| Catherine Labouré | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 2, 1806, Fain-lès-Moutiers, Burgundy, France |
| Died | December 31, 1876 (aged 70), Enghien-Reuilly, France |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholicism |
| Beatified | May 28, 1933 by Pope Pius XI |
| Canonized | July 27, 1947 by Pope Pius XII |
| Feast | 25 November, 23 November |
| Attributes | Miraculous Medal |
Shrine: glass coffin of St Catherine Labouré
Ex-votos, rue du Bac, Paris
Altar
Altar
St Vincent de Paul
Saint Catherine Labouré (May 2, 1806 – December 31, 1876) (born Zoe Labouré) was a sister of the Daughters of Charity and a Marian visionary who claimed to have relayed the request from the Blessed Virgin Mary to create the Miraculous Medal worn by millions of Catholics and even non-Catholics today.
Early life[]
She was born in the house of farmer Pierre Labouré, the ninth of 11 living children. On October 9, 1815 Catherine's mother, Madeleine Gontard, died. Catherine was then just nine years old. Pierre's sister suggested that she care for his two youngest children, Catherine and Tonine. After he agreed, the sisters moved to their aunt's house at Saint-Rémy, a village nine kilometers from their home.
As a young woman she became a member of the a nursing order founded by Saint Vincent de Paul. She was extremely devout, of a somewhat romantic nature, given to visions and intuitive insights (she chose the Daughters of Charity after a dream about St. Vincent). Having lost her mother at an early age she was very fond of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is said that after her mother's funeral, Catherine picked up a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and kissed it; saying "Now you will be my mother."
Visionary[]
Catherine stated that on the night of July 18, 1830, she woke up after hearing the voice of a child calling her to the chapel, where she heard the Virgin Mary say 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 necessary. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world."
On November 27, 1830, Catherine reported that the Blessed Mother returned during evening meditations. She displayed herself inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe, wearing many rings of different colours, most of which shone rays of light over the globe. Around the margin of the frame appeared the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." As Catherine watched, the frame seemed to rotate, showing a circle of twelve stars, a large letter M surmounted by a cross, and the stylized Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary underneath. Asked why some of her rings did not shed light, Mary reportedly replied "Those are the graces for which people forget to ask." Catherine then heard Mary ask her to take these images to her father confessor, telling him that they should be put on medallions. "All who wear them will receive great graces."
Catherine did so, and after two years' worth of investigation and observation of Catherine's normal daily behavior, the priest took the information to his archbishop without revealing Catherine's identity. The request was approved and medallions began to be produced. They proved to be exceedingly popular. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception had not yet been officially promulgated, but the medal with its "conceived without sin" slogan was probably influential in popular approval of the idea. Pope John Paul II used a slight variation of the reverse image as his coat of arms, a plain cross with an M in the lower right quadrant of the shield.
Prophecies[]
St. Catherine Labouré allegedly foretold many great events correctly, but failed on others. "The revelations of some holy women canonized by the Apostolic See whose saying and writings in rapture and derived from rapture are filled with errors." Benedict XIV (Heroic Virtue III. 14. p. 404). Although, it is argued by some that these false prophesies are simply errors in interpretation, or the victims of interpreters with ulterior motives.
Death[]
Catherine lived her remaining years as an ordinary nursing sister. She was pleasant and well-liked by patients and her fellow nuns. Catherine never told anyone but her confessor about her visions. So, even at her death in 1876, no one knew that Catherine was the one who brought the Miraculous Medal to the world. Exhumed in 1933, her body was judged to be incorrupt by the church, and it now lies in a glass coffin at the side altar of the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (often simply called by its address, 140 Rue du Bac), Paris, one of the spots where the Blessed Mother appeared to her. On July 27, 1947, she was canonized by Pope Pius XII.
St. Catherine Labouré is the namesake of: a Roman Catholic parish and private elementary school in St. Louis, Missouri; a private all-girls school in Santiago, Chile; a suburban Washington, DC parish in Montgomery County, Maryland; a private, elementary school in Glenview, Illinois, just north of Chicago; a private school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; a parish in San Diego, California; a parish and elementary school in Montebello, CA; and a parish in Chino Valley, Arizona. The patron saint of Chino Valley is St. Catherine Labouré.
Bibliography[]
- Saint Catherine Labouré of the Miraculous Medal, by Joseph I Dirvin, CM, TAN Books and Publishers, Inc, 1958/84. ISBN 0-89555-242-6
See also[]
- The Incorruptibles
External links[]
- The Miraculous Medal : its origin, history, circulation, results (1880) written by Fr. Aladel, St. Catherine's own confessor
- St. Catherine Labouré International Site of the Daughters of Charity
- St. Catherine Laboure of the Miraculous Medal Joseph I. Dirvin, CM (Full text of official biography)
- The Early Years of Saint Catherine Labouré
- Lives of the saints: Catherine Labouré
- A hagiography of Catherine with full explanations of the visions and the Medal.
- Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, rue du Bac, Paris
- Labouré College, Boston, MA
Coordinates: 48°51′04″N 2°19′26″E / 48.850974°N 2.323770°E
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