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Legion of Mary celebrates 100 years
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October 12, 2021Father John Gaffney from the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving for the centenary celebration of the Legion of Mary. The celebratory Mass and breakfast were held at St. Paul the Apostle Church on Sept. 7.
During 2021-2022, the Legion of Mary lay apostolate will be celebrated in parishes worldwide in thanksgiving and to honor our Blessed Mother. According to Luz Garcia, president of the Legion of Mary at St. Paul the Apostle, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, two bishops, and four priests celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving for Legionaries inside the co-cathedral in Houston on Sept. 11.
The Legion of Mary is a worldwide apostolic organization of Catholic men and women who place themselves under the banner of Mary. With the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Legionaries strive to develop greater spirituality in their lives while practicing the spiritual works of mercy. The main purpose of the Legion of Mary is the salvation of souls through evangelization.
Frank Duff founded the Legion of Mary in Dublin on Sept. 7, 1921, with the first meeting taking place in Myra House, Francis Street. Today, the association has more than 10 million members in around 170 countries.
Vicar General for the diocese, Father James Stembler, was pastor at St. Paul the Apostle Parish when legionaries first broached him about starting the Legion of Mary at his parish. He thought it was "a wonderful thing." Following in the footsteps of Frank Duff, "their vision was to go door-to-door to reach people in the community. They came together for meetings and prayer. Prayer led to mission then to evangelization," he said.
"The pinnacle of our work is going door to door; however, we also visited the Corpus Christi Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for the past 15 years to pray and sing with 20-25 residents. Some of those residents do not have visitors at all for years. We also visited the Disability Center on Everhart. We used to do that every week," said Luz Garcia, president of Legion of Mary at St. Paul the Apostle.
Due to the pandemic, Legion of Mary visits to the nursing homes and house-to-house visits had to be postponed, but the group has since resumed visiting the nursing home and Brookdale Assisted Living.
Their evangelization efforts have borne fruit. When Garcia was making door-to-door visits, she invited a family to the church for a spaghetti dinner, and they liked what they saw; parishioners were very friendly, and the youth were working hard as they served their guests. The family started going to St. Paul’s; the father took RCIA classes, entered the diaconate program and became a deacon (Deacon Gary Robinson.) The Mother, June Robinson, became a Legion of Mary member and a youth minister for Life Teen. Their son was baptized and received his first Communion.
All practicing Catholics, men and women, are invited to join the Legion of Mary either as an active or auxiliary member. Active Members must attend weekly meetings and perform two hours of apostolic work each week; auxiliary members are not. Auxiliary members are obliged to recite the rosary every day and the Legion prayer leaflet called Tessera Prayers.
Legion of Mary meetings begins with praying the rosary, spiritual reading, discussions on assigned Handbook Study, and reporting each member's apostolic work.
St. Paul the Apostle meetings are held on Mondays at 5 p.m. at 2233 Waldron Road, Room A. You are welcome to bring your spouse and friends.
Apostolic works include making door-to-door visits; inform potential parishioners of services, activities and ministries available at the church; visit the nursing home on Airline every Saturday at 10:30 to pray, sing and visit with the residents; visit Brookdale Assisted Living every Thursday at 10:30 to pray and join the residents in a once a month celebration of the Holy Eucharist; visit the homebound and the sick members of the parish to pray, give Communion, and discern special needs, i.e., confession.; teach interested parishioners to make rosaries by conducting workshops; and more.
For more information on the Legion of Mary, call Luz Garcia at (361) 739-6087.
