1806 – 1876
FEAST December 31
Born Zoe Laboure, this visionary lived simply and anonymously for 45 years as a Sister of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris. But during her novitiate, Sister Catherine had visions of Our Lady, shared then only with her confessor and a tribunal that investigated and authenticated them. In the visions, Our Lady stood on a globe, with light shafts beaming from her hands and these words around the image: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” The Miraculous Medal devotion was born immediately, but credited to Catherine’s visions only eight months before her death. Her incorrupt body lays in her convent chapel.