Miraculous Medal
Miraculous Medal - c. The 1870
"Huh, that's a weird-looking piece of dirt" were the words that came out of my mouth when I unearthed this medal over the weekend.
This idea of the medal came about in 1832 after Catherine Labouré had a vision of the Virgin Mary. The design depicted on the medal was a reproduction of the vision Catherine had. The Virgin Mary rotating with rays of light radiating from her. The words inscribed around the depiction are, "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee". The original medals were made of gold. In the later part of the 19th century, they would also be made of silver.
I'm not sure which version this is due to the amount of dirt on it. But I will post an update after I have it cleaned up. I guess I should get a handheld metal detector and check my piles of dirt a little be closer!
"O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee"
After Catherine Labouré had her vision of the Virgin Mary, she went to her priest and urged him to put her vision on medallions so that anyone wearing one would receive great graces.
Sister Catherine was observed and investigated for two years by the priest before taking her request to an archbishop. The archbishop approved the medallions, and they would be produced by Adrien Vachette, who was King Louis XVIII's personal jewelry during his reign. From 1832 to 1836, Adrien produced over two million medallions.
Sister Catherine continued to care for the old and ill until her death on December 31, 1876. She would not become a Saint until 1947 after it was discovered her body was incorrupt, a belief in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox religions that a person is holy when their body shows no signs of decomposition.
It was cool to find out that Saint Catherine and I share the same birthday while researching this item. I won't put this relic on display. Instead, I'll keep this medal on me in hopes it brings me good graces and relics.
