Medals and Pendants

MIRACULOUS MEDAL $141	Miraculous Cross Medal $345	MIRACULOUS MEDAL 13 styles from $42	MIRACULOUS MEDAL 3 styles from $136	MIRACULOUS MEDAL $46	MIRACULOUS MEDAL 2 styles from $133
PORCELAIN MIRACULOUS PENDANT 3 styles from $48	MILAGROSA FRAMED ENAMEL PEND. $121	MILAGROSA FRAMED ENAMEL PEND $125	MIRACULOUS MEDAL $86	MIRACULOUS MEDAL 2 styles from $172	MIRACULOUS MEDAL $95
MIRACULOUS MEDAL $333	MIRACULOUS MEDAL 4 styles from $44	Miraculous Medal Pendant 15 styles from $47	MIRACULOUS MEDAL $148	TWO TONE MIRACULOUS MEDAL $148	MIRACULOUS MEDAL 2 styles from $39
MIRACULOUS MEDAL 2 styles from $51	MIRACULOUS MEDAL $228	MIRACULOUS MEDAL $70	MIRACULOUS MEDAL 2 styles from $38	MIRACULOUS MEDAL $265	TWO TONE MIRACULOUS MEDAL $205

Saint Catherine Laboure was born in Burgundy on May 2, 1806. Her mother insisted on having her baptised only fifteen minutes after her birth, a condition she did not request for any of her other ten children.

At an early age, Catherine Laboure entered the community of the Daughters of Charity, in obedience to a vision of Saint Vincent de Paul, telling her that God wanted her to work with the sick. While she was still a novice and only 24 years old, the Virgin Mary appeared to Catherine Laboure three times.

The first apparition was on July 18, 1830 in the community's motherhouse in Paris. Going to the chapel on the instructions of an angel who had wakened her, Catherine saw a lady seated on the left side of the altar. When Catherine knelt before her and rested her hands in the lady's lap, she was told how to act in times of trial, shown the altar as a source of all consolation, and warned of an anticlerical revolt which took place forty years later in 1870.

On November 27 of 1830, the lady showed Catherine a small medal which she removed from her belt. The medal was that of the Immaculate Conception, now known everywhere as the 'Miraculous Medal.' On one side was a picture of Mary, hands outstretched and the words 'O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.' On the other was the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Our Blessed Mother asked Catherine to have medals made and devotion to the medal spread. Our Lady told Catherine that wearers of the medal would receive great graces, and its wearing and devotion has spread worldwide.

On the front of the medal, Mary is standing upon a globe, crushing the head of a serpent beneath her foot. She stands upon the globe, as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Her feet crush the serpent to proclaim Satan and all his followers are helpless before her (Gn 3:15). The year of 1830 on the Miraculous Medal is the year the Blessed Mother gave the design of the Miraculous Medal to Saint Catherine Labouré.

On the reverse side, the twelve stars can refer to the Apostles, who represent the entire Church as it surrounds Mary. They also recall the vision of Saint John, writer of the Book of Revelation (12:1), in which "a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars." The cross can symbolize Christ and our redemption, with the bar under the cross a sign of the earth. The "M" stands for Mary, and the interleaving of her initial and the cross shows Mary’s close involvement with Jesus and our world. In this we see Mary's part in our salvation and her role as mother of the Church. The two hearts represent the love of Jesus and Mary for us. (See also Lk 2:35).
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The devotion commonly known as that of the Miraculous Medal owes its origin to Sister Catherine, a member of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, to whom the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared three separate times in the year 1830, at the mother-house of the community at Paris. The first of these apparitions occurred 18 July, the second 27 November, and the third a short time later. On the second occasion, Sister Catherine records that the Blessed Virgin appeared as if standing on a globe, and bearing a globe in her hands. As if from rings set with precious stones dazzling rays of light were emitted from her fingers. These, she said, were symbols of the graces which would be bestowed on all who asked for them. Sister Catherine adds that around the figure appeared an oval frame bearing in golden letters the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee"; on the back appeared the letter M, surmounted by a cross, with a crossbar beneath it, and under all the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the former surrounded by a crown of thorns, and the latter pierced by a sword.

This medal, originally called the medal of the Immaculate Conception, was renamed to the Miraculous Medal because of the numerous miracles of conversion associated with it. This item is the perfect gift for First Holy Communion or Confirmation and is an essential part of the devotional life of many Catholics.