Sitting in a Catholic Artist workshop in New York, I am having flashbacks to a medal and a small statue packed away somewhere back at my parent’s house in Wisconsin. Objects that were given to me years ago but were simply beautiful Catholic objects and nothing more. I was being drawn in, wondering their exact location and if I would be able to find them the next time I was home.
Another Saint (and Our Lady) have come knocking on the door asking to enter my life.
When I was preparing to receive my First Communion, my grandparents gave me a medal and a small statue of St. Catherine. I didn’t know anything about this Saint. I was not named after a specific St. Catherine, and so I didn’t feel a strong connection to this specific Saint. She was one of many in my small Catholic Saint knowledge and devotion.
Fast forward about 20 years, and I suddenly find myself drawn to St. Catherine Labouré. As I am handed a Miraculous Medal and told once more about the devotion people have for Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. An image of St. Catherine is projected on the wall, and it hits me for the first time. She is familiar yet still a stranger. Why have I not put two and two together until now? This St. Catherine is the same St. Catherine that my grandparents gave me a medal and statue of when I was seven years old. This same Saint turned out to be the patroness of the elderly and is the reason the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal is part of the catalog of Catholic devotions. She was no longer that Saint with the funny habit. She was no longer this random St. Catherine. She was someone I found a connection to as I continued to unfold the the similarities in our lives. She and I were quiet children (though I could be rowdy with family), and we both found a path in caring for the elderly.
I was finding myself connecting to a Saint, first given to me all those years ago. It became another element of God showing me my path long before I knew what that path would be.
Ever since that moment of connection, I have kept that small statue out and visible in my day-to-day life. As we bring November to a close, I would like officially entrust the Hem of Christ to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and St. Catherine Labouré as our Chief Spiritual Advisor. May they guide us in the ministry. – Pray for us!