Our Lady of Grace, a title rather than a particular apparition, is most commonly known as the Mary on the front of the Miraculous medal. The depiction of Our Lady of Grace that we have displayed in our garden, while displayed on the miraculous medal, actually predates the miraculous medal by several centuries.
One of the first depictions of Our Lady of Grace is known as the Cambrai Madonna, a painting rumored to be painted by St. Luke. This painting was brought to Cambrai, France from Rome around the year 1450. Inspired by this painting, the Bishop of Arras dedicated a statue to Our Lady of Grace around 1472. This statue, interestingly enough, depicted Our Lady in the exact way that she appeared to St. Catherine Labouré nearly 350 years later. This statue featured Our Lady standing on a globe with her arms extended down to shower her children with grace.
One of the earliest recorded miracles of Our Lady of Grace took place around 1516 at an English shrine known as Our Lady of Grace at Ipswich, which happened to be named after Mary’s title “Full of Grace”. The shrine was best known for its supposedly miraculously found statue of Mary. In 1516, St. Thomas More wrote about the miraculous healing of a 12-year-old girl that is associated with this statue. This girl was tormented by the devil and often suffered from seizures. After a vision where the girl saw the image of Our Lady of Grace at Ipswich, she was taken to the shrine and set before the statue. At that moment, the girl was restored “perfectly and suddenly”. The statue was supposedly destroyed 22 years later during the English Reformation, however a statue that very closely matches descriptions of the Ipswich statue appeared in a small Italian town called Nettuno in the year 1550.
Prayer to Our Lady of Grace
It becomes you to be mindful of us, as you stand near Him who granted you all graces, for you are the Mother of God and our Queen.
Help us for the sake of the King, the Lord God and Master who was born of you. For this reason, you are called full of grace.
Remember us, most holy Virgin, and bestow on us gifts from the riches of your graces, Virgin full of graces. Amen.
