On November 20th 2009, in a solemn Eucharistic celebrated by the General Director of the Association and the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission and the Company of the Daughters of Charity, Fr. Gregory G. Gay, CM, the Jubilee Year that the Association has lived will officially end.
The closing ceremony will take place at the Chapel of the Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Catherine Laboure (140, rue du Bac. ParÃs), the place where the Virgin expressed her desire that a Priest from the Congregation, Saint Catherine’s confessor, Fr. Aladel, should found a Association to diffuse the Message that had been given to us.
In that humble place, 73 representatives of the Association will gather from all over the world: from the oldest, such as France, Poland or Spain; to the most recent, Ukraine. These representatives of the Association will conclude their gathering on this date at the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity between the 15th and 20th of November; and in which they will elaborate and approve the new International Statutes for the Association.
In 1909, with the approval given by Pope Pius X, the Association initiated a moment of great development in all countries, especially in those where members of the Vincentian Family were already established. It was the perfect occasion to deepen the message that the Virgin Mary had confided to us, and at the same time, to discover the importance of transmitting it through the testimony of organized groups. Through letters, in magazines with wide distribution, in celebrations and novenas or with the development of the home visits, the Miraculous Medal Association became present in many dioceses and parishes, with the collaboration of the Daughters of Charity and the Vincentian Missionaries. Millions of medals of the Blessed Virgin were handed out and they tried to catechize those who received them by explaining that the symbols that the medal contained were an invitation to live the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
This Centennial celebration in 2009 is a source for great hope for the Association. It has been a stimulus renovating efforts so that Association may respond to the challenges posed by today’s world; in the context of the Church of the 21st century, from our love of Mary and our faithfulness to the treasure that she confided to us through the Medal.
Tags: Jubilee, MM, Paris, Year of Mercy
