Saint Catherine Labouré (May 2, 1806 – December 31, 1876) was a French nun who was a member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and is a Marian visionary. She is believed to have relayed the request from the Blessed Virgin Mary to create the famous Miraculous Medal of Our Lady of Graces worn by millions of people around the world. Labouré spent forty years caring for the aged and infirm. For this, she is called the patroness of seniors.
Labouré was born on May 2, 1806, in the Burgundy region of France to Pierre Labouré, a farmer, and Madeleine Louise Gontard. She was the 9th of 11 living children.
Labouré began her noviciate on April 21, 1830, at the convent on the rue du Bac in Paris and on, January 30, 1831, she took her vows.
On November 27, 1830, Labouré reported that Mary returned to her during evening meditations. She displayed herself inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe; rays of light came out of her hands in the direction of a globe. Around the margin of the frame appeared the words “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” As Labouré watched, the frame seemed to rotate, showing a circle of twelve stars, a large letter ‘M’ surmounted by a cross, and the stylized Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary underneath. Asked why some of the rays of light did not reach the earth, Mary reportedly replied, “Those are the graces for which people forget to ask.” Mary then asked her to take these images to her father confessor, telling him that they should be put on medallions. “All who wear them will receive great graces.”
Labouré died in the Hospice on December 31, 1876, at the age of 70. Her body was later moved and is now encased in glass beneath the side altar in the Chapel of Our Lady of Graces of the Miraculous Medal in 140 Rue du Bac, Paris.
Her cause for sainthood was declared upon discovery that her body was incorrupt. She was beatified on May 28, 1933, by Pope Pius XI and canonized on July 27, 1947, by Pope Pius XII.