Legion of Mary Philadelphia Senatus

(We post one of the Conference talks presented at the Philadelphia Senatus Malvern retreat by Father Killian.)

Rev. Anthony J. Killian                                                                                  October 26-28, 2018

Retreat for the Philadelphia Senatus, Legion of Mary

Malvern Retreat House

Fourth Conference

Having discussed the meaning of a promise, of our Baptismal Promises, of promises made in marriage and in sacred orders, we come now to the Legion Promise. It must be said that the Legion Promise lived well in no way detracts from either our Baptismal Promises (which could be said to embody the universal call to holiness) or the promises of our particular vocation (that of marriage or of Holy Orders). The call of service in the Legion of Mary derives from a grace so that Legion life complements, or we might say enhances, one’s particular vocation so that the first priority remains that one grows in holiness and, secondly, one is engaged in the lay apostolate under the guidance of ecclesial authority – usually the pastor of a parish.

Allow me an initial observation regarding the Legion Promise.  It is a truly powerful and beautiful spiritual act. I am sure some of you have witnessed, as I have, how not only the member making the promise, but also the other members of the praesidium can be filled with emotion as it is recited.

The Promise is addressed to the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, who constantly animates the Legion of Mary, just as he is the soul of the Church. And the first paragraph expresses an acknowledgement of one’s spiritual poverty. For it says, “Yet knowing that of myself I cannot render worthy service, (I) Do ask of you to come upon me and fill me with yourself, So that my poor acts may be sustained by your power, and become an instrument of your mighty purposes.” And immediately we might think of the first Beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 5:3) The little, the humble, the childlike – that’s who we Legionaries are called to be. The Kingdom belongs to the childlike, to the poor in spirit. Therefore, for us humility is an essential quality. The Servant of God Frank Duff said that a Legionary must fulfill his work assignment, and I am thinking of home visitation in particular, with a humble spirit. Our Blessed Mother herself, and so many saints, won the Lord’s heart through humility.

Continuing on, the Promise next mentions our Blessed Mother Mary. Here we can see traces of the spirituality of St. Louis de Montfort which is so essential to the Legion.  The text says, “without (Mary) we cannot know or love you; That it is by her, and to whom she pleases, when she pleases, and in the quantity and manner she pleases, That all your gifts and virtues and graces are administered.” This expresses in summary the Legion understanding of Mary as the Mediatrix of All Graces. For in the Handbook we read, “The Legion’s trust in Mary is limitless, knowing that by the ordinance of God, her power is without limit. All that he could give to Mary, he has given to her. All that she was capable of receiving she has received in plenitude. For us God has constituted her a special means of grace. Operating in union with her we approach him more effectively, and hence win grace more freely. Indeed we place ourselves in the very flood-tide of grace, for she is the spouse of the Holy Spirit: she is the channel of every grace which Jesus Christ has won. We receive nothing which we do not owe to a positive intervention on her part. She does not content herself with transmitting all: she obtains all for us. Penetrated with belief in this office of Mary, the Legion enjoins it as a special devotion for all its members.” (Handbook, chap. 5, no. 2) Mary’s role as mediatrix is not a passive one, simply a channel of God’s manifold grace. No, “she obtains all for us.” Like all mothers, she is solicitous for her children’s well-being. Our Blessed Mother is concerned for every member of the Church. We must never forget that Mary was designated Mother of the Church by her Son at the Cross.

No wonder that the promise continues, “And I realise that the secret of a perfect legionary service Consists in a complete union with her who is so completely united to you.” How are we to be completely united to Mary? The Promise points to an answer in the next paragraph, the third.

“So, (Holy Spirit) I stand before you as her soldier and her child, And I so declare my entire dependence on her. She is the mother of my soul. Her heart and mine are one, And from that single heart she speaks again those words of old:
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord”; And once again you come by her to do great things.” The power of the soldier derives from the humility of the child. We Legionaries are to rely completely on Mary’s support and her love in our lives. Indeed, this is true for all Catholics. And for us to be united to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that there is truly one heart, we must renew in ourselves Mary’s sentiments of absolute trust in God’s will expressed in her fiat, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord” and the words that followed, “May it be done to me according to your word.”  Only childlike trust and the courageous acceptance of God’s will allow us to do great things for the Kingdom of God.

The next part of the Promise could be called the Great Invitation: “(Holy Spirit) Let your power overshadow me, and come into my soul with fire and love, And make it one with Mary’s love and Mary’s will to save the world; So that I may be pure in her who was made Immaculate by you; So that Christ my Lord may likewise grow in me through you; So that I with her, his Mother, may bring him to the world and to the souls who need him; So that they and I, the battle won, may reign with her for ever in the glory of the Blessed Trinity.” Note the boldness of this prayer. The Legionary asks the Holy Spirit to fill his soul with fire and love just like He did with Mary. The Holy Spirit is asked to enflame the Legionary’s soul with an ardent desire to take an active part in God’s work of salvation, “to save the world.” This is the essence of the apostolate – that every Catholic bear Christ to others.  And who was the first to do that? Mary, who was called by the Church at the great Council of Ephesus Theotokos, the God-bearer, the Mother of God.

There is another indispensable virtue, in addition to humility, that the Promise mentions in this Great Invitation. We must not overlook it. That is, purity.

The Legionary asks the Holy Spirit, “that I may be pure in her who was made Immaculate by you; So that Christ my Lord may likewise grow in me through you.” Here we recall another Beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt 5:8 RSV) Purity of heart means more than avoiding sins of lust, as difficult as that can be in our age which is characterized by licentiousness. It means rooting out of our lives anything at variance with the Gospel and the teachings of the Church. Jesus used dramatic language regarding the work of perfection. “           If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.” (Matt 5:29-30) Therefore, let us heed the words of St. Paul VI who said, “Take care that you always remain in the state of grace.”  Yes, let us in this retreat renew our resolution to seek the grace of holy purity.

Now comes the fifth and final paragraph of the Promise, which gives the commitments of the Legionary. Again, these commitments are premised on the Legionary’s confidence in God’s personal love for him. I wish to highlight the following part of the text: “I venture to promise a faithful service. I will submit fully to its discipline, Which binds me to my comrades, And shapes us to an army,
And keeps our line as on we march with Mary.”

First, there is the promise of faithful service. A Legionary must be faithful to the Legion way of life which is summarized in the Standing Instructions. These include the four key points: attending the weekly meeting, praying daily the Catena, performing weekly a substantial work, and maintaining confidentiality of matters discussed at the meeting or during Legion work. (cf. Handbook, chap. 18, no. 7) But Legion life is more than that. Every Legionary should have the desire to know the Handbook “backwards and forwards.” Every Legionary is called upon to read the Handbook. A Handbook study is an important aspect of the weekly meeting, and presidents should exhort members to be prepared to contribute to the discussion, and such preparation should take place before the meeting. Another help to faithful service is subscribing to Maria Legionis magazine. The excerpts of Frank Duff’s writings as well as the various articles deepen our understanding of the Legion ethos and inspire readers with a greater desire to spread the Gospel. If every member read Maria Legionis and took to heart the examples given, I am sure that praesidia everywhere would flourish.

Secondly, comes the commitment to “submit fully” to the Legion’s discipline. This is humility in action, and remember that humility wins the Lord’s heart. As we have already said, Legion discipline involves fidelity to the Standing Instructions. Legion discipline also involves a willingness to accept an assignment from the president and to be open to various works of the apostolate. Absent physical limitations, it is not in keeping with the Promise for an active member to insist that he or she does only one type of work. One must be open and available to assist in the works of the praesidium as a whole. It is helpful to keep in mind that, with very few exceptions, Legion work is done in pairs. Therefore, one is not alone. Presidents should give thought to pairing good mentors in the assignment of works. And Legionaries should look forward to experiencing the many different apostolates of the praesidium. Legion work brings with it many graces even when from a merely natural perspective it may appear to have been a failure.

One of the most consistent failures of Legion discipline is members not using a notebook while fulfilling an assignment!  This must be corrected! Reports given without a notebook are inaccurate and therefore a shabby offering to one’s comrades not to mention the Blessed Mother.

The Promise mentions a binding of a Legionary to his comrades. Those of us who have been in the Legion for many years know this to be very true.  There is a very special bond which exists among Legionaries. Reunions are occasions of intense joy as persons who may not see each other regularly get together for the December Reunion and the Acies.  Members who have served in the higher councils remember one another, with affection and esteem, through the years. In the Arlington Regia, the annual Mass in memory of Br. Duff’s passing is a special opportunity for Legionaries across six jurisdictions to celebrate the Legion. Why is this so?  Because Legion life is demanding. It requires discipline.  All for the greatest of causes, for the Promise ends: “as on we march with Mary, To work your will, to operate your miracles of grace, Which will renew the face of the earth, And establish your reign, Most Holy Spirit, over all. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.”

In light of these reflections, each Legionary could consider: What is my attitude to Legion discipline? Am I living up to my commitments specified in the Standing Instructions? Do I readily take on new works? Am I supportive to new members? When asked to serve as an officer, do I give the invitation due consideration? Do I embrace Legion life wholeheartedly? If not, what is holding me back – or, what keeps me from doing so?

Why did the invisible man turn down the job offer? Because he just could not see himself doing it!
One of the things we often have a hard time “seeing ourselves doing” is being holy… or becoming saints. Leon Bloy has said, “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life is not to become a saint.” And what is true in life has to be true in the Legion: Our Legion membership would be nothing short of a “train wreck” if it does not makes us saints. We must recall often the “object” of the Legion of Mary as specified in the Handbook: the object of the Legion is “the glory of God through the holiness of its members…” (H, 11/emphasis added). These word assert that not only does the Legion seek our holiness, but it also relies upon our holiness. Our giving God’s the utmost glory depends upon it!
With the importance of holiness for the Legion definite, the next logical question would be: “What is holiness?” We need to know what it is before we can become it! Pope Francis in his recent Apostolic Exhortation Rejoice and Be Glad [RBG] (the reading of which I strongly suggest) supplies a fine definition in paragraph 20. There the Holy Father asserts that holiness is an intimate union with Christ in our lives. That intimate union begins when we are united to Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection in Baptism, but it does not end there. It is in fact sustained daily by “reproducing in our own lives various aspects of Jesus’ earthly life,” especially his “self-sacrificing love” (RBG, 20). If pursued seriously, this intimate union with Christ, over time, should result in our incarnating the Incarnate Son in every aspect of our behavior – in our decisions, attitudes, piety, and actions – until, having been completely taken over by Christ, He literally lives His life in us! In the words of St. Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20/RSV).

Certainly, that was the holiness of Mary. Indeed no human being lived in intimate union with Christ more than she did! Mary not only gave birth to Jesus in her body: she bore Jesus in her manner of life. What resulted was amazing: While Jesus resembled Mary in His physical features, Mary resembled Jesus in her spiritual features.
That is what holiness must mean for us: growing in our spiritual resemblance to Christ over time. Legion members, how well are we doing? We fool ourselves if we think the Church makes us saints. Actually we do – reliant, of course, on God’s grace! Our “canonization process” unfolds now, while we are alive, not by performing two miracles, but by taking two simple steps: seeing where we need to reflect Jesus, and making the changes to make those Christ-like qualities a reality. Maybe it is in conversation or concern for others, maybe it is dedicating more time to prayer or praying with less distraction, maybe it is dying to sin or being less selfish: whatever the area, the process is the same. We must seek to imitate Christ so as to live in Christ. We must make holiness and becoming saints the focus of our lives – and let the Legion and its system of prayer and work foster the transformation.
The 19th century Protestant evangelist D.L. Moody once said, “A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns, they just shine.” We who assist “in Mary and the Church’s work of crushing the head of the serpent and advancing the reign of Christ” (H, 11) certainly long to make that “deepest impression.” We wonder, “What is the best thing we can do to realize the Legion’s mission?” That “best thing” is what Moody says: living a holy life … and becoming saints who pride themselves, not in “blowing their own horns,” but shining with likeness to Jesus – and pursuing it all with the certainty that nothing matters more for us and for the Legion!

July 15, 2018/Allocutio to the Philadelphia Senatus/Rev. Frank Giuffre

Reading: Handbook: Chapter 2, “Object”: pp. 11-12

A man who rarely went to Mass was coming out of church one Sunday, and the priest was standing at the door, as always, to shake hands. He took the man by the hand, pulled him aside, and said, “Son, you need to join the Army of the Lord!” The man responded, “Father, I’m already in the Army of the Lord.” The priest replied, “How come I don’t see you except at Christmas and Easter?” The man whispered back, “Because I’m in His ‘secret service’!”
The fourth standing instruction obliges a degree of secrecy as part of Legion service, demanding “absolute respect for the confidential nature of many matters discussed at the meeting or learned in connection with the legionary work” (H, 109). The “what” entailed with this precept is well explained by Fr. Fran Peffley in his book Inside the Legion of Mary [ILM]. There, he specifies the practicalities linked to this fourth standing instruction in the following terms: “knowledge gained on assignments or discussed at meetings (names, state of life, state of mind, state of soul, circumstances of those visited or situations discussed at meetings) [is] ‘classified information,’ limited to Legion ears only, and usually for those legionaries closely involved” (ILM, 32).
The “what” involved in this matter could not be clearer. Yet we should also be informed about the “why” behind it. Why is such secrecy necessary? Among the many reasons, the first intimated in the Handbook is this: because the information gained on assignment and at a meeting is not really our property: it belongs to the Legion. We must remember, for example, that a home visitation was not done in our name as a friend or neighbor. Instead, the person visited spoke to us as representatives of the Legion of Mary. Therefore to repeat such information outside the Legion when the Legion has asked that this not be done would actually equate to a betrayal to the Legion. It would involve, in a sense, “stealing” information that does not belong to us personally and giving it away to others.
In addition, breaches of confidentiality create an atmosphere of mistrust inimical to the Legion’s ability to function in a given area. If word spreads that legionaries are the types to carelessly and publicly disclose the spiritual struggles and other sensitive details about persons served – oblivious to the embarrassment caused them or the damage done them, who will want to talk to legionaries about anything? Who will want to be transparent about their struggles with sin, their doubts about the Catholic Faith, their difficulties with Mass attendance, and the realities of their irregular marriage situation? Breaches of confidentiality undermine the trusted atmosphere essential for the Legion’s ability to gain the spiritual data needed to perform its spiritual works.
Finally, breaking Legion secrecy violates the spirit of Mary which every member is asked to embrace. How? It certainly opposes her spirit of “perfect obedience” by not staying true to Legion standards. It definitely violates her “universal mortification” by failure to exercise self-control. And it even could be untrue to her “profound humility,” especially in those instances when legionaries disclose information for selfish reasons, such as wanting to boast about accomplishments or impress another with “juicy” news items which they know – and someone else does not.
So, let a word to the wise suffice. Those Legion lips of ours: let them be for smiles reflecting our pride in the work we do for Jesus and Mary. At the same time, let those lips also be sealed as to the details of that work. In other words, let us keep the “secret” in our “service” as the least we can do to uphold the dignity of those served and the reputation of the Legion of Mary.

June 17, 2018/Allocutio to the Philadelphia Senatus/Rev. Frank Giuffre Reading: Handbook: Chapter 33, Number 4 (“Inviolable Confidence Must Be Preserved”): pp. 194

Children say that, to win the game of hide-and-seek, a person has to begin seeking the hidden in those places where someone is least likely to be found – in the least obvious of places!
As Legion soldiers in the army of our Lady, we are asked in our apostolic works to be part of a constant hide-and-seek “game” where we are the “seekers” and the person of Jesus Christ is the one whom we are searching to locate. This is the implication of the Standing Instruction which challenges us to perform a substantial Legionary work “in such a fashion that, in those worked for and in one’s fellow-members, the Person of our Lord is once again seen and served by Mary, his Mother” (H, 109). It is precisely because the Legion assumes that Christ is being “seen and served” in those worked for that, in the Cardinal Points of the Legion (Chapter 39, Number 17), the Handbook asks the member not to approach an assignment as that between superior and inferior – or even between two equals, but always as inferiors toward a Superior – where the “Superior” is Christ-in-the-other and we, in the spirit of Mary, are the “lowly servants” of that Lord (cf. Lk 1:38).
Are we conscious of this “seeking” as we go about our assignments? Are we passionate about “finding” and loving Him hidden, no matter where?
Each time we attend Holy Mass, adore the Blessed Sacrament, and receive Holy Communion, we are given a wonderful training in seeing Christ in the humble. There in what appears to be the simplest of food is to be truly found Jesus, our Lord. There beneath the common taste of wheat and grape is Present the Holy Son of God! The surprise of His Presence there points to the surprise of His presence elsewhere, even in the “least of His brothers and sisters” (Mt 25:40).

Remembering this, we as Legionaries must exercise great caution before walking around or away from a place or a person we personally find repulsive, believing “there’s no way Jesus could be there!” Precisely then must we remember: Just as nothing and no one was beyond Jesus’ ability to go to, to help, and to love during His public ministry, so nothing and no one is beyond Jesus’ mercy to embrace even now. Informed by such wisdom, the Legion member should want to be with Him, even when it demands entering places and visiting people others – and even we ourselves – feel like avoiding.
A verse from “The Song of Songs” reads: “I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. . .” (Sol 3:2/RSV). This verse asserts that there is no more supreme task in life than searching to find the Lord for whom our hearts long. At the same time, it begs us to begin looking where we perhaps least expect to find Him – in “the city, in the streets, and in the squares” – in the simplest of places and faces of everyday life. Informed by such wisdom, may we as a Legion never “hide from seeking” Him where we refuse to go, but go to seek and find Him anywhere and everywhere we are sent to be!

April 15, 2018/Allocutio to the Philadelphia Senatus/Rev. Frank Giuffre

Reading: Handbook: Chapter 39, Number 17 (“In Each One worked for, the Legionary sees and serves Christ”): pp. 295-296

Explore St. Louis Marie deMonfort’s Marian spirituality with Deacon Cody Miller as he presents a series on True Devotion to Mary in a Christ The King Radio Broadcast.

Click on “True Devotion” below:

http://catholicradioforacadiana.com/local-programs/past-mini-series/true-devotion/

  “Watch your language!” That’s not just good advice in general, but even when it comes to making reference to Legion work! We are used to speaking about the active work done for two hours each week as “my assignment.” But is that “my” really accurate? According to the Handbook, it is not. The reason? It is not because the Legion views every assignment as done in pairs, but because it views every assignment as done by the praesidium.
Indication that this is in fact the perspective is manifest in the Legion system which, firstly, does not allow legionaries just to do whatever spiritual work they please for the requisite time each week, but demands instead that this spiritual work be selected and imparted by the president in the name of the praesidium. It is also conveyed indirectly by the Legion reality of auxiliary membership which inserts into each and every deed undertaken by active members the helping, praying influence of dozens of others. Legion assignments are therefore never a matter of individual effort alone, but involve the fullest spiritual support through the praesidium.
I raise this point today asking us to keep this truth in mind when performing our assignments and especially when reporting on those assignments. According to the Handbook, those reports have as one of their main purposes “[connecting] the work with the praesidium” (H, 111). They become the way “we” hear about the work “we” are doing together as a group – and NOT what “I” have done with the help of another legionary. They enable “us” as a group the opportunity to “pay a spiritual visit to every person or place recounted as having been the subject of the work” (H, 123). They allow “us” as a group the chance to supervise and become involved in the efforts being undertaken by a few. Like a sport’s team which gathers as a unit (and not just those who “played”) at half-time and after a game to assess strategy, correct errors, and arrive at a refined approach which assures victory, so we as a praesidium gather in our praesidia after every assignment to assess the approach, make necessary adjustments, and decide upon the next course of action – all in the name of reaching our apostolic goals.

This mutual involvement in the works of the praesidium certainly begs that reports be prepared in high quality and with sufficient detail by those who undertook the assignment. It also challenges the others of us present to receive these reports in a two-fold manner. The first is that of attentive listening to every report as if it were our own – because it is. The second is that of a willingness to offer helpful comments – that is, for someone in the group to say something after each report other than “nice job.” According to the Handbook, members should also be offering remarks on one or all of the following five areas:
 the success of the work;
 the nature of the effort, including insights into the approach adopted;
 what can be learned from what was done – positively or negatively;
 any challenges for taking the work to the next level; and,
 accountability for any neglect in any form.
All this should be done by us in a spirit of charity and even more in a spirit of justice since “we” – and not just “they” – are responsible for the work and its achievement.
Michael Jordan, the NBA Hall of Fame star player, once said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships.” Such wisdom should inform our approach to Legionary spiritual combat. We must remember that more is asked than individual piety and skill, but the work of a team where all members of the praesidium show interest and do their part such that all the works undertaken will be victorious for the good of souls.

March 18, 2018/Allocutio to the Philadelphia Senatus/Rev. Frank Giuffre Reading: Handbook: Chapter 19, Number 19 (“Work of each one is a concern of all.”): p. 123