Miraculous Medal Design
Miraculous Medal Design
We look at the issue of the placement of stars on the Miraculous Medal design.
Introduction
Miraculous medals either have balanced stars or one of them at the top. Some have expressed concern over this. Of note, the Catholic Church has not issued an official statement about it.
We posted a timeline based on an extensive article we discovered. You can click on the titles to read our short write-up on each section. If you want to read the original article (Concerning the Miraculous Medal), we linked it.
Timeline of the Miraculous Medal Design
Click on the titles or years (or keep scrolling) to read more. We provided short write-ups for a quick read.
More Details
November 27, 1830: Apparition to St. Catherine Laboure
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Catherine Labouré, a French religious sister. The Blessed Virgin showed her an image and asked for a medal according to the design.
Those involved with designing the medal did not obtain a copyright. Since several companies now make them, copyright issues have arisen. They are legally bound to have original artwork when designing a new medal. They have changed the borders, the placement of the stars, textures, and minor details.
1832
1832: The First Medals
Msgr. de Quélen, the Archbishop of Paris, approved the original medal. Adrien Vachette designed it. They changed the Blessed Virgin Mary’s image to make the design work. She was standing on a globe instead of holding it. Rays of light came from her extended hands. The first medals appeared in 1832.
Click to see a photo and info by the Militia Immaculata.
1880
1880: The First Stars
St. Catherine Labouré did not describe stars as part of the medal design. It was not until 1880 that twelve stars became the standard for the medal.
2002
2002: Copyright Dispute
In 2002, there was a dispute between the original company and another. The Official Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Rue de Bac, France designed the original medal. The Traditional Family Property Company (T.F.P) re-designed the original medal because of copyright issues. One of the changes was a star centered at the top of the cross at the back. Several individuals sent out warnings not to buy these changed medals.
2009
2009: Private Revelations of Danielle
In 2009, a French woman (Danielle) claimed that she received private revelations from God the Father. Note that private revelations are not approved or sanctioned by the Catholic Church. She reported that the Freemasons had struck a “false” miraculous medal with a star on top of the cross on the back.
2015: Poorly Minted Medals
Over the centuries, most medals and rosary parts have had beautifully detailed European quality. In 2015, one of the other companies produced a line of Miraculous Medals with their tiny Ave Maria logo at the bottom of the back. It was so poorly minted that some people thought it was a satanic star symbol. On some of them, the face of Our Blessed Mother looked distorted and satanic because of the poor minting.
2017
2017: Fr. Ambrosio Legaspi Shares His Opinion About It
In 2017, a diocesan exorcist priest in the Philippines (Fr. Ambrosio Legaspi) began talking about it.
2018
2018: Fr. Michel Rodrigue's Warning
In 2018, the concerns picked up momentum. Fr. Michel Rodrigue of Amos, Québec warned that a false miraculous medal existed. He identified it as the one with the star on top of the cross.
2023
2023: Our Conclusion
Currently, there is no official statement by the Catholic Church about it. That makes it difficult to know for sure. Our conclusion? The choice is yours. We do our best to provide quality products. We can customize any item with a component of your choice.
What We Have Available
We have a variety of Miraculous Medals in stock. The original company made the Miraculous Medals pictured here. Notice how the star placement is the same on all of them but other details make them unique.
*Not all of our Miraculous Medals are products of the original company. Feel free to ask for a photo of the back of any of our medals and then let us know if you want a replacement.
CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere in 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet resources. We’d like you to use it as a starting point for your research to verify facts and build a reference list.