The Apparition of the Miraculous Medal to Alphonse Ratisbonne

An atheist Jew, and fiercely anti-Catholic, Alphonse Ratisbonne gave in to the insistence of his old classmate's brother, the Baron Theodor de Bussieres, and agreed to wear the Miraculous Medal around his neck and copy down Saint Bernard's The Memorare, since he refused to recite it. On January 20, 1842, he accompanied the Baron de Bussieres on an errand that ended up in the Church of Saint Andrew of the Thickets (San Andrea delle Fratte) in Rome and the Virgin Mary appeared to him, reaching out her open hands and motioning to him to kneel. He would later write: "I had been in the Church for but a moment when suddenly I felt overwhelmed by a strange uneasiness. I raised my eyes; the entire building had disappeared before my eyes. Only one chapel was illuminated and in the middle of this light the Blessed Virgin appeared, standing on the altar, tall, brilliant, full of sweetness and majesty. Just like the image on my medal. Her hands were very expressive. She motioned to me to kneel and an irresistible force pushed me towards her. I had the feeling that the Virgin was saying, 'Enough, that's good' and although she did not utter a word, I understood everything." Alphonse Ratisbonne received spiritual enlightenment about the mysteries of faith from that apparition. Eleven days later, Alphonse was baptized and received the Eucharist. Mary Alphonse Ratisbonne became a priest in 1848, settled in Palestine and dedicated his life to the catechesis of Jewish and Mohammedan converts to the Catholic faith, in the mixed congregation (male and female) of the Sisterhood Our Lady of Sion, which he and his brother Theodor founded and ran for more than fifty years.