VMI MOVEMENTS CHRISTMAS PRAYERS

CHRISTMAS PRAYER FROM ANGLO AFRICA

Lord Jesus, we are celebrating the delightful time of our salvation history and reconciliation, the reason for your being born to the world with a full plan of love for mankind. We see you wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in the manger. We pray that we be clothed in your saving light and glory while being accompanied by the army of angels so that we can joyfully sing:

“Praise and glory to the Born Child Jesus our Savior. Amen”

Fr. Gregory Mashtaki
Continental Spiritual Adviser for Anglo Africa

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LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN CHRISTMAS PRAYER

Praise be to you Holy Trinity, precious community of Infinite Love, for revealing to us in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the humility of the manger, the heavenly glory of every Silent Night.

May the light of the fragile child of Bethlehem enlighten us and make us strong, may we discover in her poverty the treasures of true richness, and may our life be ascending in the style of the Master who descends in the simplicity of Samaritan service that washes the feet of our brothers and sisters.

You who made the power of the Love of the Holy Family transform a smelly place into a cradle with aromas of holiness, give us the grace to convert to the Gospel to be instruments of the Good that overcomes evil, of the Mercy that overcomes hatred, of the Hope that is above all despair and thus, to be custodians from this great Common Home from the synodality that is born in every home.

Help us to live in every hour the liturgy of communion with You, to the rhythm of the Beatitudes, until sister death unites us more to You, with the fullness of the Resurrection in the Eternal Christmas. All this we ask of you, immersed in the splendor of the incarnation of your Son, who, being God, lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

Yours in Christ,

Blessings,

ALIRIO CÁCERES AGUIRRE
Permanent Deacon for the Archdiocese of Bogota
Continental Spiritual Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean

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CHRISTMAS WISHES FROM ENGLAND

Dear Group Leaders and Associate Members

Now that we are fast approaching Christmas, I am writing to wish you all God's blessings this year and hope you all have a happy Christmas. It may be a little early, but I know that some of you have meetings early in the month and I didn't want to miss this.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the hype that surrounds Christmas that we forget its true meaning. The true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the gift of love, hope, and joy that he brought to the world, and the word "Christmas" is a shortened version of "Christian Mass". That doesn't mean we have to leave out the joy and happiness of getting together and enjoying the togetherness of being with family, friends and loved ones.

In spite of recent events that have caused untold misery and hardship to many people, I sincerely wish you the joy and hope that surrounds a Christian Christmas.

My best wishes to you all

Brenda Willis
President and National Treasurer
LIFE ASCENDING

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CANADIAN CHRISTMAS PRAYER

Prayer for the feast of Christmas 2024

O JESUS, as we return to this Christmas season that we have experienced differently in each of the seasons of our lives, let us listen to the heart of your mother Mary, that of Joseph, your adoptive father, those of the shepherds and the wise men who ran to the manger in Bethlehem. All these hearts bear witness to your infinite love. All express that with your birth, our fragilities must no longer frighten us, but be seen as a cradle, as a place where we are constantly reborn to this new life of which you are the source.

With all of mine, or better, with the whole Church, I take up the moving affirmation of the great Saint Bernard, who, many centuries ago, recalled that you, the newborn, in the manger, you accomplished this marvel; you added to humanity the name of God. Yes, the impossible has happened. You, God, have become one of us in your Son Jesus. You came to Bethlehem, in the humble manger. I also believe, with all my soul, that you come every day, in the most every day of my days. Pilgrim of hope, I do not want to stop proclaiming, finally, with an overflowing conviction, that you will return, and that, this time, it will be in your glory and you will take us all with you forever.

Sister Lorraine Caza
Continental Spiritual Advisor for Canada
 

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CHRISTMAS PRAYER FROM SPAIN

Merry Christmas in Esperanza

Every year at this time we remember how the hope of the People who walked in darkness is fulfilled in Christ, Light of Humanity.

This 2024 we have the grace that Christmas is accompanied by the beginning of the Jubilee Year, in which, "Pilgrims of Hope", we can see in the Child born, the foundation of our wait.

Vida Ascendent has as its vocation not only to put a ray of hope in the existence of the elderly, but also, carrying our suitcase full of experiences, to be witnesses of hope in a hopeless world.

We ask the Family of Nazareth that we know how to give reason for our hope within our families, transmitting everything we have learned in our long years about how Jesus is the one who fulfills the promises of Salvation and Eternity that the Father has announced to us.

We entrust ourselves to Mary so that, like her, we may continue to respond to the Angel's call with a radical “Fiat.”

We have Joseph as our intercessor so that, although working life is behind us, we may continue to work on building a common home where everyone has a dignified job and fair living conditions.

We bend our weary knees before the Child who is born, entering into a sacred silence where the Word of Life that He brings us resonates in our hearts.

To each and every one of the members of VMI scattered across all continents, I take this opportunity to send my blessing and my wishes for peace, joy and hope. May Jesus, the Incarnate Word, bless us every day of 2025, as we walk through this world as “Pilgrims of Hope.”

Merry Christmas !

Fr. José Ignacio Figueroa

National Spiritual Advisor of Vida Ascendente in Spain

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MAURITIUS CHRISTMAS PRAYER

Marie de la Noël,

It is you who, by your complete availability to God,
Have allowed salvation to come into the world.
You have given eternal Life.
Thank you Mary.
On this sacred day, we pray to you
To make us give life to the world:
Life of the flesh in the midst of so many attacks on life
Be it abortion, euthanasia, wars, pollution and so much more.
Life of the Spirit by becoming convincing witnesses of Christ,
By making the daily encounter with God,
Our priority.
Amen

Wolfgang Schmitz
National Spiritual Advisor of Vie Montante Mauritius