Allocutio: Ecce Mater Tua | Philothea Surrendered

I have temporarily stepped aside from my duties as Spiritual Director.  In my leave, Our Legion’s president, Ciera has taken over with allocutios and luckily she posts them on her blog.  This week’s allocutio was absolutely phenomenal and blows mine out of the water.

And this is what the Lord is asking him to do: watch over her, support her, embrace her, console her, be there for her. This is how she teaches. She instructs by being served by her children.

This service continues beyond Calvary. Each of us today becomes St. John. We receive Christ’s command individually: “Ecce mater tua.” Then we look into the world and find her in those whom we serve, her sons and daughters whose hearts are pierced, estranged and longing for Christ.

via Allocutio: Ecce Mater Tua | Philothea Surrendered.

Allocutio: The Legionary and the Mystical Body of Christ

Reading:

Handbook Chapter 9: The Legionary and the Mystical Body of Christ, 1. Legionary Service is Based on this Doctrine, pg 51 to 52

At the very first meeting of legionaries the supernatural character of the service, which they were undertaking, was stressed. Their approach to others was to be brimful of kindness, but their motive was not to be that merely natural one. In all those whom they served they were to see the Person of Jesus Christ himself. What they did to those others — even the weakest and lowest — they were to remember that they did it to Our Lord himself, according to his own words: “Truly, I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Mt 25:40)

As at the first meeting, so ever since. No effort has been spared to bring home to legionaries that this motive is to be the basis of their service, and likewise that the discipline and internal harmony of the Legion rest chiefly upon the same principle. In their officers and in each other they must recognise and reverence Christ himself. In order to ensure that this transforming truth will remain impressed on the minds of the members, it is incorporated in the Standing Instruction which is read monthly at the praesidium meeting. In addition, the Standing Instruction emphasises the other legionary principle that the work must be done in such a spirit of union with Mary that it is she, working through the legionary, who really performs it.

These principles, upon which the Legion system is built, are a consequence of the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ. This doctrine forms the main theme of the epistles of St. Paul. This is not surprising, for it was a declaration of that doctrine which converted him. There was light from heaven. The great persecutor of the Christians was thrown, blinded, to the ground. Then he heard those overwhelming words: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” and St. Paul rejoined: “Who are you, Lord?” And Jesus replied: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:4-5) What wonder that these words burnt themselves into the apostle’s soul, so that he must always speak and write the truth which they expressed.

St. Paul describes the union which exists between Christ and the baptised as being like the union between the head and the other members of the human body. Each part has its own special purpose and work. Some parts are noble and some are less so; but all are dependent one upon the other, and the same life animates them all. All are put to loss by the failure of one, as all profit by the excellence of one.

Allocutio:

Our founder, Frank Duff, had a very strong sense of the Mystical Body of Christ.  He put this sense into every aspect of the Legion.  The doctrine of the Mystical Body flows directly from the Church’s belief in the Incarnation.  The Legion understands this well and turns its devotion to the instrument of the Incarnation- Mary.  It was Mary’s yes that made the Mystical Body of Christ a reality and it is her unfailing care for it that has given the Church so much growth and strength down through the centuries into our own age.

We are all members of Christ- not in the relationship between a corporation of a CEO with the lowest workers but the relationship between that big round thing on your shoulders with that which is underneath.  We are intimately united to Jesus.  Thus, any good we do to others is good done to ourselves, and any harm or neglect of others is harm to ourselves.  We are all mystically united in the Body of Christ.  We are called therefore to respond to the needs of others.  The Legion focuses on the spiritual needs in particular- mirroring the role that Mary has for Christ’s body.  We nourish, we teach, we defend and recognize the dignity of others.

We also must recognize this dignity in one another.  We should seek to show respect and love to one another as we would to Christ.  This includes in our meetings, in our works, and our daily interactions with one another as legionaries.  Each of us have a dignity and importance to what is at hand that is beyond description.  We should support each other when we are struggling, rejoice in one another’s success, and see ourselves united in the same mission, no matter what works we may be doing.  May our hearts always look for Christ in one another and those that we serve.

Allocutio: The Presentation in the Temple

This allocutio is the 5th in a series of allocutios focusing on the mysteries of the rosary.  See the previous allocutios for more.

Reading:

Luke 2:22-38

And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace,   according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,  light for revelation to the Gentiles,   and for glory to your people Israel.”  And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,   “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phan’uel, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Allocutio:

As Legionaries, it is sometimes hard to be sure that God is working with us.  We see his works in the hearts that we encounter, yet we sometimes doubt.  Will he work this time?  How do I know I won’t look like a fool?  Am I really sure that if I say these things, I will bring about the change that they need?  The answer to the last question is that on our own, without the Spirit’s guidance, we can do nothing.  In the account of the Presentation in the Temple, we see that the Holy Spirit is preparing Simeon and Anna for the coming of the Lord.  The Spirit goes before Jesus in order to make him known by those that he will encounter.

We might find ourselves too often counting on our own talents, skills, and interests to help us through a visitation or other work.  While it is true that God has given us these different talents, we should see them more like keys on a piano- not that special when they’re plunked by the amateur, but wondrously beautiful when played by the Master.

We also should have confidence that the Holy Spirit is going before us.  Mary is his spouse, and we are doing her work, which is his work.  He will go before us and with us as we work.  We have nothing to fear.  We must always remember that he loves these souls that we minister to far more than will ever be possible for us.  We can trust in confidence that he will never let us down.  And so we pray,

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well-beloved Spouse.

Allocutio: The Visitation

This allocutio is the 3rd in a series of allocutios focusing on the mysteries of the rosary.  See the previous allocutio for more.

Reading:

The Theology of the Apostolate of the Legion of Mary by Cardinal Suenens; Chapter XI: Marian Mediations, I. The early Dawn of Mediation: The Visitation, pg 118-119

After the message of the Archangel, see how Mary leaves her home and hastens over the hills to see her cousin.  She draws near, and at the first sound of her voice, the Holy Ghost fills Elizabeth with light, causing her child to leap for joy.  Consider closely and respectfully for a moment, this first instance of Marian mediation recorded in history, this first gleam in a sky which in subsequent ages will glow with splendour.  This is the first miracle of grace to occur visibly at Mary’s hands.  For there is no possible doubt: it is at Mary’s approach that the Holy Ghost works and sanctifies.

And it is because Mary brings to the Precursor, hidden in his mother’s womb, the sanctifying presence of Jesus.  Through her, John received that purification which invested him even then with his office.  Through her, he was consecrated as a witness to Christ before being born.

It is striking to observe how, in this first meeting between Christ and His Precursor, all was accomplished through Mary.  Jesus desired to give Himself to John through His mother.  At the Visitation, the supernatural motherhood of Mary was suddenly revealed: the head of the accursed serpent felt the first blow from the heel of the woman blessed among all women.  John was the first conquest of Our Lady, and the pledge of salvation for us all.  At the appearance of Our Lady, Satan suffered his sharpest defeat in John’s soul, as it was instantly sanctified.  In its turn, John’s movement of joy caused Elizabeth to exult and drew from her a cry of admiration for the Mother of God.  It can be said that through John the Baptist, Mary’s glory was for the first time proclaimed.  A witness to Christ, John is simultaneously a witness to His mother.  One never wearies of contemplating this mystery of the Visitation.  The little that the Evangelist tells us, reveals unlimited depths; a union of souls, spiritual interaction, and a marvellous introduciton to the great mission that now begins.

If this single contact with Mary, if her very first words produced so much- the regeneration of John the Baptist, and the pouring out of light and grace on Elizabeth- what must we think of the days, months and years which were to follow?

Allocutio:

The Legion’s Handbook has only one mention of the name for the mystery of the Visitation and it is in a larger sentence arguing for Mary’s closeness to Jesus.  Yet despite the lack of explicit meditations on the Visitation, the handbook is nonetheless imbued with this theme.  The Legion places Mary’s Magnificat daily upon the lips of all legionaries.  We pray for the beautiful graces of this mystery.  But how do they manifest themselves?

The handbook speaks of the praesidium as Mary’s special form of presence in the world today.  We should therefore see our legionary visitations- the pilgrim virgin visits, conversations with those we meet, home and sick visits, nursing home visits, visits to prisoners, and other legionary work as a new instance of the Visitation of Mary to those we meet.

Through every Legionary, she can once again speak her blessing that she once gave to Elizabeth.  She is there, more present than ever, even if we may not see it or sense it.  Mary is eager to work through her Legionary.  Occasionally, we may be given a true glimpse of what she is doing.  Perhaps there is success despite our nervousness and clumsy words.  We may see a soul leap for joy as John leaped in the womb of his mother.  Perhaps we may hear the praise of Mary re-echo through the centuries into our present moment- “my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”  It is hard to underestimate the importance of every visitation that we may make when we consider it in this way.

We should therefore be all the more careful to not let ourselves get disheartened when we meet with less success or allow ourselves to take the easier road by avoiding the visitation altogether.  When we approach souls, we must remember that Mary is with us and, with her, the Holy Spirit. It was not easy for Mary to make the journey to that city of Judah.  It will not be easy for us to approach these persons- but Mary wishes us to do it for her, so that she can work and act for the good of this soul.   In doing so, we bring Jesus into their midst and sanctify them in his presence.    Nor should we be afraid of knocking on a door ten, twenty, even fifty times.  We should remember Our Lord’s words that he knocks the door will be opened for them.  This can be taken just as literally as spiritually!

The handbook also refers to another visitation- that of the higher governing body such as the Curia to the lower.  Visitations are important in being sure that the Legion system is being faithfully kept.  We should therefore our visitor from the Curia as Elizabeth received Mary, attentive to her words and workings.  We should never resent their presence among us, but rather welcome them as we would welcome Mary herself.

In doing all of these things we not only meditate upon this deeply beautiful mystery but live it out in some of the most startling of ways.

Allocutio: The Annunciation

This allocutio is the 2nd in a series of allocutios focusing on the mysteries of the rosary.  See the previous allocutio for more.

Reading:

Likewise, the Annunciation shows her key-position. —The culmination of the prophecies arrives ; the fruition of her age-old destiny is now at hand.

Consider the awe-inspiring working out of the merciful design of God. Attend in spirit the greatest Peace Conference ever held. It is a Peace Conference between God and mankind, and it is called the Annunciation. In that Conference God was represented by one of his high Angels, and mankind was represented by her whose name the Legion is privileged to bear. She was but a gentle maiden, yet the fate of all mankind hung upon her in that day. The angel came with overwhelming tidings. He proposed to her the Incarnation. He did not merely notify it. Her liberty of choice was not violated; so that for a while the fate of mankind trembled in the balance. The Redemption was the ardent desire of God. But in this, as in all matters minor to it, he would not force the will of man. He would offer the priceless boon, but it was for man to accept it, and man was at liberty to refuse it. The moment had arrived to which all generations had looked forward, just as ever since all generations have looked back to it. It was the crisis of all time. There was a pause. That maiden did not accept at once; she asked a question, and the answer was given. There was another pause, and then she spoke the words: “Let it be with me according to your word” (Lk 1:38), those words that brought God down to earth and signed the great Peace Pact of humanity.

Allocutio:

The great mystery of the Annunciation has a hidden power and fullness for the legionary.  Attending to it, the Legionary learns the will of God in how he chooses to operate int he world.  He chooses a lowly maiden in a small town called Nazareth in a little known country in the very powerful Roman Empire.  Yet God, from before time began, predestined her for a very important mission, indeed the most important mission after the savior himself.  She was to be his mother.  God did not have to act this way.  He wasn’t constrained to do so.  But because of the way that he determined best, he made all of salvation depend upon the yes of this lowly maiden whose heart was aflame with the desire for God’s glory.

God himself is unchanging and this includes the way that he acts.  We can therefore be sure that God has not, nor will change the fact that he works in, through, and with Mary in accomplishing his will, manifesting his glory, and bringing about our salvation.  Mary, then, continues to work with great power, bringing souls to her Son.  She seeks the lost, the poor, the lonely, the outcast, the orphan, and destitute.  There is nothing, not even her own Son, that she will not give to bring a soul back from hell.    Mary is therefore the model and exemplar for how we are to evangelize the world in keeping with Christ’s command.  But Mary is more than this.  She is the director of this effort.  The legionary recognizes this fact in a profound way.  The legionary places himself at her disposal.  He seeks to be united firmly to her in all ways so that the two souls- Mary’s and the legionary’s- become almost one in how they see and treat the world.  Mary also gives him her prayers for his success, which are powerful beyond measure.  The legionary is therefore guaranteed her victory, the victory that began with the Annunciation and will reach its ultimate fulfillment at the end of time.

 

Allocutio: The Rosary and the Legion

For the next many weeks, I plan on basing my allocutios on the mysteries of the Rosary.  This allocutio- the first of these- will be a short introduction to the rosary.

Reading:

Handbook: Chapter 33: Basic Duties of Legionaries, Section 13: The Interior Life of Legionaries; pg 204-5

(a) Prayer

It has to be private as well as public, because there are two sides to our nature, individual as well as social. The duty of worship obliges us primarily as individuals, but the whole community, linked together by social bonds, is bound by it also. The liturgy, like the Mass and the Divine Office, is the public worship of the Church. However Vatican Council II comments: “The Christian is indeed called to pray with others, but he must also enter into his room to pray to his Father in secret; furthermore, according to the teaching of the apostle, he must pray without ceasing.” (SC 12) Private forms of prayer include: “meditation [or mental prayer], examination ofconscience, retreats, visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and special  devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary, above all, of course, the rosary.” (MD 186) “Nourishing the spiritual life of Christians, as they do, they cause them to take part with great profit in all the public functions, and prevent the liturgical prayers from degenerating into an empty ceremony.” (ibid. 187)

Private spiritual reading, as well as developing Christian convictions, greatly helps prayer-life. Preference is to be given to the reading of the New Testament, with a suitable Catholic commentary (cf DV 12) and spiritual classics, chosen according to one’s needs and abilities. It is here that the “wise” guide is especially important. Well-written lives of saints provide a good introduction to the spiritual life. They provide a headline which would draw us on to goodness and heroism. Saints are the doctrines and practices of holiness made visible. If we frequent their company, we will soon imitate their qualities.

Every legionary should, if at all possible, make an enclosed retreat once every year. The fruit of retreats and recollections is a clearer vision of one’s vocation in life and a brighter willingness to follow it faithfully.

Allocutio:

The Legion places a high emphasis on the rosary in the life of the legionary.  It can impact their lives in many ways.  It is a sword in the fight against Satan.  It is a meeting place with Our Lady.  It is a guide to holiness as we traverse the narrow road that leads to life.  It is a school of Mary.  It is our way of being united to one another both at the meeting and outside of it.  It is a comfort in trials.

The Rosary has a long and fruitful history in the Church.  It has sustained many saints, including St. Louis de Montfort, who loved it dearly. It has undergone a lot of development to be what it is today, the last of which was in 2002, when Pope St. John Paul II added the Glorious Mysteries for our meditation.  There are countless ways to pray it and it is so much a staple of Catholic life that most Catholics own one, even if they never have prayed it.

It goes without saying that every active legionary should try, in the capacity they are given, to pray the rosary daily both for their work and for those who have never prayed the rosary.  The fruit to be gained both for the legionary’s personal life as well as their legionary work is incalculable.  Our Lady promised many great things to those who pray the rosary.  She also implored us to pray it daily at the apparitions of Fatima and Kibeho among others.  We in her army should see it as a particular mission that is given us by Our Lady to pray it daily.  We should also see it as our duty to share it with any that we meet so that they too may come to know Our Lady and the help that she gives.

Perhaps we are already doing this.  Perhaps we have prayed it many times beyond count.  This is good.  We should, however, reexamine our motives for praying it.  Even the best intentions can be blurred over time and in repetition.  We should seek therefore to strengthen our resolve.  We should also consider what it is we are praying.

The rosary, according to Cardinal Suenens, is the Song of Songs of the Holy Spirit and Mary.  It is the great romance story of God and his greatest creature.  This is made all the more striking by the opening prayer to the Holy Spirit which forms the Legion’s version of the Rosary.  In the rosary, we take part in Our Lady’s heart-pondering prayer spoken of twice in the Gospels.  We learn from her how to see sacred history.  We learn what it means and what it looks like to follow God faithfully through Joys, Lights, Sorrows, and Glory.  We also learn more about ourselves and how we can better respond to God’s workings in our life.  Our Lady also uses the rosary to give us strength and comfort in the trials that we face in life.

Let us turn our hearts then all the more fully to Mary and renew our resolve to treasure the rosary in our daily lives and legionary work.

Allocutio: St. Joseph

Reading:

1. ST. JOSEPH

In the Legion’s prayers, St. Joseph’s name follows the invocations to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, as he ranks next to them in the Court of Heaven. He was head of the Holy Family, fulfilling in regard to Jesus and Mary a primary and altogether special part. The same — no more, no less — this greatest of saints continues to render to the Mystical Body of Jesus and its Mother. The existence and activity of the Church, and therefore of the Legion, are sustained by Him.  His care is unfailing, vital, possessed of parental intimacy; is second only in influence to the mothering of Mary, and is to be so appreciated by the Legion. If his love is to be potent in us, we must open ourselves fully to it by a behaviour which reflects the intense devotion which he lavishes on us. Jesus and Mary were ever mindful of him and grateful to him for all he did for them. Similarly, legionaries must be attentive to him in a constant sort of way.

The Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary occurs on 19 March.

The memorial of St. Joseph the Worker, occurs on 1 May.

“We cannot dissociate the historical life of Jesus from his mystical life continuing in the Church. It is not without reason that the Popes have proclaimed St. Joseph protector of the Church. His task has remained ever the same amid changing times and ways. As protector of the Church of Christ, he does no less than carry on his earthly mission. Since the days of Nazareth, God’s family has grown and spread to the ends of the earth. Joseph’s heart has expanded to the dimension of his new fatherhood, which prolongs and surpasses the paternity promised by God to Abraham, the father of a myriad. God does not vary in his dealings with us; there are no second thoughts, no arbitrary changes to His plan. All is one, ordered, consistent and continuous. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, is likewise foster-father to the brethren of Jesus, that is, to all Christians through the ages. Joseph, the spouse of Mary who brought forth Jesus, remains mysteriously united to her while the mystical birth of the Church proceeds in the world. Hence, the legionary of Mary who is working to extend here below the Kingdom of God, that is the Church, rightly claims the special protection of him who was the head of the new-born Church, the Holy Family.” (Cardinal L. J. Suenens)

Allocutio:

For November, I thought it would be ideal to focus on the patrons of the Legion- those that we invoke in the Tessera at every meeting.

The Legion places St. Joseph as the first to be invoked after the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts.  There are few saints of greater renown than St. Joseph, the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  St. Joseph was head of the Holy Family and protected Jesus and Mary from many dangers and difficulties.  He raised Jesus in the trade that he practiced- carpentry- provided for them in their little home at Nazareth.  As Cardinal Suenens said in our reading, we cannot separate Jesus’ historical life and his mystical life in the Church.  Jesus’ life was a pattern that the Church would follow, even as he is in heaven.  He still continues to preach, to love, to perform miracles, and to sacrifice through the Church, his Mystical Body.  This is why Mary continues to exercise her role as Mother of God by mothering the Church.  In the same way, St. Joseph is considered the protector of the Church, the household of God that he first began to do at Nazareth.  St. Joseph is a model to all Christians in faith, devotion, love, patience, obedience, joy, and perseverance.  He quietly worked to provide for the Holy Family.  He was so silent that no words of his are recorded in Scripture.  He it was who trained Jesus- the maker of heaven and earth- to carve and shape wood into furniture and to build houses.  The knowledge that he passed on provided for both Jesus and Mary after he had died.

He is a model for men, husbands, and fathers.  His loving care continues to be felt- so much so that Pope Leo XIII named him as protector of the Universal Church.  Legionaries should especially harbor a particular devotion to St. Joseph.

Allocutio: An Apostolic Lay Essential

I was unable to attend Our Lady Seat of Wisdom’s meeting on Monday, so our president, Ciera, gave the allocutio.  Here is a link to her allocutio along with a short blurb.

A few weeks ago, Br. Benedict and I sat down with Br. Gus to discuss our recommendations for the seven officer positions that had opened up with the birth of Our Lady of Perpetual Help praesidium. On the table before us we had laid the little cards which you all filled out with the positions you were willing to take on. After a while, our conversation took a bird-walk and the subject turned to focus on religious vocations. Out of curiosity, we rearranged the cards into two groups, with one group being the names of Legionaries who had shown at some point and time that they were discerning the consecrated life. The group of discerning legionaries greatly outnumbered the other pile of names!

Source: Allocutio: An Apostolic Lay Essential

Allocutio: The Souls of Our Departed Legionaries

Reading:

Handbook, Chapter 17: The Souls of Our Departed Legionaries, pg 103-104

The end of the campaigning has come and a legionary lies nobly dead. Now at last he is confirmed in legionary service. Through all eternity he will be a legionary, for the Legion has shaped that eternity for him. It has been the fibre and the mould of his spiritual life. Moreover, the might of the united petition, uttered daily and earnestly by active members and auxiliaries alike, that the Legion should reassemble without the loss of any one, has helped him through the dangers and the difficulties of the long way. What a joyful thought for all legionaries — on his account and on their own! But for the moment, there is sorrow at the loss of friend and comrade, and there is need of prayer so that the deliverance of the departed soldier from the realm of Purgatory may be speedily accomplished.

The praesidium should without delay have a Mass offered for the soul of each one of its active members who may die;

and each member of that praesidium should specially recite all the legion prayers, inclusive of the rosary, at least once for

the same intention. But these duties do not extend to the deceased relatives of members. As many legionaries as possible, and not those of the particular praesidium alone, should attend the Mass and accompany the remains to burial.

It is recommended that the rosary and other legion prayers should be recited while the interment is actually taking place. This could be done immediately after the official prayers of the Church. This practice, besides being of much benefit to the deceased, will be found to be a source of deep consolation to the sorrowing relatives, to the legionaries themselves, and to all the friends present.

It is trusted that the same prayers will have been said more than once beside the remains during the period of laying out. Nor should the duty of remembrance be deemed then to cease.

In the month of November each year, each praesidium shall have a Mass celebrated for the souls of the legionary dead, not of that praesidium alone but of all the world. In this, as on all other occasions where prayer is offered for departed legionaries, all grades of membership are comprised.

“Purgatory forms part of the realm of Mary. There, too, are her children, who in a passing spell of pain await their birth to the glory which will never pass.

St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Bernardine of Siena, Louis de Blois, as well as others, explicitly proclaim Mary to be Queen of Purgatory; and St. Louis-Marie de Montfort urges us to think and act in accordance with that belief. He wishes us to place in Mary’s hands the value of our prayers and satisfactions. He promises us that, in return for this  offering, those souls which are dear to us will be more abundantly relieved than if we were to apply our prayers to them directly.”

(Lhoumeau: La Vie Spirituelle a l’Ecole de St. Louis-Marie de Montfort)

 Allocutio:

This month of November is the month during which the Church has us especially remember the saints and the souls of the faithful departed.  It corresponds with the changing of the seasons, when Creation slowly fades into winter and barrenness.  The Legion, in participation with the Church, also remembers the dead, particularly those who are legionaries.  The handbook tells us that each praesidium is to have a Mass said for all the legionary dead, who have nobly gone before us and carried the legionary standard during their life.  At every meeting, the legionaries pray for the dead, particularly that we may all be united in heaven, having not suffered the loss of anyone.  Imagine this great and vast army of legionaries who already wait for us, ready to to us to Jesus and Mary!

We have many noble members who are already being considered for canonization- particularly the Servant of God Frank Duff, our founder, Venerable Edel Quinn, who served in South Africa, and Servant of God Alfie Lamb, who labored for Mary throughout South America.

This chapter also has a personal importance for me.  A few years ago, my dad and I visited the old house of my great grandmother, Lucy Geist, which is now used as storage by my grandpa.  I never knew my great grandma- she died a few years before I was born.  Some of her posessions could still be found and I quickly gathered that she was a very pious and holy woman.  I found a holy water font, hanging in her kitchen, which I’m sure she blessed herself with several times a day.  She showed a devotion to the guardian angels and I found a couple of other items, which I decided to hold on to.  As I walked through her house, I gained the sense that she was a holy and pious woman and became increasingly aware of her presence.  I felt sure that she was a saint.  I decided to say a prayer to her.  I said, “Great Grandma Geist, I never knew you, so if you want me to know anything else about you, please show me.  I looked down at a nearby table and was shocked and delighted to find a Legion handbook dated 1959.  Part of the cover had been torn away by mice, but it was still intact.  It was such a beautiful moment that I can’t quite adequately describe.  To find that my great grandma had been a legionary, had lived out the Legion system, had labored in the Lord’s vineyard under Our Lady’s guidance brought me all the closer to her.  Because of the Legion, I felt that I knew her.  That book was the greatest treasure that I found that day and I still keep it in my room here at the monastery to remind me of my legionary roots.

The Legion asks us to pray for such as these- family members, friends, fellow comrades in the war against the Devil, sin, and death.  While we don’t normally have active legionaries die in our college praesidia, we should still consider it a duty and honor to remember and pray for those legionaries who have served, especially 60 or so years ago from the praesidia that used to be here at St. Benedict’s College.  Let us also keep in mind those legionaries who are now approaching their eternal reward, that they may have a good and happy death, having served our Lady well through their lives.

Allocutio: Holy Mass

Reading:

Handbook: Chapter 8, The Legionary and the Eucharist, Pt 1: Holy Mass, pg 46-47

The graces, which are thus asked for, flow one and all from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary. By means of the Mass, the Sacrifice of the Cross is continued among men. The Mass is not a mere symbolic representation of the past, but places really and actually present in our midst that supreme action which our Lord consummated on Calvary, and which redeemed the world. The cross was not worth more than the Mass, because the two are but one and the selfsame Sacrifice, time and space being pushed aside by the hand of omnipotence. The priest and the victim are the same, the setting alone is different. The Mass contains everything that Christ offered to God, and all that he acquired for men; and the offerings of those who assist at Mass become one with the great offering of Christ.

Therefore, to the Mass must the legionary have recourse if a plenteous sharing in the gifts of redemption is desired for oneself and for others. By reason of the fact that opportunities and circumstances differ so much, the Legion does not impose any obligation on its members in this matter. Nevertheless, solicitous for them and their work, it urges and implores each one of them to assist frequently — every day if at all possible — at Mass, and at that Mass to receive Holy Communion.

Legionaries perform their actions in union with Mary. Especially does this apply to their taking part in the Eucharistic

celebration.

The Mass, as we know, is made up of two principal parts — the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. It is important to bear in mind that these two parts are so closely connected with each other that they constitute one single act of worship. (SC 56) For this reason the faithful should participate in the whole of the Mass where both the table of God’s Word and the table of Christ’s Body are prepared, so that from them the faithful may be instructed and nourished. (SC 48, 51)

“In the Sacrifice of the Mass we are not merely reminded of the sacrifice of the cross in a symbolical form. On the contrary, the sacrifice of Calvary, as a great supra-temporal reality, enters into the immediate present. Space and time are abolished. The same Jesus is here present who died on the cross. The whole congregation unites itself with his holy sacrificial will, and through Jesus present before it, consecrates itself to the heavenly Father as a living oblation. So holy Mass is a tremendously real experience, the experience of the reality of Golgotha. And a stream of sorrow and repentance, of love and devotion, of heroism and the spirit of sacrifice, flows out from the altar and passes through the praying congregation.” (Karl Adam: The Spirit of Catholicism)

Allocutio:

As part of the program for holiness, the Legion places the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the center of the Legionary’s life.  In it, we unite with all the saints who have gone before, all Christians today, and all who will come after us in our worship of God.  At the Mass, we mystically stand present in the great works of redemption- among which we rejoice with the angels at the birth of Our Lord, we listen in the crowd at Jesus’ feet, we stand in awe in the Upper Room, we stand in sorrow at the foot of the Cross, and we rejoice with indescribable joy at the Resurrection.  At each of these events, Mary is present- Mary who gave her flesh and blood to Jesus at the Incarnation, who initiated Jesus’ public ministry, who stood at the foot of the Cross, and who was, according to Tradition, the very first witness of Jesus’ Resurrection.  Mary is likewise indescribably present in every moment of the Mass.

This struck me about a month ago during the feast of the Holy Cross.  During this time, we had a splinter of the True Cross on display for the veneration of the faithful.  It stood in a privileged place next to the altar.  At Mass, I felt that I was standing next to Mary at the Cross, witnessing the great work of redemption.  But this was a glimpse of what happens at every Mass- Mary stands with us in this great work of redemption firmly present.  Wherever Jesus is, there also is Mary.  We should therefore ask her to teach us to assist in an ever more perfect way at Mass.

St. John Paul II, in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, included a chapter on Mary, Woman of the Eucharist.  He points out that every moment of Mary’s life is a parallel with the Christian at Mass- Mary conceives Jesus in her womb, which anticipated what happens sacramentally in every believer at Communion.  Her Fiat is like our “Amen” that we say when we receive Jesus. Mary became at the Visitation, the first tabernacle in history, where Jesus’ presence could be sensed and adored.  “The Magnificat,” St. John Paul writes, “expresses Mary’s spirituality, and there is nothing greater than this spirituality for helping us to experience the mystery of the Eucharist.”  The Legionary should aim particularly at attending the Mass with and in Mary.

Finally, we should consider the moment of Mary’s first reception of the Eucharist after Easter with the Apostles.  St. John Paul gives us a beautiful mediation:

What must Mary have felt as she heard from the mouth of Peter, John, James and the other Apostles the words spoken at the Last Supper: “This is my body which is given for you” (Lk 22:19)? The body given up for us and made present under sacramental signs was the same body which she had conceived in her womb! For Mary, receiving the Eucharist must have somehow meant welcoming once more into her womb that heart which had beat in unison with hers and reliving what she had experienced at the foot of the Cross.

May our hearts be drawn up in unison with their Hearts- the Sacred and the Immaculate- every time we receive the Eucharist.