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The Medal of the Immaculate Conception, commonly called the Miraculous Medal, was revealed to a humble daughter of St. Vincent de Paul, Blessed Catherine Labouré, by Our Lady herself, in 1830.

During her seminary days, Blessed Catherine received extraordinary favors, such as visions of the heart of St. Vincent de Paul and daily manifestations of Our Lord in the Sacrament of His Love, but it was toward the close of that memorable year, 1830, that she was blessed with the three apparitions of Mary Immaculate, to which we owe the Miraculous Medal.

The apparitions concerning the Medal were all very much alike; their nature, therefore, may be learned from a summary of Blessed Catherine’s account of the heavenly visitation which she received on November 27th:

“The Blessed Virgin was standing on a globe, and her face was beautiful beyond words. Her fingers were covered with precious jewels whose light dazzled me. And I heard: ‘Behold the symbol of the graces I shed upon those who ask for them!’  Then an oval frame formed round the Blessed Virgin and I read in letters of gold:  O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. The vision reversed, and I beheld the letter ‘M’ surmounted by a cross, at the foot of the cross a