The layman who, many in various parts of the world will say, has made the biggest contribution to the life of the Catholic Church throughout the world in this century, celebrates his 91st birthday today. He is Frank Duff, the founder of the Legion of Mary, the lay apostolate organization, founded in Dublin in 1921, and now the greatest of its kind in the world. It is established in every country outside the Communist bloc.

He has long since been the friend and the adviser of priests, prelates and princes of the Church, and he was called up as an expert (peritus) to advise on the lay apostolate during the Second Vatican Council, 15 years ago. One of the most appealing calls to go out from the Council was for greater participation of the laity in the affairs of the Church.Frank Duff anticipated this call by many years, because his legionaries, an elite corps of Catholic lay men and women, have been doing much of the kind of work advocated by the Council.It is now a fact, fully recognized by the Church's rulers at the Vatican, that there is no other movement of the lay apostolate throughout the world comparable to the Legion of Mary.

Their work in Third World countries in Africa, Asia, South America and elsewhere is noticeably effective. Indeed, many of the missionaries overseas say that their work would be virtually impossible without the help they receive from Legionaries of Mary in the field.

When there was far greater poverty in Dublin, before and during the First World War, than there is now, the young Duff, then destined for a high place in the Civil Service, found time to help Dublin's poor as a St. Vincent de Paul worker. As time went on, he felt there was an even greater need for an organization which would concern itself more with the spiritual needs of Dublin's unfortunate citizens. And so it was that in September, 1921, a new movement, the Association of Our Lady of Mercy, a short time later to change its name to the Legion of Mary, came into being. At first, the work was confined to visiting the sick in what was known to most as the Poorhouse in James's Street Then, as new members came along in unexpectedly large numbers, attention was turned to other works. A big drive was launched to wean away from their sinful life the growing number of prostitutes operating on Dublin's streets. In fact, the rehabilitation of fallen women soon became a major work, and it was decided that premises to house them had become a matter of urgency.

During the early years of the Legion of Mary, Frank Duff applied himself diligently to his duties as a civil servant and before he had reached the age of 35, he had moved well into the higher echelons. During the evenings he worked with the same determination and purpose to strengthen his new group in the lay apostolate.

He also found time to strengthen his own spiritual life through prayer, meditation and reading. His favourite books were "The True Devotion" and "The Secret of Mary," both written by Louis de Montfort. Indeed, it was these writings of the 18th century Frenchman which really inspired him to found the Legion of Mary. Louis de Montfort died in 1716 at the relatively early age of 43. He had some singular apostolic successes in his own country. But during the 200 years after his death he was virtually unknown outside France, except to theologians and mariologists who appreciated his writings.

The advent of the Legion of Mary gradually changed all that, because, as it expanded throughout the world, so also the name of Louis de Montfort became known more widely. He was accorded the full accolade of the Church on July 20th, 1947, when he was proclaimed "Saint" by Pope Pius XII in St. Peter's in the presence of a vast multitude, many of them legionaries from various parts of the world.

Encouraged and inspired by the teachings of St. Louis de Montfort, Frank Duff pressed on with the development of his "Legion" in the 1920's. During the early years the work was confined to Dublin and was carried out by women. Then in 1928 came an important development, when the first group of men was admitted to membership in the Morning Star praesidium. The work of this group was to cater for the spiritual needs (as is the work of all Legion praesidia) of down-and-out men in a hostel providing supper, bed and breakfast.

Three years later, the Regina Coeli Hostel was founded in a premises adjacent to the Morning Star Hostel and adjoining Legion Headquarters in Morning Star Avenue. Its purpose was to cater for destitute women and for unwanted, unmarried mothers and their babies. Both hostels have helped many unfortunates during the past 50 years and are still providing an excellent service. In each hostel there is a small staff of voluntary, unpaid workers who work full-time and live on the premises. In addition, many men and women from various walks of life go there after their working hours to help with the running of the hostels.

Another Cardinal on the mainland of Europe who believes very much in the Legion of Mary ethos is the Belgian Cardinal Suenens, lately Archbishop of Maline-Brussels He is a firm believer that the Legion is the most effective means of strengthening and expanding Christianity throughout the world. It is believed by many that Cardinal Suenens owes some of his forward-looking ideas on Christianity and the future development of the Church to Frank Duff and the Legion.He has found time over the years to pay the occasional visit to the Legion Concilium office in Dublin. Frank Duff himself will be the first to say that he has also received encouragement and inspiration from the fertile mind of Cardinal Suenens, who, incidentaly, numbers that great Cork-born Legionary, Edel Quinn among his heroes. The Cardinal was so impressed with her work as an envoy in East and Central Africa, before she died in 1944 at the age of 37, that he carried out the necessary research to write her biography. In fact, like all the legionaries, he is looking forward to the day when her cause for beatification, and ultimately canonization, will come to a successful end.

He has clearly given Ireland one "first" in the world today-the Legion of Mary- the world's most vibrant and most successful organization in the lay apostolate .. It has an army of voluntary workers with the alignment and nomenclature (praesidium, curia, senatus, concilium and so forth) of the Roman legion of old.Its objective is to conquer the world for Christ, through the help of Christ's Mother, Mary. While it is difficult to compute exactly the number of active workers in the field throughout the world, it is estimated to be an "army" of more than a million and a half. The number of auxiliary members, who help with their prayers, is believed to be well over ten million. So for close on 60 years Frank Duff, the modest and kindly Dublin man, educated at Blackrock College, has been doing really gigantic work. He is the friend of Popes and prelates, politicians and professional men, but above all, of the poor.Like all great men, he is humble and self-effacing, and he always seems to have time to listen to people's problems, particularly those of the poor.

His one great wish now, as he moves on enthusiastically to his century of years, is that the gates of China will re-open to the Legion. The first praesidium was established there in 1937 and many thousands enrolled as members during the 14 years it enjoyed freedom to operate.Then came the ban that descended on all Christian groups, with the advent of the Communist regime, and many years of persecution for those who professed the Faith. It is now believed that during more than a quarter of a century up to 3,000 legionaries were martyred in China. So it is that today Frank Duff and his colleagues are looking anxiously towards the East.

"As soon as we see any ray of hope that we can return we will send our legionaries back to this vast and great land," said Frank Duff.

- The Universe, Friday, November 14, 1980 in Dublin, Ireland

Ted Hogan, a close personal friend of Frank Duff for 40 years, wrote this article for the Irish Times on Mr. Duff's Birthday last June.

Mr. Hogan spoke to Mr. Duff last Friday just a few hours before he died