Chapelle de la Médaille Miraculeuse

Today I was blessed with the wonderful opportunity to go visit a Marian shrine right in the heart of Paris- la Chapelle de la Médaille Miraculeuse (Chapel of the Miraculous Medal). Most of the time when people hear the words "Marian shrine" and "France" they think of Lourdes, but lo, there is indeed one in Paris. Once upon a time the chapel was in a village in the countryside near Paris. It has obviously been swallowed up since then!

Anyways, it is a very powerful experience to go to a place where we know Mary was present. For me, I think my visit to the shrine marked a turning point in my Marian devotion. Oddly enough, being Hispanic, I heard the name Mary uttered all the time growing up- mostly in the frustrated interjection "Ave Maria!- however, even upon beginning to live the Faith, my religious focus has always been on Christ and Christ alone. With time I began praying to various saints. I have had trouble developing a profound devotion to Mary, which for years I have been told is highly beneficial and carries with it many blessings.

Why the obstacles? It may seem counterintuitive for some, especially in our protestantized culture, to picture how devotion to Mary is a profound expression of faith in Christ. And yet, today in the chapel of the Miraculous Medal, everything seemed to fall into place. Mary is, in and of herself, the embodiment of our spiritual journey and the physical manifestation of our metaphysical faith in the Lord. This is what the Rosary is all about- meditating on Mary to better understand Christ.

The altar in the chapel depicts very beautifully what I am talking about. Above the tabernacle is a majestic statue of Mary with arms outstretched. She stands upon the serpent and towers over the globe in a protective motherly manner. As I looked at the altar and the tabernacle, it was clear to me that Mary was and is the first tabernacle, the ark of the new covenant, which is Christ our Lord. She was the first to be saved, and her direct spiritual journey to the Kingdom of Heaven through her glorious Assumption is the perfection of what is for us an imperfect journey which we must all endure.


Mary is also an example of perfect submission to God's will, which in the end won her the greatest exaltation. This is what we are all called to as Christians. Such a profound paradox, as Pope John Paul II stated, is a sign of God's presence. By denying ourselves and accepting God's will, as well as the yoke of our mortal toils, we ultimately achieve the promised salvation. Mary gave herself up totally and completely to the Spirit, and in this way she became the living tabernacle of our Lord, just as we become, in a way, living tabernacles everytime we worthily receive our Lord in Holy Communion.

And just as Christ's body was pierced for our iniquities, Mary's heart was pierced by the most bitter sorrows of a mother viewing her son die for all of humanity. In this way, Mary, like Christ, shares in our deepest sorrows and understands them, such that she is our most trusted advocate before Christ.

The Miraculous Medal really is just that. It is such a simple thing, and yet reflecting on its symbols and meanings along with the overall meaning of Mary in our lives can bring us to a profound appreciation for our heavenly mother.

For my part, I have by no means reached any sort of summit in my devotion to Mary. I will say, though, that the journey ahead looks beautiful. If you find yourself frustrated in your Marian devotion or are unable to really immerse yourself in it, do not worry. All things transpire in God's time. Be patient in prayer and persevere knowing that, no matter what, our Blessed Mother smiles lovingly upon us.


About the Miraculous Medal

How dark were the Dark Ages? (Addendum)

If you were sad that I didn't put my pictures of Amiens Cathedral up yet, weep ye no longer! Below I am posting a link to an album of pictures that I took in this beautiful city, including, of course, some shots of the cathedral. Enjoy!

AMIENS, région Picardie (Picardy), France

Pray for Georgia

I have spent the past couple of hours reading dozens of articles and viewing videos regarding the terrible war that has been raging in Georgia since Friday. I prefer to avoid politics in my blog but I genuinely feel in this case that the Georgian people are victims of a despicable and overt manipulation and invasion by their powerful neighbor to the north- Russia. As it is right now the Russians have moved beyond the separatist regions and are occupying Gori, a Georgian city only 76 km from the capital. They are also launching attacks all around the country and have reportedly cut the country in half by capturing the only east-west highway. Georgian troops are surrounding Tbilisi to repulse the invaders. This is a terrible crisis bred of the worst treachery by Russia, particularly for the innocent civilians who have to see their homeland torn to shreds around them.

What we are seeing is a war for the rich being perpetrated in the lands of the poor. This show of incredibly disproportionate force and violence merits no justification, even considering the initial offensive by Georgia in its own territory to reclaim South Ossetia, a separatist region.

I simply ask, in the name of justice, that you pray for the people and country of Georgia, for mercy upon the aggressors, and for a swift peace. As one of the very first kingdoms in the world to adopt Christianity, which is still strong there, I feel a particular calling for our prayers.

St George, patron of Georgia

How dark were the Dark Ages?

How dark were the Dark Ages? We reply reflexively that, once upon a time, there were castles and lords and then there were peasants and their fiefs: ignorant, backwards country folk. Thus were the Dark Ages. Then came the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. I must wonder if anyone ever stops to ponder how it is that the Dark Ages were dark. My big question is: are we more or less ignorant now than we were back then in the Middle Ages?

I was inspired to ponder this question yesterday when I went to see the awe-inspiring cathedral of Amiens in northern France. As I beheld the splendor and breathtaking beauty of this architecturally immaculate wonder, I began to ask myself if people were really so ignorant back then in terms of their understanding of the world and their place in it. Just imagining the rationality and purpose behind every element of the cathedral revealed to me in stunning terms the intimate knowledge and profound respect for the sublimity of God that people in that epoch surely had.

As I prayed in the adoration chapel, I looked up and noticed a beautiful vertical panel of stained glass which, upon close scrutiny, I noticed depicted the entirety of the history of Christ's Passion. It was unmistakeable. The beauty of the illuminations reveal the simple truths of the Gospel, and yet leaves the spiritual impact of our Lord's self-sacrifice to the heart of each individual believer. Every single part of the cathedral had a purpose. The floors were paved with labyrinth patterns to reveal the mesmerizing and intangible path towards the divine. The sheer massiveness of the nave left me breathless, and yet it depicted but a microcosm of God's immensity! And in the sanctuary-the holy of holies- cordoned off by a jube and beautiful choir stalls, even the most ignorant of persons could gather that in that place the most sacred of events- the consecration- transpires at every Mass.

I could not help but ask myself and reconsider the meaning of the word "ignorance". From where do our intellectual pursuits originate and whenceforth are they to lead us? I do not feel that it was merely the impressive beauty of the cathedral Notre Dame d'Amiens that truly brought forth this question in me. Rather, it was the perception of the simple sense of ordered purpose in that space wholly directed towards one goal: the glorification and revelation of our Lord's essence, which is beyond us. It is beyond me to divine how that space was so elegantly erected. It is beyond me to understand what drove otherwise simple people to gather together and build it up from nothing. And yet, in that cathedral, I understood that somehow, even in that allegedly most ignorant of epochs, there was manifest a profound and reasoned understanding of the unintelligible. So much so that, even lacking what we consider in our modern times to be the signs of advancement and progress, there could be witnessed a true sense of direction and, most importantly, faith.

The central questions, which I feel are really quite simple to answer are: have we truly progressed since then? Are we more or less ignorant?

Link to album of Amiens, including beautiful shots of the cathedral. Below are shots taken from Google.