What's the purpose of Catholic medals?

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Devotion to God through those people who have demonstrated love of God.

St Christopher (yes he’s still a saint) demonstrated love of God to the point of carrying the Christ Child AND the weight of all our sins while traveling across a river. So wearing a St. Christopher medal demonstrates our desire to emulate St. Christopher’s devotion to God and we wear it often while ‘traveling’ or being in a job that requires frequent traveling, such as truck driver, airline pilot, etc., because those professions are like his.

Medals of the Blessed Virgin Mary are popular because, especially for women, they help us remember how Jesus was conceived, born of, and cared for by His holy Mother. Those of us who are mothers or in ‘motherly professions’ such as nursing or teachers, would especially focus on loving our children and raising them to be like Jesus, and are reminded of this by the medals of Mary.

Musicians remember how God was glorified through music by St. Cecelia. Those who ‘doubt’ remember the ultimate faith of St. Thomas who said “My Lord and My God”. Those of us with saint names (and there are many) often enjoy the stories of the lives of “our saint” and how they loved and served the Lord --John, Paul, Adam, Robert, Michael, Gabriel, Peter; Agnes, Barbara, Theresa, Rose, Susanah, Judith, etc. Each medal, each saint, each story, ultimately lead to glorifying God and trying to become more Christ-like, loving, and trying to do God’s will.
 
  1. To show devotion to a particular Saint and remind the wearer to regularly think of the Saint.
  2. In the case of certain special medals like the Miraculous Medal and Scapular Medal, then in addition to (1) the wearer also hopes to obtain graces promised by Our Lady to the wearer, so the medal is also to help one grow spiritually.
  3. Some medals, like the St Benedict medal, are thought to have protective qualities. One must be careful with this type of thinking as the medal should not be regarded as an amulet or a “lucky charm”. If you accidentally forget to wear the St Benedict medal, you should be able to simply pray to God for His protection and be just as safe.
 
I have the St. Pope John Paul II Medal, it helps me to think of him.
 
Just one thing came to mind now…

They serve as ‘holy reminders’.

(Help us to bring back to mind heavenly realities in the course of our day to keep us more recollected and aware of the Supernatural realm and our call to Holiness, etc.)
 
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