Who are the Valets of Mary?

The "Valets of Mary Movement" is an apostolate inspired by the “School of Mary” of St Louis de Montfort. The movement, born in Burkina-Faso in 2010, counts more than 4,000 members today. The prayer sessions it organizes are centered around the prayer of the Rosary and the veneration of the Holy Cross of Christ.

The idea of this movement began in 2009 when students from the charismatic Catholic prayer unit at the University of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina, listened to talks given by Octavie Aimée Du Père (today a consecrated religious sister) about the Virgin Mary. Seeing the number and interest of the audience increase, and after careful reflection and discernment in prayer, the idea was born to create a training framework dedicated to the School of Mary.

Each year, hundreds of young people start embracing the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first stage of the formation lasts six weeks and ends with the consecration to Mary. This year, on April 2, 2018, the movement increased by 850 new servants of Mary.

Now called "Slaves of Mary," these consecrated women promise to imitate the Blessed Virgin and make her their spiritual mother and mediatrix. The movement explains: "only Mary can teach us who Jesus Christ is! Only Mary can help us find Jesus Christ!"

Yvette Zongo and Herman Frédéric Bassolé

Lefaso.net