ST CATHERINE LABOURE; 28th NOVEMBER

ST CATHERINE LABOURE

28th NOVEMBER



St Catherine Laboure related the request of Our Lady for the striking of the Miraculous Medal at the convent in which she had seen the apparition in Rue du Bac in Paris in 1830.
She was born the ninth of 11 children in the Burgundy region of France. Her mother died when she was nine years old, after which she was reported to have picked up a statute of the Blessed Virgin, kissed it and said, “Now you will be my Mother.” After her mother’s death she lived with her aunt about 9 kilometres from their home. She was a devout and romantic young girl, and joined the Daughters of Charity at a young age after she had a dream about St Vincent de Paul.
She reported that, on 19 July 1830, on the eve of the feast of St Vincent de Paul, she was awakened by a child calling her to the chapel. When she arrived at the chapel, she experienced a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who said to her, “God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear. You will have the grace to do what is needed. Times are evil in France and in the world.”
On 27 November Laboure reported that Our Lady had returned to her during her evening meditations. She was inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe. Rays of light radiated from her hands. On the margin were the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." There was a circle of twelve stars, a large letter M surmounted by a cross, with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary underneath.
When she asked why some of the rays of light did not fully radiate, the Blessed Virgin reportedly replied "Those are the graces for which people forget to ask."
She was told to take these images to her confessor, telling him that they should be put on medallions. "All who wear them will receive great graces.” She did so, and after two years of investigation and observation of her normal daily behaviour, the confessor took the information to his archbishop without revealing her identity. The request was approved and the design of the medallions was commissioned through French goldsmith Adrien Vechette.
St Catherine Labouré spent the next forty years caring for the aged and infirm. For this reason, she is seen as the patron saint of the elderly. She died on December 31, 1876, at the age of seventy. Her incorrupt body is encased in glass beneath the side altar in the chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal at 140 Rue du Bac, in Paris. She was beatified in 1933 by Pope Pius XI and canonized on 27th July 1947 by Pope Pius XII. Her feast day is 28th November according to the liturgical calendar of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris. She is listed in the Martyrology Romanum for 31st December.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ASSUMPTION - RECIPES FOR THE FEAST

Image
 FEAST OF ASSUMPTION RECIPES FOR THE FEAST DAY MAIN COURSE: YIOUVETSI - GREEK TOMATO-BAKED LAMB WITH ORZO DESSERT: ILES FLOTTANTES ALCOHOL John Zmirak and Denise Matychowiak, who authored the esteemed liturgical work, “The Bad Catholic’s Guide to Good Living” (Crossroad, 2005, at p. 124), included a traditional Greek recipe for the Assumption which is served in their New York neighbourhood on Assumption Day: Yiouvetsi Lamb with Orzo Pasta [see also goodfood.com.au Jill Dupleix “Greek Tomato-Baked Lamb with Orzo] 1 2.5kg Leg of Lamb on the bone 2 onions finely sliced 5 garlic cloves, slivered Salt and freshly ground pepper Juice of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons Oregano (dried) 2 tablespoons tomato paste ½ cup red wine 2 cinnamon sticks 1 tspn ground cinnamon 1 400g tin tomatoes, chopped 1 litre hot chicken stock ¼ cup feta cheese 1 tspn cumin ½ tspn ground allspice 400g orzo pasta METHOD: 1 Heat oven to 160 degrees. Make slits in the lamb and insert garli...
Read more

SISTER MIRIAM MICHAEL STIMSON OP - CATHOLIC SCIENTISTS; DIED 15th JUNE 2002

Image
  SISTER MIRIAM MICHAEL STIMSON OP CATHOLIC SCIENTISTS DIED 15th JUNE 2002 Marian Emma Stimson was born into a devout Catholic family in Chicago on December 14, 1913. She had an interest in health and medicine – her brother suffered from polio, she had a sister with a heart condition and her mother had such high blood pressure after she gave birth to twins that she suffered from memory loss. In 1935, she joined the Adrian Dominican Sisters, taking the name Sister Miriam Michael Stimson OP. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from Siena Heights College in 1936. She continued her studies at the Institutum Divi Thomae in Cincinnatti, where she received her M.S. in 1939. She then joined the chemistry faculty at Siena Heights College, simultaneously working toward her Ph.D. at Institutum Divi Thomae, which she completed in 1948. She earned her Doctorate and engaged in teaching and research, studying cancer and wound healing treatments. Notably, she was instrumental in the invention of Prep...
Read more

THE JESUITS IN JAPAN AND THEIR LEGACY OF TEMPURA

Image
  THE JESUITS IN JAPAN AND THEIR LEGACY OF TEMPURA Jesuit priests Francis Xavier, Cosme de Torres and brother Juan Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan on the Feast of the Assumption, 1549. With the consent of the Daimyo, they preached on the streets of Kagoshima, using a catechism written by St Francis and translated into Japanese by their companion, Anjiro. St Francis Xavier departed Japan in 1551 to bring the Jesuit mission to China, following which the Japanese mission fell under the leadership of Father de Torres. The success of the Jesuits in converting large numbers of Japanese people, however, aroused much animosity on the part of the Buddhist monks. Father de Torres debated with learned members of the Buddhist community, which were recorded by Brother Fernandez, basing his arguments on reason, believing that it would be highly effective against the Japanese who were, as he said, "led by reason just as well as and even more willingly than Spaniards." He espec...
Read more