To commemorate the prosperous growth of their organization over the past seven years since its foundation, The Vincentian-Marian Youth Greece had decided to celebrate its anniversary in one of the most memorable ways possible. The event itself was held last October 30, 2016, and it was indeed an unforgettable day, for it was filled with amusement, exhilaration, and immense joy. 

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As it was held on a Sunday, which happened to be the Lord’s day, the event started with a family Mass held at St. Therese Parish Church, our usual venue for Sunday’s worship. After the Mass, families and friends of the VMY and the group members themselves headed straight towards the Chapel of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the location of the actual setting for the anniversary celebration, by means of public commute or by their personal vehicles. 

 

The chapel was incredibly spacious, and there were enough seats for everybody. The facilitators of the event, the VMY Coordinators and the MERCY Core leaders immediately set up the place. Once we were done, and everybody was comfortable enough, we proceeded with the first part of our program, which is the recitation of The Missionary Rosary. It is a rosary prayer created by Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, which has an added focus, as each decade represents a continent where missionaries continue to proclaim the Lord’s Good News, and prays for those who are afflicted, are in pain, and are lost in faith to God around the world. For each decade throughout the prayer, a colored candle is lit according to the continent that it represents. The color BLUE symbolizes the continent of Oceania, for it reminds us of the many islands in the Pacific Ocean. Africa is represented by the color GREEN, for it signifies the continent’s luxuriant forests. The color YELLOW exemplifies the continent of Asia, for it is the land of the rising sun and the cradle of civilization. The color RED represents the American continents, for it reminds us that the first inhabitants of these lands were native American Indians. And finally, the color WHITE is for the continent of Europe, for it symbolizes the Pope who is a sign of unity. These prayers should help us remember that all these treasures, most especially, this world where we live in, should never ever be taken for granted, for they are divine blessings given to us by God. This is a lesson brought about to us by the solemnity and sincerity of this prayer, which is why it was indeed, the most important part of the program.

 

Lunch immediately followed after the heartfelt praying of the Missionary Rosary. Everyone exited the chapel and headed out to the back garden. We are all served with a bountiful buffet filled with delicious food prepared for us by our dearly beloved parents, for which we were incredibly thankful for. It was a time for giving and sharing, as well as making conversations that helped bring everybody closer together. It was in fact, an enjoyable moment for everyone.

 

Once our tummies were filled, and had time to rest, we then proceeded to the final, yet most anticipated part of our anniversary celebration – the "Search for MR. & MISS VMY Greece 2016 Pageant", which was held at the Sisters of Saint Joseph Conference Hall, located directly below the chapel. The room was enormous, enough to hold at least a hundred and fifty seats, while leaving a huge amount of space that served as the runway for the catwalk portions of the activity. The facilitators did their final checking of the set-up, which gave enough time for the candidates of each of the five groups to prepare themselves. When everybody was ready, then it was finally time for the show and the fun to begin.

 

It started with the announcement made by Kuya Thadeus Mendoza and Ate Hermiline Athina Bravo, the hosts of the pageant, regarding the welcoming of the audience and the purpose of the day’s affairs. They had further elaborated on the definition of a pageant, why such activity exists, and what it does for a person. Pageants are a way for an individual to expose their talents and to develop them even more, as well as presenting themselves in the most appropriate manner, which therefore, boosts up their confidence. The positivity that is brought about by such endeavors reminds us that the gifts and talents that we have are included in many of things we should never take for granted, for they are given to us by God.

 

The identities of the judges were then revealed. The judging panel was composed of six women who seek confidence and developments of talents from each individual contestant. They were all fairly determined to choose who among these participants deserve the winning titles. They were as follows: former MMC Catechists - Ms. Annie Baay-Acbo, Ms. Alma Pastrana, and Ms. Lilibeth Misolas, the two Coordinators of VMY - Tita Marycel Binibini and Tita Victoria Alapot, and Ms. Roxanne Anais-Juanta, a former VMY member and former Ms. Greece beauty titleholder. Ms. Juanta served as the chairman of the panel of judges. After they had stated their personal reasons on why they wanted to participate as the judges for the event, we then proceeded to the presentation of the team's candidates.