St. Catherine Labouré
Feast 11-28 · Canonized 1947
Patron of
About
Catherine Labouré was born in 1806 in Burgundy, France, the ninth of eleven children. After her mother's death she cared for the family farm, and in 1830 she entered the Daughters of Charity in Paris.
That same year, the Virgin Mary appeared to her in the convent chapel and asked her to have a medal struck showing Mary with rays of grace flowing from her hands, surrounded by the words O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. The Miraculous Medal, as it came to be called, spread around the world and was associated with countless healings and conversions.
Catherine kept her identity as the visionary secret for forty-six years, revealing it only near the end of her life. She died in 1876 and was canonized in 1947.
Suggested prayer
O God, who showed Catherine Labouré the rays of grace flowing from the hands of the Blessed Virgin, grant through her intercession abundant graces to the elderly and to all who wear the Miraculous Medal. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
