Mary and the Snake

Q: During an illness I was gifted with two statues of the Blessed Virgin (Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal?). They portray Mary stepping on a snake. Why is she stepping on a snake and what does it mean?

A: Around 1830 St. Catherine Labouré received a vision of the Blessed Virgin and was told to have a medal struck. On the front of the medal was to be the figure of Mary standing atop a globe representing the earth. And she was to be shown crushing the head of a serpent with her feet.

From Mary’s hands were to appear rays of light representing grace. Around the rim of the medal were to be the words, “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” On the reverse side of the medal would be a cross surmounting the letter M and the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary. The medal was made and because of the miracles associated with it has come to be known as the Miraculous Medal.

I do not know of a statue that is called the Miraculous Medal statue. But in the catalogs of religious articles, you will find statues called Our Lady of Grace. They picture Mary standing on a globe with a serpent beneath her feet.

These statues (and the Miraculous Medal) associate Mary with the woman in Chapter 3 of Genesis and the woman clothed with the sun in Chapter 12 of Revelation. Genesis 3:14-16 contains the words of God condemning the serpent for leading Eve and Adam into sin. There God pronounces he will “put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers. He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”

Chapter 12 of Revelation speaks of the woman clothed with the sun whose son the dragon seeks to devour. In both instances the serpent or snake represents the devil and evil. Both passages are applied to Mary as the woman whose offspring will conquer Satan.