OUR LADY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL
(1830)
The Blessed Virgin May appeared to the young Sister Catherine Laboure while she was at prayer with the Sisters in a chapel in Paris. Our Lady appeared in an oval frame, standing on a globe of the world. She was dressed in a white robe with a blue cloak edged with silver, having as it were diamonds in Her hands from which fell streams of golden rays upon the earth. A voice was heard saying: "These rays are the graces that Mary obtains for men." Then golden words formed around the oval: "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!" The oval picture then turned around, and on the reverse side the Sister saw the letter M, with a cross above it, having a crosspiece at its base, and below the letter the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the former surrounded by a crown of thorns, and the latter pierced with a sword. Then the voice said: "A medal must be struck on this pattern; the persons who shall carry it with indulgences attached to it, and shall offer the above prayer, shall enjoy a very special protection from the Mother of God."
The medal was struck and spread all over the world, and immediately the most wonderful conversions and cures attested to its miraculous efficacy. Devout Catholics everywhere attest to its wonder-working power!
PRAYER
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who hast willed that the most blessed Virgin Mary, Thy mother, sinless from the first moment of her conception, should be glorified by countless miracles: grant that we, who never cease from imploring her patronage, may attain in the end to eternal happiness. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, . . .
The medal was struck and spread all over the world, and immediately the most wonderful conversions and cures attested to its miraculous efficacy. Devout Catholics everywhere attest to its wonder-working power!
PRAYER
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who hast willed that the most blessed Virgin Mary, Thy mother, sinless from the first moment of her conception, should be glorified by countless miracles: grant that we, who never cease from imploring her patronage, may attain in the end to eternal happiness. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, . . .
MEDIATOR DEI
Continued
Continued
The Act of Offering:
We must understand the exact meaning of the word offer. The unbloody immolation at the words of Consecration when Christ is made present on the altar in the state of a victim, is performed by the priest alone. He does this as Christ's representative and not as the representative of the faithful. Now the faithful participate in the oblation in a twofold manner. First they offer the sacrifice by the hands of the priest, and also to a certain extent they offer it in union with him. This is why the offering made by the people is also included in liturgical worship.
The priest at the altar, in offering the sacrifice in the name of all Christ's members, represents Christ the Head of the Mystical Body; hence the whole Church may rightly be said to offer up the victim through Christ. The people unite their hearts with the prayers of the priest, in praise, impetration, expiation, and thanksgiving.
The faithful should realize the high dignity conferred upon them by the Sacrament of Baptism. At Mass they should unite themselves most closely with the High Priest and His human representative especially at the Consecration. They should then offer themselves, their problems, their sorrows, their needs in union with their Savior on the cross.
[Excerpted from 'Mediator Dei', Pius XII]
We must understand the exact meaning of the word offer. The unbloody immolation at the words of Consecration when Christ is made present on the altar in the state of a victim, is performed by the priest alone. He does this as Christ's representative and not as the representative of the faithful. Now the faithful participate in the oblation in a twofold manner. First they offer the sacrifice by the hands of the priest, and also to a certain extent they offer it in union with him. This is why the offering made by the people is also included in liturgical worship.
The priest at the altar, in offering the sacrifice in the name of all Christ's members, represents Christ the Head of the Mystical Body; hence the whole Church may rightly be said to offer up the victim through Christ. The people unite their hearts with the prayers of the priest, in praise, impetration, expiation, and thanksgiving.
The faithful should realize the high dignity conferred upon them by the Sacrament of Baptism. At Mass they should unite themselves most closely with the High Priest and His human representative especially at the Consecration. They should then offer themselves, their problems, their sorrows, their needs in union with their Savior on the cross.
[Excerpted from 'Mediator Dei', Pius XII]
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