O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to You.

Juvenile Detention Outreach God Walk VMY, 2007 Int. VMY News Bulletin Taize

Education For The Poor     Extend Your Heart Found.     St Vincent de Paul Alameda

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Membership Information

One of the four goals of the Vincentian Marian Youth Association is to support the youth ministries in the parishes and dioceses (see About Us - Goal #4).  As such, VMY has no intention to "pull" the members from their own groups to form a "VMY group".

VMY would like to support these groups, the parish, and the diocese in any way possible. However, in order to provide this support, it would be much easier if the group also "belongs" to VMY.  The group should continue to do what it does, but also participate in VMY events whenever time allows. Belonging to VMY also greatly facilitates the coordination of events.  Please read on for more information on what "belonging" to VMY means.

Why Should You Join the Vincentian Marian Youth Association?

• The head of the Association is the Blessed Mother Mary herself. In 1830, Mother Mary appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré and declared, "I want an Association for the young to be founded where I will pour out many graces." You cannot go wrong with an Association if Mary leads it.
• The Association has been in existence for over a century and has over 110,000 members worldwide in 65 countries. It is well established and has resources all over the world.
• The Association provides a practical means to help you cultivate and nurture your spirituality, and you can do it with others. The Association is grounded in the spirituality of Mother Mary and Saint Vincent de Paul. For this reason, the Association can help you in the formation process.
• This is a great chance to help yourself. For example, through the events that VMY has, you can develop your leadership abilities.
• This is also a great chance to help others. Imagine how great it would feel to serve our homeless brothers and sisters on a Saturday afternoon with many other young people like yourself. What a rewarding way to spend an afternoon. And this is just one example of the many ways to help.
• This is a chance to meet a lot of interesting, young people of all nationalities who share similar interests as yourself. Who knows, you may make lifelong friends through the Association.
• It is fun. We do all kinds of cool stuff, like picnics, retreats, and pilgrimages. We go to beautiful places. And, on top of it all, the Association subsidizes the cost from its fund and asks you for only a very minimal fee to symbolize your commitment.

What Are the Requirements?

To be an active member, you must:

• Commit yourself to the Christian and Vincentian lifestyle. In other words, you must love the Christian faith and follow its teachings, and you must love the poor and try your best to serve the poor whenever possible.
• Have a sincere desire to help build up the Church and to work towards the betterment of yourself and those less fortunate than you.
• Take part one time in the Annual Marian Consecration Ceremony.
• Try your best to attend the meetings and participate in the activities of the Association.
• Carry out a task, when you volunteer for it, conscientiously and to the best of your abilities.

Can You Participate in an Event without Being an Active Member?

Of course. We know that you are busy with your daily lives. We do encourage you to become a member, however. It costs you nothing, except some of your time. And yet you can help so many others.

How Much Time Do You Need to Invest in VMY if You Become a Member?

This depends completely on how active you are.

• If you volunteer to be a core team member, more time will be needed of you, especially when the upcoming event requires your attention.
• If you are a member, but you are not on a core team, you only need to help with the event for which you have signed up.

Note that being a member does not mean that you should leave those organizations that you currently belong to. The Association simply provides the necessary resources to help you in what you do, as well as the resources you may need to help others. We ask only that you follow the Association's principles, which are: 1) to love Jesus Christ and Mother Mary and 2) to evangelize and serve the poor, following the spirit of Saint Vincent de Paul.

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