Miraculous Medal Novena
Join us in prayer at Saint Andrew the Apostle Church every Monday evening at 7:00pm
HOW to PRAY the MIRACULOUS MEDAL NOVENA
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
V. Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
R. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created.
And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray:
O God, who did 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. Amen.
V. O Mary, conceived without sin,
R. Pray for us who have recourse to you. (3 times.)
O Lord Jesus Christ, who have 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 Your presence in heaven,
who, with the Father and Holy Spirit,
live and reign, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who for the accomplishment of Your
greatest works, have chosen the weak things of the
world, that no flesh may glory in Your sight; and who
for a better and more widely diffused belief in the
Immaculate Conception of Your Mother, have wished that
the Miraculous Medal be manifested to Saint Catherine
Laboure, grant, we beseech You, that filled with like
humility, we may glorify this mystery by word and work.
Amen.
Memorare
Remember, O most compassionate Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your assistance, or sought your intercession was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence, we fly unto you,
O Virgin of Virgins, our Mother;
to you we come; before you we kneel sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions,
but in your clemency hear and answer them. Amen.
Novena Prayer
O Immaculate Virgin Mary,
Mother of Our Lord Jesus 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 whom we pray.
(Here privately form your petitions.)
You know, O 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 men. Amen.
An Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
O 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.
O 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 bliss of heaven forever. Amen.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you. (3 times.)
The History of The Miraculous Medal:
The Medal of the Immaculate Conception, commonly called the Miraculous Medal, was manifested to Sister (now Saint) Catherine Labouré, a spiritual daughter of St. Louise de Marillac and St. Vincent de Paul. This took place in the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity, 140 rue du Bac, Paris, France.
Sister Catherine, during her novitiate days, received extraordinary favors from God, such as visions of the heart of St. Vincent and manifestations of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. In 1830 she was blessed with the apparitions of Mary Immaculate to which we owe the Miraculous Medal.
Sister Catherine's description of the apparition of Our Lady on November 27, 1830 makes it clear that the Medal originated with the Mother of God herself. 'Her feet rested on a white globe... I saw rings on her fingers.. .Each ring was set with gems.. .the larger gems emitted greater rays and the smaller gems, smaller ray .... I could not express.. .what I saw, the beauty and the brilliance of the dazzling rays.' Catherine heard an interior voice: 'These rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them. The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which souls forget to ask". An oval frame formed around the Blessed Virgin, and within it in letters of gold Catherine read the words: "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you." The voice spoke again: "Have a Medal struck after this model. All who wear it will receive great graces; they should wear it around the neck. Graces will abound for persons who wear it with confidence.'
Catherine continued '...the tableau seemed to turn, and I beheld the reverse of the Medal: a large M surmounted by a bar and a cross; beneath the M were the hearts of Jesus and Mary, the one crowned with thorns, the other pierced with a sword."
The front of the Medal represents Mary standing on the earth, her foot crushing the head of a serpent, and her hands outstretched to all who ask her assistance. The prayer encircling her contains one of her most precious titles: "0 Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you." The rays of light from her hands symbolize the graces which she is only too eager to bestow upon those who wear the Medal and pray to her.
The Medal was made according to Our Lady's design. It was freely circulated and in a short time was worn by millions. In its wake followed innumerable wonders. Health was restored, sickness banished; bad habits broken, special graces given; dangers averted, blessings bestowed - until the little Medal of the Immaculate Conception became known by the name it bears today, the Miraculous Medal.On July 27, 1947, the Church of St. Peter in Rome was filled with a great throng of people and to the joy of the people, Our Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, solemnly proclaimed Sister Catherine a Saint of God.
