The Rings and the Rays of the Miraculous Medal
- Fr. Scott Haynes
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Fr. Scott Haynes
That is an excellent and deeply symbolic question—one that goes to the very heart of Our Lady’s revelation to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830. The detail about the rings on Mary’s fingers is one of the most beautiful parts of the vision and expresses, in vivid and theological imagery, how the Blessed Virgin acts as the Mediatrix of God’s graces.
Let us unfold the story carefully, as Saint Catherine herself described it.
1. The Vision of the Rings of Light
During the second apparition on the evening of November 27, 1830, in the chapel of the Daughters of Charity on the Rue du Bac in Paris, Saint Catherine Labouré saw the Blessed Virgin standing upon a globe, her feet crushing a serpent. Around her were the words:
“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
Mary’s hands were lifted to about waist height, in a gesture of intercession and openness. Catherine noticed that on each of Mary’s fingers were three rings of precious stones, one above another. From these rings rays of brilliant light streamed forth, filling the lower part of the vision with dazzling beauty. The light radiated in every direction, each beam representing a grace that Mary obtains from her Son and pours out upon those who ask.
Catherine later recounted:
“The Blessed Virgin was standing on a globe. She was of such beauty that I could not describe her. Rays of light came from her hands, as if from the most beautiful jewels, and spread around her. At this moment, while I was contemplating her, the Blessed Virgin lowered her eyes and looked at me, and I heard a voice which said: ‘These rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them.’”— Saint Catherine Labouré, Account of the Apparitions (Rue du Bac Archives)
Mary’s image on the medal captures this moment: her hands open, light descending upon the world.
2. The Rings Without Rays—Graces Not Asked For
Catherine observed, however, that some of the jewels on Mary’s fingers gave no light. They appeared dark, without rays. Surprised, she asked herself why.
Mary answered:
“The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which souls forget to ask.”
This simple but profound statement reveals one of the most poignant truths of Christian spirituality: that God, through Mary, is ready to pour out abundant graces—but many are never received, because they are never sought. Heaven’s generosity is infinite, yet it waits for human cooperation.
These “dark jewels” are a symbol of unclaimed mercy. Mary, as Mediatrix of grace, is eager to intercede for her children, but her intercession respects our freedom and our faith. As Saint James writes, “You have not, because you ask not” (James 4:2). Our Lady’s words to Catherine repeat this same Gospel truth.
3. Theological Meaning of the Rings and Rays
a. The Rings
The rings themselves, studded with jewels, symbolize Mary’s plenitude of grace. She is “full of grace” (Luke 1:28)—overflowing with divine favor from the first instant of her Immaculate Conception. The multiple rings on each finger represent the superabundance of gifts she holds in her hands for the world: sanctifying graces, actual graces, consolations, virtues, and helps for every need of body and soul.
The fact that the rings are arranged in three levels can be interpreted, as some theologians note, to signify Mary’s union with the Most Holy Trinity—her total participation in the gifts of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
b. The Rays of Light
The rays that burst forth from the gems signify the graces that flow from God through Mary to those who invoke her intercession. The light is not Mary’s own; it is Christ’s divine grace refracted through her Immaculate Heart. She is, as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux wrote centuries earlier, the “aqueduct” through which the living waters of grace reach us.
Saint Catherine testified that the rays varied in brilliance—some bright, others softer—showing that the graces Mary dispenses differ in kind and intensity according to the needs of each soul.
c. The Gems Without Rays
These are the graces left idle in heaven because no one asks. Mary does not withhold them out of stinginess; rather, she honors the divine plan that links grace to prayer. God wills that we cooperate freely with His generosity. Mary’s sorrow, therefore, is not that she lacks grace to give, but that her children fail to turn to her.
Saint Louis de Montfort, long before the Rue du Bac apparitions, wrote that Mary’s desire is to “give herself to souls in order to make them holy” (True Devotion to Mary, no. 36). But to receive, souls must ask, trust, and open their hearts.
4. The Invitation to Ask for Graces
Mary’s message to Saint Catherine was clear: ask, and you shall receive. The medal she commanded to be struck is a visible pledge of that promise. Those who wear it with faith and love are reminded constantly to seek God’s help through Mary’s hands.
The spiritual logic is profoundly biblical:
Jesus Himself taught: “Ask, and it shall be given you” (Matthew 7:7).
Saint James warned: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly” (James 4:3).
And Saint Paul declared that God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).
Mary’s apparition translates these scriptural truths into living color: her luminous hands reveal how divine generosity pours down when the human heart opens in trust.
5. Lessons for the Spiritual Life
1. Mary Is the Channel, Not the Source, of Grace
The rays do not originate in her but in God. Yet, in the divine plan, they pass through her hands. She is the dispenser, the mediatrix, the loving mother entrusted with the treasury of divine mercy. To approach her is to draw near to the Heart of her Son.
2. Prayer Is the Key That Opens the Flow
Mary’s sorrow over the unlit jewels reminds us that grace is not automatic. It is freely given but must be freely accepted. Prayer, trust, and the sacraments dispose the soul to receive the graces that Mary longs to distribute.
3. No Grace Is Too Small to Ask For
Saint Catherine was taught that even the smallest requests—help in daily duties, strength in temptation, peace in suffering—are within the scope of Mary’s generosity. She is attentive to every child’s need.
4. The Medal Itself Is a Call to Prayer
The Miraculous Medal is not a charm; it is a constant invitation to conversation with Heaven. Each time one looks upon Mary’s image or feels the medal against the heart, one should remember: “Here is my Mother, ready to help me if I only ask.”
6. The Rays of Grace in History
From the time the medal was first struck in 1832, its story has been a continuous outpouring of those “rays of light” in the lives of believers. Miraculous healings, conversions, and consolations have multiplied beyond counting.
The conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne in 1842—when the image on the medal came to life before his eyes—is one of the brightest “rays” in Church history, transforming a hardened skeptic into a priest and founder of a new congregation.
The life of Claude Newman in the 1940s showed another ray: mercy reaching even to a condemned criminal, bringing peace and repentance before death.
Countless soldiers in war, missionaries in foreign lands, mothers praying for children, and the sick in hospitals have testified to the medal’s power as a conduit of divine aid.
Each of these stories can be seen as one of the bright jewels that did, in fact, release their light—because someone asked.
7. A Marian Theology of Petition
The unlit jewels also hold a warning: that there are untold graces never received because prayer is neglected. In mystical terms, they stand for the tears of a mother whose hands are full, yet whose children turn away.
Theologians see in this a reflection of the mystery of free will. God’s generosity is infinite, but His love never forces itself upon the soul. Mary’s mediation operates within that same divine respect. She offers; she invites; she waits.
The 19th-century French spiritual writer Father Des Genettes—founder of the Archconfraternity of the Miraculous Medal—summed up the message beautifully:
“Our Lady is like a queen standing before the King, her Son, with her arms laden with gifts. She longs to bestow them upon her people, but she may not give unless they ask. The unopened hand is the tragedy of the unprayed prayer.”
8. Personal Application
For those devoted to the Miraculous Medal today, the vision of the rings and rays should move the heart to greater confidence in Mary’s intercession. Each time we pray the invocation—“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee”—we are, in effect, asking Mary to let another ray of grace flow from one of those brilliant gems upon us and the world.
We might imagine her looking at us as she looked at Saint Catherine, silently asking: “Child, which of these graces will you allow me to give you today?”
To live in that awareness is to live continually under the light of her hands.
9. Conclusion
The rings on Mary’s fingers, seen by Saint Catherine Labouré, are a celestial symbol of her maternal mediation—the inexhaustible treasury of grace entrusted to her for the good of souls. The rays of light streaming from them represent every form of blessing, consolation, and strength that heaven wishes to bestow. The dark jewels, silent and unlit, are the poignant reminder of opportunities for grace left untouched because we have not asked.
Mary does not lament for herself, but for us. She longs to give, to bless, to intercede. The Miraculous Medal, therefore, is more than a token; it is an ongoing invitation to faith. Every time we clasp it, let us remember the unlit gems and make them shine by our prayer:
“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee—and for those who do not have recourse to thee, especially the enemies of the Holy Church, and for all those recommended to thee.”
To ask Mary is to open the door of heaven. The rays await our prayer; the graces wait only to be requested. As Saint Bernard taught, “When you follow her, you will not stray; when you pray to her, you will not despair; when you think of her, you will not err.”
Through the hands of the Immaculate Virgin, may every dark jewel be set ablaze with the light of divine grace—because, at last, her children have learned to ask.
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