Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal [Feast Day - November 27th]

[Stone]

Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
[Feast Day - November 27th]
Taken from here.

OPENING PRAYER

V. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
R. Amen.

V. Come, O Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

V. Let us pray: O God, who didst instruct 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.
R. Amen.

V. O Mary, conceived without sin,
R. Pray for us who have recourse to thee. ( 3 times.)


Lord Jesus Christ who hast vouchsafed 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 Thy presence in heaven who, with the Father and Holy Ghost livest and reignest, God, for ever and ever. Amen. O Lord Jesus Christ who for the accomplishment of Thy greatest works hast chosen the weak things of the world that no flesh may glory in Thy sight and who for a better and more widely diffused belief in the Immaculate Conception of Thy Mother hast 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 with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother! To thee 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

O Immaculate Virgin Mary Mother of Our Lord Jesus and our Mother, penetrated with the most lively confidence in Thy all powerful and never failing intercession, manifested so often through the Miraculous Medal, we Thy loving and trustful children implore Thee 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 whom we pray. [Here mention your intentions] Thou knowest, O Mary, how often our souls have been the sanctuaries of Thy 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 thou art the Queen of angels and of men. Amen.



AN ACT OF CONSECRATION TO OUR LADY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL

Virgin Mother of God, Mary Immaculate, we dedicate and consecrate our selves to Thee under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. May this Medal be for each one of us a sure sign of thy affection for us and a constant reminder of our duties toward thee. Ever while wearing it, may we be blessed by thy loving protection and preserved in the grace of thy Son. O most powerful Virgin, Mother of our Savior, keep us close to thee every moment of our lives. Obtain for us, Thy children, the grace of a happy death; so that, in union with thee, we may enjoy the bliss of heaven forever. Amen.

V. O Mary, conceived without sin,
R. Pray for us who have recourse to thee. ( 3 times.)

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Saint Catharine Laboure
by Constantine Kempf, 1916

The "Miraculous Medal" of the Immaculate Conception has found devout friends throughout the Catholic world and there is no doubt that it has been the means of great blessings for many. We need not wonder, then, that the person chosen to inaugurate this devotion to Mary was favored with extraordinary graces.

This child of predilection was the venerable Sister of Charity, Catharine Laboure. Sister Catharine was born on May 2, 1806, at Fainles-Moutier, near Dijon, and in Baptism was given the name of Zoe. The world never possessed her heart. From her earlier years she felt an attraction toward the religious life. She met with an obstinate resistance from her father because, on account of the early death of her mother, she seemed to be indispensable at home. To drive the thought of the cloister out of her mind her father sent her to Paris, where one of his sons kept a restaurant. But it was in vain. Paris simply aroused in Zoe a detestation for the ways of the world. The father finally relented and at the age of twenty-four she was permitted to take the religious habit in the convent of the Sisters of St. Vincent at Chatillon-sur-Seine. She was now named Sister Catharine.

In the following year, 1831, we find her in the hospital of Enghien at Paris, where she served in the humblest duties for forty-five years until her death on December 31, 1876. It was in the second year of her religious life that Sister Catharine was thrice favored with apparitions of the Blessed Virgin, who commissioned her to have medals made representing the apparition and bearing the legend "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." Her director proved rather skeptical and at first had only scoff and contempt for these extraordinary manifestations. But the conviction grew that the sister was not at all a victim of a delusion. The archbishop of Paris, Monsignor de-Quelen, soon became an advocate of the "Miraculous Medal," which now entered upon a victorious course throughout Catholic countries. Among many other remarkable events, the sudden conversion of the Jew, Alphonse Ratisbonne, has an intimate connection with this medal.

Leo XIII, after a careful examination of the facts and a scrutiny by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, approved a Mass and an Office commemorating the apparition of the Blessed Virgin of the Miraculous Medal." Though Sister Catharine, in accomplishing the desire of the Mother of God, did very much to spread the Miraculous Medal, she nevertheless found ways and means in her humility to keep secret from the world the fact that she was the chosen soul favored with the apparition of the Immaculate Conception. Yet, while unaware of the many extraordinary favors she had received, her sisters in religion, and all who became acquainted with her, were thoroughly persuaded of her sanctity. At her death there was great emotion among the people and two Sisters were kept busy for a day applying to the corpse of the Venerable Catharine objects of devotion brought by the great numbers of visitors.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
(One hundred days' indulgence once a day; Leo XIII., March 15, 1884)

Saint Catharine Laboure, pray for us.