St Catherine Labouré - Graces Our Lady wants to give to us!

"Well, what are the graces for which we forget to pray?" he (Father Aladel) asked. "And how would you explain things in a sermon if you were in my place?" 

For a moment Sister Catherine did not reply. Then a soft light crept into her eyes. "Why not put it this way, Father? Tell people to ask the Blessed Virgin for the grace to love God as she did when she was their age."

At these words, so simply spoken, a wave of admiration swept through the priest's heart. Here, surely, was a request that only a few people would ever think of making. Yet certainly it covered everything. Indeed, it was nothing short of a perfect act of love. Why, if one offered this little prayer frequently, while being faithful to the duties of one's state in life, there was no reason to be afraid of anything! Not even of sudden death. For a perfect act of love could bring even the most ordinary soul straight to Heaven. 

- The Miraculous Medal: The Story of Our Lady's Appearances to St. Catherine Labouré by Mary Fabyan Windeatt (Chapter 12: The Graces People Forget to Ask For)

The truth which her humble life had so suddenly revealed to them -- that holiness is not so much a matter of long prayers and great sacrifices as it is of giving oneself completely into God's hands for Him to do with as He wills -- had touched their hearts. What did it matter that probably the only work He would ever ask of many of them would be to raise a family, suffer certain pains, perhaps just to earn a living for themselves? They all realised the same thing: that the secret of being a saint was first to give themselves to God completely, just as Sister Catherine had done, then wait in loving confidence for Him to make known His Will.

- The Miraculous Medal: The Story of Our Lady's Appearances to St. Catherine Labouré by Mary Fabyan Windeatt (Chapter 21: Sister Catherine's Last Request)

Fr Aladel, Servant of Mary