Miraculous Medal in gold 15 mm 0,76g

The medal of the rue du Bac

In 1830 the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré, in the rue du Bac in Paris, and asked her to have a medal struck to the pattern she showed her. The front carries the Virgin with open hands, treading on the serpent, ringed by the words "O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee". The back sets Mary's monogram beneath a cross, with the two hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Spread in tens of millions of copies within a few years, it became the best-known Marian medal in the world — so much so that there is no need to say which: "the miraculous medal" is enough. The Church even gave it a feast day, the 27th of November.

18-carat gold

Eighteen-carat gold is 750 parts pure gold per thousand. It does not tarnish, does not mark the skin, and does not dull over the years. Unlike plating, there is no surface layer to wear through: the metal is the same throughout.

That is what makes a gold medal something to hand on. Worn for forty years, passed from one generation to the next, it comes through time unchanged — which plating cannot do.

The 15 mm size

Fifteen millimetres excluding the bail is the versatile diameter: enough to be seen on a chain, discreet enough for daily wear, for a man or a woman. The bail is the fixed loop at the top through which the chain ring passes; the stated diameter does not include it.

This medal comes on its own: to wear it, add a matching gold chain.

A sacramental, not a charm

The Miraculous Medal is an object of devotion, not a talisman. By tradition, those who wear it with trust receive graces through the Virgin's intercession — but it is the faith of the wearer that counts, not a power residing in the metal.

If it is a gift received by post, it is customary to have it blessed by a priest before wearing it. That blessing gives it its full sacramental character.

A gift that lasts a lifetime

A gold medal is given for a baptism, a First Communion, a confirmation, a birth. It is the gift that is kept: many wear all their lives the medal they were given as a child.

For a smaller budget, the same medal exists in gold plate. Browse our other gold medals and crosses, all our Miraculous Medals, and our Virgin Mary items.

Shipped from our shops in Lourdes.