St. Catherine Laboure

Catherine Laboure was born May 2, 1806. She was very close to her pious mother, who died when she was small. After her mother’s death, Catherine took the Blessed Mother for her mother. At age twelve, Catherine took over the running of her father’s household; she was hard-working and devout, often running across the lane to the village church for a moment of prayer. In her early twenties, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity in Paris. Here, as a novice of twenty-four, she had three visions of the Blessed Virgin. This is the origin of the Miraculous Medal. Mary appeared in the pose shown on the medal and asked Catherine to have medals made with this image, promising many graces for those who devoutly wear it. After a struggle, Catherine was able to get her spiritual director to believe her and to have the medals made. For the rest of her life, Catherine served faithfully as a humble religious, taking care of the elderly poor; no one, but her spiritual directors, knew that she was the sister who had the visions of the medal. Catherine died December 31, 1876. She was canonized in 1947 and her feast day is November 25.