— ITS — Origin, History, Circulation, Results . BY M. ALADEL, C.M. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH, BY P.S., Graduate of St. Joseph's, Emmitsburg, Md. ILLUSTRATED. PHILADELPHIA: H.L. KILNER & CO., PUBLISHERS. COPYRIGHT, 1880, BY JOHN B. PIET....

TO The Most Compassionate Virgin Mary, mother of god, conceived without sin. Oh Mary, conceived without sin, Virgin incomparable, august Mother of Jesus, thou who hast adopted us for thy children, and who hast given us so many proofs of thy maternal tenderness, deign to accept this little book, feeble token of our gratitude and love! Oh! may it be instrumental in attracting and attaching inviolably to thee, the hearts of all who read it! O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recour

In conformity with the decree of Pope Urban VIII, we declare that the terms miracle, revelation, apparition and other expressions of a similar nature here employed, have, in our intention, no other than a purely historical value, and that we submit unreservedly the entire contents of this book to the judgment of the Apostolic See....

Since the hour when the Beloved Disciple took the Blessed Virgin to his own, the followers of her Divine Son have always cherished a reverential affection for her above all other creatures. They have regarded her as the ideal of all that is true and pure and sweet and noble in the Christian life, and they have honored her as the most favored of mortals, the greatest of saints, the masterpiece of the Almighty. The peculiar veneration paid to her by the Apostles, was caught up by the first Christi

The eighth and last edition of THE HISTORY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL, extending up to the year 1842, has for a long time been out of print. More than once efforts have been made to have a new edition published, but until now they have failed. The recent death of the Sister who was favored with the Blessed Virgin's confidence, has again excited a general desire for the work; for many persons are eager to learn the origin of the medal, and others hope to get the full particulars of it. For these rea

Sister Catherine , DAUGHTER OF CHARITY . HER BIRTH—EARLY LIFE—VOCATION—ENTRANCE INTO THE COMMUNITY—APPARITION OF THE VIRGIN—THE MEDAL—SISTER CATHERINE IS PLACED AT THE HOSPITAL D'ENGHIEN—HER HUMBLE, HIDDEN LIFE—HER DEATH. It is an extensively credited assumption, that those who are favored with supernatural communications should have something extraordinary in their person and mode of life. One easily invests them with an ideal of perfection, which, in some measure, sets them apart from the majo

Mary's Agency in the Church. THIS AGENCY, EVER MANIFEST, SEEMS TO HAVE DISAPPEARED DURING THE EIGHTEENTH AND IN THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY—MARY APPEARS IN 1830—MOTIVES AND IMPORTANCE OF THIS APPARITION—THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. Devotion to the most Blessed Virgin is as ancient as Christianity, and we find traces of it from the very origin of the Church, among all nations who accepted the Gospel. During the first ages, it was concealed in the obscurity of the catacombs, or veiled it

APPARITIONS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN TO SISTER CATHERINE . FIRST APPARITION: THE ANGEL CONDUCTS THE SISTER TO THE CHAPEL; MARY CONVERSES WITH HER—SECOND APPARITION: MARY UPON A GLOBE, HER HANDS EMITTING RAYS OF LIGHT, SYMBOLIC OF GRACE; MARY ORDERS A MEDAL TO BE STRUCK—THIRD APPARITION: MARY RENEWS THE COMMAND. When Sister Catherine was favored with these apparitions of the Blessed Virgin she related by word of mouth to her Director, what she had seen and heard, and he, though apparently attaching

Propagation of the Medal . ITS WONDERFUL CIRCULATION—CANONICAL INVESTIGATION ORDERED BY MGR. DE QUÉLEN. We have already seen with what mistrust M. Aladel received Sister Catherine's communications, and how he hesitated to assume the mission proposed to him. At last, after grave reflection, after consultations with enlightened persons, and upon the formal authorization of Mgr. de Quélen, Archbishop of Paris, he decided to have the medal of the Immaculate Conception struck. This was in 1832. When

DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEVOTION TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION MGR. DE QUÉLEN'S CIRCULAR. The principal end of the Blessed Virgin's apparition to Sister Catherine was to develop among the faithful, devotion to the Immaculate Conception; and the medal was the instrument used to accomplish this. Its influence was so prompt and perceptible that, in the year 1836, the Promoter charged with directing the canonical inquiry attributed to it, in a great measure, the wonderful development of devotion to the Vi

Extraordinary Graces OBTAINED THROUGH THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL. I. Graces Obtained from 1832 to 1835. "Bless the God of heaven," said the angel to Tobias and his son; "chant His praises among all mankind for the blessings with which He has loaded you, for it is good to conceal the secret of the king, but it is glorious to reveal and publish the works of God. Elenim sacramentum regis abscondere bonum est; opera autem Dei revelare et confiteri honorificum est. " [18] Blessed, th

PROGRESS OF THE DEVOTION TO MARY CROWNED BY THE DEFINITION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.—I. OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE.—II. THE CHILDREN OF MARY.—III. THE DEFINITION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. I.—Our Lady of La Salette.—1846. In her first manifestation to Sister Catherine, July 19, 1830, the Immaculate Virgin announced the disasters which threatened France; grief was depicted upon her countenance, tears stifled her voice, she earnestly recommended prayer to appease the wrath of God. Sixteen years

THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL AND THE WAR. The wars which have taken place since the year 1854, the epoch of the definition of the Immaculate Conception, have presented a spectacle to which the world was unaccustomed. Not only were priests called upon to administer to the spiritual necessities of the soldiers in camps and ambulances, but Sisters also were charged with the care of the sick and wounded. The priest's cassock and the robe of the religious, became almost as familiar to the eye as the military

Recent Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin IN FRANCE, ITALY AND GERMANY . THE CONFIDENCE WITH WHICH THESE APPARITIONS SHOULD INSPIRE US. The definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, has, in our age, brought to its climax, devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Divine Providence employed twenty-four years in preparing the world for this great event; we have seen in the preceding chapters, how much the apparition of 1830, contributed thereto, and how powerful the influence of the Miraculous Me