Opening Prayer:
O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, ask thy Son on my behalf for
everything my soul and all mankind needs so that thy Reign be
established on earth. My most earnest request is that
thou mayest triumph in me and in all souls and implant thy Reign on earth. Amen.
First Day
The First Apparition
During the night of July 18-19, 1830, the Most Holy Virgin appeared for the first
time to Saint Catherine Labouré, who had been awakened and led from the dormitory
to the chapel by her guardian angel.
In the sanctuary, Saint Catherine later wrote:
“I heard something like the rustling of a silk dress,
coming from the side of the tribune, close to Saint Joseph’s picture.
She alighted on the steps of the altar on the Gospel side,
in an arm chair like Saint Anne’s... As I looked up at Our Lady
I flung myself close to her, falling on my knees on the altar steps,
my hands resting in her knees. That was the sweetest moment of my life.”
Let us pray:
O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, look on my soul with mercy,
obtain for me a spirit of prayer that leads me always to have
recourse to thee. Obtain for me the graces that I implore of thee and,
above all, inspire me to pray for the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be...
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Second Day
Protection of Mary in times of trial
“The times are very evil, misfortunes are going to befall France,
the throne will be overthrown, the whole world will be overwhelmed
with misfortunes of every kind.” The Holy Virgin looked very distressed
as she said this. “But come to the foot of this altar. Here graces will
be bestowed on anyone, great or small, who asks for them with confidence
and fervor... A moment will come of such great danger that all will seem lost.
But I shall be with you.”
Let us pray:
O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, amidst the great desolation in the world
and the Church, obtain for me the graces I ask of thee and inspire me,
above all, to request the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be...
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Third Day
Statue of St. Catherine kneeling beside Our Lady at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Rue de Bac, France. First Apparition of Our Lady, July 18, 1830The Cross will be despised
“The Cross will be despised and hurled to the ground, blood will
run in the streets, the Side of Our Lord will be opened again.
The archbishop will be stripped of his garments.” Here the Holy Virgin,
her face filled with sadness, could no longer speak.
“My child, the whole world will be plunged in sorrow,” she said to me.
Let us pray:
O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the grace to live
in union with thee, with thy Divine Son and the Church at this crucial
moment in history, as tragic as the Passion, when all humanity is
about to choose sides for or against Christ! Obtain for me the graces
I implore, especially the grace of requesting that which thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be...
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Fourth Day
Image of the Miraculous MedalMary crushes the head of the serpent
At 5:30 on the evening of November 27, 1830, as Saint Catherine was praying
in the chapel, the Holy Virgin appeared to her for the second time,
standing as high as Saint Joseph’s picture to the right of the main altar.
“Her face was so beautiful that it would be impossible for me to describe it.
Her robe was white as the glow of dawn... Her head was covered with a white veil
that extended to her feet which rested on a half sphere, with her heel crushing
the head of a serpent.”
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, be my protection against the
assaults of the infernal enemy. Obtain for me the graces I am asking of thee and,
above all, inspire me to request the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be...
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Statue of Our Lady presenting the world to God on 2nd apparition,
November 27, 1830, Rue de Bac Chapel
Fifth Day
The Virgin of the globe
The Holy Virgin holds a globe in her hands representing the whole world,
and each person in particular, and offers it to God, imploring His mercy.
She wears rings on her fingers, bearing precious stones that shed rays,
one more beautiful than the next, symbolizing the graces that the Holy Virgin
pours out on those who ask for them.
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the graces I am asking of thee and inspire me, above all, to request the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be...
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Sixth Day
Image of the Miraculous MedalThe invocation on the medal
During the second apparition, Our Blessed Mother explained to
Saint Catherine “how pleased she is when people pray to her and how
generous she is with them; how she gives special graces to those who ask;
and what a great joy she takes in granting them.”
At that point “a frame formed around Our Lady, like an oval,
bearing the following words in gold letters:
‘O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.’”
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the graces
I am asking of thee and inspire me, above all, to request the graces that
thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be...
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Second apparition of Our Lady to St. Catherine on
November 27th, 1830 revealing the configuration of the Miraculous Medal.
Seventh Day
Revelation of the medal
Then a voice was heard, saying, “Have a medal struck after this model.
Those who wear it, blessed, around their neck will receive
great graces. The graces will be abundant for those who wear it with confidence.”
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the graces
that I ask of thee and inspire me, above all, to pray for the graces that
thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be...
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Eighth Day
Image of the Miraculous Medal
The hearts of Jesus and Mary
After contemplating the picture on the medal,
Saint Catherine saw it turn to display the back.
There she saw an “M,” the monogram of Mary,
surmounted by a small cross and, below it,
the hearts of Jesus and Mary, the first surrounded with thorns
and the latter pierced with a sword.
Twelve stars surrounded the hearts and the monogram.
Let us pray: O Immaculate Heart of Mary, make my heart like unto thine.
Obtain for me the graces I am asking of thee and, above all,
inspire me to ask of thee the graces thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be...
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Ninth Day
St. Catherine Labouré, whom Our Lady entrusted the making of the Miraculous Medal.
Mary will be proclaimed Queen of the Universe Confirming
the predictions of Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort,
Saint Catherine says that the Most Holy Virgin will be
proclaimed Queen of the Universe:
“Oh! how beautiful it will be to hear: Mary is the Queen of the Universe.
The children and everyone will cry with joy and rapture.
That will be a lasting era of peace and happiness.
She will be displayed on standards and paraded all over the world.”
Let us pray: O Most Holy Virgin, O my Mother, obtain for me the graces
I am asking of thee and inspire me, above all,
to pray for the graces that thou most wants to grant me.
Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be...
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
About the Miraculous Medal
In 1830, during the apparitions in the chapel on Rue du Bac in Paris,
the Holy Virgin presented the Miraculous Medal to Saint Catherine Labouré:
“Those who wear it, blessed, around their neck will receive great graces.
The graces will be abundant for those who wear it with confidence.”
Image of the Miraculous Medal At the time of Saint Catherine Labouré’s death,
the distribution of the medal in the world had surpassed the one billion mark.
The innumerable conversions, cures and cases of extraordinary protection,
quickly lead to its being called the “Miraculous Medal.”
Wearing and disseminating the Miraculous Medal means placing
oneself under the protection of the Most Holy Virgin.
It means placing oneself under the sign of the Immaculate and
taking a stand in face of the troubles and indifference affecting the modern world.
“The whole world will be overwhelmed by misfortunes of all kinds...
All will seem lost, but I shall be with you,”
the Holy Virgin promised Saint Catherine,
who repeated this prophecy till the end of her life.
The rays coming from Our Lady’s hands symbolize the graces
she obtains for everyone who prays to her with confidence.
