Dear friends,

The beginning of this year was very rich for AIC, in March our International Assembly in Châtillon brought together more than 370 volunteers from 40 countries.

Several national associations have already celebrated this event in their own countries!

The next step: a celebration on August 23 across the whole of the AIC network, 150,000 volunteers celebrating the foundation of AIC at the same time!

Why August 23? Because it’s the date that Saint Vincent gave the First Rule to the newly formed Ladies of Charity group.  Indeed, the previous Sunday on August 20, St Vincent, the brand new parish priest in Châtillon, had called for support for a family “in unspeakable distress” during his Sunday homily.  Following this request, many women in Châtillon had visited the family that afternoon, and St. Vincent had seen that it was necessary to organize this charity.

Where and how to celebrate on August 23:

• Either with AIC International, in Châtillon itself, from August 20-23: 3 days of celebration of the first group of Ladies of Charity. All AIC volunteers are welcome to participate, individually or as a group. You can register with Sr Thérèse and find accommodation by following the indications given in the attached flyer or in the AIC 400th anniversary pilgrimages on our website. (Please be aware that the AIC Secretariat is unable to act as an intermediary.) Contact/registrations: Email soeurtherese@gmail.com or laurencedlb@yahoo.fr
• Or in your local and national associations: You could meet up in your parish at the daily Mass and ask the priest celebrating the Mass to let you read solemnly together the attached 400th anniversary commitment prayer.

Why not organize a retreat for the occasion?

• If you have external guests, don’t forget to present them AIC as it is today, using the video above at this link.
• If you are unable to get together with other AIC volunteers on that day, we suggest that you read this prayer at 10:00 am, local time, in union with other volunteers across the world. In this way, on August 23, a great wave of prayers will be sent up to Heaven.

Tell us about your initiatives: We’ll share them via our website and Facebook page with the whole of the AIC network: http://www.aic-international.org/en/400-years/jubilee-year/

400 years: It’s a unique opportunity to raise awareness of our AIC mission, as well as to better support our brothers and sisters living in difficult situations!

May St Vincent and St Louise continue to accompany us always.

Kindest regards,

Alicia and the AIC 400 years team: Laurence, Rosa and Lalo

PDF of this memo to pass along

Commitment prayer