Category: What’s New?

On November 2, Catholics around the world will celebrate All Souls’ Day.

Asking Our Lady to help obtain the final purification of the souls of your departed loved ones is a powerful gift of love –– one that can hasten their journey toward full and everlasting union with God.

Join AMM’s All Souls Day observance at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on November 2. Sharing the names of deceased relatives and friends offers them a special remembrance in prayer throughout the month of November and during the anniversary month of their passing. In his all-powerful existence that transcends the limits of earthly time, God can apply the merits of your prayer to assist those you love. What a powerful gift this is! You may also request a Votive Light to burn for your deceased loved ones.

Father Clay’s letter tells more about All Souls Day.  

“We pray to the Lord for our dead … that the Lord will receive them all.
And we pray also that the Lord will have mercy on us and give us hope:
hope that we can go forward and … find them
all together with him when he calls us. So be it.” 
Pope Francis, 2023 All Souls Day

September 15 is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Ahead of this feast, the Association will celebrate its monthly member Novena of Masses beginning Friday, September 6, and concluding on the eve of the feast day.

You are invited to send your petitions for remembrance during these Masses and on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on September 15. Your needs will be placed near Mary’s Altar here at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

You may also burn a Votive Light at the Shrine as a sign of your spiritual presence throughout the novena.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta called our sufferings “the kiss of Jesus –– a sign that you have come so close to Him on the cross that He can kiss you.” Please share your petitions so that we may present them to the Holy Mother of God on your behalf.

When someone we love faces a loss, we are all called to be missionaries of hope. Our words can comfort them, encourage their trust in God, and help them recall the truth that life will prevail over death.

You can request Memorial Remembrance Cards to send to someone who has recently lost a loved one – or will soon mark the anniversary of their passing. This card offers a spiritual remembrance of the deceased in the daily Mass and prayers at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal for one year.

It shares the Blessed Mother’s motherly concern for them in a special way. 

When you receive the card(s), simply complete it and mail it to your recipient(s). Then, write the name of the departed loved one on the enclosed reply form and return it to the Association of the Miraculous Medal.

To add to your memorial remembrance, you may also burn a Votive Light at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal for the deceased person and the intentions of the bereaved. 

When you return the name of the deceased, any charitable offering you add will support the mission of the Association of the Miraculous Medal: to draw all people closer to Christ through increased devotion to Our Blessed Mother. Read Father Clay’s letter here. It shares more about how the Memorial Remembrance Card can bring hope to someone in their time of need.

A sacramental is a sacred sign instituted by the Church to prepare us to receive the fruit of the sacraments and to sanctify different circumstances of our lives. The Association of the Miraculous Medal’s online gift shop is now offering a combination pack of three traditional Catholic sacramentals. You can use the blessed and exorcised salt, blessed oil, and holy water around your home as a spiritual aid to encourage the faith of family members, ask God’s blessing upon those you love, and appeal to heaven for protection of your temporal possessions.

Request your trio set of sacramentals here. Each one-ounce bottle of blessed and exorcised salt, blessed oil, and holy water will be blessed here at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Perryville, Missouri. The suggested offering is $26 for the set of three. Your donation covers the material costs plus shipping and handling – with some left over to support Mary’s ministry at the Shrine.

This sacramental collection makes a wonderful gift for loved ones. Thank you for supporting AMM’s mission to draw souls closer to Jesus through Mary, whose glorious Assumption gives all Christians a joyous assurance of God’s love and faithfulness.

Order your blessed and exorcised salt, blessed oil, and holy water here. Or, call 1-800-264-MARY (6279) Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., CT.

Many members of Mary’s Association have shared the sorrow of a loved one leaving the Church, or even losing their faith altogether.

If you are experiencing this in your own life, know that Our Blessed Mother understands your heartache. In her motherly love, she desires to intercede with and for you to bring all those you love back to the Church.

You are invited to join the Association of the Miraculous Medal in lifting up your loved ones to Jesus through Mary. You may share their names here for remembrance during Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Perryville, Missouri, on Sunday, September 15, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. 

You may also request to burn a Votive Light for your loved ones inside the beautiful Votive Light Room here at the Shrine.

Saint Paul writes that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus. That includes being away from the practice of faith, no matter how long it’s been. Prayer and compassion are spiritual gifts you can pour out on those you love. God can use your faith-filled gesture to spiritually revive those you love.  Read Father Clay’s letter about ways you can help loved ones return to the faith.

“A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”   Revelation 12:1

Tuesday, August 15, marks a joyous feast in the liturgical year. Our Lady’s Assumption into heaven was affirmed by the Second Vatican Council in one of its principal documents, called Lumen gentium. Its declaration is now part of the Catholic Catechism: “Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.” (Catholic Catechism, Article 9, Paragraph 6, 966)

Join with members of the Association of the Miraculous Medal in praying this prayer throughout the month of August and especially during the nine days of the Novena of Masses being held August 6-14 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and on the Solemnity of the Assumption, August 15. Any petitions you submit will be prayerfully remembered during this time.

You may also burn a Votive Light, confident that the Queen of Heaven will not delay in presenting your special intentions to our sovereign King and Lord of all, Jesus Christ.

More than 3,200 AMM members are currently members of the Twelve Stars of Mary Monthly Giving Club. In this season’s Rays of Light, AMM members are invited to consider the spiritual and temporal benefits of becoming a monthly donor. For more information, call our office at 1-800-264-MARY (6279) and ask for Krista, Nicole, or Pat. 

Rita from Ohio joined the AMM’s monthly giving club for two reasons. “Supporting Mary’s mission is very important. The Association’s prayers for me have also been important, so I decided to join the Twelve Stars of Mary.”

Monthly givers share in spiritual and temporal benefits, including:

• – year-round remembrance in Masses and prayers at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal;

• – the ease of sending gifts automatically from your preferred financial account — no more having to remember each month;

• – the joy of being one of AMM’s benefactors who are devoted to Our Lady’s work to share God’s life-giving goodness to all people.

To learn more, call 1-800-264-MARY (6279) Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., CT.

Salt has been used throughout history for preserving and flavoring foods. In the Bible, people used salt in sacrificial offerings. Jesus called his disciples the “salt of the earth.” He meant that by taking his words to heart, living by them, and sharing his teachings with others, they would spiritually “season” and “preserve” the world. Today, blessed salt is a Church-approved sacramental — a tangible aid to prayer intended to help you deepen your faith and increase God’s grace in your life.

You are invited to request blessed and exorcised salt from the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal for your family’s use and to share with loved ones. Each six-ounce bottle of salt has been blessed with the prayer of exorcism pronounced over it by Father Clay Kilburn, C.M., in accordance with the Roman Ritual. The suggested donation of $15 covers the cost of packaging and shipping, but more importantly, the ministry of spreading devotion to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Read Father Clay’s letter about the blessed and exorcised salt.

As teachers and students prepare to return to the classroom, please join AMM members in praying for them. Click here to share the names of those you’d like remembered in the daily Mass and prayers offered at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal throughout the coming school year. For a suggested offering of $10 each, you may also request the “Backpack Mary Medal” with a lobster claw clasp to give as a thoughtful back to school gift for a special child, grandchild, or teacher. You may also request up to 100 free, blessed Miraculous Medals to distribute to Catholic schoolchildren, educators, and family members. Each medal comes on an attractive story card explaining its origin. (Browse AMM’s online gift shop for more medal options, Votive Light cards, and more.)  As Father Clay’s letter reminds us, Mary desires to bring her children to the fullness of truth. She inspires teachers and students who are open to her promptings.  

Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us!

Thursday, July 18, marks 194 years to the day since Our Lady first appeared to Sister Catherine Labouré inside the Daughters of Charity Motherhouse in Paris. The Blessed Virgin spoke with the future saint for over two hours. The depth and warmth of this personal conversation is unlike any other ever recorded. Mary assured Catherine that heaven’s graces would be shed upon all who asked for them with confidence. Join with fellow AMM members in observing this joyous anniversary. Send your special intentions to be placed near the Blessed Mother’s Altar for remembrance at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. You may also burn a Votive Light inside the Shrine’s beautiful Votive Light Room. Finally, this video highlights a statue on the Shrine grounds depicting that moment when Catherine took Mary’s hands in complete trust and devotion. You can do the same by sharing your needs with the Queen of Heaven, who desires to obtain for you heaven’s limitless graces and favors.

Send your petitions and burn Votive Lights at Our Lady’s National Shrine here in Perryville, Missouri, for the Mother of Divine Grace Novena. Your petitions will be remembered in our daily Mass and prayers throughout the nine days of the novena and on the feast of the Mother of Divine Grace on Tuesday, July 23.  As Saint Cyril of Alexandria prayed, “Hear us, dear Mother, as our voices humbly tell your love’s story. Gifts beyond reckoning you pour out in bounty, rich rain of blessing dropped on hill and meadow where you still shelter your devoted offspring … Grant then your favor, quick to heed and answer; may these our fervent prayers win grace like starlight, keen, constant, tracing out a way to heaven through our profound night.”  

You are also invited to recite this prayer to Our Lady throughout the nine days of this novena.

Each year, the Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8. AMM continues its tradition to honor Mary’s birth, which this year falls on the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Association will observe an octave of prayer beginning September 8 and concluding on September 15, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. You are invited to entrust your intentions to the Mother of God. Mary welcomes your devotion, your prayers for a loved one, or a simple expression of your gratitude to the spiritual Mother who loves you more than even the best earthly mother could. You may also burn a Votive Light in Our Lady’s honor, representing your special affection for the Immaculate Mother of Our Lord. Read Fr. Clay’s letter to learn more about the birthday candle being created by thousands of faithful members.