In the early 1950s, my grandmother was a young nursing student at the Catherine Labouré School of Nursing in Boston. Ever since then, she has felt a special tie to the French saint. If you’re having trouble picturing St. Catherine, just think about her winged cornette, the headpiece worn by her order the Sisters of Charity. Now you know who I’m talking about right?

Anyway, in honor of my grandmother’s 79th birthday last week, Elodie and I went on an adventure to Paris’ Left Bank. There’s a shrine dedicated to Saint Catherine Labouré on Rue du Bac and it’s one of my grandmother’s most favorite places.

We found the mass times on the shrine’s website and gave ourselves an hour to walk over to the other side of the river to catch the 12:30 mass. As planned, Elodie fell asleep in her stroller and I was ready to enjoy mass in peace. I found the spot, scurried across some cobblestones, up some steps, through some doors, and found a room full of young devotees and some singing priests. “We made it, and what beautiful singing,” I thought. I don’t know what Elodie was thinking when she abruptly opened her eyes, but it was obvious nap time was over, as was the mass. Then the people started following the priests through some doors in the back, so we took our places in line and went along. Up some stairs, through some back corridors, and into the “salle a manger.” Quoi?! I thought we were going to see some sacred tomb or quiet sanctuary, I wasn’t expecting the cafeteria.

I found a friendly English speaking man and explained our situation. He pointed me upstairs to a very nice chapel. It was empty and silent. There was one lady praying, so we quickly lit a candle for grandma and then went off to find the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal one block away. This was the spot we were actually looking for. The chapel was packed with lunchtime Catholics and Elodie and I took our places near the back while the congregation sang the last few lines of the song that wrapped up the mass.

A lot of people were gathering up near the altar, so we joined them and said some prayers by the body of St. Catherine Labouré. I have to admit it was a little bit creepy to see an actual body there behind the glass, but I tried to push those thoughts away and focus on the miracle(s). One being that the body of this daughter of a Burgundy farmer was still perfectly preserved over 100 years after her death, the other being that the Virgin Mary appeared to this farmer’s daughter, here at this very chapel, and instructed her to create a medal based on the vision, stars and globe and all. That was in 1830. Almost 200 years later, the Miraculous Medal is one of the most important symbols of devotion in the Catholic religion. It’s inscribed with the words “Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” If you wear one, and you say those words, there’s no telling what miracles may transpire.

You can find out more about Saint Catherine Labouré and the Miraculous Medal here.