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The Miracle Record

St. Catherine Laboure

Incorruptibles Image

The story in one line

Catherine Laboure’s body was found in an unusually preserved state at exhumation.

The basic story

Catherine Laboure died in 1876 after spending decades in hidden service following the 1830 Rue du Bac apparitions. The official Miraculous Medal chapel says that when her tomb was opened in 1933, her body was found intact and transferred beneath an altar at Rue du Bac.

Historical setting

Catherine Laboure's incorruptibility record belongs to the Paris community of the Miraculous Medal, where her body was exhumed decades after the 1830 apparitions.

Rue du Bac, Paris Found intact in 1933 Miraculous Medal chapel
The chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal at Rue du Bac in Paris.
Rue du Bac remains the living shrine context for Catherine Labouré’s body, the Miraculous Medal devotion, and the chapel record used on this page. Wikimedia Commons image

Birth

May 2, 1806

The official chapel history places Catherine’s birth in Fain-les-Moutiers, Burgundy.

Rue du Bac visions

July and November 1830

The chapel ties her incorrupt body directly to the same shrine complex as the 1830 apparition tradition.

Death

December 31, 1876

The family-history page gives Catherine’s date of death and final quoted words.

Translation of body

1933

At the time of beatification, the chapel says her vault was opened at Reuilly and the intact body was moved to rue du Bac.

The story

Section titled “The story”

Catherine Labouré’s page makes the most sense if it is read as the second half of the Rue du Bac story. First came the 1830 apparitions and the Miraculous Medal. Then came decades in which Catherine left Paris, served quietly in Reuilly, and kept the visions largely hidden from public life.[1] [2]

According to the official Miraculous Medal chapel, when the vault where she had been buried in Reuilly was opened in 1933 for her beatification, her body was found intact and then brought back to Rue du Bac, where it remains beneath the altar of Our Lady of the Globe.[1] [3]

Primary-source file

Section titled “Primary-source file”
Official family history Family History

The official English chapel history gives Catherine’s birth, novitiate, transfer to Reuilly, death in 1876, and the 1933 opening of her vault.

chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com Official apparition history The apparitions and the Miraculous Medal

This page fills out the 1830 chronology, Catherine’s move to Reuilly in 1831, and the early spread of the Miraculous Medal.

chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com Official chapel architecture note The chapel in its details

The chapel’s history page explains how the altar area was reworked after Catherine’s return in 1933.

chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com

Her hidden life after Rue du Bac

Section titled “Her hidden life after Rue du Bac”

The official chapel history puts unusual emphasis on the contrast between Catherine’s visions and her later hidden life. After the apparitions of 1830, she was sent to Reuilly in the following year and spent the rest of her life serving poor and elderly men there while keeping the secret of the visions to herself.[1] [2]

The chapel history says Catherine died more than four decades after the Rue du Bac events, after a life of quiet service in Reuilly.[1]

Publicly documented chronology

Section titled “Publicly documented chronology”
  • May 2, 1806: Catherine Labouré was born in Fain-les-Moutiers in Burgundy.[1]
  • At age twenty-four, she entered the novitiate at rue du Bac.[1]
  • July 18-19, 1830 and November 27, 1830: the official chapel history places the principal Marian apparitions to Catherine on these dates in the chapel.[2]
  • January 30-31, 1831: the chapel chronology says Catherine completed her seminary formation and left for Reuilly, where she served elderly men and the poor for the rest of her life.[2]
  • December 31, 1876: Catherine died after that long hidden service.[1]
  • 1933: at the time of beatification, the vault at Reuilly was opened, the body was found intact, and it was transferred to rue du Bac beneath the altar of Our Lady of the Globe.[1] [3]

What is documented

Section titled “What is documented”

The cited chapel record connects Catherine’s case with:

  • the Miraculous Medal spreading from the Rue du Bac apparitions[1] [2]
  • Catherine living the rest of her life quietly, without building a public celebrity around the visions[1] [2]
  • her preserved body being displayed in the same chapel complex tied to the medal’s origin[1] [3]

What the chapel records

Section titled “What the chapel records”

The official shrine’s own summary is straightforward: Catherine died in 1876, her tomb was opened in 1933, her body was found intact, and she was moved to Rue du Bac.[1] The chapel’s historical notes add that her return in 1933 required the altar area to be reworked so that her shrine could be installed beneath the altar dedicated to the Virgin.[3]

References

Section titled “References”
  1. Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse. “Family History.” Official chapel page summarizing Catherine Laboure’s life, death, 1933 exhumation finding her body intact, and transfer to Rue du Bac. Available at: https://www.chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com/langues/english/histoire-dune-famille-gb/
  2. Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse. “The apparitions and the Miraculous Medal.” Official chapel history of the 1830 apparitions, Catherine’s departure to Reuilly in 1831, and the early spread of the medal. Available at: https://www.chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com/langues/english/apparitions-et-la-medaille-miraculeuse-gb/
  3. Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse. “La chapelle en ses details.” Official chapel history describing how Catherine’s shrine was installed beneath the altar after her return in 1933. Available at: https://www.chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com/200-ans-la-chapelle-en-details/