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.
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.
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.
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