Saint Margaret of Antioch: The Dragon Slayer and Martyr of Faith
Do you have a Miraculous Medal?
In honor of St. Catherine Labouré‘s feast day of November 28, we will recall her description of the second appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary as noted in The Story of Saint Catherine Laboure1:
"On the 27th of November, 1830 ... while making my meditation in profound silence ... I seemed to hear on the right hand side of the sanctuary something like the rustling of a silk dress. Glancing in that direction, I perceived the Blessed Virgin standing near St. Joseph's picture. Her height was medium and Her countenance, indescribably beautiful. She was dressed in a robe the color of the dawn, high-necked, with plain sleeves. Her head was covered with a white veil, which floated over Her shoulders down to her feet. Her feet rested upon a globe, or rather one half of a globe, for that was all that could be seen. Her hands which were on a level with Her waist, held in an easy manner another globe, a figure of the world. Her eyes were raised to Heaven, and Her countenance beamed with light as She offered the globe to Our Lord.
"As I was busy contemplating Her, the Blessed Virgin fixed Her eyes upon me, and a voice said in the depths of my heart: ' This globe which you see represents the whole world, especially France, and each person in particular.'
"There now formed around the Blessed Virgin a frame rather oval in shape on which were written in letters of gold these words: 'O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.' Then a voice said to me: 'Have a medal struck upon this model. All those who wear it, when it is blessed, will receive great graces especially if they wear it round the neck. Those who repeat this prayer with devotion will be in a special manner under the protection of the Mother of God. Graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.'
"At the same instant, the oval frame seemed to turn around. Then I saw on the back of it the letter 'M', surmounted by a cross, with a crossbar beneath it, and under the monogram of the name of Mary, the Holy Hearts of Jesus and of His Mother; the first surrounded by a crown of thorns and the second transpierced by a sword. I was anxious to know what words must be placed on the reverse side of the medal and after many prayers, one day in meditation I seemed to hear a voice which said to me: ' The 'M' with the Cross and the two Hearts tell enough.'"
The story further reports that when St. Catherine Labouré’s body was exhumed for beatification 57 years after her death in 1933, “ it was found as fresh as the day it was buried. Her incorrupt body can still be seen today at the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity in The Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, 140 Rue du Bac in Paris.” I was blessed to kneel at this same altar rail and see St. Catherine, whose open eyes are still as blue as when she was alive.
If you do not have a Miraculous Medal, get one here, or at any local or online Catholic bookstore, and have it blessed by a priest and wear it and buy extra Miraculous Medals to give to others you may encounter.
Many miraculous occurrences have evolved due to this medal and Our Blessed Mother’s intercession. One notable event was how a vociferously anti-Catholic agnostic and jewish gentleman of influence, Alphonsus Ratisbonne, converted to Catholicism and became a priest after wearing the Miraculous Medal and seeing a vision of Our Lady as depicted in the medal at the Basilica Sant Andrea delle Frate (St. Andrew of the Bush) in Rome.3
Hearing this story of great conversion through the Miraculous Medal, Fr. Maximillian Kolbe was inspired to meditate on this medal, St. Catherine Labouré and her apparitions and Ratisbonne’s conversion for nine months. Then on Oct 16, 1917 [three days after the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima] he gathered six Franciscans and formed the Militia of the Immaculatta which has millions of members around the world today. St. Maximillan recommended that people wear the Miraculous Medal as “an external sign of their life-consecration to Jesus through Mary.”4 St. Maximillian passed out Miraculous Medals to many and referred to them as “silver bullets” and advised:
“During the apparition of the Miraculous Medal, She dictated an ejaculatory prayer, so this is our prayer and in it we include all men. She gave us the Miraculous Medal, so this is our weapon with which to strike hearts. In addition, any other means, provided it is licit, can be used, anything that zeal and prudence suggest–in a word, whatever love commands us, a love without limits–whatever this beloved Mother of ours, Mother of the whole world and of each and every souls wishes to do by our instrumentality.”5
In addition to wearing your Miraculous Medal, also visit Our Lord in your nearest Adoration Chapel, as Our Blessed Mother always leads us to her Son. St. Catherine advises,
"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 some task, I am content and I thank him. 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 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. "2
St. Catherine Labouré, pray for us.
Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
1https://www.olrl.org/lives/laboure.shtml
2http://www.communityofhopeinc.org/Prayer%20Pages/Saints/catherine%20laboure.html
3 http://www.marypages.com/ratisbonneEng1.htm
4 http://www.marypages.com/KolbeEng.htm
5 http://maryvictrix.com/2008/05/23/of-a-roman-church-an-anti-catholic-and-a-silver-bullet/
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