author
Jean-Marie Aladel
1800–1865
Best known for helping bring the Miraculous Medal to the wider world, this 19th-century Vincentian priest wrote one of the earliest full accounts of its origins. His work sits at the crossroads of Catholic devotion, Parisian religious life, and the story of Saint Catherine Labouré.
1 Audiobook
The Miraculous Medal: Its Origin, History, Circulation, Results
by Jean-Marie Aladel
About the author
Born in 1800 and dying in 1865, Jean-Marie Aladel was a French priest of the Congregation of the Mission, the Vincentian community founded by Saint Vincent de Paul. He is most closely associated with the events surrounding the Miraculous Medal and with the spiritual world of the Daughters of Charity in Paris.
Aladel is remembered especially as the spiritual director of Catherine Labouré at Rue du Bac in 1830, when she reported the Marian visions that led to the creation of the Miraculous Medal. He later became one of the main early writers to record and explain that history, and his name is attached to The Miraculous Medal: Its Origin, History, Circulation, Results.
For readers today, his importance is not only as a priest but also as a witness and narrator. His writing preserves how the devotion was understood in its own century, making him a valuable figure for anyone interested in Catholic spirituality, devotional history, or the legacy of Catherine Labouré.