28 November 2005
Feast of St. Catherine Labouré
To the Visitors of the Congregation of the Mission
and the Visitatrixes of the Daughters of Charity
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
May the grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ fill your hearts now and forever!
I write to give you some news about the Association of the Miraculous Medal. As you know, the Second International Meeting of the Association was held here in Rome from 24-28 October 2005. I am very happy to share with you some of the experiences we had during that week.
We were 92 participants coming from 29 countries. There were 50 lay persons, 15 Daughters of Charity and 25 confreres present. In addition, two sisters from the Community of Vincentian Sisters, who work with the Association in Austria, participated.
Under the theme: “Loved by the Father and guided by Mary, committed to the mission of the Church” was the objective: Review the journey made since the First Meeting in 2001 in order to discover our vocation in the Church and continue moving forward in our missionary commitment and service of the poor. The dynamic of the meeting was the following: We took off from an evaluation that made us aware of the progress and achievements made since 2001, when the first Meeting was held. We were also able to identify challenges for continuing to advance.
Afterwards, we focused on the ecclesial dimension of the Association, on formation, on the apostolate among the poor, and on the theme of youth in the Association. We had some interesting moments of group work which allowed the participants to share their experiences and to seek enlightenment for progressing in the renewal of the Association.
These ideas were embodied in a Final Document which contains the commitments assumed for moving forward in the coming years. You will find this document attached.
At the conclusion of the Meeting, I met with the confreres and Daughters of Charity who work most closely with the Association. We discussed the role of the animators and formators of lay leaders, so that they might be active participants in it. We spoke about the appointment of National Advisors in order to accompany the laity in the foundation of the Association and the drafting of National Statutes. For this I ask the Visitors and Visitatrixes that, in those countries in which no confrere or sister has been named as Advisor, they present to me one whom I could name to this duty.
It has been wonderful to see this Association grow and strengthen in many countries. Together with the International Coordinator and his Council, we want to continue working to introduce it into those countries in which it does not yet exist, since its apostolate among the poor, in hospitals, among fallen-away families, with youth and in favor of mission countries is a treasure for the Church.
Finally, I want to encourage you to visit the website of this Association, on which you will find information about the countries and, above all, a great wealth of catechesis to offer formation to its members. The address is: www.amminter.org
May Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal continue to lavish abundant graces and blessings on this Association.
Your brother in St. Vincent,
G. Gregory Gay, C.M.
Director General of the AMM
