Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

The Chapel of Graces of the Miraculous Virgin (French: La Chapelle du Grâce de Sainte Vierge Miraculeuse) or informally the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, is a Roman Catholic shrine located in Paris, France. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the Marian title the Virgin of Miracles.

The famed tabernacle, ivory crucifix and statue of the chapel, crowned by the decree of Pope Leo XIII on 2 March 1897

History

Originally constructed via the imperial decree of King Louis XVIII on 25 March 1813, the chapel was formerly within the former building of Hotel de Châtillon. It was blessed and dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on 6 August 1815 and served as a part of the motherhouse of the Order of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.

The famed address of the shrine is #140 — Rue du Bac, Paris, France. The chapel is reputed to be where the Blessed Virgin Mary is purported to have appeared to a novice of the Daughters of Charity, Catherine Labouré, in December 1830 and requested the creation of the medal of the Immaculate Conception that came to be known as the Miraculous Medal by popular demand.

Pontifical coronation

Pontifical crown of Pope Leo XIII decreed to the Marian image manufactured by French jeweler and artisan, Frederick Boucheron.

Pope Leo XIII granted the Marian image a decree of pontifical coronation on 2 March 1897. The rite of coronation was executed by the former Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal François-Marie-Benjamin Richard on 26 July 1897.

Pope Pius XII granted a decree of coronation for a namesake image venerated in the Church of Saint Matthew in Maastricht, Netherlands on 15 March 1956 which later took place on 27 May of the same year.

Marian apparitions

The chapel at Rue du Bac, Paris, is the site of a number of apparitions said to have been experienced by Catherine Labouré. It was here on three successive days, while praying, that Saint Vincent de Paul showed her his heart three times in a different colour:

• White — the colour of peace
• Red — the colour of fire
• Black — an indication of the misfortunes on the city of Paris.

Shortly after, Labouré saw Christ present in the Sacred Host, and on 6 June 1830, the Feast of the Holy Trinity, Christ appeared as a crucified king, stripped of all his adornments.

The interior of the Chapel interior view.

In 1830, Labouré (aged 24) received three visits from the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the first visit, the night of 18 July, she received a request that a Confraternity of the Children of Mary be established. Accordingly, the Virgin Mary later requested the creation of a medal with the following invocation:

"O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."

In 1832, a cholera epidemic swept Paris and the religious nuns disseminated the medal called the “Medal of fhe Immaculate Conception”. As the epidemic receded and fewer people were infected, and Parisians began to call the medal "miraculous." In 1849, the chapel was expanded and thereafter other modifications were executed. Since 1930, the date of its complete renovation, the chapel is as it is known today.

The venerated statue crowned by Pope Leo XIII in 1897 helped establish the image and spread its devotion. In many Catholic countries, the image retained its original title as “Virgin of Miracles” (Spanish: Virgen Milagrosa) while the title “Our Lady of Grace” was popularized in the United States of America during the 1940s and 1950s due to her iconographic hand gesture.

Custodianship

The chapel is administered by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. Only the 17th-century tabernacle remains unchanged since 1815. This tabernacle came from the original building allocated in 1800 to the Daughters of Charity. Once lost, it was rediscovered in the chapel of the Sisters of Mercy and was installed there before the French Revolution.

Catherine Labouré declared that it was in front of the tabernacle that the Blessed Virgin Mary prostrated herself in the nights of 18 and 19 July 1830 and that she was above it during the third apparition in December 1830. In 1850, an ivory crucifix was placed on top of this tabernacle.

Marian cult and veneration

Tomb with the incorrupt body of Catherine Labouré

Tomb with the effigy of Louise de Marillac

The chapel, as a site of Marian apparition, is a Marian shrine and hence a site of Catholic pilgrimage. It can hold as many as 700 visitors.

The wax effigy containing the bones of Louise de Marillac and the heart of Vincent de Paul, founders of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, are kept there. The incorrupt body of Catherine Labouré, member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and famous Marian visionary, also lies in a glass coffin at the side altar of the chapel.

See also

• St. Mary's of the Barrens Catholic Church (Perryville, Missouri) - National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.
• Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Philadelphia

References

Books

• Petit guide de la chapelle Notre-Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse. Editions du Signe, 2002

External links

• The Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal – Official Website