• Saint Who?

Saint Who?

Saints Who Saw Angels

Saint Catherine Labouré

Religious († 1876)Feast: November 28

Zoé was born into a large family in France. She was needed at home, particularly after her mother died, so she did not attend school and never learned to read or write. Although she believed God was calling her to religious life from the age of fourteen, it took her ten years to overcome her father’s opposition. When she entered the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, she took the name Catherine.

Relics of Saint Vincent de Paul were translated to the sisters’ community in Paris soon after she arrived there. On July 19, 1830, a “shining child” woke her in the middle of the night. This angel led her to the chapel, where Catherine saw the Blessed Mother.

During the multiple visions Catherine received, Our Lady told the young sister to have a medal struck with the images she saw. Catherine dutifully reported everything to her confessor. When medals were eventually made and distributed, so many miracles occurred that the image became known as the Miraculous Medal. But Catherine did not tell the other sisters that she was the source of these amazing visions and quietly spent four decades caring for the sick. Less than a year before her death, she finally revealed the truth to her superior. Soon after Catherine’s death, a disabled child was miraculously healed at her tomb.

Heavenly Father, give us the trust and simplicity
of children.