"I have no hands but yours......"

The apostles were sent out in pairs, so does the Legion send out its legionaries in pairs to be the hands and feet of Christ. The master and apprentice system has proved very successful. All work carried out is done in close union with Mary and guided by the Holy Spirit. Some of the works done by legionaries in parishes include:

• Visiting the sick in hospitals, nursing homes and special accommodation. Taking the Eucharist to the sick and housebound.
• Calling on the families of newly baptised children. Encouraging parents to bring their children to a better understanding of their Catholic faith.
• Catechism instruction for children attending government schools.
• Adult Faith formation and R.C.I.A.
• Parish census work
• Visitation of families in the parish on behalf of the Parish Priest. Distributing prayer cards, Rosaries and Mass times. Inviting lapsed Catholics back to the practice of their faith.

We pray before each task undertaken, asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit  and Mary, to give us the words  that they would  want us to say and to touch the hearts of those whom we visit.

Legionaries engage in the Works of Mercy, in particular the Spiritual Works of Mercy in response to Christ's exhortation in Matthew 25:34-46. Jesus insists upon the necessity of observing the first six corporal works of mercy on which we shall be judged.

The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy

The Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy illustrate the ways to show charity toward others. These works express mercy and are thus expected to be performed by believers insofar as they are able, in accordance with the Beatitude "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7). They are also required as a matter of obedience to the second of the two greatest commandments "You shall love your neighbor as yourself". (Matthew 22:25-30).

The Corporal Works of Mercy

• Feed the hungry
• Give drink to the thirsty
• Clothe the naked
• Shelter the homeless
• Visit the sick
• Visit the imprisoned
• Bury the dead

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

• Admonish the sinner
• Instruct the ignorant (this and the next work are extremely pertinent  today, when so many people are confused about the Church's teaching on contraception, abortion, homosexuality, etc.)
• Counsel the doubtful
• Comfort the sorrowful
• Bear wrongs patiently
• Forgive all injuries
• Pray for the living and the dead

Today there are an estimated 5 million members in the Legion of Mary worldwide. Requirement for membership is that one is a practising Catholic, over 18 years of age and has a willingness to abide by the Legion system which is modelled on that of the Roman Army. There two grades of membership: Active and Auxiliary.

Active Membership

To be an active member in the Legion of Mary, one must be a practising Catholic. Active members serve God under the banner of Mary by practising the Spiritual Works of Mercy. The main apostolate of the Legion consists in activities directed towards all men and women, young and old, rich and poor as well as people from the margins of society (homeless, prostitutes, prisoners etc.) and towards non-Catholics. The members of the Legion are primarily engaged in the performance of the Spiritual Works of Mercy rather than works of material aid (which are prohibited).

Additional Grades of Membership

In addition to the ordinary active membership, the Legion recognises three other grades of membership:-

Auxiliary Membership

This is the ‘left wing’ of the Legion's praying army. Its service consists in the daily recitation of the prayers comprised in the tessera, namely: the invocation and prayer of the Holy Spirit; five decades of the rosary and the invocations which follow them; the Catena; and the concluding prayers. This membership is open to priests, religious and lay people who are unable or unwilling to assume the duties of active membership, but who associate themselves with the Legion by undertaking a service of prayer in its name. There are no age limits in the case of auxiliary membership.

The Praetorians

This is a higher grade of active membership, consisting of those who to the ordinary obligations of membership undertake to add:-

• The daily recitation of all the prayers comprised in the Tessera of the Legion;
• Daily Mass and daily Holy Communion.
• Daily recitation of an Office approved by the Church, especially the Divine Office or a substantial part of it, for example Morning and Evening Prayer.

Adjutorians

This is the ‘right wing’ of the praying Legion. It comprises those who will

• recite daily all the prayers of the tessera and in addition
• agree to attend Mass and receive Holy Communion daily,
• recite daily an Office approved by the Church.

Junior Membership

Catholics aged 18 years and under can join a Junior Praesidium. There is no minimum age requirement, however children are required to attend a weekly meeting lasting an hour and perform some active work such as visiting a nursing home, helping with household chores, etc. It is a great way of training young Catholics to get involved in the works of mercy from an early age.

The Servant of God, Alphonsus Lambe, (known as Alfie) was born in Tullamore, Ireland on the feast of St. John the Baptist, Friday, 24th June 1932, during the international Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.

Like St. John he was a precursor - the precursor of the Legion of Mary, which Pope Paul VI described as "the greatest movement which has been established for the good of souls since the era of the great religious orders".

After spending a period of his youth in the novitiate of the Irish Christian Brothers, which he had to leave because of delicate health, he found his vocation in the Legion of Mary, and was appointed Envoy in 1953. With Seamus Grace, he left for Bogota, Columbia on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel 16th July) of that year.

One day in 1937 a Dutch priest was driving an Irish girl to a Legion of Mary meeting some miles from his mission in Africa. They came to a river in such flood that the bridge across it could not even be seen. He was about to turn back when the girl cried out, "Oh Father, please go on, I'm sure Our Lady will protect us". He was aghast but found he couldn't resist such faith. Some men standing by formed a human chain to see if the bridge was still there.

It was, so he drove on blindly. The water flooded the engine and plugs but the impetus carried the car across and up an incline at the far side. He dried the plugs and tried the starter. The car got going and they were in time for the meeting.The girl was Edel Quinn and the incident typical of her story. In 1936 she had been sent from Dublin to establish the Legion in East and Central Africa.

Founder of the Legion of Mary

Frank Duff was born in Dublin, Ireland, on June 7, 1889. He entered the Civil Service at the age of 18. At 24 he joined the Society of St. Vincent de Paul where he was led to a deeper commitment to his Catholic faith and at the same time he acquired a great sensitivity to the needs of the poor and underprivileged.

The Standard Of The Legion

The Vexillum Legionis is an adaptation of the standard of the Roman Legion. The eagle which surmounted the standard is replaced by the Dove, the emblem of the Holy Spirit. Beneath the Dove a cross-bar bears the inscription “Legio Mariae” (Legion of Mary). Intermediate between cross-bar and staff (and joined to the former by a rose and a lily) is an oval frame bearing a representation of the Immaculate Conception (the Miraculous Medal). The staff is set in a globe which, for use on a table, stands on a square base. The whole design conveys the idea that the world is to be conquered by the Holy Spirit acting through Mary and her children.

The Colour Red

It is a picturesque circumstance that the colour of the Legion is red, and not, as might be expected, blue. This was determined in connection with the settling of a minor detail, that is the colour of Our Lady's halo in the vexillum and in the tessera picture. It was felt that Legion symbolism required that Our Lady be shown as full of the Holy Spirit, and that this should be denoted by making her halo of his colour. This drew with it the further thought that the Legion's colour should be red. The same note is struck in the tessera picture, which depicts Our Lady as the biblical Pillar of Fire, all luminous and burning with the Holy Spirit

The Legion of Mary was founded in Dublin Ireland in 1921 by Frank Duff. Frank saw a great need for ordinary Catholics to be involved in the work of evangelisation, something which until then had been the sole realm of priests and religious.  He met with a group of 11 women and a priest on 7 September 1921 and held the first Legion meeting. For a time it was known as The Association of Our Lady of Mercy.  One of the first works carried out by the Legion members was to go into a red-light district in Dublin renowned for its high crime rate. It was so bad that the authorities had turned a blind eye to it for many years. Frank was already quite well known through his involvement in the St Vincent de Paul Society and he was able to infiltrate this district where others had failed. With his gentle and unassuming manner he managed to organise retreats for the street girls, bringing many of them back to the practice of their faith and turning away from their life of sin. He eventually set up hostels for single women (the Regina Coeli) and for destitute men (Morning Star Hostel) both of which are still operational today.

The Legion's Origin

In Dublin on 7th September, 1921, fifteen people met to work out together how best to serve God in the form of a Lay Apostolate. After invoking the aid of the Holy Spirit and reciting the Rosary, they decided to visit in pairs the Dublin Union Hospital, where there were many poor, friendless, aged patients, In addition, they decided to hold a meeting each week.

Thus, the Legion was born, with its characteristic features: prayer in common, very definite apostolic work and a weekly meeting.

From this humble beginning, though not worked out at its beginning, but animated by great trust in the Holy Spirit and Mary's power in the work of evangelisation, this form of apostolate has spread throughout the world.

The Legion now operates in more than 1900 dioceses, and it has been estimated that there are now more than three million active legionaries and possibly eight million auxiliary members throughout the world. It counts numbers of martyrs among its members, especially in China and Africa.

The Role and Spirit of the Legion

The Legion of Mary is an international Catholic lay organisation, which aims to collaborate in the Church's mission of evangelisation. Its members engage in the direct religious apostolate, especially towards those most remote from the Church's influence. In the spiritual formation of its members the Legion places much emphasis on the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ, on seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and on the performance of apostolic work in union with Mary.

Members place themselves at the service of Mary, and wish to help her in her mission as "Mother of the Church."

Can We Be Saints? when he was just 26 years old. As well he wrote most of the pdf Legion Handbook (4.07 MB)  which is one of the great spiritual classics of the 20th Century.

pdf (3.36 MB)

Causes for Sainthood

Suggested Program for the Visit of Our Lady of Fatima Pilgrim Statue

- Click here to view the program in Flipping Book Format

- pdf Download the Suggested Program for the Visit of Our Lady of Fatima Pilgrim Statue in PDF format (4.92 MB)