Blessing And Investiture With The Medal Of the Immaculate
Conception
Generally Known as the "Miraculous Medal"
Formerly reserved to the Congregation of the Missions
Blessing Approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, April 19, 1895
[White Stole]
Priest: Our help † is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: And with thy spirit.
P. Let us pray. Almighty and merciful God, Who by the many appearances on earth of the Immaculate Virgin Mary didst deign to work miracles again and again for the salvation of souls; graciously pour out Thy blessing † on this (these) medal(s), so that all who devoutly wear it (them) and reverence it (them) may experience the patronage of Mary Immaculate and obtain mercy from Thee; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The priest sprinkles the medal with holy water, and presents it to the person, saying:
P. Take this holy medal; wear it with faith, and handle it with due devotion, so that the holy and immaculate Queen of heaven may protect and defend you. And as she is ever ready to renew her wondrous acts of kindness, may she obtain for you in her mercy whatever you humbly ask of God, so that both in life and in death you may rest happily in her motherly embrace.
All: Amen.
The priest continues:
P. Lord, have mercy.
All: Christ, have mercy.
P. Lord, have mercy.
P. Our Father …. And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P. Queen conceived without original sin.
All: Pray for us.
P. Lord, hear my prayer.
All: And let my cry come unto Thee.
P. The Lord be with you.
All: And with thy spirit
P. Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, Who willed that Thy
Mother, the blessed Virgin Mary conceived without sin, should become illustrious
through countless miracles; grant that we who ever seek her patronage may
possess everlasting joys, united to Thee in the eternity of heaven. We ask this
of Thee who live and reign forever and ever.
All: Amen.
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
November 27th
Lesson:
From The St. Andrew's Missal
and from Rev. Joseph Dirvin, C.M.,
The Miraculous Medal.
Our Blessed Lady appearing in the year 1830 to St. Catherine Labouré, Sister of Charity, showed her the pattern of the medal now universally known as the "Miraculous Medal," because of the many wonders which it has pleased almighty God to work by its means in His Church. The proper name is the "Medal of the Immaculate Conception." This doctrine is symbolically portrayed in the representation of Mary crushing the head of the serpent, a reference to Genesis 3:15, "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for thy heel." It is specifically mentioned in the golden letters which formed round the Virgin: "O Mary, conceived without sin." The first medals were soon made with the approval of the Archbishop of Paris, and the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was defined as an article of the Catholic Faith on December 8, 1854 by Blessed Pope Pius IX. There can be no doubt that the apparition of the Medal hastened the definition of the Immaculate Conception. It was indeed the "great sign" that "appeared in the heavens," an indication that time was ripe for the vindication of Mary's glorious privilege. Pope Pius himself asserted that the impetus for his pronouncement came from France.
Collect:
O Lord Jesus Christ, Thou willed that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, sinless from the first moment of her conception, should be glorified by countless miracles; grant that we, who never cease imploring her patronage, may attain at last to eternal happiness. Thou who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Saint Catherine Labouré, Virgin
November 28th
Lesson:
From the same sources
Collect:
O Lord Jesus Christ, Thou wert pleased to gladden the holy virgin Catherine by the wonderful apparition of Thine Immaculate Mother: grant, we pray Thee, that following the example of the same saint in honoring Thy most holy mother with filial devotion, we may obtain the joy of eternal life. Thou who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
"O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have
recourse to thee."
