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Home > About Religious Medals
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About Saint and Devotional Medals
Early Church
The
practice of wearing devotional medals began very early in the history
of the Church. Archeologists have discovered one medal bearing images
of Saints Peter and Paul that from the second century. They have found
another medal portraying a martyr, probably Saint Lawrence that is from
the 300s. The medal shows the martyr being roasted over a fire on a
grill.There are many other medals dating from the period of the 300s
through the 700s. In the later part of the
Roman Empire, after the emperors had become Christian, there are many coins that were stamped with the image of Christ or with the chrismon,
the white gown worn by children in baptism signifying cleansing from
sin. Scholars are certain that many of these coins were used as
devotional medals.
In the use of religious medals, the early
Church redefined the pagan practice
of wearing amulets, pieces of metal or other material that were thought
to ward off evil or disease. The Church sanctified the practice, removing the perception that the charm had "power" and replacing that with the understanding that wearing a medal is intended to remind the wearer of the power of Jesus in their life. Within the Church the practice of wearing medals
for religious reasons reminds Christians of their bond with Jesus
Christ. One example of this is from the 400s when Saint Germain gave to
the young Saint Genevieve a medal of the sign of the cross as a
remembrance of her vow of virginity.
In the Middle Ages
There are few examples of wearing medals in the early Middle Ages (800 - 1100's). Around the 12th
century the practice began of stamping medals commemorating visits to
important pilgrimage sites. Pope Innocent III gave the priests at St.
Peter's church in
Rome a monopoly on casting pilgrim medals to be distributed to those who visited the basilica.
In the later middle ages (1200s forward) there was a type of medal called a jetton.
These medals served as identification tags for the owners and could be
used as a ticket or a calling card. Besides the mark of identification,
the jetton could be inscribed with a religious saying such as
"Love God and Praise Him," or "O Lord, Our God," or "Hail Mary, Mother
of God." The initials that were most inscribed were IHS, a way of
writing the name of Jesus.
Recent History
Religious medals as they are known today began to appear in
the 1500s. Saint Pope Pius V (1504 - 1572) began the practice of
blessing devotional medals in 1566, the first year of his papacy. He
blessed a medal bearing the image of Jesus and Mary and the practice of
blessing devotional medals quickly spread throughout the Catholic
world. By the 1600s many cities in
Europe had
their own medals with images of Jesus and Mary or that of a patron
saint. Eventually medals would be made with showing events from Jesus'
life, apparitions of Mary, and images of saints and blessed.
Pagan
peoples wore amulets or other lucky charms because they thought that
the pieces of metal or whatever substance the charm was made from had
built in powers to ward off evil or sickness. The Catholic Church is
very clear in teaching that religious medals do not have any built-in
power, whether they are blessed or not. To think that they do is superstition and severely condemned by the Church.
Medals as Sacramentals
Devotional
religious medals are sacramentals, symbols created by the Church that
help the believer recall his or her faith or religious duties. They are
reminders to help the believer to pray, to perform acts of reverence to
God or Jesus Christ. They may help the believer directly pray to God,
or, if it is a medal of a saint, to ask for that saint to intercede for
them before God. The medal itself does not give any help to the
believer, but inspires occasions of faith and hope in God.
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