RETURN TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

II International Meeting of VMY Advisors – Paris 2025

Article provided by Patricia Roppa, International President of the VMY

In 2025, we will experience a historic moment: the Second International Meeting of VMY

Advisors, a unique opportunity to reunite in person and continue building this great family that

Mary envisioned the world.

What does this meeting mean for VMY?

This meeting is not just a date on the calendar. It is a milestone in the history of our Association, a new opportunity to reconnect with our roots, since Paris is not just any city: it was there that the VMY was born in 1830, at the expressed desire of the Virgin Mary. After years of seeing each other only on screens, we know nothing replaces the embrace, the sincere

conversation, and the joy of walking together. That is why this reunion is so special.

It will be a space for training, sharing experiences, praying together, and strengthening

ourselves as advisors and youth companions. We know this mission is as beautiful as it is

challenging, and walking in community changes everything.

A dream we share…

As the International Council, we not only have expectations, but we have dreams! We dream

of a VMY that is even more united, one in which we can recognize each other as brothers, listen to each other with humility, and support one another from our realities. We know that there

are no magic formulas to accompany young people, but there is something that never fails: the desire to learn together, with willing hearts. This meeting is another step toward strengthening the international network of advisors because accompanying is not a solitary task but a shared mission.

A message to those who will participate

Thank you for responding to this invitation and for preparing suitcases, agendas, and hearts

for this meeting. We know that each of you has many commitments, yet you have chosen to be here. That speaks of the deep love you feel for VMY.

We await you with open arms, great joy, and a sincere desire to share life. We ask only one thing about you: come with an open heart, ready to listen, share, and be surprised by the Holy Spirit. See you soon in Paris!

And what happens next?

This encounter does not end in Paris. Everything experienced there must reach every corner

where VMY is present. The advisors will return with new tools, contacts, ideas, and, above all, renewed. And this will be felt directly by the young people: more closeness, more listening, more understanding. We hope that this encounter will rekindle the fire of the call that each advisor has received from Mary, and that this fire will ignite other hearts. 

We hope that the fruits will multiply, that the learnings will be shared at national, regional,

and local levels, and that our young people’s accompaniment will be deeper and more loving.

Of course, we dream of a VMY more alive than ever, growing in faith, in service, and in numbers

so that more young people discover that God loves them and calls them by name.

If you are a VMY youth or advisor, we invite you to join us in prayer for this encounter. The fruits of an encounter like this begin in the prayer of the whole family.

May Mary take us by the hand to Paris, where it all began and where much is yet to begin!