Zoe Laboure was the daughter of a French farmer, and she was the only one of her large family who did not go to school. She could not read or write at all. Her mother died while she was still very young, and Zoe had to run the house when her older sister became a nun.
Zoe, too, would have liked to enter the convent when she was in her early teens, but had to wait until she was twenty-four. She became a Sister of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and took the same of Catherine.
Shorty after she finished her period of training as a postulant, Sister Catherine began to receive the special privilege of seeing the Blessed Mother. One night, she was awakened from sleep by a "shining child" who led her down to the chapel. There Our Lady came to speak with her. The Blessed Mother, in another vision, showed herself standing on a globe with streams of light coming from her hands. Underneath were the words: "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." Sister Catherine was told that a medal was to be made of this picture of Our Lady and that all who wore it would receive many graces from God through His Mother's prayers.
Sister Catherine told her confessor and he later told the bishop. So it was that the medal which we call the Miraculous Medal was made, and soon many, many people all over the world were wearing it. Yet no one in the convent knew that humble Sister Catherine was the one to whom Our Lady had appeared! She spent the remaining forty-five years of her life answering the door, looking after the hens that provided the nuns with eggs, and taking care of old and sick people. She was happy to keep her special privilege hidden, for she was interested only in serving God as best as she could.
~ "Saints for Young People," Imprimatur, no year listed ~
Zoe, too, would have liked to enter the convent when she was in her early teens, but had to wait until she was twenty-four. She became a Sister of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and took the same of Catherine.
Shorty after she finished her period of training as a postulant, Sister Catherine began to receive the special privilege of seeing the Blessed Mother. One night, she was awakened from sleep by a "shining child" who led her down to the chapel. There Our Lady came to speak with her. The Blessed Mother, in another vision, showed herself standing on a globe with streams of light coming from her hands. Underneath were the words: "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." Sister Catherine was told that a medal was to be made of this picture of Our Lady and that all who wore it would receive many graces from God through His Mother's prayers.
Sister Catherine told her confessor and he later told the bishop. So it was that the medal which we call the Miraculous Medal was made, and soon many, many people all over the world were wearing it. Yet no one in the convent knew that humble Sister Catherine was the one to whom Our Lady had appeared! She spent the remaining forty-five years of her life answering the door, looking after the hens that provided the nuns with eggs, and taking care of old and sick people. She was happy to keep her special privilege hidden, for she was interested only in serving God as best as she could.
~ "Saints for Young People," Imprimatur, no year listed ~
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