Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal refers to a series of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a young Daughter of Charity, St. Catherine Labouré, in the convent chapel on the Rue du Bac in Paris in 1830. In the chief vision, the Virgin appeared standing upon a globe, rays of light streaming from her hands, encircled by the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee," and she asked that a medal be struck according to this pattern.

The Virgin promised that those who wore the medal with confidence would receive great graces, and when it was made and distributed, so many favors and conversions were attributed to it that the people called it simply the "Miraculous Medal." The devotion spread with remarkable speed throughout the Catholic world and remains among the most beloved of Marian devotions. The apparition, occurring a generation before the definition of the Immaculate Conception, helped prepare the way for that dogma. Catherine Labouré kept the secret of her role until near her death and was later canonized. The feast is kept on 27 November.