Expert: Fr. Michael - 4/26/2004

Question
About 10 years ago I was enrolled in something, and I hope you can help me figure out what.  A girl I knew (whom I've lost contact with) thought it would be a good idea for me to be enrolled, and I believed her, so I did.  It happened during a Mass; I knelt at the altar rail and the priest blessed me and place a miraculous medal on me.  So, for 10 years I have not been a very good member, but I'd like to start being one, and I was wondering if you happen to know what it is to which I am a member.  All I know is that I must agree to always wear the miraculous medal, and I remember her saying that I can receive a plenary indulgence whenever I receive Holy Communion on any of the Blessed Mother's feast days.

Also, a second and seperate question:  Can and should I receive Holy Communion twice in one day? - I happen to often be a Mass twice a day.

Thanks,
John

Answer
What you are describing is the Miraculous Medal, which goes back to the 19th century and St. Labore.  On it, the Blessed Virgin appears as if standing on a globe and bearing a globe in her hands. As if from rings set with precious stones, dazzling rays of light are emitted from her fingers, symbols of the graces which would be bestowed on all who asked for them.  Around the figure appears an oval frame bearing in golden letters the words "O Maria, sine labe concepta, ora pro nobis qui ad te confugimus."  On the back appears the letter "M," surmounted by a cross, with a crossbar beneath it, and, under all, the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the former surrounded by a crown of thorns and the latter pierced by a sword.

There is a confraternity associated with the medal, so perhaps you were being enrolled in this confraternity at the altar.  Certainly the Latin aspiration given above:  "O Maria, sine labe concepta, ora pro nobis qui ad te confugimus"  [O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee] is an admirable prayer to be said several times throughout the day.

No, it is not permitted to receive Holy Communion more than once each day.  And, I trust, when you say "Mass," you are in fact referring to the true Mass, what is now usually called Traditional Latin Mass, or the Mass of St. Peter, that is associated with the Miraculous Medal and St. Labore.  

The service that is found these days in most parishes in the United States is not that Mass, but a New Order service that partakes of unCatholic elements introduced in the late 1960s by an archbishop, who was later exposed as a Freemason and exiled by Pope Paul VI.  There is a complete list of sites where the true Mass is available at www.traditio.com/tradlib/latmass.txt