St. Catherine Laboure
Posted on November 28, 2018 by admin No comments
Born: May 2, 1806 Fain-lès-Moutiers, Côte-d’Or, France
Died: December 31, 1876 (aged 70) Enghien-les-Bains, Seine-et-Oise, France
Venerated: in Roman Catholicism
Beatified: May 28, 1933, Vatican by Pope Pius XI
Canonized: July 27, 1947, Vatican by Pope Pius XII
Major shrine: Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Paris, France
Feast: 28 November, 31 December
Patronage: Miraculous Medal, in-firmed people, the elderly
Saint Catherine Labouré, D.C.. (May 2, 1806 – December 31, 1876) was a French member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and is a Marian visionary. She is believed to have relayed the request from the Blessed Virgin Mary to create the famous Miraculous Medal of Our Lady of Graces worn by millions of people around the world.
Life
Catherine (Zoé) was born on May 2, 1806, in the Burgundy region of France to Pierre Labouré, a farmer, and Madeleine Louise Gontard, the ninth of 11 living children. Catherine’s mother died on October 9, 1815, when Catherine was nine years old. It is said that after her mother’s funeral, Catherine picked up a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and kissed it saying, “Now you will be my mother.” Her father’s sister offered to care for his two youngest children, Catherine and Marie Antoinette (Tonine). After he agreed, the sisters moved to their aunt’s house at Saint-Rémy, a village nine kilometers from their home.
Labouré was observed to be extremely devout, of a somewhat romantic nature, given to visions and intuitive insights. As a young woman, she became a member of the nursing order founded by Saint Vincent de Paul, the Daughters of Charity; she chose this order after a dream about St. Vincent de Paul.
Visions
Saint Vincent de Paul
In April 1830, the remains of Saint Vincent de Paul were translated to the Vincentian church in Paris. The solemnities included a novena. On three successive evenings, upon returning from the church to the Rue du Bac, Catherine reportedly experienced in the convent chapel, a vision of what she took to be the heart of St. Vincent above a shrine containing a relic of bone from his right arm.
Each time the heart appeared a different color: white, red, and crimson. She interpreted this to mean that the Vincentian communities would prosper, and that there would be a change of government. The convent chaplain advised her to forget the matter.
Blessed Virgin Mary
Sister Catherine Labouré stated that on July 19, 1830, the eve of the feast of Saint Vincent de Paul, she woke up after hearing the voice of a child calling her to the chapel, where she heard the Virgin Mary say to her, “God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace to do what is necessary. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world.”Catherine keep walking thinking about what she just heard.
On November 27, 1830, Catherine reported that the Blessed Mother returned to her during evening meditations. She displayed herself inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe, rays of light came out of her hands in the direction of a globe. Around the margin of the frame appeared the words “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” As Catherine watched, the frame seemed to rotate, showing a circle of twelve stars, a large letter M surmounted by a cross, and the stylized Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary underneath. Asked why some of the rays of light did not reach the Earth, Mary reportedly replied “Those are the graces for which people forget to ask.” Catherine then heard Mary ask her to take these images to her father confessor, telling him that they should be put on medallions. “All who wear them will receive great graces.”
Sister Catherine did so, and after two years of investigation and observation of Catherine’s normal daily behavior, the priest took the information to his archbishop without revealing Catherine’s identity. The request was approved and the design of the medallions was commissioned through French goldsmith Adrien Vachette. They proved to be exceedingly popular. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception had not yet been officially promulgated, but the medal with its “conceived without sin” slogan was influential in popular approval of the idea.
Death and legacy
Sister Catherine spent the next forty years caring for the aged and infirm. For this, she is called the patroness of seniors. She died on December 31, 1876, at the age of seventy. Her body is encased in glass beneath the side altar in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal at 140 Rue du Bac, Paris.
Her cause for sainthood was declared upon discovering her body was incorrupt. She was beatified on May 28, 1933 by Pope Pius XI and canonized on July 27, 1947 by Pope Pius XII.
Saint Catherine’s feast day is observed on November 28 according to the liturgical calendar of the Congregation of the Mission, the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris. She is listed in the Martyrologium Romanum for December 31.
Prayer to Saint Catherine Laboure
Saint Catherine Labouré, you were the chosen confidant of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She revealed to you her desire that her children wear the Miraculous Medal as a mark of their love for her and in honor of her Immaculate Conception.
Intercede for us, that we may follow our heavenly mother’s desires. Ask that we may receive those special graces which flow from her motherly hands like rays of light. Amen
Prayer to Saint Catherine Laboure
O, St. Catherine, Who by your filial confidence in the Blessed Virgin merited the privilege of contemplating and conversing with Her while on this earth, obtain for us a faith like yours in Her maternal love. Grant that we may understand and appreciate the value of silence and of humility, and obtain for us the grace to show forth these virtues in our lives. Teach us to accomplish faithfully the duties of our state in order that we may merit the happiness of contemplating with you, the Virgin Immaculate during all eternity. Amen.
Prayer of Saint Catherine Laboure
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 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 my 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.
Miraculous Medal Novena to Saint Catherine Laboure
(Please recite this Novena for 9 days)
Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created; and Thou shall renew the face of the earth. O God, You instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit. Grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for who have recourse to thee. (3 times.)
Lord Jesus Christ, You have been pleased to glorify by numberless miracles the Blessed Virgin Mary, immaculate from the first moment of her conception. Grant that all who devoutly implore her protection on earth may eternally enjoy Your presence in heaven, Who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, live and reign, God, forever and ever. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, for the accomplishment of Your works, You have chosen the weak things of the world, that no flesh may glory in Your sight. And for a better and more widely diffused belief in the Immaculate Conception of Your Mother, You have wished that the Miraculous Medal be manifested to Saint Catherine Laboure. Grant, we beseech thee, that filled with like humility, we may glorify this mystery by word and work. Amen.
Memorare
REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.
Novena Prayer
IMMACULATE Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively confidence in your all-powerful and never-failing intercession, manifested so often through the Miraculous Medal, we your loving and trustful children implore you to obtain for us the graces and favors we ask during this Novena, if they be beneficial to our immortal souls, and the souls for which we pray:
(Mention your request).
You know, Mary, how often our souls have been the sanctuaries of your Son Who hates iniquity. Obtain for us then a deep hatred of sin and that purity of heart which will attach us to God alone so that our every thought, word, and deed may tend to His greater glory.
Obtain for us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial that we may recover by penance what we have lost by sin and at length attain to that blessed abode where you are the Queen of Angels and of People. Amen.
Act of Consecration
VIRGIN Mother of God, Mary Immaculate, we dedicate and consecrate ourselves to you under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. May this Medal be for each one of us a sure sign of your affection for us and a, constant reminder of our duties toward you. Ever while wearing it, may we be blessed by your loving protection and preserved in the grace of your Son.
Most powerful Virgin, Mother of our Savior, keep us close to you every moment of our lives. Obtain for us, your children, the grace of a happy death; so that, in union with you, we may enjoy the blessing of heaven forever. Amen.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3 times.)
Click here to download this content of St. Catherine Laboure in .pdf format
Click here to download Prayers to St. Catherine Laboure in .pdf format
Click here to download Miraculous Medal Novena to Saint Catherine Laboure in .pdf format