|
| |
A Short Biography
This future saint and ardent devotee of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
was born at Fain-les-Moutiers, in the Diocese of Dijon, France on May 2, 1806
A.D.. She was baptised promptly the next day. Her mother died when she was
just 10 years of age, and the sorrow of her passing was the occasion for St.
Catherine to take the Blessed Virgin Mary as her mother.
She lived a pious life and spent much time caring for her father's household:
a task to which she took with prudence and great self-control. Despite the
work, she always found time to spend long hours in mental prayer in a nearby
chapel, and this perseverance and devotion lead her swiftly along the path of
holiness.
She had some difficulty being allowed to pursue a religious vocation, but as
she trusted in the God who called her to Himself, the problems only served to
lead her to the place God had chosen in the beginning.
After entering the Daughters of Charity, founded by St. Vincent de Paul, she
was a novice of but four days when her community at Rue de Bac, in Paris,
celebrated the translation of the relics of St. Vincent. During the novena in
preparation for the feast, St. Catherine had visions of St. Vincent's heart,
through which she was given infused knowledge regarding the future of France
and the demise of the royal family.
A little over a month later, on Sunday, June 6, 1830, Jesus Christ appeared to
her vested as a king during the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
During the proclamation of the Gospel, His royal regalia fell to the ground,
presaging the end of the Christian monarchy in France. During her novitiate
St. Catherine also was granted the grace to see Our Lord every time she
entered the chapel for the space of nine months. That she remained unnoticed
and humble throughout it all is surely a great miracle of grace.
On July 18 and November 27, 1830, she was visited by the
Blessed Virgin Mary and given the mission to reveal the Miraculous Medal to
the world. By means of faith in Mary's Immaculate Conception and Maternal
Mediation, occasioned by this Medal, Our Lady promised many graces and cures.
The Life of St. Catherine after the Apparitions
St. Catherine faithfully made known and obeyed her spiritual director and
confessor, keeping the secret of these revelations for the entirety of her
life. The first medals were struck with the permission of the Archbishop of
Paris in 1832. The apparitions to St. Catherine were approved by the Church in
1836. Only after death did the members of her community know that it was she
who had seen Our Lady and received the Miraculous Medal. During those years
more than a million medals were struck and distributed. Conversions and
miraculous healings were the results.
St. Catherine spent the rest of her life serving recovered alcoholics and poor
men at the Hospice d'Enghien, in Paris; survived the communist uprising in
Paris in 1870; and died a peaceful death on December 31, 1876. She was
beatified on May 28, 1933 and canonized in 1947 by Venerable Pope Pius XII.
The next time you visit Paris, France, make it a point to stop at Rue du Bac
and visit the site of the Apparitions, as well as St. Catherine's tomb. Her
body is remarkable for being incorrupt to this day; in fact
her eyes are as blue now, as they were in 1876.
St. Catherine Labourés feast day is November 28, the day after the Feast of
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.
The Apostolate Alliance of the Two Hearts & Immaculate
Mediatrix grant permission to the general public to copy this document for the
purpose of free distribution in this or in any other media.
|
