Day 9: The Medal in Catholic Life

The ninth and last day of the Miraculous Medal Novena turns to the practical incorporation of the medal into the Catholic life. The novena ends, but the medal continues. Today we close by considering how the Miraculous Medal is meant to be a lifelong companion of the Catholic faithful, present at every stage of life from Baptism to the hour of death.

Today's invocation

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

Today's meditation

The Catholic Church has formally recognized the Miraculous Medal as a sacramental (a sacred sign instituted by the Church, through which spiritual effects are obtained by the prayer of the Church and the disposition of the recipient). Sacramentals are distinguished from the seven sacraments (which produce grace by the very performance of the sacred sign, ex opere operato); sacramentals depend on the disposition of the recipient and on the prayer of the Church.

The Miraculous Medal is properly blessed by a Catholic priest or deacon before being worn (a brief blessing prayer is preserved in the Catholic Book of Blessings). The blessed medal is then worn by the Catholic faithful in any of several traditional ways: as a small medal on a chain around the neck, sewn into the lining of a coat, attached to the rosary, kept in a pocket or handbag, placed in the Catholic home in a place of honor. The traditional Catholic discipline is to wear the medal continually as an external sign of Marian devotion and as a reminder of the prayer engraved on it.

The principal Catholic occasions for receiving and using the Miraculous Medal include:

• At Baptism: many Catholic families present a medal to the newly baptized as a sign of Marian protection from the beginning of the Christian life.
• At First Communion: the medal is sometimes given to the child at the moment of First Communion as a gift of the parish.
• At Confirmation: as part of the spiritual gifts given on the day of full sacramental initiation into the Catholic life.
• At Catholic marriage: the bride sometimes receives the medal from her family, often pinned to the wedding gown or placed in the bouquet, as a Marian blessing on the marriage.
• In the home: many Catholic families enthrone an image of the Sacred Heart and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the home and place a Miraculous Medal alongside the images.
• In the moments of crisis: the medal is often placed on or near a person in serious illness, in danger, or at the hour of death, as a Marian intercession for the soul.¹

Today's intention and act of thanksgiving

Bring to the Mother of God for the last time in this novena your principal intention. Whatever the visible state of the matter at the close of these nine days, give thanks for her maternal attention.

A traditional Catholic act of consecration to the Immaculate Conception, often prayed at the close of the Miraculous Medal Novena:

O Immaculate Virgin Mary, my Mother and my Queen, I consecrate to you today my whole life. I take you as my Mother, my Queen, my Advocate, and my Sister. From this day forward, in every action of my life, in every joy and every sorrow, I will turn to you. I trust in your maternal care, and I rely on your unfailing intercession with your Son. May the medal you have given me be the visible sign of this consecration. Mother of Mercy, do not let me lose the protection that you have promised. Keep me ever faithful to your Son, until the day I see you face to face in the eternal kingdom. Amen.

Reflection

The Catholic spiritual tradition has long observed that the Miraculous Medal devotion is most fruitful when it is incorporated into a broader Catholic Marian life. The medal alone, worn without prayer, does little; the medal joined to the daily Holy Rosary, to the regular reception of the sacraments, to the practice of the Memorare in moments of need, and to the broader Catholic disciplines of the Marian life, becomes one of the most powerful Catholic sacramentals of the modern era.

If you have not yet been formally enrolled in the Confraternity of the Miraculous Medal (the Catholic confraternity administered by the Vincentian Fathers, which formally enrolls those who wish to commit themselves to the devotion), today is a fitting day to inquire about enrollment at a local Vincentian parish or through the Confraternity's national office. The enrollment is a brief Catholic ceremony of investiture with the medal and inscription on the rolls of the Confraternity, with the spiritual benefits attached by the Holy See.

Conclusion of the novena

For the saint who received the apparitions, see Saint Catherine Labouré (her feast is 28 November). For other novenas in the Catholic tradition, see the novenas hub. For broader theological context, see the Communion of Saints and the Immaculate Conception.

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. Now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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). The Catholic Book of Blessings includes the formal blessing prayer for the Miraculous Medal. ↩