Day 4: The Reverse

The fourth day of the Miraculous Medal Novena turns to the reverse side of the medal. Where the front shows Mary herself with the rays of grace and the inscription of the Immaculate Conception, the reverse shows a more abstract emblem: the letter M surmounted by a cross, with two hearts below and twelve stars around the perimeter. Each element of this emblem has a precise theological meaning given by the Blessed Virgin Mary herself.

Today's invocation

O Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord Jesus and our Mother... (the full opening prayer)

Today's meditation

The M and the Cross. The letter M (for Mary) is surmounted by a cross. The visual conjunction expresses the central Catholic Marian theology: Mary cannot be separated from the Cross of her Son. The Mother of God is who she is because she is the Mother of the Crucified. To honor her without reference to the Cross is to misunderstand her; to honor the Cross without reference to her is to forget that the Lord on the Cross gave her to us as our Mother (John 19:26-27). The conjunction of the M and the Cross is the visual seal of the Catholic doctrine.

The Two Hearts. Below the M are two hearts, traditionally placed side by side. The Heart on the left is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, surrounded by a crown of thorns; the Heart on the right is the Immaculate Heart of Mary, pierced by a sword. The Two Hearts express the Catholic theology of the joint devotion that we treated more fully in the Sacred Heart Novena Day 8. The Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary are inseparable: the Heart of the Mother was formed in the same human nature that gave the Son His Heart, and the sword that pierced the Mother on Calvary was the same sword that pierced the Son's Heart on the Cross.

The Twelve Stars. Around the perimeter of the reverse are twelve stars. The stars refer to the woman of the Apocalypse: "And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child" (Revelation 12:1-2). The Catholic tradition has read this passage from the patristic age onward as referring to Mary (in addition to its ecclesiological reading as referring to the Church). The twelve stars are sometimes interpreted as representing the twelve tribes of Israel (Mary as the new Israel) and the twelve Apostles (Mary as the Mother of the Church); they are also a sign of Mary's queenship in heaven.

Today's intention

Today, contemplate the reverse of the medal as a brief catechesis on the Catholic faith. Bring to the Mother of Mercy the intention of your novena, and ask that the Catholic faith expressed in the medal's emblem may be more deeply impressed on your own life.

Reflection

The Catholic faithful who wear the Miraculous Medal as a Catholic sacramental wear, in effect, a small visible profession of faith. The medal is not only a Marian devotional object; it is a compact summary of the Catholic doctrine: the Immaculate Conception, the maternal mediation of Mary, the joint devotion to the Two Hearts, the queenship of Mary in heaven, the eschatological vision of the Apocalypse. The Catholic who wears the medal carries the doctrine on his person.

The traditional Catholic ceremony of investiture with the Miraculous Medal (a brief priestly blessing of the medal and its presentation to the Catholic who will wear it) is, in this sense, a minor Catholic rite of doctrinal commitment. Many Catholic parishes still perform the investiture for those who wish; the Confraternity of the Miraculous Medal (the international Catholic association of those formally enrolled in the devotion, principally administered by the Vincentian Fathers) maintains records of millions of investitures across the modern Catholic world.¹

Closing prayers

Pray three Hail Marys in honor of the Immaculate Conception.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Footnotes

1. The Confraternity of the Miraculous Medal is administered by the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentian Fathers) under faculties granted by the Holy See. The principal modern reference is Joseph Dirvin, C.M., Saint Catherine Labouré of the Miraculous Medal (1958). ↩