In April of this year, Father Kevin McCracken, C.M., Spiritual Director of the Association of the Miraculous Medal, will lead a small group of pilgrims to Lourdes, Rome, and Medjugorje where he will offer daily Mass and remember in prayer the petitions received from AMM members. You are invited to send your prayer intentions which will be your “Letter to Mary” for remembrance throughout this spiritual journey. AMM is offering two gifts, each for a suggested offering, to represent your spiritual presence along this journey. The first is a Lourdes Water Rosary and the second is a Faux Pearl Lourdes Stretch Bracelet.

Read Father Kevin’s letter to learn more. We encourage you to recite the prayers to Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Medjugorje each day of the journey. Watch Facebook, Twitter, and AMM’s website homepage for daily updates throughout the pilgrimage.

Are you or someone close to you in need of healing this Lent?

You are invited to attend the Association’s Mass of Healing Remembrance at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. The Liturgy takes place Monday, March 6, at 12:10 p.m., CT, and will be live streamed on the Association’s Facebook page.

Share your special intentions here. They will be entrusted to Our Lord through Our Blessed Mother’s intercession. You may also request a Votive Light to burn for these same needs.

“O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”

May God look upon you with compassion and bestow the wholeness of body, mind, and spirit that you seek.

“... for I, the Lord, am your healer.” Exodus 15:26

The Association of the Miraculous Medal offers beautiful Easter cards you can send loved ones. Each card offers the recipient a special remembrance in the Easter Octave of Masses held at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Perryville, Missouri.

Don’t miss Fr. Kevin’s Easter reflection, which reminds us of Mary’s role in walking beside us in our times of need, showering us with heaven’s graces, and rejoicing with us as we seek spiritual renewal this Easter.

The special intentions you share will rest near Mary’s Altar at the National Shrine to be remembered throughout the Lenten and Easter seasons. You may also request a Votive Light to burn in silent witness to your faith in lifting up your needs to Our Lord through Our Blessed Mother.

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.” Psalm 118:24

Throughout the holy season of Lent, let us pray through Mary that we will attain a closer union with God, who is all-merciful and all-loving. AMM offers a variety of ways to assist you during your spiritual journey this Lent:

• Send your special intentions to be placed near Mary’s Shrine Altar
• Request a Votive Light to burn
• Pray this Ash Wednesday prayer
• Pray this prayer for Lent each day
• Request Easter Cards to send to loved ones

Together, let us ask Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal to bring us into ever greater union with her Son, Jesus, who has saved us through his holy passion, death, and resurrection.

“Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God, For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting in punishment.” Joel 2:13

“For every believer, and especially for Christian families, the humble dwelling place in Nazareth is an authentic school of the Gospel.” Saint John Paul II, Angelus, December 30, 2001. In Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, Christians possess a model for perfecting their own family. The Holy Family lived in complete surrender to God’s will, persevering in love throughout the greatest of trials. Reciting this short Prayer for the Family daily or weekly (together, when possible) is a faith-filled gesture of your desire to draw closer to one another, and to Our Heavenly Father.

Don’t miss our cover story highlighting one woman’s faith-filled perseverance in the aftermath of adversity. Through her strong Christian faith, this young widow has endured excruciating life losses — which she calls her “steps to heaven.”  Take advantage of the free brochure offered, “Making Retirement Accounts Less Taxing” (X115) that explores ways you can maximize the value of your individual retirement accounts as you begin to take withdrawals. Call AMM at 1-800-264-6279 (Monday – Friday 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., CT) to request your brochure. Read and be inspired by all that awaits you in this issue!

In the first issue of the 2023 Bulletin, Father Kevin introduces a new yearly theme based upon Saint Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. We are all members of Christ’s mystical Body, the Church, created in perfection to live in harmony and unity with one another. No one member is less important or more valuable to the whole. Saint Therese of Lisieux is featured in this issue as a model saint to imitate during Lent. Read about her “Little Way” of love that she believed even very weak souls (like she considered herself to be) could follow to attain the holiness that God desires for each of us. Don’t miss the details of AMM’s 2023 May Procession, scheduled to commence at St. Mary’s of the Barrens (the Shrine Church) at 1:00 p.m. C.T., on Sunday, May 7, here in Perryville, Missouri.  Be sure to browse our gift shop’s spring religious items and order Easter cards to send the gift of Masses and prayers to loved ones. Thank you for your Vincentian spirit of humility, charity, and prayer. Know that you are remembered in the daily Mass and prayers by the Vincentian priests and brothers at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.