The Miraculous Medal: Its Origin, History, Circulation, ResultsAladel, Jean-Marie
Religion
The Miraculous Medal: Its Origin, History, Circulation, Results
Aladel, Jean-Marie
Labouré, Catherine, Saint, 1806-1876; Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint; Miraculous Medal
In the course of the process, the Promoter asked, why God had chosen
the Daughters of Charity for so rare a favor, and not one of those
convents noted for the observance of an austere rule, such as rigorous
fasts, mortifications, etc. For it was not in a contemplative order,
but in the Mother House of this modest institution so useful to
humanity, in the chapel which for a long time contained the mortal
remains of St. Vincent, the father of the poor, that the apparition,
which was the model of the medal, took place.
We believe the reason of this preference is to be found in the two
usages observed among the Daughters of Charity, from the beginning of
their Society; the first, an act of consecration to the Blessed Virgin
on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception; the second, the ending each
decade of the chaplet by the following profession of faith: "O Most
Holy Virgin! I believe and confess thy Holy and Immaculate Conception,
pure and without spot! O Most Pure Virgin! by thy virginal purity, by
thy Immaculate Conception and thy glorious quality of Mother of God,
obtain for me of thy dear Son, humility, charity, great purity of
heart, body and soul, holy perseverance in my dear vocation, the gift
of prayer, a good life and a happy death."
The proofs admitted in the inquiry to establish the authenticity of the
vision of the medal, are:
1st. The Sister's character--she is a poor young country girl,
uneducated and without talent--of solid but simple piety,
good judgment, and calm, sedate mind; we perceive at once
that everything about her excludes all suspicion of deceit or
illusion. The better to preserve her incognito, she will not
allow her name to be mentioned, and she even refused to appear
before the Promoter of the investigation.
2d. The wisdom of the Sister's Director, who took all possible
precautions to guard against deception, and who yielded to his
penitent's reiterated entreaties, only from fear of displeasing
the Blessed Virgin, and by the advice of his Superiors.
3d. The apparition in itself, contains nothing, either in its
character or object, opposed to the teachings of the Church,
but is, on the contrary, conducive to edification. Being
several times renewed and always in the same manner, we may
conclude, that the Sister's imagination had nothing whatever to
do with it.
4th. The wonderful circulation of the medal, confirmed by the
testimony of the first engraver, M. Vachette, and the extensive
sales of copies of the notice, reaching 109,000 in sixteen
months, as attested by the publisher, M. Bailly, must be
regarded as a confirmation of its supernatural origin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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