Miraculous Medal Shrine

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Pilgrim42

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As I’ve pointed out on other threads, I’m going to Paris soon with two non-Catholic friends. They love seeing churches when they travel and taking photos. I would like to go to the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal, though I admit I don’t know much about the devotional.

The website is attractive, though the regular Paris travel guidebooks don’t think highly of it. They say it’s kitschy and used to have medals and rosaries for sale in vending machines.

I suspect if I’m going to get anything out of going to this chapel at all I’ll have to go alone, without my friends, but that’s fine too. They say they plan to sleep late, so I suspect I’ll be doing a lot of running around before they get up. From all indications, though, Paris doesn’t start up very early, except fo the churches.

I would consider getting a medal, but the main reason I never worn a medal or a crucifix or scapular is my deep-seated tendency towards certain habitual sins–I would feel hypocritical wearing something like that knowing my sinful habits and my tendency to slip back into them again and again.
 
The Miraculous Medal is based on an apparition of the Blessed Virgin to St. Catherine Laboure, a novice at the convent where the shrine now stands. On the obverse of the medal, Mary stands on top of a globe, crushing a serpent. This serpent represents Satan, and recalls Genesis 3:15–“She will crush your head.” Mary’s outstretched hands emit rays of light, representing the graces that she dispenses. Around this image are the words “O Mary, concieved without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” The reverse of the medal shows an M–meaning Mary or Mother–surmounted by a cross, representative of Mary’s place in God’s plan of salvation. Beneath this figure are two hearts, the crowned Sacred Heart of Jesus and the sword-pierced Immaculate Heart of Mary (recalling Simeon’s words “A sword will pierce your soul too”). This image is surrounded by 12 stars, representative of the Apostles.

In the apparitions to St. Catherine, Mary promised that whoever wore the medal would recieve great graces, especially if they wore it around the neck. It also serves as a sort of mini-catechism of the Church’s teachings on Mary. I once explained my MM to a Pentecostal friend, and she smiled and remarked at how amazing it was that so much meaning was packed into one tiny medal.

So wear the medal. It is a great gift from Our Lady, just like the Scapular. This sort of thing actually helps prevent against those habitual sins–they help to remind us of Jesus and Mary, and help to properly dispose us to recieve grace. They’re called sacramentals for this purpose.

For more on the Miraculous Medal, visit

www.consecration.com
www.amm.org
www.cammonline.org

-ACEGC

PS–I’m a member of the Militia Immaculata, whose website is found at the first link I posted. That’s how I know the whole story of the medal. Great organization to join.
 
Pilgrim42 said:
I would consider getting a medal, but the main reason I never worn a medal or a crucifix or scapular is my deep-seated tendency towards certain habitual sins–I would feel hypocritical wearing something like that knowing my sinful habits and my tendency to slip back into them again and again.
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You should at least have a Crucifix, preferably a St. Benedict Crucifix.

I believe we all have habits of some sort which we regret. This is all the more reason for devotionals and sacramentals. It isn’t that they have any special power on their own, but it is what they remind us of or what they resemble that gives us the graces needed to run the race.

BTW, I know this thread was posted a couple of years ago and I’m just now getting that far back.
 
I would so love to have the experience you’re going to have!

It is through the intercession of our Lady of the Miraculous Medal that my husband and I converted. I have such a profound devotion to her that I never, ever take my MM off. I’m a sinner, and more annoyingly, I’m a “commit the same dang sins instead of learning” type, but I’ve never, ever felt hypocritical wearing my medal.

Remember, Jesus said he came for the sinners, not the rightous, and since His Mother always points us to Him, it is only logical that she’d have the same patience with sinners.

Enjoy!
 
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