Sister Catherine was most anxious to carry out the command of her
heavenly Visitant, but she met with many difficulties, because her
prudent director feared to be precipitate, and he wished to take
every precaution in so important a matter. Finally, with the approval
of Mgr. de Quelen, Archbishop of Paris, the first medals were struck
on June 30, 1832. When it came to details of the medal, difficulty
arose as to how our Blessed Mother should be represented, as she had
not always appeared in the same attitude. After serious deliberation
it was decided to adopt the existing model of Mary Immaculate with
her hands extended.
The medal soon spread throughout France, and then throughout the
world by reason of the miraculous cures both of soul and body that
were wrought through it. In Paris and Lyons nearly eighty million of
these medals had been struck by 1879.
At the request of the Superior General of the Congregation of the
Mission and of the Daughters of Charity, Leo XIII granted to the two
Communities a feast with special Mass and Office in honor of Mary
Immaculate under the title of the Miraculous Medal. This feast is
yearly celebrated on November 27.