Our Lady of Olives

Q: What about Our Lady of Olives?

A: In a pleasant valley of France there lies a little city where by the favor of God lightning never falls.

This favor, unique in the world, dates back to the time when the church of Murat (Cantal) was burned by lightning except for a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary. In 1493, and ever since, the town has been named Our Lady of Olives.

The Virgin Mary is the Olive recalled in the scriptures (Sirach 24:14).

By virtue of the Medallion of Our Lady of Olives, the persons who carry it are preserved from lightning wherever they may be during a storm. It is a privilege attached to the medallion which bears the unique name in the annals of the church, "Our Lady of Olives."

This marvelous way of being protected against lightning deserves to be known throughout the world and ought to be extended to the four corners of the universe.

The second privilege of the Medallion is to protect, in an unmistakable manner, women who are about to become mothers and to assist them in the hour of deliverance.

Those who are afflicted with sickness and who pray to the Divine Mother, are promptly relieved.

The Virgin was crowned June 18, 1881, by an apostolic brief given by Leo XIII on the tenth day of May 1878.

Our Lady of the Olives
Basilica of Our Lady of the Sea
Barcelona, Spain

Prayer to Our Lady of Olives

Kneeling at thy feet, we pray thee Virgin Mary, that through thine intercession, there may be borne a new generation who will unite all hearts and souls in the same faith and the same charity.

We pray thee "Divine Olive of Peace," to implore God that harmony may reign between nations, that true liberty be given to all people, that heresies and all bad doctrines condemned by the Pope may disappear.

We pray that all the treasures of the Divine Heart be showered upon all men and that we be preserved from all harm.

Pray for us, help us and save us. Amen.

Source: JMJ Book Company Catalog, p. 158