Considering Lourdes and the Miraculous Medal in addition to Fatima show the unity of
these apparitions, a unity until now not sufficiently explained.

    According to Abbe Richard, Mary has a life in heaven, a sequence of living actions, just
as she had while on earth. In the mysterious providence of God these apparitions are incidents
of her heavenly life which break visibly through to earth.

    We know that she is mother of her children by spiritual actions within their souls, the
graces she obtains for us, the inspirations she gives. In the apparitions she does something
of a more spectacular nature, gives us more extraordinary help.

    The most apt way we can consider her is to realize that she is always a mother: she is
Mother of the Church at Guadalupe, Mother of the Church at Rue du Bac in Paris, Mother of
the Church at Lourdes,, Mother of the Church at Fatima.

    Father Messias Coelho deepened the understanding of Mary's Motherhood by indicating
that she gave a continuing message which became clearer with each new apparition. He said
they were all contained prophetically in that of the Miraculous Medal to St. Catherine Laboure
in the convent of the Daughters of Charity on Rue du Bac in Paris. Lourdes and Fatima clarify
Our Lady's intentions. They were contained even earlier in the apparition of Guadalupe, here
in America. To understand Father Messias' conclusions we must recall the story.

    On the night of July 18, 1830, St. Catherine Laboure, a novice of the Daughters of Charity,
was awakened from her sleep by a little child of extraordinary beauty and radiance whom
Catherine recognized to be her guardian angel. He led her to the chapel sanctuary. After a few
minutes Catherine saw a Lady descend the altar steps and proceed to seat herself in the
Director's chair in the sanctuary. Catherine threw herself at the Lady's knees, conversed with
her. The Lady told her that God wished to entrust her with a mission. The vision predicted the
troubles which would come to France both in the near and distant future, but she gave words of
confidence to Catherine. She gave the remedy "Come to the foot of the altar . . . There graces
will be shed upon all, great and little, who ask for them. Graces will especially be shed upon
those who ask for them."

    It was a November 27 of the same year that the Medal itself was given. In the same
sanctuary Our Lady reappeared, a dazzling vision of light in which she held a globe in her
hands which she told St. Catherine "represented the whole world, France especially, each
person in particular". On each finger there were three rings studded with gems, from the gems
came rays which "symbolize the graces I give to those who ask for them. The gems from which
rays do not fall are the  graces for which souls forget to ask". At this point the golden ball
vanished from Mary's hands, her arms swept wide in a gesture of motherly compassion, from
her jeweled fingers the rays of light streamed upon the white globe at her feet. On the globe was
a serpent crushed beneath Our Lady's feet. An oval frame formed around the Blessed Virgin,
and within it in letters of gold Catherine read the words: "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee." The voice spoke again: "Have a medal struck after this
model. All who wear it will receive great graces: they should wear it around the neck. Graces
will abound for persons who wear it with confidence." The tableau revolved, and Catherine
beheld the reverse of the medal she was to have made. It contained a large M surmounted by a
cross. Beneath the M were the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the one crowned with thorns, the
other pierced with a sword. Twelve stars encircled the whole. The vision then disappeared.
Later at the request of her confessor, who was charged with having the medal struck, Catherine
asked the Virgin in prayer if there should be words on the back to balance those on the front,
and she received the verbatim reply: "The M and two hearts express enough".

    The medal was propagated quickly. So many were the supernatural intervention of God
through Our Lady's Medal, technically named the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, that
the people called it the Miraculous Medal; this name has remained to this day and has been
sanctified by a liturgical feast granted in its honor in 1895. Two canonical inquiries have
investigated and approved the supernatural character of the Medal. One took place in 1836
under the Archbishop of Paris, and the other was conducted in 1842 in Rome itself when the
miraculous conversion through the Medal of the Jewish banker Alphonse Ratisbonne, so like
the scriptural conversion of Paul, was certified. Again we have a charism subjected to the
proper Church authority and accepted as worthy of credence.

    But Mary in exercising her Motherhood at Paris had a long range plan. Father Messias
indicated that the Miraculous Medal was prophetic of the future visitations of Our Lady, but
especially of Lourdes and Fatima. To understand his thought we must realize that the Medal
is above all a symbol, symbolic in all its details. Our Lady has so implied: "the rays (from
the rings) symbolize the graces I give to those who ask for them". And to Catherine's
question concerning words to be put on the back of the medal Mary replied: "The M and two
hearts express enough". In other words, we are to meditate on the medal and determine its
meaning.

    Let us therefore try to understand the symbolism of the Medal, and see its unity with the
message of Lourdes and Fatima. Since Lourdes is so well known and its miracles so well
authenticated it does not seem necessary here to repeat in detail the history of this visit in
1858 of Our Lady to St. Bernadette. The revelant point is that the doctrine implicit in the
symbolism of the Medal became explicit at Lourdes and Fatima.

     The Miraculous Medal proclaims the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception: the prayers
"O Mary, conceived without sin" . . . on the face of the medal is clear; as also the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, pierced with the traditional sword, on the reverse. At Lourdes Mary identified
herself: "I am the Immaculate Conception". At Fatima she asked for devotion to her Immaculate
Heart, consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart in order that there be peace in the world.

    On the Medal Mary is symbolically crushing the head of Satan, the serpent of Genesis
III:15. At Lourdes she inspires Bernadette to preach penance and prayer - the tools to defeat
Satan; and during the February 19th apparitions at Lourdes, Bernadette heard demonic voices
shouting, "Begone, Begone," to Bernadette and the Lady. The Blessed Virgin quelled them with
a single glance of sovereign power. At Fatima Mary gives the children a vision of hell, the
devil's kingdom where "sinners go" and says that to save them "God wishes to establish in the
world devotion to my Immaculate Heart".

   At Lourdes Mary taught Bernadette how to say the Rosary, and only when saying the Rosary
did Bernadette see her. At Fatima the children were always saying the Rosary during the
visions, and Mary told them and the world to say the Rosary every day if we wish God's
blessings. How does the Miraculous Medal include the Rosary? The medal is entirely
symbolic; what then is the symbolism of the three rings on each of Mary's fingers, fifteen in
all? Father Messias indicated that the rings are the fifteen decades of the Rosary. When the
Medal was given Rosary rings were a common way of saying this prayer, rings with ten stones
for the Hail Mary's, a larger one for the Our Father. About 1850 the Church removed all
indulgences from ring Rosaries, and Our Lady used the chain Rosary at Lourdes and Fatima.
This is an adequate explanation for the symbolism of the rings; and it fits the fifteen rings from
which the rays which symbolized graces came. When Mary explained to Catherine that some
stones on the rings shed no rays, she said that they are symbolic of the prayers not said; they
would especially be symbolic of Rosaries not said (her favorite prayer, as Lourdes and Fatima
indicate).

    The M and bar surmounted by the cross on the reverse of the medal symbolize that Jesus
and Mary are approached together, that devotion to Mary leads to devotion to Jesus. They
symbolize also the penance to which Our Lady calls us. At Lourdes and at Fatima the Mother
asked that Chapels - of her Son - be built, that processions be held, that penance be done.
Mary leads people to the foot of the cross and to Jesus in the sacrifice of the cross, the
Mass.

    There is a Eucharistic theme through all three sets of apparitions. At Rue du Bac Catherine
always saw Mary in the sanctuary of the Chapel, she was told to "come to the foot of the Altar."
There "graces will be shed upon all, great and little, who ask for them". At Lourdes she
ordered "you will tell the Prieststo have a chapel built here". During both the September and
October visitations Our Lady asked that a chapel be built at Fatima. During the preliminary
vision of the angel of Peace at Fatima in 1916, the angel held in his hand a Chalice surmounted
by a Host, from which drops of Blood flowed into the Chalice, and he gave the children
Communion

    At the first part of the medal vision Catherine beheld the Blessed Virgin with a golden
ball in her hands. Catherine heard a voice; "The ball you see represents the whole world,
especially France, and each person in particular." Again symbolism. At Lourdes the variety
of miracles and conversion of people from all over the world shows Our Mother's universal
interest. At Fatima the Blessed Mother promises peace to the world if her requests are
followed, and during the July 1917 apparition her words were "You must recite the Rosary
every day in honor of the Blessed Virgin, to obtain the end of the war through her
intercession, for only she can help you". She holds the world in her hands; and in the
mysterious providence of God our prayers help her to move God to give us the peace
we crave.

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