Saint Catherine Laboure

The Saint of the Day for November 28 is Saint Catherine Laboure.

Saint Catherine Laboure was born in Fain-les-Moûtiers, Côte d'Or, France on May 2, 1806. She was the ninth of eleven children in a poor farm family. Upon her mother’s death, when Catherine was eight years old, the young girl assumed the responsibilities of the household.

When she was older, she began working in a hospital run by the Sisters of Charity which was founded by Saint Vincent de Paul. She received a vision in which her vocation was revealed to her and she became a Sister of Charity and worked with the sick.

Almost immediately upon entering religious life, Catherine began receiving visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Blessed Mother told Catherine that she wished a medal to be struck, which she described it in detail. The Miraculous Medal, as it is now known, is a popular devotion and is worn today by millions of faithful around the world.

After a year of these visions, Catherine was sent to a convent outside Paris where she served as the portress and worked with the sick for the rest of her life in humble and obedient service. She never spoke about the visions she received from Mary except to her confessor.

She died in Paris on December 31, 1876 and was canonized in 1947 by Pope Pius XII. Her body lies in the crypt of the convent and is incorrupt.