Saint Catherine Laboure:

Feast day : 28 November

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Catherine Laboure, a visionary and member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. She lived during the period 1806-1876 and was blessed with extraordinary visions of our Lord Jesus, Saint Vincent de Paul and the Blessed Virgin. She is most famously known for the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to her in 1830 in three visions in which Our Lady gave her the image of a medal with specific inscriptions written on it. Our Lady promised to bless all those who wore the medal with special graces. Millions of people who wore the medal reported miracles and favours received from Our Lady. Owing to the abundance of graces received, the medal came to be called the ‘Miraculous Medal’. Saint Catherine spent her remaining life serving the elderly and sick in complete obscurity till her death in 1876. 56 years after her death, her body was exhumed and found be incorrupt. She was canonized on July 27, 1947 by Pope Pius XII.

Early life:

Saint Catherine was born into a large family in the village of Fain-les-Moutiers in France. At the age of nine she lost her mother and from thereon she accepted the Blessed Virgin Mary as her mother. She was known to be devout and pious from her childhood, fasting twice a week and attending Holy Mass daily. When she became of age, her father was keen on marrying her off but young Catherine had already decided to join a religious order. Her father initially tried to dissuade her from her calling but eventually gave in and she joined the order of the Sisters of Charity on Rue du Bac in Paris.

Vocational life:

She was blessed with extraordinary gifts which were soon to be revealed. During her postulancy she frequently beheld Our Lord in front of the Blessed Sacrament during Holy Mass. When the sacred remains of Saint Vincent de Paul were translated to the Vincentian church in Paris, she attended the solemnities and prayers. On three successive days, she experienced visions of the heart of Saint Vincent de Paul above the reliquary containing his incorrupt heart which is enshrined in the chapel of the motherhouse. The heart appeared in white, red and black colors in each of the visions.

The most famous visions that she is known for is the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to her in the year 1830. During the period from July to December 1830, in a series of three visions, Our Lady appeared to Saint Catherine and gave her the message to have a medal struck with the inscription “O Mary, conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee.” . Our Lady promised to bless all those who wore the medal with several graces. Read more about the apparition at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

Saint Catherine Laboure reported all the visions to Fr. Aladel who was her confessor. He was initially reluctant to accept the messages and even forbade her to think about it. After two years of contemplating the messages, he spoke to the Archbishop and had the medals made. In February 1832 a terrible cholera epidemic broke out in Paris and led to more than 20,000 deaths. In June the Daughters of Charity began to distribute the first 2000 medals. Cures were reported, as well as cases of protection from the disease and conversions on wearing the medal. The people of Paris began to call the medal “miraculous”. Soon millions of medals were distributed worldwide and thousands of miracles were reported. Though it was originally known as the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, it came to be associated with so many miracles and blessings, that it became known as the Miraculous Medal.

Death & Sainthood:

On January 30, 1831, Catherine received the habit of the Daughters of Charity. The next day, she set off for the Hospice of Enghien, which had been established by the Orléans family and was located at 12 Rue de Picpus on the east side of Paris, in an impoverished neighbourhood where she served elderly men and poor persons for 46 years quietly and in complete obscurity till her death in 1876.

Her body was placed in a triple coffin and buried in a crypt of the chapel at 11 Rue de Reuilly where it remained for 56 years. As part of her beatification process, on 21 March 1933, her coffin was exhumed. When it was opened, her body was found to be perfectly intact! The body was later placed in the motherhouse chapel where it still reposes behind a glass covering. The heart of the Saint is kept in a special reliquary made of jewelled crystal and gold and is kept in the chapel in Reuilly.

Saint Catherine was beatified on May 28, 1933, by Pope Pius XI and canonized on July 27, 1947, by Pope Pius XII. She is the patron saint of the elderly, infirm and the Miraculous Medal.