Marian Apparitions: Rue du Bac
Paris, France, 1830 (Rue du Bac)
Witness
St. Catherine Laboure
Summary
On June 6 the Lord appeared to the young (age 24) Daughter of Charity novice Catherine at Mass, and again on the nights of July 18-19 when she was summoned to
the chapel by a "child clothed in white" to converse with the Virgin Mary. Catherine was told prophecies and charged with "a mission" that manifested itself on November 27 in an earlly morning (5:30am)
appearance of the Blessed Virgin who was "clothed in white" standing on a globe and "a serpent." Rays of light issued forth from rings on her fingers and Catherine was told to commission a medal of what she was seeing. Then, turning the letter "M surmounted by a bar and a cross" underneath
which were the hearts of Jesus and Mary all surrounded by the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."
Messages/Prophecies
July 19: "Sorrows will befall France..." with "victims among the clergy of Paris" (including the Archbishop) in forty years.
Forty years later on July 19, 1870 the Franco-Prussian War began which resulted in the siege of Paris with horror, famine and and the Paris Commune which killed
the Archbishop and many other clergy.
November 27: "These (gems on fingers with rays of light) are the symbols of 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."
From 1832-36 is it estimated that over 10 million medals were minted in France in an attempt to meet the demand of the people for them: Catherine's director Fr. Aladel writes a book detailing the numerous healings, conversions and other miracles.
There have been countless miracles associated with what was originally called
the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, which accounts for the popular name for it today ('Miraculous'). Here are a few noted examples:
~ 1832: Napoleon-appointed, unrepentant 'archbishop' of Paris suddenly repents when the Medal was brought in his home
Napoleon's unrepentant 'archbishop' of Belgium suddenly repents when the Medal was brought in his home
~ 1841: Jewish banker Alphonse Ratisbonne accepts a dare to wear the medal and say the Memorare, later seeing a vision of Mary, converting to the faith and becoming a missionary to his fellow Jews
~ 1933: St. Catherine's body was exhumed for in the cause of her sainthood and found to be incorrupt, as it remains so today as a witness to the authenticity of her 'mission'
~ 1944: American prisoner Claude Newman picks up a discarded Medal, has a vision of Mary and is converted at the time of his execution
~ 1947: the Grand Master of the Polish Masonic Lodges, Stempowski, is given a medal to carry by St. Maximillian Kolbe. Newspapers reported his deathbed conversion to the faith with credit given to the Medal
Additional Online Resources
Association of the Miraculous Medal
Central Association of the Miraculous Medal
Books About the Miraculous Medal
(After entering the site, click on 'Subject Listing' and then 'Apparitions')
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