With great joy and gratitude, the International Vincentian Family Office has received the summary of the Vincentian National Encounter that was held in the Republic of Guatemala, on the occasion of the feast of Saint Louise de Marillac.

This meeting was held on May 21, with the participation of 91 members of the different branches that make up the Vincentian Family: members of the Congregation of the Mission, the Daughters of Charity, the International Association of Charities, the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, the Miraculous Medal Association, the Vincentian Marian Youth Association and the Association of Louise de Marillac.

Some countries schedule two national meetings each year in order to help them increase their sense of belonging to the family as well as to revitalize the charism that we have inherited from our Founders. We encourage you to make us sharers in this process and to share these happenings with the International Vincentian Family.

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Celebration of the Feast of St. Louise de Marillac
National Vincentian Family

The celebration of the feast of Saint Louise of Marillac by the Vincentian family in Guatemala was convened on May 21. Ninety-one (91) participants including members of the Daughters of Charity, applicants H. C. Fathers of the Congregation of the Mission, Seminarians C.M. International Association of Charity (AIC), Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SSVP) Miraculous Medal Association (AMM), Luisa de Marillac Association and Vincentian Marian Youth (JMV) were brought together to this joint celebration.

We began at 9:00 am with the opening prayer by Sister Amadita followed by the first theme: “St. Louise de Marillac” in which we learned how the life of St. Louise was relevant in the animation of the fraternities, now “AIC”; St. Louise as an example of service to the poor, her good heart and light to the people who were around, at first it was hard serving the poor, but seeing so much need she revolutionized the world with St. Vincent. We can also revolutionize the world with the Vincentian charism of almost 400 years!

After that we shared some snacks, and then we also received a visit from Father Victor Melendez, CM who spoke about an initiative to organize the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Vincentian Charism in 2017, which will be brought up at the Council of the Vincentian Family in Guatemala. He he also reminded  us not to forget Systemic Change.

The second important topic was, “I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed me” by Sister Vilma Toralla, theme of the 400th anniversary of Charism, how can we welcome the stranger? One of the questions that echoed in this topic was that there are so many ways to do this. We can also invite others to live our spirituality, restoring HOPE and transmitting the joy of being loved by God.

We began the arrangements for the celebration of the Eucharist, presided by Father Visitor, Edilberto P. Lazo and concelebrated by Father Rafael Presidente and Father Maximilian Chocoyo. The homily of Fr. Edilberto Lazo reinforced the knowledge we have about the life and work of St. Louise de Marillac. The meeting and the Eucharist were accompanied by the choir of Seminarians of the Congregation of the Mission. The VMY group was in charge of the Liturgy and the floral arrangements were offered by the Luisas of Marillac Association.

Fraternally, in St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac,

National Council Vincentian Family
Guatemala