Grow closer to the Blessed Mother during the Jubilee Year at the Miraculous Medal shrine

As soon as the Jubilee Year of Hope 2025 was announced by the late Pope Francis, Father James Osendorf, CM, wrote a letter to the archdiocese requesting that St. Mary’s of the Barrens – National Shrine of the Miraculous Medal be made a pilgrimage site.

When the Vincentians found out that Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski was indeed designating it a local pilgrimage site, “We were delighted; we wanted to bring people in and help them celebrate their spiritual depths,” said Father Osendorf, who served as superior of St. Mary’s of the Barrens until starting a sabbatical July 1.

The church and shrine in Perryville is one of nine Jubilee Pilgrimage sites in the archdiocese designated by Archbishop Rozanski for the 2025 Jubilee Year. The faithful can obtain a plenary indulgence — remission of the temporal punishment due to sins — by visiting any of the nine sites for a pilgrimage or pious visit, in addition to the usual conditions for an indulgence.

The shrine has seen people not just from the Perryville or St. Louis areas but also around the country visiting during the Jubilee Year, said Frank Ryan, volunteer coordinator for the Association of the Miraculous Medal.

“Our Lady is, for many, a sign of hope, so the opportunity to have our church and our grounds available and open for people to experience their faith and also learn a little bit more about the Miraculous Medal, and the Church in general,” has been a blessing, he said.

St. Vincent de Paul founded the Vincentians in 1626, and Bishop Louis William Valentine DuBourg, bishop of the Louisiana (Purchase) Territory and Florida diocese, invited the Vincentians to start a seminary for his diocese in the second decade of the 1800s. Vincentian Fathers Felix De Andreis and Joseph Rosati and others settled in Perryville in 1818, ahead of the establishment of the St. Louis diocese in 1826. Father Rosati became the first bishop of the Diocese of St. Louis.

They also brought with them a strong devotion to the mother of Jesus. At the time of their arrival, Perryville was called the Barrens Settlement, which they rechristened as “St. Mary’s of the Barrens.”

The historic church at St. Mary’s of the Barrens, the second church on the grounds, dates back to 1827. It served as a parish church from 1830 until the parish was suppressed in 1965, the year St. Vincent de Paul Church in Perryville was completed.

The Association of the Miraculous Medal was founded at St. Mary’s in 1918. Seminarians, Vincentian brothers and priests built a grotto to Our Lady of Miraculous Medal that was completed in 1920. In 1929, promoters of the association built the Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on the south side of the church. There is also an adjoining votive light sanctuary where candles may be lit for intentions.

The Blessed Virgin gave the design for the Miraculous Medal in three apparitions to St. Catherine Labouré in the 1830s. She instructed the Daughter of Charity novice to “have a medal struck upon this model” so that “those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around the neck.”

Before the 200th anniversary of St. Mary’s of the Barrens in 2018, the church underwent a renovation, with hardwood floors replacing tile, meticulous paintings adorning walls, refurbished side altars and handicap accessibility for people from around the globe to visit the Miraculous Medal shrine. In the past few years, several relics have been added on display around the church.

The grotto and its statue of Our Lady were also renovated and the area enhanced with a Rosary Walk, a half-mile circular walkway resembling a Rosary. The grounds also include a Marian Meditation Walk, featuring 12 Italian marble statues depicting Mary under various titles, and sites replicating the apparitions of the Blessed Mother to St. Catherine Laboure.

The quiet shrine and pathways throughout the grounds offer an invitation for people who are living “frantic lives,” constantly preoccupied or distracted, Father Osendorf said.

“Every life needs to find a place that’s peaceful, serene, quiet, prayerful, where they can rediscover their own relationship with God,” he said. “So if you find your life to be kind of hectic and out of sorts, (the shrine) is the place to go, to walk the grounds, visit the church and rediscover peace, serenity, relationship and love.”

This is the sixth in a monthly series featuring each of the nine designated pilgrimage sites in the Archdiocese of St. Louis during the Jubilee Year 2025. To read other stories in the series, visit stlreview.com/Jubilee-2025-sites.

Visit the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

180 W. St. Joseph St. in Perryville (off exit 129 from Interstate 55)

Hours: Church and grounds open daily from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Free guided tours on weekdays from 9 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m.; weekends from noon-4 p.m.

To schedule a group tour, call (573) 768-7012

Visitor Center and Gift Shop are open every day from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Mass: 12:10 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m. Sunday

For more information on the shrine, upcoming events and the Association of the Miraculous Medal, visit amm.org.

Jubilee Indulgences

Options to receive a Jubilee indulgence:

Pilgrimage to a sacred Jubilee site, where the faithful participate in Mass, another liturgical service such as Morning or Evening Prayer, or acts of piety such as Stations of the Cross, praying the Rosary or a penitential celebration.

Pious visit: Individually or in a group, devoutly visit a Jubilee site and engage in eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the profession of faith from Mass, and a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Those who are unable to take part in pilgrimages or pious visits for serious reasons, such as cloistered religious, the elderly, the sick and those who care for them, or the imprisoned, may obtain the indulgence by uniting themselves in spirit with those making pilgrimages or pious visits, reciting an Our Father, a profession of faith, and other prayers in harmony with the purpose of the Jubilee Year, and offering up their sufferings and hardships to the Lord.

Works of Mercy and Penance: This includes participation in formational activities on the documents of Vatican II or the Catechism, initiatives that put into practice the spirit of penance, and performance of corporal or spiritual works of mercy. For the full details on Jubilee Indulgences, read the papal bull: stlreview.com/3POKFln

Help the souls in purgatory

The faithful who have carried out an act of charity on behalf of the souls in purgatory, if they receive holy Communion a second time that day within Mass, can obtain the plenary indulgence twice on the same day, applicable only to the deceased.

Usual conditions for a plenary indulgence:

• Be in a state of grace and have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin

• Sacramental confession (can be received several days before or after)

• Reception of holy Communion

• Prayer for the pope’s intentions

Designated Pilgrimage Sites in the Archdiocese of St. Louis

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis | St. Louis

Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France | St. Louis

Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters | St. Louis

The Carmel of Saint Joseph | Ladue

Saint Mary’s of the Barrens – National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal | Perryville

Monastery of St. Clare | Oakville

Passionist Nuns of St. Louis | Ellisville

Immaculate Heart of Mary | New Melle

Immaculate Conception | Union