Our identity

 
 
 

VDBs stands for Volunteers of Don Bosco. We are consecrated lay people, characterised by a Salesian spirituality. VDBs are completely immersed in the world with other people, which means that we continue to be involved in ordinary jobs and professional activities. This enables us to express God’s love in all secular realities. We thus shed light onto those values which are inherent in such realties, and which have been present in the world since the beginning of creation.

We are sensitive to the signs of the times, as well as to the demands of the particular setting we work in. In a creative and flexible way, we endeavour to be carriers of joy, and to live each human and Christian value in an authentic manner. We place our life at the service of all, particularly youths and poor people.
We are consecrated with the profession of the evangelical vows, namely chastity, poverty, and obedience. We live them out in the world. Nothing distinguishes us from other persons therefore, apart from our commitment to love in a radical manner.

One of the characteristics of Secular Institutes is that of maintaining a balanced reserve about its members. Considering the multitude of environments we work in, this makes for a greater efficacy in our work. Our aim is to be like salt, which dissolves and gives taste to food, and like yeast which disappears in the dough, and yet gives goodness to the bread.

Our preferred areas of work include the “places at the border”, the new kinds of poverty, the educational and social camps, and those environments where justice and rights are often denied,…
We are nourished by a profound prayer life, as we pay particular attention to youths and poor people. We commit ourselves to them with the same passion that was so characteristic of Don Bosco.

We don’t live in a community; however we live in communion with each other. This means that each of us belongs to a particular group, which serves as a point of reference. It is within these groups that we meet, receive formation, and support each other.



Our vocation as Volunteers of Don Bosco requires a total donation to God, in such a way that we can be present to our neighbour; it requires us to serve the Lord whom we find in the little ones and the poor of the world, with a Salesian spirit and style