Reference : Catholic News
Founded on the evening of Sept 7, 1921 in Dublin, Ireland by Servant of God Frank Duff, the Legion of Mary (LOM) is the largest lay Catholic organisation with over 10 million members worldwide. In keeping with the spirit of the Legion, the Singapore Senatus (a senatus oversees the LOM in a country) held a Centennial Mass celebrated by Archbishop William Goh on Sept 5 which was live-streamed to over 3,200 viewers on YouTube participating from Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
The Senatus also organised public talks throughout the year; in March, Father Edward Seah spoke on Mary, our mother, companion and role model. Then in May, Fr Ferdinand Purnomo, OCD, expounded on “Ignite and Shine through Mary”. Finally, in Aug, Fr Henry Siew preached about Joseph, Mary and the Spirit of Legionaries.
In his closing remarks after the Mass, His Grace recounted an experience when he was the Spiritual Director (SD) of a Singapore Polytechnic Praesidium (a unit of the Legion). The Praesidium started out with only five members meeting weekly right after lunch at 2pm. Membership soon dwindled to just two members. His Grace admitted that he began to question the wisdom of travelling all the way to minister to just two members. But, inspired by the faithfulness of the two youths who kept coming, he decided to persevere. Soon, the group grew to about 20 persons and even formed a new Praesidium when it reached 40 members. His Grace emphasised that prayer, faith and perseverance are key for Legionaries in their apostolate work.
Spirituality and ministry
Imitating our Queen and Mother, Legionaries hopes to live the virtues of faith, humility and obedience to the Word of God so that they can, like her, can be channels of God’s mercy and grace to serve the Church and humanity at large. Structured as a Roman Legion, members renew and consecrate themselves at the annual Acies (Latin for an army ranged in battle array) ceremony on or around March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, with the words: “I am all yours, my Queen my Mother, and all that I have is yours”. This is based on the book “True Devotion to Mary” by Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort. Like an army, Legionaries see their duty as being at the battlefront of the Church’s mission to the world, where courage, obedience and perseverance are required. The activities of the LOM are largely hidden or kept secret because of the commitment to confidentiality by its members. Its work or apostolate is the sanctification of members and the work of evangelisation. This two-fold aim of LOM is interconnected and requires active members to regularly attend weekly meetings to report on their allocated or assigned work.
Works (assigned work) are largely spiritual works of mercy but they are also generally called “contact work” in the LOM. Works are categorised into Conversion (spreading the Catholic faith to others), Consolation (giving a listening ear to others) and Conservation (reaching out to lapsed Catholics).
Contributed by Andrew Kong, Assistant Secretary of the Legion of Mary Singapore Senatus and Tribune (lay spiritual director) for Our Lady of Guadalupe Praesidium.