When celebrating anniversaries, we usually recall, express gratitude, make wishes.
These photos are from 10 years ago when the Association started.
With great gratitude we recall Fr. Paul Roche СМ, who inspired us and helped us to establish AMM in Ukraine. At first a portable chapel of the Virgin Mary was constructed, and since November 2007 it visited families in Kyiv and then in a few months it came back to the house as “God’s Gift”.
The first big event for AMM in Ukraine was held in 2008– the Medal and the Association were presented in Letychiv. With the help of volunteers, 15,000 medals were distributed, and 230 pilgrims were registered as AMM members. We appealed to those who wished to join with the words: “Members of the Association have their miraculous medals on and pray daily saying: “O Mary! conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!”. They live according to Christian commandments. Getting united we seek to consecrate the members of the Association through prayer and nurture their confidence in Virgin Mary. A tool for this union would be a letter that is sent twice a year.
The first letter to the new members of AMM was sent on the eve of the Miraculous Medal Feast on November 27, 2008.
In 2009, during the traditional days of youth, the youth of Zhytomyr as well as pilgrims of All-Ukrainian pilgrimage in Berdychiv got acquainted with the medal. This pilgrimage since then has become the location of our annual meeting.
Here is some testimony of the faithful:
I joined AMM in 2010 during a pilgrimage in Berdychiv. I put on a miraculous medal there and I do not take it off since that time. I know that there are no accidental encounters and that God’s action comes out in a special way in places of remission of sins. That was Berdychiv where Virgin Mary was waiting for me. There, I asked the Lord for forgiveness for my sins, asked for help from Mother of Mercy and our Patroness. Today I want to give evidence on a miraculous medal.
May 13, during my physical examination a malignant tumor – carcinoma (breast cancer) was found. I started the treatment immediately. I went through two chemotherapy procedures, a surgery operation, and after discharge from the surgery I found myself in Berdychiv, where I joined AMM. After the surgery my doctor said that chemotherapy has to be intensified and assigned a new medicine. Treatment was very expensive; we just did not have the money. My relatives helped me – with words and money, and in two weeks, at the end of July, we received assistance from relatives and friends in amount of 15 thousand dollars. These funds were enough for chemotherapy and other medicines. Thanks God and help and intercession of Virgin Mary, I have completed a full course of treatment. I feel good. Before treatment I received anointing from hands of a priest. Therefore, I believe in God’s mercy as well as mediation and assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Lord gave me a new life! I should live it with God. Thank you for helping me in my conversion, and please pray for me.
Since 2009 we started visiting parishes actively (there were about 140 of them during these ten years)– we brought a medal and a chapel of Virgin Mary for visits to families of the faithful.
Virgin Mary with a miraculous medal did not leave us in 2013-2014, during the Revolution of Dignity in Kyiv and at the beginning of the war. Once a stranger came up to me and sister Barbara, when he saw the medals on our neck. He recalled kindly: «I’ve got the same medal on Maidan when it was very difficult. I took it home for myself and my relatives and we discovered its history in the web. Then this medal became a sign for me: God is with us».
The whole course of our lives has shown that common prayer of the members of AMM is very powerful. The members of AMM wish actively and daily show their belonging to the Association, so we started direct mailing of prayer intentions to those who wished. Thus, a prayer SMS group was established and now it includes 700 people. We support sick, suffering, and lonely people with a common prayer.
One of the AMM participants, who distributed a lot of medals in Kharkiv leaving them on the streets, under important buildings, and monuments with communist symbols, testifies: “[Soon] so many people began to pray as never before. It may seem to me of course but the medals are like a resonator, to hide them is like to entrust a place to the care of Mary. I thought a hundred times that I’m crazy. But each time I recalled Rev. Bishop Fr. Paul Gnylytsa walking in Moscow after consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and hiding medals everywhere.”
Creating our future, we are guided with the words of Virgin Mary that she wants to distribute grace through the medal. Thank God that any person can fulfill this simple task – to offer or to give a medal to the persons whom we meet on the path of God’s Providence. When serving to sick people, providing them with necessary assistance we offer a medal and entrust these people to God. In this way our life space becomes God’s space as Virgin Mary can act, sanctifying it with her assistance. Many people have the opportunity to face God in confession before death. By giving a medal to a person we realize that that’s not us trying improve his or her spiritual life, but Virgin Mary, who opens a soul for God.
Working with homeless people we see that people have little strength and will to overcome a disease. So we ask Mary for grace for them. The first step in struggle against difficulties is wearing a medal and then a prayer.
We are grateful to the organizations that help in our action. Thus, our reliable partner is the mail as twice a year we send more than 4000 letters to all members of AMM in Ukraine. Those who ordered medals also receive them by mail – the number of shipments per year can reach 25,000 items.
We are full of joy, that it is simple to serve God. By giving medals we entrust young and old people to Mary, as well as those who look for a way in life, a way to get rid of addiction, those who need God’s consolation. Mary is with us and leads us by the way of her Son.
Virgin Mary rushes to the aid of old and sick people, children and young people, as she is our mother.