ENDORSEMENTS
Let's work together to prepare a whole new generation of youth who will be pro-life. This is why Vox Vitae Pro-Life Camp is so important. I encourage you to send your youth to participate. We need our youth to love life and to know how to be a voice for life.
- Bishop David G. O'Connell, 1953-2023
I have been involved in many efforts of Catholic evangelism over the years. VOX VITAE is one of the best movements I have seen or been part of. This is a one week training camp that while placing a strong emphasis on developing Pro-Life Warriors, does a lot more. It goes to the root of training young people to be the Catholic voice for the culture of life as a whole. It trains them in communication skills, a basic understanding of what is is to be Catholic and how to defend the faith, a deeper realization of their own dignity and worth as well as the dignity of every human being, and much more! The VOX VITAE camp experience includes daily mass, daily rosary, daily opportunity for confession and daily hour of adoration. The root of this camp is a solid and powerful encounter with Jesus on every level!
If you and I want to be part of the solution in this world, and train the next generation to be prepared for the fight for their souls and the souls of others, then this is the type of experience that can help! I am honored to be part of it.
- Doug Barry
God bless you and your work, Vox Vitae.
- Cardinal Raymond Burke
I have a beloved niece who had had little experience with knowledge of God, and even less experience with peers being anything but judgmental and critical. She was on a shaky path fraught with every adolescent challenge and temptation. Thanks be to God, she agreed to go to Vox Vitae for 2 days. It changed her life. Vox Vitae accomplished more in those days than any of our family have been able to in all her 13 years of life. She asked to finish the other 2 days, but if she couldn’t, to “at least go to mass and dinner with everyone.” (We let her finish the other days!) She said she loved mass. She loved the rosary, led our family in the rosary after camp, and plans to pray it every day at home. She wants to make her first confession. She is overjoyed that peers can actually be friendly, accepting, and good. She carried around her Vox Vitae prayer book and led us in the morning offering. Her life is forever changed; she wants God. And, she is 100% pro-life.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s patronage, Jesus’ true presence in daily mass and adoration, the sacraments, the rosary, and exposure to truth – these components are what youth are craving, and they are what God uses to draw their hearts. Vox Vitae is absolutely a game-changer. I am in awe and overcome with gratitude for God’s work through Vox Vitae.
- Anne
My teen came home tonight and said today she prayed the Rosary and actually fell in love with it. My other teen (niece) said she truly appreciates being treated like an adult. She said she's been to retreats and youth groups that are nice but they are mostly about socializing and having fun. This was different. You guys are giving them the information to make those important decisions in life they will inevitably be faced with. Thank you so much for all you do for these young adults.
- Selena
Teens and their parents in SoCal -- DO NOT MISS Vox Vitae Camp!
It was an honor to be part of the stellar lineup. Faith, reason, prolife, fellowship, facts, fun. Congrats, Catherine Contreras for building this dream and making it stronger each year.
- Patrick Coffin
"Kids today..." That's the exclamation for all that's wrong. Kids are kids, and always have been. They are incredibly impressionable and take their cues from the adults in their lives. The problem isn't the kids, it's usually the adults who abandon them to the culture. I've seen the difference with the parents of Boy Scouts, and again this week at Vox Vitae, where I spent a couple of days with 63 perfectly normal, healthy teens who want something more, something better than what is happening in the broader culture. So do their parents.
These teens are sharp. Razor sharp. Of all the things that they could be doing with a week of summer vacation, they chose to spend it investing in their character formation.
I cannot say enough about the tremendous leadership and organization by Catherine Contreras and her team at Vox Vitae for a conference that is as much a retreat as a youth camp. God Bless them all, and Catherine Contreras and her amazing team!
-Dr. Gerard Nadal
Patricia loved the camp. On the last day, she said she had never prayed so much in one day. I could feel the graces flowing every time I came to pick her up. Thank you.
- Teresa
Colette recently signed up to volunteer with a local pregnancy help center close to home and is still very interested in pro-life work. Her Vox Vitae camp experience has armed with the truth and blessed her with knowledge which now inspires her to live her commitment to pro-life values. She is prepared, ready and motivated to engage in pro-life activities, which is the result of the learning she received at Vox Vitae.
May God reward you for all the great work you do.
- Yvonne
Comments from Camp Alumni
This is a pro-life teen camp that is very educational as well as fun. It has helped me a lot and can help you, too. This camp has and will continue to motivate me for the rest of my life.
Please come here! It will change the way you view being pro-life and Catholic!
I'm not confused anymore.
This camp saved my life. Thank you for telling us the truth!
Daily Mass was my favorite part of each day. I would change nothing about camp. It was perfect.
Adoration and listening to the speakers were my favorite parts of the day. I appreciate that you are holding this camp. It is very inspiring and the world benefits greatly by you.
It is an eye-opener and you gave me so much hope for the unborn. Please do this next year and keep informing our teens and our generation.
It is a life-changing experience you don't want to miss out on.
Thank you especially for camp, which, it was agreed by the many friends I made there, was one of the best weeks of our lives. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I think people of all ages must be given this experience. I am telling all of the youth I can.
You'll grow in faith, closeness with Christ, renewal of spiritual energy, knowledge to give the confidence to speak. What a grace! Couldn't spend my time in any better way.
My name is Catherine, and I participated in the Vox Vitae Camp. I just wanted to thank you so very much for putting all your time in coordinating that camp. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Before I came to the camp I thought I knew about being pro-life but at the camp, once we started getting into the depth of it all, I realized how uninformed I had been and how I wasn't ready to defend those unborn babies. All the wonderful speakers taught me that being pro-life is more than just saying "Unborn babies have rights too." [I]t’s actually looking at the person you're debating and finding common ground with them then telling them everything with a loving and caring heart; taking all things in consideration and showing them that there is another option. It made me become on fire for defending unborn babies. It made me want to get involved, helping the confirmation programs get more involved with the pro-life movement. I started praying more (randomly throughout the day) for the babies who are in danger of being aborted. My friends and I want to start groups going to Planned Parenthood and praying there...Before I came to the camp I thought that it was going to be the same; just like the others. However, it wasn't. There is so much learning involved with being pro-life. There was so much I didn't know. It was, in the beginning, a bit traumatizing, but I needed to know those things. I need to know that the world isn't "okay," the world needs prayers and [it’s] up to me to inform people who don't know about this, like how I didn't before, and tell them everything so in that way we can help each other. We really are the new generation in being a voice for life. So thank you so much for giving us all that amazing opportunity.
The whole Vox Vitae Camp experience was amazing! All the staff members were so energetic. You could really see that they loved and cared for us. The food was delicious; I loved it all! The speakers were inspiring and didn't hold back on anything, which showed me that they loved us so much that they wanted to fully instruct us, by not holding back on anything. I loved Timmerie Millington, [Camp emcee,] she spoke to us all like a loving sister. The priests were wonderful, so fatherly and loving.The whole feel of Vox Vitae Camp felt like a family.
The time for prayer was so refreshing! I felt like I could speak to God as if I was speaking to a best friend. As the days went by I felt my relationship with God become closer. Mass was always beautiful and the angelic choir truly contributed to the sacredness of the Mass.
My relationship with my friends grew and blossomed into something deeper than just going to each others houses and hanging out or texting without any depth to the conversation. When we were at Vox Vitae we grew together spiritually. We all saw the reality of what was going on in life and now we discuss these things knowing that we are all in it together, whether it meant helping the pro-life movement in a physical or spiritual sense. I love how we all learned this together, so the next time we encounter someone who needs help we have each others’ backs. Trusting that if one person doesn't know the answer the other does, and we can help each other throughout it all.
Thank you so much again!! I will never forget the Vox Vitae experience I had with everyone! It was amazing! I tell everyone about Vox Vitae and always assure them that next year they can come and grow not only in what it meant to be pro-life but also grow in their faith and closen their relationship with God. Thank you so much! I will keep you in my prayers!
With love and Blessings,
Catherine