Here is close-ups of the pendant and some info regarding it as well as the small button I found today.
Tomorrow I am on leave again with the boy writing Maths....... No use guessing where I will be afterwards....Lol.....Till then...Keep coil to the soil mates.
Congregation of the Children of Mary MedalThis beautiful 19th century medal would have been worn by a member of the group "The Congregation of the Children of Mary".
The front of the medal shows the Blessed Virgin Mary in the same pose that she has on the Miraculous Medal: standing on a snake with a halo of stars around her head. (I've added a picture of a Miraculous Medal right below the Children of Mary medal) The Miraculous Medal was struck at the request of the Virgin Mary during a series of visions that were experienced by St Catherine Laboure beginning in 1830. In 1835 St Catherine told her confessor of a request the Blessed Mother had made to her during on of these visions:
"It is the Blessed Virgin's wish that you should found a Confraternity of the Children of MARY. She will give them many graces. The month of May will be kept with great splendour and MARY will bestow abundant blessings upon them."
And so the seed was planted for the beginning of The Congregation of the Children of Mary. The group was first opened to girls who were students or orphans in the care of the The Sisters of Charity (St Catherine Laboure's religious order), and later welcomed girls not associated with the order as well. Girls and young women in the society were encouraged to live holy and devout lives in the everyday world by embracing the virtues of sacrifice, prayer, and works of charity.
But....you couldn't just show up and say "Hey! I'm ready to be a child of Mary!" A girl had to
request to join, then wait six months during which time she practiced the virtues of the group and prepared to live its values. When a girl finally entered the group, she was given a beautiful medal, like the one above, which she could wear on a blue ribbon. I've even heard that they sometimes wore little blue capes as well!
The wording around the edge of the medal reads "Monstra Te Esse Matrem" which is Latin for "Show thyself a mother". These words come from a line in the ancient Marian hymn "Ave Stella Maris" or "Hail Star of The Sea".
When you flip the medal over, you see an emblem featuring two stems of lilies curving around a radiant star. I think that the star must also represent Mary as "The Star of the Sea", and the lily symbolizes purity, which was an important virtue for Children of Mary.
The wording around the edge is in French and translates as "Congregation of the Children of Mary", but the group was also known as the "Sodality of the Children of Mary". At the bottom is a small area that could be used to engrave the child's name or the date of her entry into the society.