St. Joseph's parishioners pray Miraculous Medal novena

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
August 11, 2005

St. Joseph Parish in Sioux City has a long tradition of having parishioners pray the Miraculous Medal Novena once a week.

According to Father Michael Erpelding, the pastor at St. Joseph, when he was assigned to St. Joseph Parish, the parishioners wanted to make sure that he would continue the tradition.

At St. Joseph's, the novena is celebrated on Tuesdays. The prayer starts with exposition and morning prayer at 9 a.m. At 6:30 p.m. there is evening prayer and the rosary, followed by Mass. The novena prayers are prayed just before and just after Mass.

One of the novena prayers is specifically to pray for the sick and the other is to be dedicated to responding to Jesus through his mother Mary, explained Father Erpelding.

"There isn't a really specific cause other than to lead people to be faithful to their Christian obligations to their Christian faith," said Father Erpelding.

The novena started from visions of St. Catherine Laboure. She was born to upper-middle class parents in Burgundy, France in 1806. At 9 years old, her mother died. St. Catherine went to her room and kissed a statue of the Virgin Mary and said, "You are now my mother."

"She had a dream that some priest was calling her to care for the poor," said Father Erpelding. "When she went to become a religious sister, she saw a painting of the priest. It was St. Vincent de Paul. That is who appeared to her in the dream and she didn't even know who he was."

St. Catherine recognized him when she was in formation as a sister. Also during her formation, she experienced apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Mary asked her to strike a medal.

People now wear the medal around their neck as a remembrance of this. According to the Association of the Miraculous Medal Web site, when Mary appeared to St. Catherine, she told her that "those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around the neck."

The front of the Miraculous Medal is engraved with a rendering of the Virgin Mary. The year 1830 is also on the front of the medal because it is the year the Blessed Mother gave the design of the Miraculous Medal to St. Catherine Laboure.

On the back of the medal there are 12 stars that are believed to represent the apostles; a cross that symbolizes Christ and redemption with a bar under the cross as a sign of the earth; an "M" the interweaves with the cross showing Mary's close involvement with Jesus and the world; and two hearts representing the love of Jesus and Mary for the people.

"I don't know the exact beginning of the novena at St. Joseph parish, but this novena has been prayed once a week since 1950," said Father Erpelding. "There are certain prayers that are prayed each week that were part of the apparition from the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Catherine."

In the past few years, a few things have been added to the novena including exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, morning prayer, evening prayer and the rosary. Mass has always been a part of it since 1950.

"I have heard speculation that it started as a prayer for the soldiers in the Korean War," said Father Erpelding. "I can't verify that fact, but there is some speculation to that affect. The Korean War started in 1950 so that could have been what led them to feel the need to pray this novena."

A shrine at St. Mary of the Barrens Church in Perryville, Mo. is the national shrine for the Miraculous Medal.

For further information about the medal or novena, visit www.amm.org, the Association of the Miraculous Medal Web site.