Saint Catherine Laboure

Saint Catherine Laboure is venerated on November 28th in the liturgical calendar of the Congregation of the Mission, Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Archdiocese of Paris (Although in the Maryrologium Romanum, her feast is on December 31st).

Saint Catherine was born on May 2nd, 1806 in Fain-les-Moutiers France as the 9th of 11 living children to Pierre Laboure and Madeleine Louise Gontard. When she was only nine, her mother passed away (1815) and at her mother's funeral she kissed the feet of a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary saying:

"Now you will be my mother".

She became a member of the Daughters of Charity, a nursing order founded by Saint Vincent de Paul after reportedly having a dream of the Saint. When his remains were translated to the Vincentian church in Paris, Saint Catherine began experiencing visions during the novena. For three successive nights she had a vision of Saint Vincent de Paul's heart above a shrine containing his relic's - each vision the heart had a different color (white, red and then black). She belived it to be an indicator that the Vincentian communities would continue to prosper and that there would soon be a new government of France.

Starting in 1930, she began experiencing visions of the Blessed Ever Virgin Mary culminating in the reveal of the Miraculous Medal. For our article on the Miraculous Medal, please click this link: https://www.thepathtosainthood.com/post/miraculous-medal

For fourty years afterwards, she dedicated her life to nursing the aged an infirm, earning her the title of patroness of seniors. She passed away on December 31st, 1876 and her body is encased in glass beaneath the side altar in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris. Pope Pius XI officially beatified her when her remains were disovered to be fully incorrupt - Pope Pius XII canonized her a saint on July 27th, 1947.