About the Apostolate of the Miraculous Medal(2022-01-01)

Introduction

We all have family members or benefactors or friends or people who are sympathetic to us for one reason or another, who do not believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ. Because we love Our Lord, we suffer that He is not honored by these people. Because we love these people, we are concerned about their eternal salvation. What can we do?

Today, I would like speak about a particular apostolate to convert souls: the apostolate of the Miraculous Medal. I will speak about two fundamental principles and then about how to do this apostolate.

1st fundamental point: the gratuity of the grace of conversion

The first fundamental point to understand is that Faith is a supernatural gift. Believing in Jesus Christ and in all that is in the Creed, is a gift from God. Even the most intelligent man in the world, who has studied in the best theological books, who has witnessed the most extraordinary miracles, cannot believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ and his teaching without a special and gratuitous help from God. Why is it so? Because these are supernatural realities that human intelligence cannot naturally grasp. Remember that passage in the Gospel, when Our Lord asked his Apostles: "Whom do men say that the Son of Man is?" But they said: "Some say John the Baptist, other some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." In other words, these people considered Jesus to be only a man. Jesus said to the Apostles: "And whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." Here, St. Peter proclaimed the Divinity of Jesus. And Jesus answering said to him: "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven" (Mt 16:13-17). In other words, St. Peter was able to believe in the Divinity of Our Lord because God gave him a special grace for that.

We don't bring someone to Faith by the power of brilliant speeches or by attracting them by our human qualities. Faith is a gift from God. To convert someone, we have to ask for this gift. How can we do this? Through penance and prayer. This is what the Blessed Virgin Mary tells us at each of her apparitions. Penance is necessary to repair for the sins that hinder the conversion of the person. Prayer is needed to obtain the gift of faith.

2nd fundamental point: the mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The second fundamental point to understand is the central role of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is through Mary that Jesus defeats the devil: "And I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and you shalt lie in wait for her heel" (Gen 3:15). It is through Mary that Jesus saves every man and makes him a child of God: "Jesus saith to his Mother: 'Woman, behold thy son. After that, He saith to the disciple: 'Behold thy Mother'" (Jn 19:26).

The Miraculous Medal expresses well this role of the Blessed Virgin. If you have a Miraculous Medal with you, please have a look at it. On the front side of the Medal, Our Lady is standing on the earth. This means that She is the Queen of Heaven and earth, and therefore of all men. Our Lady is crushing the serpent that is on the earth. This means that Jesus defeats the devil and his minions on earth through Our Lady. Wherever Mary is introduced, Satan is crushed. Rays of light are coming out of Our Lady's hands. This signifies all the graces that Mary obtains for those who pray to her. The inscription "O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee" indicates the simple but effective prayer to be made to obtain the graces we need. The figure "1830" written on the earth indicates that it was in 1830 that Our Lady appeared to give us this Medal.

On the back side of the Medal, there is an "M" and a cross interleaved. The "M" stands for "Mary", and the cross stands for Jesus and His work of Redemption. The interleaving signifies the profound union of Jesus and Mary in the work of Redemption. The cross rests on the "M". This means that Jesus brings salvation to the souls who welcome Mary, and also it means that Mary prepares the coming of Jesus. The 12 stars signify the 12 Apostles and thus the Catholic Church founded on the 12 Apostles. The "M" and the Cross are in the center of the 12 stars. This means that the Church of Christ is the Catholic Church, and that Jesus and Mary save people through the Catholic Church. The two Sorrowful Hearts signify the love of Jesus and Mary who suffered so much to give us the possibility to obtain eternal happiness. 

3. The Apostolate of the Miraculous Medal

Now, how can we carry out the apostolate of the Miraculous Medal? By applying the two fundamental points already mentioned, following two steps.

The first step is to introduce the Blessed Virgin Mary to people by giving them the Miraculous Medal. If the Medal has been blessed by a priest, it is better. We offer the Medal to any person who seems to be of good will, whether baptized or not. We briefly explain the meaning of the Medal and we mention the promise of the Blessed Virgin: "Those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around the neck". Indeed, wearing it around the neck is to show publicly one’s trust in the Blessed Virgin: Our Lady rewards in a special way such trust. If the person is not willing to wear the Medal around the neck, we advise to put it in one’s wallet or handbag or to keep it at home.

Once the person has accepted to take the Medal, we recommend saying from time to time the prayer of the Medal: "O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee". Finally, we offer to give additional Medals to be distributed to family members and friends. Very often people accept willingly and thus they help spreading the Medal.

The second step is to obtain the grace of conversion through prayer and penance. Prayer consists especially in saying often the invocation of the Medal on behalf of all the people who have the Medal. Also for example, we can pray the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary specifically for their intention, praying to the Blessed Virgin to bring Jesus to them as she brought Him to St. Elizabeth on the day of the Visitation. Penance consists in offering any kind of sacrifices, our daily sufferings and sorrows in union with the sufferings of Jesus and Mary during the Passion, for the eternal salvation of those who have the Medal.

Conclusion

Dear Faithful, it may happen that you may some human respect at the idea of doing such apostolate. The first few times you do it, you may feel a bit awkward. But very soon this human respect will give way to a holy boldness to distribute the Medal, to make people know and love Our Lady. In fact, you will be the first beneficiaries of this apostolate because you yourselves will become stronger in your love and trust and devotion to Jesus and Mary.

Fr. Demornex