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Legion HANDBOOK D10944_1 26/02/2014 15:53 Page 350

APPENDIX 6

THE MEDAL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
CALLED THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL

“Then the Blessed Virgin said to me: ‘Get a medal struck
after this model; those who wear it when it is blessed will
receive great graces, especially if they wear it round their
neck. Graces will be abundant for those who have
confidence’.” (St. Catherine Labouré)
Legionaries should greatly esteem this medal, which has
been prominently associated with the history of their
organisation. It was not the result of deliberation that a statue
of the 1830 model graced the table at the first meeting, yet it
effectively summarised the devotional outlook of the
organisation which came into life around it.
The use of the medal in the work was then recommended.
The invocation which appears on the medal commenced to
be said at that first meeting and now, as part of the Catena, is
recited daily by every member. The design of the medal is
incorporated in the Legion vexillum.
It is provocative of thought that the medal should in this
manifold way insert itself into the Legion devotional system.
Whether accidental circumstances were at work, or yet
another of the delicate and wonderful fashionings of
Providence, may be judged from the following additional
considerations:
(a) The aim of the medal is the furthering of devotion to
the Immaculate Conception. But the medal likewise exhibits
Mary in her role as Mediatrix of Grace, thus comprehensively
showing her in the various aspects under which she is
regarded by the Legion, viz., Mary Immaculate, Mother and
Mediatrix.
The representation of the Immaculate Conception is
comple mented by that of the Immaculate Heart on the
reverse of the medal. The former portrays Mary stainless in
her conception; the latter shows her sinless ever after.
(b) The reverse of the medal bears the images of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, both of
which have been invoked in the opening prayers of the
Legion from the very first meeting. This representation of the

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