'She had faith that did not shake.' Sunday Reflections, Ascension, Year B

The Venerable Edel Quinn

14 September 1907 - 12 May 1944 [photo]

Solemnity of the Ascension

The Ascension is celebrated on Ascension Thursday, 9 May, in England & Wales, Scotland. In the USA it is celebrated on Ascension Thursday in the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Omaha, Philadelphia. In all of these places Ascension Thursday is a Holyday of Obligation.

The Ascension is observed on Sunday, 12 May, in Aotearoa-New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Philippines, USA (apart from the jurisdictions mentioned above).

Ascension, Year B 

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel  Mark 16:15-20  (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year B

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel  John 17:11b-19  (English Standard Version, Anglicised)

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:

Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Servant of God Frank Duff

7 June 1889 - 7 November 1980 [photo]

In her biography of her godfather Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary, Finola Kennedy has a chapter with the heading Edel, Fr Aedan, Alfie. Under the title is a quotation from today's First Reading: You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Edel, Fr Aedan and Alfie were the Venerable Edel Quinn, Columban Fr Aedan McGrath and Servant of God Alfie Lambe.

This Sunday, 12 May, is the 80th anniversary of the death of Edel Quinn in Nairobi, Kenya.

Both Edel and Alfie Lambe felt called to religious life. Because of her tubercolosis (TB) Edel could not enter the Poor Clares. Alfie spent some time in the novitiate of the Irish Christian Brothers, known officially as the Congregation of Christian Brothers whose ministry is teaching, but had to leave for health reasons. Both became witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth, Edel in East and Central Africa and Alfie in South America. Both died young, Edel at the age of 36 and Alfie at the age of 26. Alfie is buried in the vault of the Irish Christian Brothers in Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, a touch of what I call 'the thoughtfulness of God', something I first became aware of after my mother's sudden death in 1970.

Edel left for Africa in December 1936. Some in the leadership of the Legion of Mary thought it was a bad idea to send a young woman in poor health on such a difficult mission. After seven years of intense work involving long journeys on poor roads, an intense spiritual life focused above all on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and our Blessed Mother's central role in God's plan of salvation for all of us, Edel's TB caught up on her and she died on 12 May 1944 where she is buried in the Missionaries' Cemetery.

The cause for her beatification began in 1957 and in 1994 Pope St John Paul II declared her Venerable. The cause for her beatification continues.

Frank Duff said of Edel Quinn: She had a faith that did not shake. Without that foundation you would not have that special characteristic of devotion to Our Lady, whose faith is singled out for praise in the Gospel . . . Things like fear would naturally assert themselves in her. Why did they not carry her away as they do with most people? I suggest that in her case the ground was so drenched with the Holy Ghost that the sparks of temptation did not start a conflagration.

Servant of God Alfie Lambe

24 June 1932 - 21 January 1958 [photo]

Alfie went to South America in July 1953 and served in Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. Because of his family name and short stature he acquired the nickname El Corderito, 'The Little Lamb'. The Archdiocese of Buenos Aires introduced the cause of his beatification in 1978.

Fr Aedan McGrath with Pope St John Paul II

Fr Aedan McGrath was born in Dublin on 22 January 1906 and died suddenly at a family gathering on Christmas Day 2000. He spent two years and eight months in solitary confinement in China for his work with the Legion of Mary. I remember his return to Ireland in 1954 after being expelled from China. He was met at Dublin Airport by the President, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and thousands of others. He told me that when he saw the large crowd when the plane landed he said to himself 'There must be somebody important on board'.

Father Aedan spent the rest of his life promoting the Legion of Mary. Based in Manila from 1979 he visited many countries in the Pacific Rim. His story was one of the reasons I became a Columban missionary priest and I was graced to have come to know him very well as a friend during my years in the Philippines and as an inspiring brother Columban priest.

These three missionaries took to heart the words of Jesus in the gospel for the Ascension: Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. The 80th anniversary of the death of Edel Quinn reminds us of this and of what we are all called to be, proclaimers of the gospel by the way we follow Jesus in our daily lives.

You can find quite a bit of material on these three great missionaries by googling their names.

Fr Aedan tells the story of the bird that befriended him in prison

I saw two extraordinary things at Father Aedan's funeral in our cemetery here. During the prayers of commendation before the coffin was lowered a robin redbreast was hovering all the time over it. Then as it was being lowered into the ground a flight of birds in V formation approached from the southwest. Just before they passed over our cemetery one of the birds flew into the middle turning the 'V' into 'A'. You can learn more about this in A Heavenly Farewell, a video I made while still in the Philippines.

Traditional Latin Mass

Ascension Thursday

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 05-09-2024 if necessary).

Lesson: Acts 1:1-11. Gospel: Mark 16:14-20.

Ascension

Lorenzo Ghiberti [Web Gallery of Art]

Sunday after the Ascension

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 05-12-2024 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Peter 4:7-11. Gospel: John 15:26 - 16:4.

 

Centennial of the Legion of Mary, 7 September 2021

 

Legion of Mary altar

At the very first meeting of the Legion of Mary an altar just like that in the photo, except for the words 'Legio Mariae' and the Vexillum, the standard of the Legion, was used. Every meeting since then, at whatever level, has such an altar, with the Vexillum included.

The Legion of Mary held its first meeting on the evening of 7 September 1921 in Myra House, St Nicholas of Myra Parish, Francis Street, Dublin, under the name of the Association of Our Lady of Mercy that became the Legion of Mary in 1925. Present at that first meeting were Fr Michael Toher, Frank Duff, a 32-year-old civil servant, and a group of women, all young except for 64-year-old Mrs Elizabeth Kirwan, a widowed New Zealander and a nurse. She was appointed president of the group.

The website of the Legion of Mary states: 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 in Mary’s and the Church’s work. The unit of the Legion of Mary is called a praesidium, which holds a weekly meeting, where prayer is intermingled with reports and discussion. Persons who wish to join the Legion must apply for membership in a Praesidium. The Legion sees as its priority the spiritual and social welfare of each individual. The members participate in the life of the parish through visitation of families, the sick, both in their homes and in hospitals and through collaboration in every apostolic and missionary undertaking sponsored by the parish. Every legionary is required to carry out a weekly apostolic work in the spirit of faith and in union with Mary.

The Legion of Mary has an estimated ten million or more members worldwide between active and auxiliary (praying) Legionaries. Its headquarters are in Dublin and it is supported entirely by its members through the 'secret bag' collection at every meeting. The Legion has no employees. From the beginning it has been 'classless', with members from every social background. To emphasise that Legionaries are living out their baptism, which makes us sons and daughters of God the Father and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ and of one another, members address each other as 'Brother' and 'Sister' at meetings, though not outside of that.

The formation of members is based on the 'master and apprentice' system, with new legionaries working with an experienced member. Legionaries work in pairs and each gives a report of work done at the weekly meeting. Adult members are required to do two hours of apostolic work each week. (Junior members do one hour.) I know many who do much more. If one of a pair doesn't turn up the work cannot be done. So personal accountability is central to the whole system.

I joined the Legion of Mary when I was 13 and in First Year in secondary school. Our praesidium met in the school, though not during school hours. One of the things that impressed me was that meetings began and ended on time. There are no open-ended meetings. A praesidium meeting may not last longer than 90 minutes nor shorter than an hour.

Servant of God Frank Duff

(7 June 1889 - 7 November 1980)

The process for the canonisation of three Legionaries, Frank Duff, Edel Quinn and Alfie Lambe, is well on its way. The Legion website notes: [Frank Duff's] profound insights into the role of the Blessed Virgin in the plan of Redemption, as also into the role of the lay faithful in the mission of the Church, are reflected in the Legion Handbook which is almost entirely his composition.

The Venerable Edel Quinn

(14 September 1907 - 12 May 1944)

Edel Quinn went from Ireland as an envoy of the Legion of Mary to East Africa at the age of 29 and suffering from tubercolosis. She did heroic work there until her death in 1944. The Legion website notes: Edel died in Nairobi on May 12, 1944. In 1957 the Archbishop of Nairobi initiated the process for her Beatification and many witnesses were examined, monoly in Africa and Ireland. Their evidence, published by the Holy See, points not only to outstanding holiness but to holiness in its most attractive form. The words love, joy, peace appear in almost every testimony. The Vicar General of Mauritius was speaking for many when he said 'I want to lay special emphasis on her constant joy; she was always smiling; she never complained; she was always at people’s disposal, never stinting her time'.

Servant of God Alfie Lambe

(24 June 1932 - 21 January 1959)

Alfie Lambe went to South America in 1952, aged only 21, as a Legion of Mary envoy. Like Edel Quinn, he was in poor health. Yet Frank Duff saw his potential as a lay missionary as he had seen that in Edel Quinn, overcoming opposition in both cases when sending these two young people on difficult missions.

Alfie (Alphonsus) was born on the feast of the Birthday of St John the Baptist in Tullamore, Ireland, during the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. He acquired the nickname El Corderito, 'The Little Lamb', in Latin America. The Legion website tells us: For almost six years he worked ceaselessly in promoting the Legion of Mary in Columbia, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and Brazil. After a short but grave illness he died in Buenos Aires on the feast of St. Agnes, 21st January 1959 . . . He is buried in the vault of the Irish Christian Brothers, in the Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires.

I see two examples of what I call the 'thoughtfulness' of God and of his Blessed Mother here. Every year on the feast of St Agnes of Rome the pope blesses two lambs whose wool will later be used in making palliums, the special stole that metropolitan archbishops wear. This tradition is because of the similarity between the name Agnes and the Latin for lamb: agnus, used in so many references to Jesus as the Lamb of God. So the death of El Corderito on the feast of St Agnes has a fittingness about it.

The other example of the 'thoughtfulness' of God and of his Blessed Mother that I see is that Alfie is buried in the vault of the Irish Christian Brothers in Buenos Aires. Alfie had spent some time in the novitiate of the Brothers in Dublin but had to leave because of his poor health, something that initially broke his heart.

Magnificat

Sung by Harpa Dei

Subtitles in Spanish and English

A prayer that is central to Legionaries is Mary's own prayer, the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). This is prayed as part of the Catena (chain) in the middle of every Legion meeting and prayed by Legionaries every day. The singers here are German-born siblings living in Ecuador, one of the countries where Alfie Lambe worked.

The prayer of gratitude of every Legionary of Mary today is expressed in Mary's prayer: My soul glorifies the Lord. 

Centennial of the Legion of Mary

Bishop Fintan Monahan of Killaloe, Ireland speaks about this moment in the history of the Legion of Mary.

[I came across this video after posting on my blog about the centenial.]