THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LEGION OF MARY

This September 7th marks the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Legion of Mary and this is a time for all Legionaries, and the Church in general, to celebrate. It has been observed that never before in the history of the Church, has a group of the laity so influenced society as has the Legion of Mary!
The Legion was founded on September 7, 1921, in Dublin, Ireland by Frank Duff. He was initially involved in the St. Vincent de Paul Society while he was in his twenties.   He adopted several aspects of the Society’s meeting and organization of work which are still in place today. For example, the meetings begin with the invocation to the Holy Spirit, then five decades of the Rosary follow, members address each other as “brother,” and “sister,” at the meetings, there are concluding prayers, and the work of visitation is carried out in pairs.

This involvement also introduced him to the work for the poor and the down-trodden. The first work of the fledging group involved helping the Sisters of Mercy, who ran the South Dublin Union Hospital. The 4,000 bed hospital ministered to the poor, most of whom had cancer and tuberculosis. From this work, the original name of the organization was the Association of Our Lady of Mercy.

Frank Duff was also greatly influenced by the main spiritual work of St. Louis Marie de Montfort (1673-1716), True Devotion to Mary, and it is believed that the saint foresaw the Legion. In prophesy he hoped, “for a great legion of brave and valiant soldiers of Jesus and Mary, of both sexes, to combat the world, the devil and corrupted nature, in those more-than-ever perilous times which are about to come.”
After several readings of True Devotion to Mary, Frank was given the grace to know that the saint’s contention about the importance of Mary was true. Mary is the Mother of each Christian life. Devotion to her is indispensable for the full communication of every grace, because she is the Mother of Christ, who is the source of all grace.
In the 1930’s the first of countless amazing chapters of Legion of Mary history were written, the closing down of Bentley Place. Bentley Place was a section of Dublin that was notorious for all sorts of criminal activity, most especially prostitution. Two Legion groups were established to care for the needs of the street girls. Bentley Place was eventually closed down.
In the 1940’s and 1950’s, two Legionaries, Edel Quinn and Alfie Lambe went as Legion envoys to Africa and to South America and established hundreds of Legion groups. An Irish priest, Father Aedan McGrath, established the Legion of Mary in China in the 1950’s. To the Chinese Communists, the Legion of Mary was considered public enemy #1. A great chapter of the Church’s martyrology was written as some 4000 Legionaries, children as well as adults, went to imprisonment and death in defense of the Faith.
In the 1960’s, the work of the Legion continued to be wide-spread on a global scale. Frank Duff was invited to Vatican Council II as a Lay Observer. When it became known to the 2,500 bishops in attendance that he was present, they all rose and gave a lengthy standing ovation in recognition of all the outstanding contributions made by the Legion to the Church.
Soon after its inception the Legion of Mary became known by this name, thanks to a heavenly inspiration given to Frank Duff.   The main goal of the Legion is the personal holiness of its members achieved by prayer, and participation in any spiritual work that helps the ministry of our priests. Examples of our work are visitation of nursing homes and hospitals, visitation of families to encourage the sacramental life of the children, and door-to- door visitation within the parish. The Legion of Mary continues to be an exceptional fighting force armed with the weapons of love, self-sacrifice, and courage to accomplish great things for God and the salvation of souls.

 

Submitted by: Nancy Hudock, Secretary, Ark of the Covenant Praesidium, Saint Joseph Parish, Mechanicsburg, PA