Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

The night Catherine spoke to the Virgin

Paris (France) (1830)

Era la night from 18 to 19 July 1830, the eve of Saint Vincent of Paul. In the mother house of the Daughters of Charity, en la Rue du Bac from Paris, a twenty-four-year-old novice was sleeping: Catalina Labouré. That day he had asked of Saint Vincent with all his heart an immense, almost daring grace: to see the Blessed Virgin with her own eyes.

Towards 11: 30 at night heard she was called by her name. When he opened his eyes, he saw by his bed a small boy, dressed in white, surrounded by lightwho said: "Come to the chapel; the Blessed Virgin awaits you." Catalina got up and followed him through the corridors in darkness. On his way, the chapel was leaving. moistening como para a gran fiestawith all the lights on in the middle of the night. (The pious tradition has seen in that child his angel of the guard; what Catherine said for sure is that she was a bright child who guided her.)

And then he came. The Virgin entered and sat in the sillón del directornext to the presbytery. Catherine, in a daughter's impulse, He ran to her, kneeled and held his hands on her knees.. She would later count it with unforgettable words:

And they talked. Almost two hours, until about two in the morning, like a mother with her daughter. The Virgin opened her heart: she trusted her that God wanted to give you a mission.who would have to suffer and would be contradictory, but not afraid, because he would receive the necessary graces. He spoke to him in pain of times that would come over France and the Churchand of misfortunes and of crosses; and he left him a clear promise: At the foot of that altar they would pour out unmeasured graces upon all who asked them with confidence., big and small.

That conversation was not the end, but the beginning. Months later, 27 November 1830Our Lady would return to show her the image of the Miraculous Medalwith those rays that sprung out of his hands - the rays of graces that await the one who asks for them. But those who love this story always return to that first night: to the novice kneeling in the dark, with their hands on their Mother's knees, discovering that Heaven is not far, that the Virgin Wait.And you can really be treated from you to you.

The essence of this story - on the night of July 18, the child who guides the guide, the illuminated chapel, the Virgin in the chair and the almost two hours of colloquium - comes from the witness of the propia Catalina, collected by his director, Fr. Aladel, and preserved by the Daughters of Charity; the identification of the child as an angel and some polished phrases belong to the devotional tradition.