16 - 18 May 2025
Celebration of Confraternities / Catholic Organisations
The Jubilee of Confraternities / Catholic Organisations will be held from Friday, May 16, to Sunday, May 18, 2025 to correspond with the Jubilee of Confraternities / Catholic Organisations will be held from Friday, May 16, to Sunday, May 18, 2025 in Rome.
Confraternities are Christian voluntary associations, often coordinated by lay women or lay men to promote charitable works, devotional life, or a particular mission in the Church. Well-known examples include the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Knights of Columbus, Union of Catholic Mothers, Legion of Mary, Order of Malta, and Knights of Peter Claver, among many others.
SPIRITUAL REFLECTION
The active and engaged mission of the lay faithful are essential to the work of the Church. While each of us on our own are called to this missionary fervor, it is also helpful for members of the lay apostolate to come together under a common charism, history, purpose, or passion for charity, devotion, or spirituality. This synodal “journeying together” can thus enrich the cultures in which the laity find themselves. Pope Francis shared this message with members of confraternities: “I encourage you to cultivate, with creative and dynamic effort, your life as an association and your charitable presence, which are based on the gift of Baptism and which involve a journey of growth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit” (Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to Members of Various Italian Confraternities, January 16, 2023). Regardless of the origins or foundations upon which your ministries rest, the Holy Father’s exhortation is for lay women and men in their associations to always look forward with evangelism, synodality, and a missionary spirit. The Second Vatican Council called on all the laity to “work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven" (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, no. 31.) And when the laity walk together, they can be a united force of hope in society, something that is yearned for by both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Working side by side offers a diversity of gifts to be used as a force for good in the world, transforming it ever closer to the realization of God’s kingdom. The popular piety at work in confraternities also constitutes a powerful witness of the spirituality of the Catholic Church. Continue to share that spirituality with your families, friends, colleagues, and neighbours in a way that is inviting and in so doing, can offer a hope to those who are seeking God’s graces in their lives. Draw close to Christ, the source of your own hope, in this Jubilee Year, by drawing closer together as a community of the laity and closer to the charism, charity, or common bond that inspires your actions. Allow the love of Jesus to flow from you, both as an individual and together as a confraternity or association. In this way, you will be messengers of hope to the world.
KEY SAINTS AND BLESSEDS
Holy Companions for Confraternities and Associations
Mary, Queen of the Apostles (can be celebrated at Pentecost), the Blessed Mother who joins in prayer with the Apostles in the Upper Room (the Cenacle) at Pentecost, where the outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred, and the Church began her mission in the world (see Acts 2:1-47).
St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660, feast day September 27), patron of charities, volunteers, and hospitals and co-founder of the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians) and the Confraternity of Charity. A native of France, Vincent was a humble, compassionate priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor.
Frédéric Antoine Ozanam (April 23, 1813 - September 8, 1853) founded with fellow students the Conference of Charity, later known as the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1997.
St. Vincent Pallotti (1795-1850, feast day January 22), founder of the Union of the Catholic Apostolate and the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (in 1835), who believed that all (ordained, consecrated, and lay alike) are called to be apostles, coresponsible for the Church’s mission.
Bl. Michael McGivney (1852-1890, feast day August 13), founder of the Knights of Columbus (in 1882) and filled with a “zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel and generous concern for his brothers and sisters” that “made him an outstanding witness of Christian solidarity and fraternal assistance.”
Francis Michael Duff (7 June 1889 – 7 November 1980), was an Irish lay Catholic and author known for bringing attention to the role of the Catholic laity during the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church. Duff had previously founded the Legion of Mary in his native city of Dublin, Ireland.
Catholic Associations / Organisations / Groups
Union of Catholic Mothers. We are a National Organisation of Catholic Women, open to all women who support our aims and objectives in 'prayer, love and active witness to marriage, family and Christian life in the world' (from our membership prayer). For over 100 years, we have been involved in current affairs, particularly those that impact on family life, lobbying our politicians to protect the marginalised and vulnerable in society both home and abroad. We are affiliated to other like minded organisations, are active in our parishes and support each other in love and prayer. https://www.theucm.org.uk
Catholic Women’s League. We are an organisation for all women in the parish. We share faith, skills and friendship. We meet regularly and invite speakers to enrich and entertain us. We work together in our local Sections with a real sense of purpose. By organising Days of Reflection, we nurture our faith; we support charitable projects; and are always there to help one another. https://catholicwomensleaguecio.org.uk
Catholic Men’s Society of Great Britian. To encourage to help and to prepare men to become active and responsible Christians, so that they may be able to assume the responsible role of the layman in the Church today. Through their baptism and confirmation, the laity are called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in their homes, families, parishes and workplace. http://catholicmenssociety.co.uk/
Society of St Vincent de Paul. Founded in Britian in 1844, we foster diverse and inclusive connections, as a society that is welcoming of people of all faiths and none. Since the charity’s foundation we have lived by the Christian principles of our founder Blessed Frederic Ozanam, who said we should “embrace the whole the whole world in a network of charity.” https://svp.org.uk
Legion of Mary. The object of the Legion of Mary is the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by prayer and active co-operation in Mary’s and the Church’s work. The Legion of Mary is a lay apostolic association of Catholics who, with the sanction of the Church and under the powerful leadership of Mary Immaculate, Mediatrix of All Graces, serve the Church and their neighbour on a voluntary basis in about 170 countries. https://legionofmarydc.co.uk
Catenians. We are a network of Catholic men who meet regularly to enjoy each other’s company and to help and support each other throughout the world. Founded in Manchester, Catenians can now be found in many countries and today are active throughout the U.K., Ireland, Australia, Malta, India, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Nazareth. Circles in the U.K. raised over £250,000 in the past year for local charities as well as supporting the Association’s two in-house charities; the Benevolent Fund which supports members and their families and the Bursary Fund which sponsors young persons in projects contributing to wider society at home and abroad.
PRAYERS
Prayer for Confraternities and Associations Christifideles Laici Prayer
O Most Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church,
With joy and wonder we seek to make our own your Magnificat,
joining you in your hymn of thankfulness and love.
With you we give thanks to God,
"whose mercy is from generation to generation",
for the exalted vocation and the many forms of mission
entrusted to the lay faithful.
God has called each of them by name
to live his own communion of love and holiness
and to be one in the great family of God's children.
He has sent them forth to shine with the light of Christ
and to communicate the fire of the Spirit
in every part of society through their life inspired by the gospel.
O Virgin of the Magnificat,
fill their hearts with a gratitude and enthusiasm
for this vocation and mission.
With humility and magnanimity,
you were the "handmaid of the Lord";
give us your unreserved willingness for service to God
and the salvation of the world.
Open our hearts to the great anticipation of the Kingdom of God
and of the proclamation of the Gospel to the whole of creation.
Your mother's heart is ever mindful of the many dangers and evils
which threaten to overpower men and women in our time.
At the same time your heart also takes notice of the many initiatives
undertaken for good, the great yearning for values,
and the progress achieved in bringing forth the abundant fruits of salvation.
O Virgin full of courage, may your spiritual strength and trust in God inspire us,
so that we might know how to overcome all the obstacles
that we encounter in accomplishing our mission.
Teach us to treat the affairs of the world with a real sense of Christian responsibility
and a joyful hope of the coming of God's Kingdom,
and of a "new heaven and a new earth".
You who were gathered in prayer
with the Apostles in the Cenacle,
awaiting the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost,
implore his renewed outpouring on all the faithful,
men and women alike,
so that they might more fully respond to their vocation and mission,
as branches engrafted to the true vine,
called to bear much fruit for the life of the world.
O Virgin Mother, guide and sustain us so that we might always live as true sons
and daughters of the Church of your Son.
Enable us to do our part in helping to establish on earth
the civilization of truth and love, as God wills it, for his glory. Amen.