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Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Miraculous Medal Shrine, Mother Mary, Saint Catharine Laboure
Madonna and Child Workshop of Sassoferrato (Giovanni Battista Salvi, 1609–1685) Oil on canvas, 17th century Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
The Miraculous Medal Prayer
O Virgin Mother of God, Mary Immaculate,
we dedicate and consecrate ourselves to you
under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous
Medal. May this Medal be for each one of
us a sure sign of your affection for us and
a constant reminder of our duties toward you.
Ever while wearing it, may we be blessed
by your loving protection and preserved in
the grace of your Son. O Most powerful Virgin,
Mother of our Savior, keep us close to you
every moment of our lives. Obtain for us, your
children, the grace of a happy death;
so that, in union with you, we may enjoy the
bliss of heaven forever.Amen.
Madonna and Child
The November artwork is Madonna and Child, a 17th-century oil painting attributed to the workshop of Giovanni Battista Salvi, better known as Sassoferrato. It is now in the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields.
Sassoferrato became known especially for devotional paintings of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child. He and his workshop produced numerous versions of this composition. In the Indianapolis painting, the Christ Child sleeps peacefully in Mary’s arms while she remains awake, her eyes directed outward toward the viewer.
Recent conservation work at Newfields revealed more of the painting’s original richness. Scientific analysis identified vermilion in Mary’s red garment and lapis lazuli in her blue mantle — both costly pigments in 17th-century Italy. Removal of an old yellowed varnish also brought back the depth of the colors and the delicacy of the figures.
The painting predates the apparitions to St. Catherine Labouré and the Miraculous Medal by nearly two centuries, yet Mary’s watchful gaze gives it a particular resonance with this month’s prayer. She holds Christ close while looking outward toward us, beautifully accompanying its petition:
Mother of our Savior, keep us close to you every moment of our lives.
The painting has also found a new audience in our own time. In 2024, the United States Postal Service selected this Madonna and Child for its traditional Christmas stamp, bringing this centuries-old image of Mary and the Christ Child into millions of American homes.
The Meaning of the Prayer
The Miraculous Medal Prayer is a prayer of entrustment that follows the course of an entire life. It begins with dedication to Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and asks that the medal remain a visible reminder of that relationship.
From there, the prayer turns to Mary’s maternal protection. We ask to be kept in the grace of her Son and under Mary’s maternal care throughout our lives. The purpose of that closeness is ultimately Christ. Mary’s protection is sought not as an end in itself, but as help in remaining faithful to her Son.
The final petitions look toward the end of earthly life. We ask Mary to obtain for us “the grace of a happy death” and, ultimately, “the bliss of heaven forever.” The prayer therefore traces a spiritual journey: dedication, protection, perseverance in grace, death and eternal life.
That progression gives the prayer particular meaning in November. Christian preparation for death is really a way of living, remaining close to Christ throughout our lives in the hope of being with Him forever.
The Prayer’s Origin
The Miraculous Medal Prayer is more specifically an Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. An Act of Consecration is a prayer of self-dedication, entrusting ourselves to Mary’s maternal care so that she may keep us close to her Son throughout our lives and lead us ultimately to heaven.
Its devotional roots reach back to St. Catherine Labouré and the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Paris in 1830. On November 27, Catherine received the vision that would become the Miraculous Medal, bearing the invocation:
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
The first medals were struck in 1832. The Act of Consecration later became part of the Miraculous Medal devotional tradition and is included in the Perpetual Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal prayed at the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Philadelphia.
In this series dedicated to the memory of my mother — whom I affectionately called “Ma Wilde” — the prayer’s petitions for a happy death and the hope of heaven carry a special meaning.
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal — November 27
November opens with All Saints’ Day on November 1 and All Souls’ Day on November 2, beginning a month in which the Church gives particular attention to the faithful departed and the hope of eternal life. This makes November a particularly fitting time for a prayer that asks Mary to accompany us throughout life and ultimately toward heaven.
The month also brings a direct connection to the prayer itself. November 27 is the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. The following day, November 28, is the feast of St. Catherine Labouré.
At the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Philadelphia, the annual Solemn Novena continues this tradition of devotion. In 2026, the nine days of prayer and Mass take place November 16–24, under the theme Come to the Foot of the Altar, recalling Mary’s invitation to St. Catherine Labouré during the July 1830 apparition. The novena culminates in a special feast-day Mass on November 25, ahead of the traditional November 27 feast.
Together, these feasts and devotions give November a natural progression: remembering those who have died, praying in the hope of heaven and turning to Mary for her maternal care throughout life and at the hour of death.
In Loving Memory of Ma Wilde
Death separates us physically, but our Catholic faith teaches that the bonds between the living and the dead are not simply erased.
Through the Communion of Saints, the Church on earth remains joined to the saints in heaven and to the faithful departed. This communion becomes especially meaningful at Mass, where heaven and earth meet in the worship of God and we remember and pray for those who have died.
For me, that includes Ma Wilde. At Mass I can bring her memory with me and pray for her soul, knowing that our faith offers a way to remain connected beyond death.
Personal Reflection
Since Ma Wilde’s passing, that belief has taken on a more personal meaning for me. In a sense, our connection has become spiritual, through Jesus and through prayer.
While she was alive, I would sometimes tell her I was going to Mass. She always asked me to pray for her. Those prayers accompanied her through the challenges of her later years — bronchitis, repeated falls and eventually pneumonia.
Now that she has passed from this life, I continue to pray for her. I also believe she can know the prayers offered for her by family and others throughout her life. There is something comforting in imagining that she now understands more fully how many people carried her in prayer.
Death has changed the way we are connected, but it has not ended the connection.
ShrineTower Connection
The Miraculous Medal has appeared often on ShrineTower through my visits, writings and photographs of the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Philadelphia.
In March 2022, I wrote about St. Catherine Labouré and the story of the Miraculous Medal while exploring the shrine and its developing St. Vincent Rosary Walk. That visit brought together many of the tangible reminders of Catherine’s story: a replica of the chair associated with Mary’s apparition in Paris, a relic of St. Catherine and the familiar shrine image of Mary with Catherine kneeling at her side.
I returned to the subject on November 28, 2022, in the ShrineTower post Immaculate Conception and St. Catherine Laboure at Miraculous Medal Shrine. There I explored the connection between the medal and the Immaculate Conception. The medal was originally known as the Medal of the Immaculate Conception.
That post also brought the story surprisingly close to home. I connected Murillo’s paintings of the Immaculate Conception with the late-19th-century Immaculate Conception stained-glass window at my own parish, St. Basil the Great.
The Vincentian connection has also been part of ShrineTower. In September 2022, I wrote about St. Vincent de Paul and photographed the seminary and shrine in Germantown. The Vincentian priests and brothers have long served the Philadelphia Miraculous Medal Shrine, linking the devotion to the wider spiritual family of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Catherine Labouré.
Looking back at those ShrineTower posts, the Miraculous Medal is not a new subject for me. I have encountered it through the shrine, its sacred art, St. Catherine Labouré, the Vincentians and even the stained glass of my own parish.
This November prayer returns to that familiar devotion from a different place in my life.
Closing Prayer
Mary, Mother of God, keep us close to your Son throughout our lives and guide us toward our eternal home.
Remember Ma Wilde and all the faithful departed. May the prayers offered for them on earth join the prayers of the saints in heaven, united in the Communion of Saints.
Help us to remember that death does not end the bonds of love and prayer. Keep our hearts open to those who have gone before us and strengthen our hope that one day we may be reunited in the presence of your Son.
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, pray for us.
Amen.
Some lives are hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). Words received in prayer are not forgotten but carried forward in their own time.
United in prayer with and for you.
Sources
- ShrineTower — Immaculate Conception and St. Catherine Labouré at Miraculous Medal Shrine — November 28, 2022 reflection on St. Catherine Labouré, the Miraculous Medal and its connection with the Immaculate Conception.
- ShrineTower — The Miraculous Medal Shrine Goes Green — March 15, 2022 visit to the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Philadelphia, including St. Catherine Labouré, her relic and the St. Vincent Rosary Walk.
- ShrineTower — St. Vincent de Paul — September 27, 2022 exploration of St. Vincent de Paul, the Vincentian presence at the Miraculous Medal Shrine and St. Vincent’s Seminary in Germantown.
- Central Association of the Miraculous Medal — Perpetual Novena — the Perpetual Novena prayed at the Basilica Shrine in Philadelphia, including the Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal used in this post.
- Central Association of the Miraculous Medal — The Story of the Miraculous Medal and CAMM — history of St. Catherine Labouré’s 1830 apparitions, the Miraculous Medal and the development of the Philadelphia shrine.
