The Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Good Health is both “full of grace” (see Gospel of Luke 1:28) and intercedes to God to obtain grace for the faithful. Her image in The Miraculous Medal originated in 1830. Read about this appearance of the Blessed Mother below; and pray to her during this 9-day Novena leading up to the Feast of the Birth of Mary on September 8th.
The story of the image of the Miraculous Medal started on the night of July 18-19, 1830. Our Lady appeared to Sister (now Saint) Catherine Labouré, a novice in the community of the Daughters of Charity in Paris. During this night and on two other appearances, Our Lady asked Saint Catherine to create a medal showing her image as a Lady standing on a globe with her arms outstretched and with dazzling rays streaming from her fingers. Framing the design was the inscription, “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”. Although the Medal is commonly associated with Mary’s title as the Immaculate Conception, the posture of Our Lady on the image of the medal with arms outstretched and rays of light (grace) streaming from her fingers certainly fits well with her title as “Our Lady of Grace”.
In the Catholic Church, grace is identified as “sanctifying grace” and “actual grace”. Sanctifying grace is what makes the soul holy. Actual grace acts on the soul from the outside, and assists in obtaining sanctifying grace. Prayers to the Blessed Mother will aid in obtaining graces from God.
References
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Association of the Miraculous Medal – https://www.amm.org/AboutAMM/Miraculous%20Medal%20Story.aspx.
Catholic.com – Grace – https://www.catholic.com/tract/grace-what-it-is-and-what-it-does
International Marian Research Institute – Our Lady of Grace – https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/o/our-lady-of-grace-title-origins.php
Our Lady of Grace Parish, West Sacramento, CA – https://westsacolg.org/