The Miraculous Conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne

Father Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne & The Miraculous Medal

The conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne is truly a remarkable and beautiful testimony to the power of the Blessed Virgin Mary, through whom it pleases Our Lord to give all graces to humanity, and well worth reading.

Alphonse Ratisbonne was an agnostic Jew. He was a virulent anti-Catholic as well and blamed the Catholic Church for the suffering of the Jewish people.

Ratisbonne was given a Miraculous Medal as a test by a Catholic friend and asked to pray the Memorare of St. Bernard.

Here is a brief description of the events which caused Alphonse Ratisbonne to agree to wear the Miraculous Medal:

"Since you abhor superstition and espouse such liberal views," he asks Alphonse, "would you consider submitting to a simple test?"

"What test?"

"To wear something I'm going to give you. It's a medal of the Holy Virgin. It appears quite ridiculous to you, no doubt. But as for me, I attach great importance to it." And he shows Alphonse the Miraculous Medal attached to a cord.

Alphonse is dumbstruck. He can scarcely believe the baron's impertinence. But as a man of the world, he doesn't want to seem to be making too much of a trifle. So he consents, breezily quoting a line from The Tales of Hoffman: "If it does me no good, at least it will do me no harm."

This is too much. "Laissons ces sottises!" exclaims Alphonse -- "Let's stop this foolishness!" For the mention of St. Bernard has reminded him of his brother, Abbe' Théodore Ratisbonne, author of a biography of the Cistercian saint. Anything that reminds Alphonse of his traitor-brother arouses his rage. [Note: Théodore Ratisbonne, Alphonse's older brother, had converted to Catholicism]

However, the baron persists. If Alphonse refuses to pray this short prayer, he insists, he'll thereby render the whole "test" null and void. So, Alphonse consents. At the Baron's behest, he even agrees to copy out the Memorare. Then he pockets it and leaves, greatly amused at the entire absurd episode.

But later that night, when he mechanically copies the prayer, something happens. He can't get the words of the Memorare out of his mind. They haunt him, he recounts later, like an annoying tune one can't dislodge from one's head. Over and over again, with mounting irritation, he murmurs this obtrusive prayer of St. Bernard.

Our Lady appeared to Ratisbonne at the church of Sant' Andrea delle Fratte in Rome in 1842. After the vision of Our Lady, Ratisbonne was instantly converted to the Catholic faith.

You can find the whole story here: The Miraculous Conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne

Learning of Ratisbonne's conversion through this medal was one of the events that inspired St. Maximilian Kolbe to found the Militia Immaculata.

Fr. Alberto Arzilli, OFM Conv., a fellow friar with St. Maximilian, related the story on April 26, 1942:

"Fr. Maximilian . . . was convinced of what he had to do [regarding the founding of the MI] on the [75th] anniversary day of the apparition of Our Lady to Alphonse Ratisbonne, January 20, 1917. The inspiration came to him during the morning meditation conducted by the . . . Father Rector Ignudi. In the meditation Father Ignudi told the story of Ratisbonne's miraculous conversion and commented on it."

"With a face beaming and bubbling with joy at the power of Our Lady shown in the conversion of Ratisbonne, Friar Max spoke to me of his inspiration. Smiling, he told me we had to crush the Devil and all heresies, and especially the error of Masonry."

For background information on the visions of Saint Catherine Labouré and the Miraculous Medal, click here: The Story of Saint Catherine Labouré

Any thoughts?

Comments

[Atlanta Catholic]

Thomistic,

Thank you for reminding me of the power of prayer. The conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne is one of my favorite stories. I know a man who gave his sick, fallen away brother, a Miraculous Medal to wear. The brother had not practiced his faith for 30 years. The brother agreed to "just wear the medal".
A local priest was called to visit the brother who was now very ill.

The priest visited the man several times but felt something more was needed. The priest requested the Legion of Mary to visit this man. This man had been mistreated by his father. He wept when he spoke of sad memories. He showed the Legion of Mary members the Miraculous Medal that his brother had asked him to wear. The sick man allowed the Legion of Mary members to come and visit him for some time. After many visits the sick man asked the Legion of Mary members to send the priest to visit him again. The man said that he had now "pondered" his whole life. The priest had been praying, the brother had been praying, the Legion of Mary had been praying. The man had continued to wear the medal. The priest returned and gave the sacraments to the dying man. The man was crying and full of joy. He said to the priest..."Thank you so much for sending the Legion of Mary"! The man had been so wounded by his earthly father, it took the simple gesture of wearing the Miraculous Medal. This gesture, obtained for this man, the grace and sweetness of Our Lady to soften the footsteps toward this man's understanding of his heavenly Father's complete love for him. Yes, the Miraculous Medal is beautiful!

[Patrick]

Thomistic,

Nice post! I wear the Brown Scapular and Medal of St. Benedict. Maybe you can post the stories behind those sometime. In fact, why not include most of the popular medals and scapulars?

[Thomistic]

Thanks, Patrick.

Excellent suggestion! I will try to remember to do that.

Pax,

Thomistic

[CoffeeMugPhilosophy]

Christian jewelry has become secularly fashionable and meaningless(within the culture), via Madonna, crystal glass crosses, etc...

I chose the Miraculous Medal as a symbol of my
Catholicity quite a few years ago after scouring the internet for something special and the Holy Mother has not let me down.

....Most recently, I have become fond of a combined medal Scapular and Miraculous that is poured into one dual medal......very rare to find but they do crop up on Ebay about once a month.

[Jeff Miller]

Well the story of Father Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne is rather simplified and his conversion was not so drastic as indicated, but it is still a wonderful conversion story.

Catholic convert Roy Schoeman's book Salvation is from the Jews contains a more in depth version of the story.

Ratisbonne older brother Theodore converted to the Catholic faith and became a priest when Alphonse was still a child and as a result developed a violent hatred towards the Church.

It was during his engagement that he started to have religious feelings and because of his fiancée started to believe in the immortality of the soul and started to pray again. Subsequently he even walked into a church during the Mass, though he hadn't planned on it, and started to pray and had a interior locution "your prayer has been answered."

It was after this that the Baron (a friend of his brother) dared him to wear the Miraculous Medal.

The real story of his conversion shows how grace was preparing him for the Baron's request and his vision of Mary when he walked into an empty Church.

[joanne]

Interesting. I am always afraid of giving medals, crosses, etc. to those who reject Jesus and the Church because I fear their negative reaction will condemn them.
This is precisely what holds me back from giving a crucifix to a newly married couple in my family who intentionally designed a wedding ceremony that included everyone BUT God. Since I was the bride's Confirmation sponsor, and her mother has already looked mockingly on my idea of reminding the bride of the One she neglected --because that would be imposing MY religion, I am especially haunted by "dreads".
Now, reading this, I think my first impulse may have been the right one, if I accompany it with prayer.

[A Simple Sinner]

Thank you for this post.

I used to wear a miraculous medal but had stopped doing so some years ago.

After reading this, I left early for work so that I could buy a new scapular & miraculous medal. While I was at the shop I bougt a medal of St. Benedict as well and attached them both to my new scapular.

I had been thinking about doing so since listening to the sermons at

http://www.audiosancto.com

After I read this post, I knew it was time.

Thank you.

[Scmetalworks]

Inspiring story, thanks! We have individually coined Miraculous Medals, very nice.