Saints Preserve Us (August 12)

   I found myself at loose ends in Paris one day and wondering what to do with myself. I had seen all the major sights and as I flipped idly through the back pages of my guide book, I came across this item for "those with a taste for such things." It was an entry about The Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Hmmm. I and every other Catholic boy and girl in Boston had worn a miraculous medal in our day without wondering why.

  The draw of the chapel according to the guidebook was the incorrupt body of Saint Catherine Labouré displayed in a glass case near the altar. Since I was already on the Left Bank, I hiked over to Rue du Bac. The entrance to the chapel is unprepossessing, a small archway off the narrow street, but the passageway opens into a large well-lit church.

  There was no service going on, but the church was almost half filled with what I later realized were pilgrims from all over the world. Churches in Europe can feel cavernous, but the hum of hushed prayer around me gave the place a cozy feel. I remember one large Black man standing alone in his pew with arms outstretched and his closed eyes raised to heaven. There was always a small group kneeling by Saint Catherine's glass case.

  So what was the deal with Saint Catherine? She had been a nun in the Daughters of Charity founded by Saint Vincent de Paul, dedicated to the care of the poor. In 1830, she had a series of visions in which the Blessed Virgin Mary told Catherine that people were ignoring the graces available to them. Mary commissioned a medal that people should wear that would bring down these graces.

  Mary told Catherine people wouldn't believe her but that she should persist. Catherine told her confessor about the visions. He was naturally skeptical, but Catherine was a devout young nun and after two years of observation he reported his findings to the archbishop who commissioned a goldsmith to bring Catherine's design as given to her by Mary into reality. France had just experienced a second Revolution and people were looking for all the graces they could get. The medal became wildly popular and spread all over the world.

  Catherine continued to care for the sick and elderly till her death in 1876 at age seventy. Her body was taken to the chapel on Rue du Bac where she had had her visions. Her body showed no signs of change despite not being embalmed. After checking mortuary sites I found that some people simply do not decay. They will eventually take on a sepia tone, but Catherine looks perfectly natural. Her climate controlled case helps with that. The church calls her incorrupt.

  I noticed another glass case with a body on the other side of the altar. This turned out to be a wax effigy of Saint Louise containing her bones. Saint Louise had been a co-founder of the Sisters of Charity with Saint Vincent back in the 1600s. Because of her work with the downtrodden, Saint Louise had been made patron saint of social workers. 

  I myself was a social worker at the time so I hurried to the gift shop to buy Saint Louise medals for my social worker buddies back home. But Saint Louise medals were €1 each. Miraculous Medals however were a dime a dozen if a dime is what you call a tenth of a euro. Once back home I showered medals upon my acquaintances like graces from above. It was my good deed for the month. 

Incorrupt