Miraculous Medal

Dear Catholic Exchange,

Thank you for your recent answer to Mr. Mamah's question on wearing the brown scapular. It's very enlightening. Now, I have a question on the Miraculous Medal which was promulgated by St. Catherine Laboure. My religion teacher in a Catholic school advocated us to always wear that medal for protection against evildoers. And since we are not only a Catholic school, my school is also an exclusive school for girls only, my teacher told us that those medals (our school directress who is a Mother Superior or a nun distributed the Miraculous Medal to all of us students) will serve as a protection against rape, or men who have bad intentions on us or who will look us lustfully. What are your point of view regarding the Miraculous Medal whose feast day will be on November 27?

Yours in Christ,

Miss M

Dear Miss M.,

Thank you for writing to Catholic Exchange. The Miraculous Medal, like the brown scapular and other medals, are sacramentals.

For more information about the Miraculous Medal, you may check out the Catholic Encyclopedia's history of the medal, as well as their discussion on sacramentals, part of which I quote here:

"Besides the efficacy which the sacramentals possess in common with other good works they have a special efficacy of their own. If their whole value proceeded from the opus operantis, all external good works could be called sacramentals. The special virtue recognized by the Church and experienced by Christians in the sacramentals should consist in the official prayers whereby we implore God to pour forth special graces on those who make use of the sacramentals."

Also, you may be interested in the Militia of the Immaculata (MI), founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe. St. Maximilian Kolbe had a special devotion to Our Lady and the wearing of the Miraculous Medal. The MI's site had additional information about the Miraculous Medal.

Blessings,

Mrs. Karen Ford
Associate Editor
Catholic Exchange

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