The Compendium of Marian Devotions beautifully compiles Marian theology, dogma, and devotions that all Catholics should know. Read on for a gorgeous meditation and explanation of the details and symbolism of the Miraculous Medal.
The Front of the Miraculous Medal
“O Mary, Conceived Without Sin, Pray for Us Who Have Recourse to Thee.”
Encircled around the front side of the medal is this prayer. These are simple words but have great profundity of doctrinal and spiritual meaning. They point first of all to the Immaculate Conception (“conceived without sin”), a dogma that was proclaimed in 1854 by Pope Pius IX. This dogma proclaims that Mary was given a unique privilege from the infinite goodness of God: that from the very moment of her conception she was preserved from the stain of original sin. The Church celebrates this as a solemnity every year on December 8. It is said that the visions of Saint Catherine gave support to the Holy Father’s decision to promulgate the dogma.
But the prayer goes on: “pray for us.” This points to the Church’s teaching on Mary’s intercessory role: that we ask our mother to pray for us so that God will give us graces. This is something we ask in the Hail Mary as well: “pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” We firmly believe that Mary will pray for us and beg God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—for the special graces that we need to attain the eternal salvation of our soul. Knowing that Mary, the Immaculate One, the Mother of God, is praying for us, is on our side and is interceding for us, should fill us with enormous consolation as we struggle in our battle to attain the prize of eternal life. The one who was “conceived without sin” will help us overcome sin through her prayers.
Mary’s Open Arms and Hands
This artistic depiction is worth a million words! Mother Mary has her arms and hands open for all of us. They are welcoming us; they are ready to embrace us. In other words, in your sufferings, run to Mary; in your fears, entrust yourself to Mary; in your cloudy and even stormy days, seek the light and warmth of Mary’s Immaculate Heart! Her posture is one of refuge, waiting to embrace us. She is a haven of safety in the midst of the moral bombs exploding all around us!
The Rays Emanating from Mary’s Open Hands
The abundant rays emanating from the hands of Mary, like rays from the sun, symbolize what she so ardently desires to attain for us. Remember, she is full of grace! As such, she desires to communicate to us this grace. We must be in a state of grace when we die, or we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Mary wants all her children to enter this kingdom, and so she wants to shower down graces upon us. Not graces that she herself generates, but rather God does, and sends them through His mother.
Mary’s greatest desire for us is to receive grace, grow in grace, fortify our souls with grace, persevere in grace, and if we have lost grace, return to the state of grace so as to finally die in the state of grace! In one of the conversations that Our Lady had with Sister Catherine, there was an element of sorrow. Catherine asked why some of the rays leaving Mary’s hands did not reach earth. The beautiful lady responded, “Those are graces for which people forget to ask.”
Therefore, my friends in Jesus and Mary, starting right now, as we meditate upon the meaning of Our Lady and the Miraculous Medal, let us humbly but fervently beg for those many graces Our Lady wants to attain for us and that are never asked for! May the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount encourage us: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Mt 7:7–8).
Our Lady Standing on the Top of the Globe and Crushing the Serpent
This takes us back to Genesis. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the garden, tempted to do so by the serpent, sin entered the world. But this original sin was followed by the Protoevangelium—meaning, “the First Gospel,” the first Good News of the Bible: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel (Gn 3:15). This was the first announcement that God would send a Savior. But still, it warned us that this life will be one of warfare! Our life on earth is a perpetual battleground between good and evil, light and darkness, truth against the father of lies.
But fear not! Our Lady, like a general in battle array, is on our side! She is always ready and willing to help us, protect us, and defend us against the deadly assaults of the devil, who is the enemy of our salvation. Christ came into the world through her, and so she helps to crush the serpent from Genesis, the devil. Let us stand beneath the banner of Jesus and Mary as their noble soldiers, and with them at our side, the victory is surely ours!
The Back of the Miraculous Medal
The Twelve Stars
Encircling this side of the medal are twelve stars. This image points us to Scripture. In Revelation, chapter 12, we read: “And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (12:1) The Church teaches that this woman from the last book of the Bible is the Blessed Virgin Mary. The crown with twelve stars obviously points to Mary as Queen of Heaven, and so the Miraculous Medal confirms this. Stars are a symbol also closely associated with Mary. She is known as Stella Maris—the Star of the Sea.
The Cross and the Letter M Intertwined
At the foot of the cross and actually attached to the cross is the letter M. This reminds us that Mary stood at the foot of the cross, staying with her suffering Son until He breathed His last. Likewise, she stands with us as we carry our own crosses. She cannot be separated from her Son’s cross, nor can she be separated from our suffering. She is our mother who is always there with us, most especially at times of pain.
The Two Hearts
Below the letter M and the cross, we find the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. His heart is surrounded by thorns, a symbol of the sins of the world that prick and stab His pure heart, and a reference to the crown of thorns He wore during His passion. The Immaculate Heart of Mary, meanwhile, is punctured by a sword. This points us to the devotion of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. (The sorrowful mother is usually depicted with seven swords through her heart, but of course the medal is too small for that. Please see our chapter on the Seven Sorrows devotion for more information.)
Atop both hearts are flames, symbolizing their intense love for one another, but also for us. It is fitting that these two hearts are next to one another, for they are ever united and beat in unison. The Heart of Mary formed the Sacred Heart of Jesus within her womb. Mary will always lead us to Jesus! With the history of the medal recounted, and the symbolism explained, we hope and fervently pray that you will consider wearing the Miraculous Medal around your neck, and over your heart, as well as give out as many medals as you can. We also hope to engender in you a devotion to Saint Catherine Laboure, the saint of the Miraculous Medal. Through her intercession, and that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, you will be the recipient of untold graces that will lead you to heaven!
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This article is taken from a chapter in Compendium of Marian Devotions by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV which is available from TAN Books.
