped back over her shoulders. She was still standing on the globe, and had one foot on the head of a serpent which lay at her feet. The number 1830 was marked on the globe. The Virgin had her arms and hands pointed downwards, and a cascade of rays was falling down from both hands onto the globe. An oval frame formed around the Blessed Virgin, and written around within it, in letters of gold, was the beautiful prayer, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.” This was the front side of the medal that was to be made. Then the vision revolved to show the reverse side of the medal. Catherine saw a Cross with a bar at its feet with which was intertwined an “M.” Beneath the “M” were the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, both surmounted by flames of love, one having a crown of thorns, and other pierced with a sword. Encircling all of this were twelve stars around the oval frame. Catherine heard the voice telling her, “Have a medal struck after this model. All who wear it will receive great graces. They should wear it around the neck. Graces will abound for persons who wear it with confidence.”
The Miraculous Medal is a symbol of the whole history of salvation from Genesis to the Apocalypse. The front side of the medal depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Victorious Woman of Genesis, her foot crushing the head of the serpent. Our Lady is standing on the globe of the world symbolizing Mary both as the Victorious Woman and the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Mary’s hands are shown showering a cascade of brilliant rays on the world, as if she found them too heavy with graces and was eager to pour them on to the People of God as the Mediatrix of all graces. Around the oval frame of the medal are the words, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.” This brief prayer contains the truths of both the Immaculate Conception of Mary and Mary’s intercessory power with God for those who ask for her aid. On the reverse side of the Medal there is a Cross, the symbol of Christ’s Redeeming Sacrifice on Mount Calvary for the salvation of the world. At the base of the Cross is a bar, which symbolizes the foot of the Cross. Intertwined with the bar is the letter “M” symbolizing Mary’s intimate involvement at the foot of the Cross with her Son’s Redemptive Sacrifice, Mary’s subordinate role to that of Jesus. It was also at the foot of the Cross that Jesus gave us, in the person of the Beloved Disciple, His own Mother to be our Mother. “Woman, behold your son; son, behold your Mother” (John 19, 25-27). And the beloved disciple gives us an example to follow, so that we learn to take Mary into our homes, into our lives, into our hearts, as do loving children. So the “M” stands not only for Mary, but also for Mother. On the Medal beneath the Cross and the “M” we see the two Hearts, the Sacred Heart of Jesus encircled with a crown of thorns, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary pierced with a sword. The two Hearts are surmounted by flames, symbolizing the burning love with which Jesus and Mary accomplished the work of Redemption, each in their proper way. Around the oval frame of the Medal, encircling the Cross, the “M,” and the two Hearts, there is a crown of twelve stars. This can be seen as a reference to the “the Great Sign” in the Book of Revelation; the “Woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” The Woman who engaged in battle with the “huge red Dragon...the ancient serpent, who is called the devil, or Satan” (Rev 12:3 & 9) is the Queen of the Apostles, the Mother of the Church.
Since the Cross is the symbol of Christ’s Redemptive Sacrifice, we can also see a Eucharistic symbolism on the Medal. The Divine Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice [the Mass], the Memorial of His Death and Resurrection, and entrusted it to His Spouse the Church. In every Eucharistic Liturgy the Church involves the Blessed Virgin Mary, so befitting to her who stood heroically at the foot of the Cross uniting her sufferings to the Sacrifice of her Son, filling up in her body those things that are wanting to the sufferings of Christ, for the sake of His Mystical Body, the Church. In all of the approved apparitions of Our Lady there is a Eucharistic thrust. She usually asked for a church to be built, in which the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Blessed Sacrament always have prime place. Mary always leads those to Jesus, and Jesus is especially present in the Eucharist.
Rev. Robert J. Billett, C.M.F. “St. Catherine Labouré and the Miraculous Medal.” Mary’s Touch by Mail. October 1997. http://www.marys-touch.com/Saints/medal/medal.htm.
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