The International Association of the Children of Mary Immaculate, known today as “Vincentian Marian Youth (VMY) Movement” has a universal reach.  The VMY is committed to the service of youth, the world, the Church, and the poor.  They exist in 65 countries with some 125,000 members from around the world.

 

Beginnings

The VMY had its beginnings with the apparitions of our Lady to Catherine Labouré in 1830. After the apparitions, Catherine relayed our Lady’s wishes to her confessor, Father Jean Marie Aladel, C.M. Catherine told Father Aladel, “The Blessed Virgin wishes to give you a mission …You will be the founder and director of a Confraternity of Children of Mary.” Father Aladel was not able to act on our Lady’s request until 1835, five years after it had been made. And even then, the first chapter of the Children of Mary did not come into existence until 1838, at Beaune, in the district where Catherine Labouré was born.

 

Papal Approval

In 1847, after being petitioned by the Superior General of the Vincentians, Father Jean-Baptiste Étienne, C.M., Pope Pius IX granted the formal establishment of the Children of Mary, as the VMY was known then, as a Pontifical Association.  Soon after formal papal approval, it began to spread from France and by 1870, there were almost 400 active chapters around the world.  As it has grown, four diverse aspects have defined the VMY:

 

The Four Aspects of the Vincentian Marian Youth

 

Ecclesial

From the moment it enjoyed Pontifical Approbation in 1847, it has been considered as one of the apostolic groups that comprise the Church. It considers itself as a force in the Church, where it carries out its work of evangelization in the person of each of its members, who belongs to the Church through Baptism.

Marian

The VMY has for its model, Mary, Mother of the Church, leader of the Community, who leads us to Christ. This is why the members of the VMY strive to contemplate Mary, under the different aspects offered to us by the Church— a woman who believes, a woman who prays, Mother of the Church, Servant of the Poor, Universal Mediatrix.

Missionary

Every Christian is a missionary. Every member of the VMY must also be a missionary because Mary, Virgin of the Globe, manifested herself to accomplish the command of her Son, Jesus: “Go and preach”… Children of Mary are apostles of evangelization in their environment and in the mission “Ad Gentes”—“to the Nations.”

Vincentian

Members fulfill this apostolate of evangelization and of service in a “Vincentian manner,” by imitating Saint Vincent in serving the poor and the marginalized of society in conformity with their age and level of maturation in the faith.

 

Thanks to the blessings of our Lady, the Vincentian Marian Youth has grown from its humble beginnings in 1838. I invite you to learn more about the global Vincentian Marian Youth by visiting their web site at www.secretariadojmv.org. And if you wish to learn more about the Southeast Missouri Chapter of the Vincentian Marian Youth, visit them on their web site at www.vmy.us.

 

Read about the local group here in Southeast Missouri.