Purity Medals

"All the glory of her, the King's daughter, is from within."
Psalm 44:13.

"Not only is her robe, outwardly, of gold, and of various colors; but He who loved her beauty, knew her to be also beautiful within. What are those inward charms? Those of conscience. It is there Christ sees; it is there Christ loves her: it is there He addresses her, there punishes, there crowns. Let then your alms be done in secret; for all the glory of her, the King's daughter, is from within. With fringes of gold, clothed with various colors. Her beauty is from within; yet in the fringes of gold is the diversity of languages: the beauty of doctrine. What do these avail, if them be not that beauty from within? The virgins shall be brought unto the King after her. It has been fulfilled indeed. The Church has believed; the Church has been formed throughout all nations. And to what a degree do virgins now seek to find favour in the eyes of that King! Whence are they moved to do so? Even because the Church preceded them. The virgins shall be brought unto the King after her. Her near kinswomen shall be brought unto You. For they that are brought unto Him are not strangers, but her near kinswomen, that belong to her. And because he had said, unto the King, he says, turning the discourse to Him, her near kinswomen shall be brought unto You."

St. Augustine from New Advent

Following after the example of Our Lady, let us give our alms in secret, allowing the glory of God to be within. One way this is possible is through a Votive Offering.

A Votive Offering is a particular form of purification offering. Known as ex-voto, votive offerings are objects that are displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for broadly religious purposes. This form of religious devotion has long been practiced in various forms throughout ancient history. 

"(Votive Offering is) the general name given to those things vowed or dedicated to God, or a saint, and in consequence are looked upon as set apart by an act of consecration. The idea is very ancient for it springs from man's instinctive attitude towards the higher powers... In order to make his appeal the more acceptable he (the patron) offers some gift, whether on behalf of the living or the dead, for man’s offenses against God or for some favor for the one who has committed the offense. " (Wikipedia)

According to Catholic Encyclopedia, historical votive offerings constituted "an extremely varied list" of items which also included money. The Silver Purity Medal is a new means by which we, the domestic Church, are bringing people to a fuller living of the Gospel, not through a discarding but rather a restoring, of an ancient yet efficacious tradition.

Through this purification offering, Dominic Medals is striving to re-establish an ancient form of devotion practiced by Christian and Jews alike, including Judas Maccabee (Maccabees 12) who, after learning his fallen soldiers donned amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, took up a collection of silver drachmas from among his surviving soldiers, offering them as an expiatory sacrifice in atonement for the sins of these dead warriors that they may receive absolution :

Maccabees 12:42-46
 

42 "Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen.

43 He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection in mind;

44 for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.

45 But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.

46 Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin."

The USCCB explains the above passage as follows:

(Maccabees 12:42-42) "This is the earliest statement of the doctrine that prayers (v. 42) and sacrifices (v. 43) for the dead are efficacious (effective). Judas probably intended his purification offering to ward off punishment from the living. The author, however, uses the story to demonstrate belief in the resurrection of the just and in the possibility of expiation for the sins of otherwise good people who have died. This belief is similar to, but not quite the same as, the Catholic doctrine of purgatory."

Like Judas Maccabee, we at Dominic Medals are taking up a collection of silver and depositing this reserve as a communal sin offering and expiatory sacrifice for all those who are spiritually dead, as scripture states:

 "For she that liveth in pleasures, is dead while she is living."

-1 Timothy 5:6

silver Offering to Pay Homage and Daily Alms in Honor of Mary

"Let not the servants of the Virgin then be weary of giving daily some little alms in her honor."

- St. Alphonsus Liguori
Glories of Mary
Page 669

Taking a cue from De Montfort's Act of Consecration to Jesus through Mary, we are heeding the call to offer Our Lady "some little tribute as a token of our servitude and dependence." Expounding further on this idea of a token offering De Montfort explains, "This has always been the customary homage paid by slaves to their master. This tribute could consist of an act of self-denial or an alms... What little we give to our Lady we should at least offer with a heart that is humble and grateful." (The Secret of Mary, De Montfort)