A brief history of the Legion of Mary
by Maureen Ward. Secretary Senatus of Ontario
compiled from Various Sources
references included
1.....The Beginning
2.....A Maker of Saints
3.....Servant of God, Frank Duff
4.....Venerable Edel Quinn
5.....Servant of God, Alfie Lambe
6.....Legion Martyrs
7.....The Legion of Mary Comes to Ottawa in 1934
8.....Membership
9.....Apostolic Formation
10.....Legionary Service
11.....Frank Duff's Challenge to Legionaries Two Weeks Before He Died
"Mary is the clearest and surest sign that God always comes to us with His love.
She sings with all her being that whatever we receive from God is grace.
The Virgin is our true teacher in the journey of faith." Pope John Paul II
The following paragraph, taken from "The Spread of the Legion all over the World, A MODERN MIRACLE, by Rev. Philip C Hoelle, S.M." simply, but eloquently gives us a beautiful image of the birth of the Legion of Mary.
" Never has so little been made of so much" was the laconic comment of a Belgian Benedictine when he discovered the Legion of Mary, perhaps the most successful lay movement in the Church. Quietly and unobtrusively it all began in the top back room of a house in a poor section of Dublin Ireland on the eve of Our Lady’s Nativity, September 7, 1921, when a priest, a layman, and fifteen women gathered around a table containing a statue of Our Lady of Grace, flanked by two lighted candles and two vases of flowers. Frank Duff, the layman, a civil servant by trade and a St. Vincent de Paul member in his free time, suggested that the group form a little association to do spiritual works of mercy. They would start by visiting the sick in the wards of a large Dublin hospital.1.
Today the Legion of Mary is organized in nearly a thousand dioceses throughout the world. It is the largest apostolic organization of lay men and women in the Catholic Church, with about 3 million active members and another 7 million auxiliary members. The Legion of Mary has been approved by six popes, and was endorsed by the Second Vatican Council.2
And the Legion of Mary is a maker of Saints. Less than a century old, and already three of its members are being considered for canonization.
( June 7, 1889 - November 7, 1980 )
In 1916, aged 27, Frank Duff published his first pamphlet
“Can we be Saints ?". In it he expressed one of the strongest convictions of his life, namely, that all without exception are called to be saints and that through our Catholic faith we have available all the means necessary to attain this. In 1917 he came to know the Treatise of St. Louis Marie de Montfort on the TRUE DEVOTION TO MARY, a work which changed his life completely. In 1965 Pope Paul VI invited him to attend the Second Vatican Council as a Lay Observer, an honour by which the Pope recognized and affirmed his enormous work for the lay apostolate. The following is a quotation from MY FRIEND FRANK DUFF by Rev. Msgr. Thomas B.Falls. "In 1965, the last year of the General Council, Vatican II, we spent three months at Rome during the Council, he as lay observer and I as pastor observer. We were together at every meeting of the Council which was held in St. Peter's Basilica. At one of the early meetings, Cardinal Heenan of England, while he had the floor, announced to the 2300 bishops that they had the pleasure of having present the founder of the Legion of Mary, Mr. Frank Duff. There was a standing ovation and while the bishops applauded, Frank Duff bowed his head and blushed. I know, I was there, just two rows in front of him, looking back to see him as I applauded with the rest. As a result of this introduction, each morning, before the Council started, there was a long line of bishops, mostly from missionary countries, lined up to talk with Frank. Since I was there every morning, some bishops thought that I might be Frank's private chaplain, and they would ask if I could set up an appointment that would enable them to talk to him at length. They were all so anxious to talk to him about their missions and how the Legion of Mary could and did help them."
Frank Duff died on November 7th 1980 and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. The official petition to introduce the cause for the beatification of Mr. Duff was accepted and signed by his grace Archbishop Desmond Connell in July 1996. Frank Duff is now known under the title Servant of God.
( September 14, 1907 - May 12, 1944 ) In 1936, Legionary Edel Quinn gladly accepted the challenge of Legion Envoy to East Africa. She worked tirelessly travelling thousands of kilometers, usually along rough dirt tracks setting up countless Presidia for the Legion. The final years of her life, despite her poor health, were spent spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Legion of Mary... On March 6, 1944, following a prolonged, exhausting travel schedule, Edel embarked on an 18-hour train journey from Nairobi to Kisumu, but her declining health forced an extended visit to be cut short and she returned more dead than alive to Nairobi on April 11. On May 9, she wrote to Frank Duff: "I am not exactly a heavy-weight these days ..." Then, following a devastating series of heart-attacks, she at last succumbed on the evening of May 12 with the words "Jesus, Jesus" on her lips. Edel is probably closest to becoming a saint in our time, since she has been declared Venerable on Dec. 31, 1994, by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II.
( June 24, 1932 - January 21, 1958 ) After spending a period of his youth in the novitiate of the Irish Christian Brothers, which he had to leave because of delicate health, Alfie ( Alphonsus) Lambe found his vocation in the Legion of Mary, and was appointed Envoy in 1953. With Seamus Grace, he left for Bogota, Colombia on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (July 16 ) of that year. He had very litle knowledge of Spanish and so he had a crash course in Spanish and was fluent enough to begin his work by November 1953. So remarkable was his zeal that he set up Praesidia at a phenominal rate, just within a fortnight he set up 24 Praesidia. At that time communism was taking root very strongly in China and purging China of all Catholicism and anything associated with Christianity at all. ( We will talk more about this in the following paragraph) ) And so, as well, much the same atmosphere was there in South America making it very difficult to spread the faith. But in spite of this, for almost six years, Alfie worked ceaselessly in promoting the Legion of Mary in Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and Brazil. 3 After a short but grave illness he died in Buenos Aires on the feast of St. Agnes, January 21, 1959. In 1971, a mere twelve years after his death, his cause for canonization was opened in Rome at the request of many South American bishops. Like Frank Duff, Alfie Lambe is now known under the title Servant of God.
Frank Duff, Edel Quinn and Alfie Lambe were true Legion Apostles and there are many others, including many of whom were martyred in China during the 1950's and 1960's with the advent of the communist regime. There were many years of persecution for those who professed the Catholic Faith and it is believed that during that period up to 3,000 Legionaries died rather than renounce their faith. 4 The following passage is taken from FRANK DUFF MISSIONARY . The Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, now the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, wrote, on February 13, 1951, that it:"…highly appreciates the work of the Legion of Mary in the mission field and recognizes the solid training the members have received in order to withstand the severe and ruthless persecution in China. May Almighty God continue to bless the Legion of Mary throughout the world and especially in mission countries." The LEGION OF MARY HANDBOOK 5 quotes the Cure of ARS, Saint Jean-Marie Vianney, as saying: "The world belongs to him who loves it most and proves that love."
The Legion of Mary came to Ottawa in 1934 when Mary Duffy, Legion Envoy from Ireland set up a Praesidium 6 "Mary Immaculate" at Saint Joseph Parish in Sandy Hill. Today 20 Ottawa parishes have a Legion of Mary Group.
Membership in the Legion of Mary is open to all Catholic men and women who lead edifying lives. Love of God, love of neighbor and a sincere desire to do God’s will is all it takes to be a superb Legionary. Each week members are expected to attend a meeting of prayer and to spend about two hours at an assigned work. There are no courses to take or lectures to attend. Candidates have a three months' probation period during which time they perform all the prescribed duties. Then, if they so wish, they make the Legionary Promise to the Holy Spirit during the weekly meeting of the Praesidium. It is recommened that legionaries make this promise. "It is always the Holy Spirit who regenerates the world-even to the bestowing of the smallest individual grace- and His agency is always Mary. By the operation of the Holy Spirit in Mary, the Eternal Son is made Man. Thereby mankind is united to the Holy Trinity, and Mary herself is placed in a distinct, unique relation to each Divine Person. That three-fold place of Mary must at least be glimpsed by us, inasmuch as an understanding of the divine arrangements is the choicest sort of grace, one which is not intended to be out of our reach." taken from the Legion handbook Chapter 7 -The Legionary and the Holy Trinity. Each year members renew their consecration to Mary. This takes take place on March 25th or on a day close thereto, and is known as the Acies.. This Latin word, meaning as it does, an army arrranged in battle array, is appropriate to a ceremony in which the legionaries, as a body assemble to renew their fealty to Mary, Queen of the Legion, The Acies is the great central annual function of the Legion of Mary
Our apostolic formation is through the Master/Apprentice system. In the Legion, without lectures, experienced legionaries expose new recruits to the apostolic work so that in two to three weeks, for example, there appear seasoned workers in evangelization. Within a few weeks these new recruits have become experienced legionaries themselves and take their turn at training others. 7 Some of our most zealous members are over ninety years of age. There is the story of the priest (whose praesidium had only four little old ladies) to whom someone had expressed disappointment in his feeble Legion membership. "What do you mean? I have four saints around my table!" retorted the priest. 8
From FRANK DUFF MISSIONARY "I remember telling a French priest about the essence of the Legion, emphasizing that it was not education or intelligence that counted as much as the complete giving of oneself to the service of Our Lady and leaving the rest in her hands. He came to me a week later and said: 'Last week, after what you said, I decided to test your theory. There is an old lady down at the gate of our mission compound. She has been there for forty years without coming to Mass. My predecessor tried, I tried, the Sisters have tried to get some response from her. Last week I assigned two of the most unlearned old ladies in our praesidium to go down and talk to her. I told them to go as envoys of Our Lady. After five minutes they were back in the church with her, all three on their knees, and this morning she went to Holy Communion for the first time in forty years.' That sort of thing happened time and time again and more than any thing else convinced Legion directors that Our Lady wanted to work through the ordinary person." 9 Frank Duff always emphasized SIMPLICITY the Legion "I point to what the Legion has been able to do by utilizing the ordinary lay material along lines of simplicity, relying on faith and effort and fearing any such embellishment of those things as would exclude all except the choicer elements of the population." 10
Legionary service is based on the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ and draws inspiration from the TRUE DEVOTION TO MARY as taught by Saint Louis Marie de Montfort. United in faith with Mary's love for Jesus, Legionaries aim at recognizing the person of our Lord in all those whom they meet. The Legion's model is Mary, our Queen and Mother. The spirit of the Legion is that of Mary herself. The object of the Legion of Mary is the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by prayer and active co-operation, under ecclesiastical guidance, in Mary's and the Church's Evangelizing work of crushing the head of the serpent and advancing the reign of Christ. Members of the Legion, in support to the Pastor and always in obedience to him, perform spiritual works of mercy in the parish. Visitation of families, the sick and the lonely, visitation of hospitals, prisons, nursing homes and serving the most marginalized people have been part of the Legionary apostolate since its earliest days.
In closing here is a exerpt from " DREAM WITH MARY" " written by Canon Francis Ripley "Frank Duff had less than two weeks to live when he issued a simple challenge to every legionary. It was this: "Can we induce ever legionary in the world to indulge in dreaming with Mary about souls, praying with her for a minute a day over a map of the world?" Canon Ripley goes on to say "So, the last challenge from Frank Duff to every member of the Legion he founded was that they should think in terms of the apparently impossible, the conquest of the world for souls. He fervently believed that Mary would make the dream come true. Should we not have another dream too? It would be of the whole Church with priests in every parish in every diocese in every country becoming enthused by the ideals of Frank Duff and trying to put them into action in all their undiluted fullness. Surely, if that were to happen, it would be the best possible response to the appeal of the Vicar of Christ for a decade of true evangelization."11
1 & 2 Reprinted from the original document The Spread of the Legion all over the world, A MODERN MIRACLE , 1994] The Marians of the Immaculate Conception/MARIAN HELPERS / STOCKBRIDGE, MA 01263/
3. Taken from the video "Extraordinarily Well" from Arlington Regia, presented by Father Eamonn McCarthy
4. Taken from Frank Duff Missionary,Chapter 5, The China Story by Fr. Patrick O'Connor St. Columban's Missionary Society
5. The Legion Handbook written by Frank Duff remains a CLASSIC of practical spiritual formation of the Lay Apostolate and is perhaps one of the most studied books in the world
6. A praesidium is a parochial or other branch of the Legion of Mary. It has five officers: spiritual director, president, vice president, secretary, treasurer. For the setting up of a Praesidium, the permission of the Bishop and parish priest is necessary. Each praesidium is named after a title of Our Blessed Lady, for example, Our Lady of Mercy, or from one of her privileges, for example, The Immaculate Conception, or from an event in her life, for example, Our Lady of the Annunciation [taken from the Legion handbook]
7&8 taken from "The Legion of Mary as a pastoral tool" by Father Francis Peffley , Maria Legionis - Special North American Edition , 20
9. From FRANK DUFF MISSIONARY by Fr. Patrick O'Connor St. Columban's Missionary Society
10. Simplicity in the Legion , an article by Frank Duff
11. " Dream with Mary " by Canon Francis. J. Ripley