CATECHESIS FOR THE JUBILEE YEAR OF THE

WHAT IS IT?

(We know what it is, but we need to take into account that we ought to center all our efforts in fidelity to the care of Mary.)

It is an Association which arose from the wish of the Blessed Virgin, expressed to Saint Catherine Laboure.  It is described in the story of the Apparitions which she wrote in 1876.  She says, as told by her Confessor, Fr. Aladel, C.M.:

“The Blessed Virgin asks of you (Fr. Aladel) one thing more: she asks the beginning of an Order in which he would be its founder and director.  It would be an confraternity of Sons and Daughters of Mary”.

The words of Saint Catherine can cause confusion: she speaks of “an Order”, she isn’t very clear.  Orders, in the church, are the congregations of monks and nuns of solemn and perpetual vows.  Sister Catherine is really speaking of “an association”.  Then she calls it a “confraternity”.  It is a more appropriate term; “association normally made up of laity in the world”.  At her time and with the formation that she had, it was not that clear.  In fact, what the Virgin asked of Fr. Aladel is to create an association made up of persons who felt themselves to be “sons and daughters” of Mary, in a filial relationship, with all that this implied in interior life and in external commitment.

Accordingly, we can say that the AMM, in a wider sense, is a “public association, approved by the church, to which all Christians who accept Mary as Mother can belong.”

The Association has to do with the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Saint Catherine Laboure.  Thus, the sign of belonging is to wear the blessed and invested Medal, and to frequently pray the prayer: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you,”  Anyone who keeps these conditions is a member of the AMM, however there is the possibility of involvement in the association, with a greater commitment, by participating in its activities giving their name as a full-fledged member.  This registration is done in centers duly erected by a mandate and which takes place in specific places such as parishes, churches, colleges, etc.

THE VINCENTIAN CONTEXT IN WHICH SHE APPEARS

Mary communicates her message to a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.  She does it in a Vincentian context, that is to say, of the Family created by Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac in 17^th century France, and spread afterwards throughout the whole world, as it was done in the moment of the apparitions in 1830.  The Virgin speaks to a humble novice who is preparing to serve the Poor in the style in which the two Founders taught her to do.  And this includes not only the Daughters of Charity, but also the Vincentian Fathers, founded also by St. Vincent.  All within the spirit and life of these two great branches of the Family, together with others such as the Vincentian Volunteers (Ladies of Charity) (AIC) which are, in fact, the first institution created by Vincent de Paul, and the other branches who would join in later years, such as the Conference of Saint Vincent de Paul, also called “The Vincent de Paul Society”  (SSVP), in 1833, and the Youth of the Blessed Virgin in 1847 (VMY), and later our Association, as such, in 1909.

This context supposes a spirit in its being and a way to act.  The spirit is defined in the following of Jesus Christ Evangelizer of the Poor; and the way of acting, in service of Jesus Christ in the person of the Poor.  All this one finds reflected perfectly in the Message of the Apparitions, and especially in the Medal.

ITS END, ACCORDING TO THE WISHES OF THE VIRGIN

The end of the Association, as we find it in the document of Pope St. Pius X, is to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in the mystery of her Immaculate Conception.  Achieving this end, it assumes that we are her good “sons and daughters,” participating in activities centered on the spiritual life and the apostolate, and feeling in heartfelt communion with the other members of the Association and the whole Church.

CONCRETIZING THESE ENDS IN THE MARKS OF THE AMM

Bringing about the ends of the Association supposes a style of being and doing.  It is the mark that distinguishes us from other ecclesiastical associations.  To discover this style in us, we must identify easily as members of this Association.  The marks that distinguish and express what the AMM is intended to be, are:

ECCLESIAL:  United by will and heart with the whole Church of Jesus Christ, especially in the person of the Holy Father and the Diocesan Bishops.  We accept the reality of the Church as our dear Mother with her divine marks and human limitations, to whom we profess a tender affection, even at times we encounter things we don’t like.  In this “ecclesial” mark we feel to be “missionary”, firstly or in the end, trying to deal with all our heart, personal and communal, all human beings, especially those who do not yet live the mystery of communion and love with their brothers and sisters, because they have not sufficiently met Jesus of Nazareth.  The work of evangelization is a priority for us.

MARIAN:  Mary, the way to Jesus, this is the totality of the AMM.  Her biblical image, theological doctrine or devotion, and especially her value as Mother of the Church and each and every one of its members, constitutes her concern and her immense joy for all of us.  Taken by the hand of the Virgin, as she appeared to Saint Catherine, we try to discover her motherly care in the whole history of salvation, especially in the time we live.

VINCENTIAN:  This mark defines our evangelizing concern and service to the Poor, in the style of Vincent de Paul.  By this we try to know our founder well, by filling ourselves with his spirit, feeling as he felt and committing ourselves to the evangelizing service to our brothers and sisters by the ministry of charity.

VALUING THE DISTINCTIVE HALLMARKS

The distinctive marks of the AMM are a total PROGRAM that we assume from the moment we give our name to the Association. They are a continual topic for reflection and self-examination.  And above all, they are the joy of each of its members.

As we assume them as the Christian community, they are a topic of our conversations, we continuously meditate on them, and speak of them to our Lord and to Mary in our prayer.  We celebrate them in our feasts and meetings.  And over our programs, meetings and activities, they have as their core our service in charity of our brothers and sisters, the Poor.

We know that we need to live them to be very much united by an authentic Christian love.  In this fundamental concern in our Association is building and living an authentic Communion, as a meeting of hearts, even with our human limitations and poverties.

QUESTIONS FOR GROUP REFLECTION 

1. Each participant should try to speak in a loud voice, and in a manner as brief as possible, “What the Association is for him(her)”
   (This is an exercise that tries to train us to be able to give witness of the AMM before other people: family, friends, neighbors…  It is very important to say that we accept all that we relate to others exactly and we speak it in a correct way.)
2. How important is it that the Virgin Mary appeared to a Daughter of Charity?  Why would it have happened this way? (reflection on the Vincentian context of the AMM)
3. The end and the marks of the AMM

3.1) Concerning your life as a member of the AMM, how do you commit to the end and hallmarks of the AMM?

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