Category: What’s New?

Cada año, en el mes dedicado a nuestra Madre del cielo, la comunidad se reúne para honrar a la Virgen María en la Procesión y Coronación de mayo, una tradición profunda para nuestro pueblo. Es un momento para caminar con fe, agradecer los favores recibidos y presentar nuestras luchas y esperanzas a la Madre que siempre escucha.

Por ello, la Asociación de la Medalla Milagrosa le invita a usted y a su familia a unirse a esta celebración el domingo 4 de mayo.

En el Santuario Nacional de la Medalla Milagrosa, en Perryville, Missouri, celebraremos nuestra procesión a la 1:00 p.m. (hora del centro). Desde el Santuario recorreremos el Sendero del Rosario, rezando y elevando cantos en un ambiente de oración.

Después de la Procesión, a las 3:00 p.m.,celebraremos la Santa Misa en español frente al Santuario de María. Durante esta liturgia se llevará a cabo la imposición de la Medalla Milagrosa.

Para quienes se encuentran en California, la Parroquia de San Vicente de Paúl en Los Ángeles celebrará la Coronación de la Virgen María en todas las misas del domingo 4 de mayo (8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. y 2:00 p.m., hora del Pacífico).

Sé que no siempre es posible estar presente físicamente. Por eso le ofrezco esta sencilla pero significativa forma de unirse a nuestra celebración. Por favor envíenossus intenciones de oración para colocarlas ante la Virgen María, donde permanecerán todo el mes de mayo.

La Familia de la Medalla Milagrosa no solo recordará sus intenciones  durante esta celebración, sino también en todas las misas del mes de mayo, encomendando sus necesidades a la Virgen María.

No importa la preocupación que lleve en su corazón, grande o pequeña, María siempre está atenta. Ella consuela, sostiene y conduce hacia su Hijo a quienes acuden a ella con fe.

Si usted desea hacerlo y tiene la posibilidad, su donación nos ayuda a continuar esta misión: difundir la devoción a la Virgen María y compartir la Medalla Milagrosa con quienes buscan esperanza.

Si además de colocar sus peticiones frente a la Virgen, también desea encender una veladora en el Santuario, puede hacerlo fácilmente.  

Para mí es un honor recibir sus intenciones. Son un reflejo de su confianza en la Virgen María, y le agradezco profundamente el privilegio de presentarlas ante ella. Espero que pueda visitarnos en Perryville o en Los Ángeles para vivir esta celebración tan significativa para nuestro pueblo peregrino.

Que Dios bendiga su hogar, y que la Virgen María los acompañe con su ternura y su paz en todo momento. Usted y su familia están siempre en mis oraciones.

Siempre con la Virgen María,

Rev. Prudencio Rodríguez de Yurre, C.M.
Director Espiritual

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Christians down through the ages have used blessed oil as a symbol of God’s empowering, strengthening, and healing power.

Blessed oil is a Church-approved sacramental. A sacramental is a prayer aid—blessed objects, sacred signs, or actions the faithful use to outwardly express their devotion and openness to God’s grace. Making the Sign of the Cross is a sacramental. Blessed items like a rosary, crucifix, or scapular are sacramentals. Holy water and blessed oil are sacramentals.

The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal offers oil that has been blessed and touched to a relic of Saint Catherine Labouré. I invite you to request a half-ounce bottle for a suggested offering of $19. Also available to order by phone.

Or you may prefer to order the Blessed Trio Set of holy water, blessed oil, and blessed and exorcised salt. Your offering covers more than the cost of these items. The excess flows out to the world—bringing God’s love and healing to souls through Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

Click here to find the instructions to be used when blessing yourself or another with blessed oil.

Here’s a story I’ve shared before. It’s an inspiring example of how one AMM member used blessed oil to bless his spouse.

“When my wife was in hospice, she would sometimes get very uncomfortable in between doses of her medications. I would rub blessed oil on her forehead, and every time, it seemed to make her calm and ease her pain.”

Let me emphasize something important. Sacramentals and prayer are never substitutes for taking prescribed medicines or seeking medical attention. Nor are they the same as receiving the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick from a priest.

Sacramentals are used as a sign of faith in God’s power to intervene in our lives. We may ask for the miraculous. Then, by faith, we are called to entrust the outcome to Our Lord in perfect peace, the gift he promised the world at the Last Supper.

I would also like to pray for Our Blessed Mother’s intercession for you and any loved ones in need of renewed health of body, mind, or spirit. I invite you to send me these names.

These loved ones will be remembered in the daily Mass and prayers here at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. You may also request Votive Lights to burn for your needs and those of your loved ones. 

May God continue to bless all our efforts to serve him and draw us ever closer to himself.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Sincerely yours in Our Lady,

P.S. Used in faith and prayer, sacramentals like blessed oil can open hearts to receive the blessings God desires to bestow upon his children. 

“…they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save…”    James 5:14-15

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Last spring, Reader’s Digest published 20 short “mom stories” – touching memories shared from the heart.

In one story, Teresa from Illinois talks about her mother, who grew up in a communist country. One day her mother met a very poor blind woman with her daughter. In a sudden act of deep compassion, she loaned them money.

Then, great worry set in. But, Teresa says, “They miraculously returned every cent.” Two decades later, Teresa’s mother came to the U.S. The Catholic Church provided food for her and her many children. She later paid that kindness back. Teresa’s generation has carried on their mother’s compassion and generosity.

In the Old Testament, becoming a mother was seen as the greatest gift God could give a woman. A mother’s love can change a heart, a family, a future, and the world.  Perhaps your mother has been an example of love and charity for you.

Look how the Blessed Virgin Mary’s love has changed many lives.

As Mother’s Day draws near, I invite you to remember one or more special mothers and mother figures in your life with prayers offered for them at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. When so many in our society no longer respect family and children, our prayers for mothers are so important.

You may request Mother’s Day cards to present this gift to the ones you love. Each card offers the woman you name a spiritual remembrance for their intentions during our Mother’s Day Mass and throughout the remainder of May.

As an additional outward sign of your faith and devotion, you may request a Votive Light to burn at the National Shrine.

“The most important person on earth is a mother,” Venerable Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty boldly suggested. For those of us fortunate to have a mother like Teresa’s, it is easy to see why he believed that!

Any offering you send will help AMM to share the love of Jesus and Mary with people around the world. Our spiritual ministry includes distributing nearly two million blessed Miraculous Medals and thousands of spiritual greetings like those enclosed every year.

Like Teresa’s mother, members of the Association of the Miraculous Medal are moved with compassion at so many needs around us. United in mission, we desire to enrich those who are spiritually poor, through Mary’s intercession and by walking with them along life’s journey in the joyous hope of salvation that Mary’s Son has won for us.

May God bless your continuing efforts to serve him as he draws you ever closer to himself. 

Together with Jesus and Mary,

P.S. If you would like to request Mother’s Day cards, visit www.amm.org/store,  call 1-800-264-MARY (6279), or indicate your request on the enclosed reply form.

P.P.S. You may also request Father’s Day cards at the same time!

Of all the prayers handed down to Christians over the centuries, few equal the beauty and belovedness of the Rosary.

Many have heard that Mary gave this prayer to Saint Dominic in the 13th century, but scholars today say the Rosary came about slowly, over many years.

By the early 1400s, the word “rosary” sprang from the name “Rosenkrantz,” German for rose garland – and the Latin “rosarium” for rose garden. Rosaries were pictured as circlets of roses, with every “Ave Maria” (Hail Mary) uttered on earth becoming a flower to crown Our Lady in heaven.

Imagine countless roses filling up paradise, God’s kingdom overflowing with love and devotion for his Queen Mother.

As the month of May draws near, the Association of the Miraculous Medal is preparing for its annual tradition to honor Mary, one that will offer up prayers and an outpouring of roses from here on earth.

Send us your special intentions, they will be presented to Mary during our 2026 May Procession on Sunday, May 3. You may also call or email us with your intentions. 

I invite you to join us in person, too, if you can! Hundreds of members and friends will gather here in Perryville, Missouri, at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, beginning at 1:00 p.m., CT.

We will process along the Rosary Walk to the historic grotto, singing a Marian hymn and reciting the Rosary. The event will include the crowning of Mary, a tribute to Our Lady, and the presentation of the beautiful wreath made with the roses returned by you and other devoted members as a representation of your intentions. The First Communicants will carry bouquets of roses – also made of returned roses – while the 8^th Grade Confirmands will carry the prayer petitions, all to be presented to Our Lady.

We are delighted to announce that following the procession, a Spanish Mass will be celebrated at 3:00 p.m. inside the Shrine Church in Perryville, Missouri. The Liturgy will include the Rite of Investiture in the Miraculous Medal.

If you live closer to the West Coast, we invite you to Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Los Angeles. The crowning of Mary will also take place there on May 3, at the Sunday Masses (8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., and 2:00 p.m., PT).

Please send your special intentions before April 7. We will humbly ask the Queen of the May to present your prayers of praise and petition to her Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Your intentions will also be remembered throughout the month of May. Your may also request a Votive Light to burn at the Shrine. Doing so can be a powerful sign of your prayerful presence here.

If you are inspired to send a charitable offering, know that such gifts enable us to continue Mary’s ministry. Together, we continue to draw people closer to God through Our Lady, especially by sharing free, blessed Miraculous Medals. You can request medals to distribute to loved ones, neighbors, parishioners, or at a nearby Catholic school.

Thank you for your caring support of the Association of the Miraculous Medal. We look forward to receiving your special intentions. We hope to see you at the National Shrine on Sunday, May 3!     

Sincerely in Jesus and Mary,