Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
Pray this powerful novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal from November 18 to 26, asking for grace, protection, and Mary’s intercession in your most urgent needs.
The Miraculous Medal is one of the most beloved sacramentals in the Church. According to St. Catherine Labouré, Our Lady asked for it to be made in 1830 and promised “great graces” to all who wear it with trust.
There are seasons when our own strength runs out. We carry worry for a sick parent, a child who has drifted from the faith, a marriage under strain, or bills we cannot cover. In those moments the Church has always invited us to turn to Mary, our Mother, who never leaves her children unheard. Whether you are praying for healing, guidance, the conversion of a loved one, a financial difficulty, or simply deeper peace, we can entrust it all to her.
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The Origin of the Miraculous Medal
During evening prayer on November 27, 1830, in the chapel of the Daughters of Charity on Rue du Bac in Paris, a young novice named Catherine Labouré reported seeing the Blessed Virgin Mary standing on a globe, with rays of light streaming from her hands. Around the vision appeared the words:
“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
Catherine said she was asked to have a medal made in this image. Her confessor examined the matter carefully, and with the approval of the Archbishop of Paris the first medals were struck in 1832. As they spread, many people reported conversions, healings, and protection from danger, and the faithful began to call it the Miraculous Medal. Catherine was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1947.
The novena from November 18 to 26 prepares the heart for the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on November 27, the anniversary of that apparition.
A Documented Miracle: The Conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne
Few stories show the fruit of this devotion as clearly as the 1842 conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne. He was a young Jewish man from Strasbourg, openly hostile to the Catholic faith, who had been angered when his own brother became a Catholic priest. He had no intention of changing.
In Rome in January 1842, he met a Catholic friend, Baron Théodore de Bussières, who challenged him to wear a Miraculous Medal and to pray the Memorare each day. Ratisbonne, by his own account, accepted it as something of a joke.
On January 20, 1842, while waiting for his friend inside the church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, Ratisbonne later testified that he suddenly saw the Virgin Mary, radiant, as she is depicted on the medal. She spoke no words, yet he said he understood at once what he was to do. The man who had walked in as a skeptic asked to be baptized.
He was baptized soon after. Because the event was so extraordinary, the Church did not simply accept the story: it opened a formal canonical investigation, examined the testimony, and declared his conversion an authentic miracle. Ratisbonne later became a priest and spent the rest of his life in service to the Church.
The lesson is not that a medal works like a charm. It is that Mary leads us to her Son, often through the smallest of means and at the hour we least expect. If there is someone you love who seems far from God, we can pray with that same hope.
Read the full story of Ratisbonne’s conversion and the Church’s investigation →
Why Pray the Miraculous Medal Novena?
Mary has always been a refuge for her children, and many Catholics turn to her in this novena when they need her closest. You might pray it for:
- Protection for yourself and your family in danger, illness, or uncertainty.
- The conversion of a loved one who has drifted from the faith, as in the story of Ratisbonne.
- Healing of body, mind, or heart, or strength for those who care for the sick.
- Peace in your home, guidance in a hard decision, or help in a financial burden.
We do not pray to bargain with God or to demand a result. We pray as children, trusting that our Mother brings every petition to Jesus and that, whatever the outcome, we will not be left alone.
How to Pray the Miraculous Medal Novena
Pray the novena once a day for nine consecutive days, from November 18 to 26, at whatever time you can set aside in peace: morning, midday, or evening. Many people pray holding a Miraculous Medal or in front of an image of Our Lady. The steps below follow the order of the prayers in the novena.
- Begin each day with the Sign of the Cross.
- Pray the opening prayers to the Holy Spirit.
- Pray the three invocations: “O Mary, conceived without sin…”
- Pray the Novena Prayers and the Act of Consecration.
- State your intention with confidence.
- Close with the invocation to Our Lady.
You may pray for multiple intentions — entrust them all to Mary with confidence.
If you miss a day, do not be discouraged. Pick the novena up again with trust and add the missed day at the end. The novena may also be prayed at any other time of the year.
Miraculous Medal Novena
Novena Prayer of the Miraculous Medal
November 18–26
Begin with the Sign of the Cross…
In the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Come,
O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
Send forth Your Spirit,
and they shall be created.
And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O God,
who did instruct the hearts of the
faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit,
grant us in the same Spirit to be
truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation,
through Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Amen.
O Mary,
conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to you.
O Mary,
conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to you.
O Mary,
conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to you.
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who has vouchsafed to glorify
by numberless miracles the Blessed Virgin Mary,
immaculate from the first
moment of her conception,
grant that all who devoutly
implore her protection on earth,
may eternally enjoy Your presence in heaven,
who,
with the Father and Holy Spirit,
live and reign,
God,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who for the accomplishment of Your
greatest works,
have chosen the weak things,
of the world,
that no flesh may glory in Your sight;
and who for a better and more widely
diffused belief in the
Immaculate Conception
of Your Mother,
have wished that the Miraculous Medal be
manifested to Saint Catherine Labouré,
grant,
we beseech You,
that filled with like
humility, we may glorify
this mystery by word and work.
Amen.
Memorare
Remember,
O most compassionate Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who
fled to your protection,
implored your assistance,
or sought your intercession was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence,
we fly unto you,
O Virgin of Virgins,
our Mother;
to you we come;
before you we kneel sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not our petitions,
but in your clemency hear and answer them.
Amen.
Novena Prayer
O Immaculate Virgin Mary,
Mother of Our Lord Jesus and our Mother,
penetrated with the most lively
confidence in you
all-powerful and never-failing intercession,
manifested so often through
the Miraculous Medal,
we your loving and trustful children
implore you to obtain
for us the graces and favours we ask
during this novena,
if they be beneficial to our immortal souls,
and the
souls for whom we pray.
(State your intention here…)
You know,
O Mary,
how often our souls have been
the sanctuaries of your Son who hates iniquity.
Obtain for us then a deep hatred of sin
and that purity of heart
which will attach us to God alone so that our
every thought,
word and deed may tend to His greater glory.
Obtain for
us also a spirit of prayer and self-denial that we
may recover by penance
what we have lost by sin and at length attain to
that blessed abode where
you are the Queen of angels and of men.
Amen.
An Act of Consecration to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
O Virgin Mother of God,
Mary Immaculate,
we dedicate and consecrate
ourselves to you under
the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.
May this Medal be for each one of us a
sure sign of your
affection for us and a constant reminder of
our duties toward you.
Ever while wearing it,
may we be blessed by your loving protection and
preserved in the grace of your Son.
O most powerful Virgin,
Mother of our Saviour,
keep us close to you every moment of our lives.
Obtain for us, your children,
the grace of a happy death;
so that,
in union with you,
we may enjoy the bliss of heaven forever.
Amen.
O Mary,
conceived without sin,
pray for us
who have recourse to you.
O Mary,
conceived without sin,
pray for us
who have recourse to you.
O Mary,
conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to you.
About the Miraculous Medal and Saint Catherine Labouré
On the front of the medal, Mary stands on a globe, crushing the serpent beneath her feet, with rays of light falling from her hands and the prayer “O Mary, conceived without sin” around her. On the back are the letter M beneath a cross, the Sacred Heart of Jesus crowned with thorns, the Immaculate Heart of Mary pierced by a sword, and twelve stars.
The medal is a sacramental. As the Catechism teaches, sacramentals prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. It is a sign that helps us pray and trust, not a lucky charm. It is customary to ask a priest to bless a medal before wearing it.
Saint Catherine Labouré, the Daughter of Charity who received the vision, remained hidden for most of her life, serving the elderly poor of Paris in humble work. She was canonized in 1947.
Related Devotions
- Novena to the Immaculate Conception – continue with Our Lady through Advent, from November 29 to December 7.
- Memorare Prayer – the prayer Ratisbonne was challenged to pray each day.
- Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe – nine days of prayer before her feast on December 12.
- Advent Prayers and Devotions – prayers for each week as we prepare for Christmas.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 9-day novena is prayed from November 18 to November 26, so that it ends on the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on November 27. It may also be prayed at any other time of the year.
No. Many people pray holding the medal, but the novena can be prayed without one. The medal is a sacramental, a sign that helps us pray and trust, not a lucky charm.
Catherine Labouré was a Daughter of Charity who reported seeing Our Lady in 1830 at the chapel on Rue du Bac in Paris and was asked to have the medal made. She was canonized in 1947.
The front shows Mary standing on a globe and crushing the serpent, with rays of light from her hands. The back shows a cross above the letter M, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and twelve stars.
Yes. You may entrust one or several intentions to Mary during the nine days.
