Concilium Bulletin
December 2011

REPORTS

Europe

MALTA
Malta Regia: Archbishop Monsignor Cremona was chief celebrant at the Legion's 90th Anniversary Mass and expressed gratitude to God and Our Lady for the Legion. Praesidia reported on home visitation, teaching catechism and contact with tourists. Three Retreats for auxiliaries had attendances of 30, 15 and 19. A young woman, contacted on home visitation, returned to the sacraments after being lapsed for a number of years. A Frank Duff prayer group meets monthly. A meeting for Spiritual Directors had an attendance of 23 priests. One of the attached Curiae celebrated 50 years as a Curia. Good contacts are reported with Moslems, Jehovah Witnesses and those of other faiths. A junior Curia with 15 praesidia had a twilight retreat and a barbecue. A 5-day apostolate resulted in 4 homes consecrations to the Sacred Heart, 6 auxiliary members and 4 new prospective active members.
Gozo Comitium had a retreat for junior and intermediate members. On Good Friday, 55 foreign residents, both Catholic and non-Catholic visited 7 different Churches and prayed at an altar of repose there. At Easter legionaries doing crowd contact invited people to attend Sunday Mass.
Countries under the caretakership of Malta
TURKEY
Three Maltese legionaries made a one-week visit in October. In Istanbul they organised workshops for the three praesidia there.

ALBANIA
The correspondent and two other legionaries visited the Skhroder Comitium. A Mass celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Legion in Albania was organised.

PORTUGAL
Lisbon Senatus: Up to 50% of some praesidia members are Praetorians. New praesidia in 5 different locations resulted from a day-long planning meeting of extension workers. Families are visited on the anniversaries of Baptisms and children recruited for catechism classes. The Bishop of Coimbra, Don Virgilio Autunes celebrated Mass to commemorate the Legion's 90th anniversary. In Setubal 86 senior citizens being visited received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Several Auxiliary Rallies were held. Many praesidia assist the bereaved in Mortuary Chapels. At Beja accommodation was found for 4 elderly needy people in Old Persons' homes. They also held a formation day for 150 members in this area. Unemployed people are assisted in finding work. A legionary provided accommodation for the wives of men who were in hospital.

CYPRUS
The members of the 4 praesidia are mostly Filipinos plus a few Africans. They have received permission to visit a prison and a women's ward in the General Hospital in Nicosia. Among the prisoners they met a foreign Catholic woman. They encouraged her and other prisoners to pray fervently. They spoke to Catholic and Orthodox hospital patients and one from the Philippines was very pleased to meet them.

SPAIN
Madrid Senatus is most grateful to the Concilium for the honour of going in their name to visit Guinea and also of having many of their legionaries being appointed Concilium correspondents. The Holy Father sent a medal to the Senatus as a token of his gratitude to the Legion for its work in preparing for and on the World Youth Day in August. They are now following up on the recommendations of the conference and using the words of the Holy Father in their contacts with youth. Some difficulties are being encountered on home visitation. Porters of some apartment blocks are instructed to stop non-residents from entering. In some cases legionaries have been permitted as they visit in the name of the local parish. Often families contacted are slow to open up and have a dialogue with the legionaries. In the University Faculty of Medicine legionaries invite students to say the Rosary once a week and then continue their contacts with the students in other faculties.

Barcelona Senatus: The Senatus celebrated the 90th Anniversary in October with a special Mass at which they had a large attendance. A praesidium, which works with the marginalized, reported visiting ex-prisoners who are suffering from AIDS. They also have regular contact with two drug addicts and encourage them to pray for the strength to give up drugs. Some of the legionaries are catechists. A 95-year old legionary is 56 years in the Legion and continues to attend her meeting and do her Legion work every week.

Bilbao Senatus is making an organised effort to recruit by systematically visiting every parish without the Legion. A number of young persons have been recruited in the Basauri Curia. The officers also spoke to the Parish Priest of the Cathedral Parish about nominating a Spiritual Director for the Senatus, which has been without one for some time. In Santander the Legion celebrated 50 years with a Mass celebrated by the Bishop and 16 priests. The Bishop in his homily spoke about the New Evangelisation and encouraged legionaries to be involved.

ITALY
Senatus of Rome: Sardinia has begun to rebuild having undertaken to fulfil the 7-point programme proposed by the Concilium for 2011. The 90th Anniversary of the Legion was celebrated in enthusiastic style when 1,500 legionaries from north and south and from Sardinia and Sicily attended the Holy Father's Public Audience on 12th October, all waving their Legion "foulards" especially when the Holy Father addressed them as follows: "I salute the representatives of the Legio Mariae assembled for this meeting in large numbers and I exhort them to render as ever more incisive Christian witness in the various spheres of society, under the maternal eye of the Virgin Mary." Afterwards the 1,500 legionaries from 20 cities of Italy gathered at the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina for concelebrated Mass led by Msgr. La Rosa, Senatus Spiritual Director. The Anniversary Mass for the Servant of God, Frank Duff was being celebrated in St. John Lateran Basilica on Sunday 20th November presided over by Mgr. Paolo Mancini, Vicar General of Rome, with the Spiritual Directors of praesidia, Curiae and the Senatus.

Milan Regia: Mgr. Balconi broadcast on Radio Mater on "The Popes and the Legion" and Maria Bagnolo and Sr. Ada Cantalmo spoke on the Legion worldwide. A praesidium in Genoa called on 100 homes and had conversations in 50 of them resulting in the priest being able to visit 3 sick people in their homes. A praesidium in Milan has made contact with the local Chinese Catholic community. The Chinese Priest requested a school in Italian for the Chinese in the Parish. A praesidium in Desio organised a day for the sick, some of whom had not received the sacraments for a long time. They welcomed the Sacrament of the Sick.

Comitium of Turin has formed a new Filipino praesidium.

Padova Comitium: Sixty legionaries attended the general audience with the Pope on the 12th October. A new praesidium has been started. The Curia at Brunico has a stall at the Christmas Market.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

St. Louis Senatus
The Officers travelled 2,000 miles to attend the 90th Anniversary celebration in Pueblo. They also visited Comitia meetings in Denver. Kansas City Comitium has a DVD titled "Science Test Faith", this is being used in reaffirming belief in the Eucharist and resulted in returns to the Faith. In Davenport, jail visitation resulted in inmates conversions. In other reports returns to the Sacraments were reported. Through the intercession to Frank Duff a young man's internal bleeding stopped.

San Francisco Senatus
A new Korean Comitium was started on 16th October in California. It comprises of 4 Curiae. The Senatus joined with other Catholic groups in a Family Rosary Rally. The Senatus has many attached councils and celebrated the 90th Anniversary with a Mass. Four praesidia reported and the works they are engaged in are: RCIA, door to door and nursing home visitation.
In Oakland Comitium 1,885 jail inmates were contacted.
In Anchorage Comitium the attendance is 55%. Three children were instructed for First Holy Communion and Confirmation.
Idaho Comitium has 13 attached praesidia with 73 active members. The North Utah Curia continues their efforts to extend to the Spanish population.
Seattle Comitium: Works include RCIA, Pilgrim Virgin apostolate, book barrow and county fairs.
In San Jose Comitium the Bishop and many priests encourage extension of the Legion. At present the diocese is caretaking Legion funds.

Houston Senatus
In New Orleans Regia one member is now studying for the priesthood and another started formation for the Permanent Diaconate. The Lafayette Comitium sent 53 legionaries to the PPC Conference in October. Sulphur Curia had a book-barrow at the La Salette Festival. Dallas Comitium reported that the Sherman Curia's extension in Denison used 'Meet the Legion' DVD as an introduction. A praesidium in Corpus Christi Curia has restarted with 14 members and doing a varied range of works. A new young adult Patrician group began at the Co-Cathedral in Houston and had an average attendance of 50 attendees over 3 months. As a result of door-to-door visitation, a 92 year-old Baptist was met and prepared for reception into the Church. The Northern Curia has established a praesidium in the local gaol. In the Hispanic Comitium 234 homes were enthroned to the Sacred Heart with 78 in their attached Curia over a 3-months period. In Bay Area Curia legionaries visit a drug and alcohol unit and bible study is conducted.

Chicago Senatus
A large congregation attended Mass on the 5th November to commemorate the Servant of God, Frank Duff. A successful Congress was organised by one Curia at which 43 attended. Winter contact is done in Laundromat where Miraculous Medals and the Parish Bulletin are distributed. The Korean Comitium had 147 conversions and 6 returns to the Sacraments.

Philadelphia Senatus
"A Monday Night at the Movies" attracts a good attendance where religious topics are shown. The praesidium in St. Charles Borromeo Seminary has 13 members and 23 auxiliaries of whom 11 are Adjutorians. They visit the sick and the homeless and are involved in schools and colleges. One Curia increased their number of praesidia from 3 to 6. Camden Comitium, New Jersey has 4 book barrows and visit 7 prisons. Many returns to the Sacraments and conversions are reported. A new Korean Comitium was raised in October attaching 2 Curiae to it and reported on 4 conversions, 8 returns to the faith and 7 adult Baptisms. Regina Pacis Hispanic Curia does street contact and visit prisons and funeral homes. Six Marriages were validated. An E Day in a Parish covered 400 homes including a Protestant Bible study group where the legionaries spoke on Our Lady.

Miami Regia
Extension continues in Alabama and in Birmingham now has 5 praesidia with openings for more and requests a Peregrinatio Pro Christo team.

CANADA

Montreal Senatus
Contact is made with young adults in a park and one young person returned to the Sacraments after 20 years. Parents are encouraged to have their children Baptised and receive First Holy Communion. The Rosary is said at funerals. Mass for the 90th Anniversary of the Legion took place on 24th September.

Ontario Senatus
Three reporting praesidia have 22 active and 97 auxiliary members. Elementary schools are visited teaching the Rosary. Market Ministry is undertaken. Mass for the 90th Anniversary of the Legion had an attendance of 45 legionaries. A pilgrimage for handicapped had 21 in attendance; the programme included Mass, Confession and a candle light procession. Auxiliaries are kept in touch with and some have been enrolled in the Rosary Confraternity.
Edmonton Comitium
The Archbishop celebrated Mass for the 90th Anniversary of the Legion.

WEST INDIES

Santiago de los Caballeros Senatus
A proposed visit to the Dominican Republic has been postponed due to civil unrest. Legionaries work with the priests in contacting the lapsed. They have prepared them for First Holy Communion, Confirmation and Matrimony. An attached Comitium has 5 Curiae and 8 praesidia attached with 583 active members, 460 auxiliaries and 42 Praetorians. An Evangelical couple was visited and the Priest was brought to them, they received the Sacraments and are now good members of the Church. A Protestant family was taught the Rosary and is now active Catholics.

Senatus of Notre Dame de L'Assomption, Haiti
Two visitors from the Paris Regia visited this council on behalf of Concilium. They visited camps where people are still living after the earthquake. The people are living in very poor conditions. The legionaries are making great efforts to restore the Senatus headquarters and they were delighted with the container of Legion materials which was of assistance.

Trinidad Regia
A Peregrinatio Pro Christo project took place to Guyana and Antigua. A book-barrow is set up in a busy place. Mass for the 90th Anniversary took place on the 6th September. A Legion Sunday was held in October. Reporting praesidia are involved in visiting the sick and shut-ins, religious instruction in 2 Government schools and home-to-home visitation.

AFRICA

KENYA
Senatus of Kenya: Celebrations were held to mark the 75th anniversary of the starting of the first praesidium in Nairobi by Venerable Edel Quinn on 8th December 1936. Bishop David Kamau was the chief celebrant at Mass in the Basilica where the praesidium was founded. Prayers are said monthly at Venerable Edel's grave. The main work is visitation and many are encouraged to return to the sacraments and couples to marry in church; many join the instruction classes. The Legion is very active in Queen of Apostles' junior seminary.

UGANDA
Senatus of Uganda: The 90th Anniversary of the Legion was celebrated at all levels. Works include visitation of homes, hospitals, health centres, prisons, orphanages, people with disabilities, salons, bars, taxi parks, bikers, prostitutes, homeless people and those involved in witchcraft, resulting in many conversions, returns to the Church and many couples wed in Church. The youth do chores for elderly people and teach the Rosary to young people. The Chief Celebrant at the Mass for Frank Duff was His Eminence Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala.

MALAWI
Blantyre Senatus: A Curia in Blantyre Archdiocese has been raised to Comitium and the Senatus now governs 11 Comitia and 15 Curiae in the Archdiocese, and 9 Comitia plus 4 Regia in other dioceses. A youth praesidium reported visiting the sick and doing parish work. Bishop Pagani was the chief celebrant at the Mass for the 90th Anniversary in Lilongwe Regia and this was preceded by a 4 day retreat. 826 attended including Legionaries from Mozambique. The Regia in Mzuzu Diocese arranged a conference and Masses to commemorate the life of Frank Duff and the Legion's anniversary.

NIGERIA
Abuja Regia: The average attendance of council officers is 53% and praesidia Officers 82.5%. One Comitium reported 18 prisoners released with the help of the prison chaplain. The Regia organizes computer training for members.

Ibadan Senatus: The average attendance of council officers is 54% and praesidia Officers 47%. A new Yoruba Curia was set up and the University of Ibadan Curia had 12 marriages rectified, 7 conversions, set up 2 praesidia and held an Auxiliary Rally, while one Comitium established a junior Curia and 2 senior and 4 junior praesidia.

Lagos Regia: Attendance of council officers is 65% but praesidia Officers is only 26%. The Regia has been informed that its position may have to be reviewed if attendance does not substantially improve. Novenas were held to celebrate the Legion's 90th Anniversary. In one Comitium 4 junior Curiae, 14 senior and 11 junior praesidia were started and 20 marriages were rectified and 8 converted.

Kaduna Regia: Reports show 54 conversions including 12 Muslims, 124 lapsed returned, 75 marriage cases settled and many received the Sacraments and were recruited. The Acies, Retreats, Reunions, Patricians, Venerable Edel Quinn and Frank Duff Masses and a Congress featured in reports.

Enugu Senatus: A Comitium with 3,753 seniors of whom 1,445 are Praetorians reports many people received into the Church and being prepared for the sacraments. They recruited 1,032 and have 6,395 junior members.

Awaka Regia celebrated the 70th Anniversary of the Legion in the diocese with Mass attended by 5,675 legionaries. In his homily the Bishop, Most Rev Dr Paulinus Ezeokafor commended the legionaries for "the wonderful work they are doing in the diocese through their legionary work, through which many souls have been led to heaven". He encouraged them "to remain steadfast till the end."

Onitsha Regia: 626 members of a Comitium attached to the Regia participated in various Exploratio Dominicalis projects, one, at a school hostel and staff quarters yielded 17 Catechumens. Another Comitium has 2 Curiae at a University and reports include preparation of many adults and children for the Sacraments and encouraging couples to have their marriages blessed. Thirty converted to the Catholic Faith. The Regia celebrated the 90th Anniversary with a Mass, 2 talks and a quiz based on the Handbook and life of Frank Duff.

Jos Regia: One Comitium established 3 new Curiae.

ZAMBIA:
Lusaka Regia: The Legion continues to grow and enjoys the support of the Clergy. The Regia covers Lusaka Archdiocese and 6 dioceses. Works include visiting the sick, the elderly and prisoners and organising catechism classes and retreats. They have submitted details regarding planned extension to the Concilium.

Kasama Regia: Plans for visitation of councils have been submitted to Concilium. The Correspondent has asked for more information regarding an election problem.

LIBERIA
As there is no postal service, contact with the council is very difficult. Four praesidia reported at the August meeting. Twenty legionaries attended the annual retreat in August. The officers are to meet with the Archbishop in relation to a Spiritual Director.

TANZANIA
Mtwara Comitium: Extension visits to 3 parishes are planned. It appears the Comitium only holds quarterly meetings and the correspondence is dealing with this.
Bukoba Comitium: Bishop Kilaine and over 400 Legionaries attended the Acies. Three primary schools were visited in the hope of starting the Legion. A lapsed council was re-launched and a priest has promised to bring a Legionary to the outstations for extension purposes. There are seminars and retreats organised and the Comitium Officers seem to be striving to implement the Legion programme.
Dar-Es-Salaam Comitium: At Mass during a pilgrimage Auxiliary Bishop Rt. Rev. Salutaris Libena called on those present to promote the Rosary and pilgrimages. Preparations are ongoing for Peregrinatio Pro Christo to Zanzibar and Councils were reminded to arrange Frank Duff Anniversary Masses.
Hai Moshi Comitium reports include home and hospital visitation with many returns to the Sacraments and marriages blessed and also preparing adults and children for the Sacraments.
Rombo Comitium reports on teaching prayers to children and adults. 1,500 families were met on home visitation and many were encouraged to have their marriages blessed.

THE GAMBIA
Banjul Curia established a praesidium of 14 in a new housing estate, which has a Church. Irregular and traditional marriages (where men live with 2 wives) prevent many from joining the Legion.

ELISABETH KRISS - EXTENSION WORKER

While awaiting her visa for Kazakhstan, Elisabeth Kriss is working for the Senatus of Austria in East Tyrol in an effort to revive a small Curia with weak praesidia in a mountainous area.

In November she sent a report on her work in Ukraine. The first Mass in the Greek Catholic Church for the beatification of Frank Duff took place on the 8th November in Weliki Mosti with 2 priests and about 20 legionaries and auxiliary members.

Bishop Markian has given permission for the Legion to start in Lutsk and Bishop Leon in Kamienetz Podolski gave permission for a praesidium in the seminary. A short distance from Brody a new praesidium has also been established.

Please do keep Elisabeth in your prayers and thank you.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Cause of The Servant of God, Frank Duff

The prayer for Beatification can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website:
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie
or from Concilium Legionis Mariae

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets to legionaries and to the general public; through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
Dublin 7, IRELAND.

N O T I C E
Any Legion council officers who are registering for the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin are asked to note that the

June 2012 Concilium meeting will take place on
SATURDAY 9th June 2012 at 3.00 pm
in Legion headquarters


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Concilium Allocutio December 2011

By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.

Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary


St. John the Baptist and the Legion



Those who enter into the spirit of the season of Advent will notice the major part St. John the Baptist plays in this season. This fact is easy to understand since his special vocation was to prepare the chosen people and indeed the whole world for the coming of Jesus, the promised Messiah. And it is still his mission today. So since Advent is about preparing for the coming of Jesus into our lives today who better to help us to personally prepare than St. John. Therefore the Church places before us in so many scripture readings during Advent the figure of John the Baptist: his character, mission and words. Put very simply his whole identity is concerned with pointing to Jesus. He must increase and I must decrease. Frank Duff sees those words as a good description of the life and vocation of the legionary.

I must admit that it was only while trying over the years to understand and live the season of Advent according to the Liturgy that I began to understand more the reasons why the Legion gives such an important place to St. John the Baptist in its essential scheme of things. According to the Handbook St. John the Baptist is more intimately bound up with the devotional scheme of the Legion than any of its other patrons with the exception of St. Joseph. So he takes precedence over Sts. Peter and Paul, St. John the Evangelist and even over St. Louis Marie de Montfort the great tutor of the Legion.

Of course, Our Lady is not one of the patrons of the Legion, she is our queen and mother and Foundress and indeed the Mother of God Himself and therefore in a class of her own. Therefore our response to her is utterly different in comparison with our patrons. Nevertheless we have to ask ourselves whether we in fact give St. John the Baptist his rightful place in our lives as legionaries and remember the reasons why we do so. We do pray to him every day in the Tessera but is he really one of our great friends and examples?

The Handbook tells us that he was the type of all legionaries, that is, a forerunner of the Lord, going before him to prepare his way and make straight his paths. He was a model of unshakable strength and devotion to his cause for which he was ready to die and for which he did die.

An important note for legionaries is his special relationship to Our Lady. He leapt in the womb of his mother when Our Lady spoke to Elizabeth and Mary played a very influential role in his first weeks and months of life. That special intimacy with Mary would shape all his life.

There is a pivotal paragraph in the Handbook that is worth calling to mind at this time in Advent and on the doorstep of Christmas. It says 'that the episode of the Visitation exhibits Our Lady in her capacity as Mediatrix for the first time, and St. John as the first beneficiary. Thereby was St. John exhibited from the first as a special patron of legionaries and of all legionary contacts, of the work of visitation in all its forms, and indeed of all legionary actions - those being but efforts to co-operate in Mary's mediatorial office.'

I suppose one of the difficulties in our approach to St. John is that we may be inclined to think of him as someone in the past and not intimately present to our lives and work today. We know theoretically that the Word of God is alive and active and that our Lord is not only speaking to his contemporaries but actually speaking to us too here and now in the sacrament of sacred scripture. It is the same with the saints; they are not only figures of the past but are intimately involved in our lives and work as dynamic members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Cardinal Danielou puts it succinctly when he writes: 'If Jesus is perpetually 'he who comes' likewise St. John is he who ever precedes him. For the economy of the historical Incarnation of Christ is continued in his Mystical Body.'

The practical realisation of the truth that Our Lord, Our Lady and all the saints are closer to us today in the Mystical Body of Christ than our next door neighbour or indeed our own family members would transform the way we live our Christian and legionary life. This is not just a new theological idea but it goes back to the scriptures and the great fathers of the Church.

Let us conclude with a quotation from Origen found in the Handbook that illuminates the point I have been trying to make. 'I believe that the mystery of John is still being accomplished in the world of today. Whoever is to believe in Christ Jesus, the spirit and virtue of John must first come into his soul and prepare for the Lord a perfect people, make straight the paths in the rough places of his heart and smooth the ways. Up to this day the spirit and virtue of John go before the coming of the Lord and Saviour.'

A happy and holy Christmas to you all and may St. John the Baptist prepare you well to receive all the graces and blessings that Our Lord is coming once more to give you.

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Concilium Bulletin November 2011
Asia
AUSTRALIA
Sydney Senatus: The apostolate in this Senatus includes teaching of religion in schools, visitation of homes and drug rehabilitation centres and contact in parks is fruitful. Masses were held to honour Venerable Edel Quinn and the Servant of God Frank Duff. The Vietnamese Curia had 350 members on a day's retreat and 400 at the Acies. The Korean Comitium has two Curiae attached and an Indonesian praesidium both carry out an apostolate to their own communities. The Solomon Islands have been visited. They have two Curiae.

Melbourne Senatus: Reports were received from 8 directly attached praesidia, 8 Curiae and 1 Comitium on the mainland and from 3 Comitia and 1 Curia in the Pacific Ocean. Extension and recruiting are a priority for most councils. Works include visitation to the sick with Holy Communion to Nursing Homes, promotion of the Rosary, pilgrim statue apostolate and home to home visitation where feasible.

Brisbane Comitium: There are 16 praesidia attached to the Comitium with 8 of them a long distance away so they are unable to attend the Comitium meeting. Membership in praesidia averages 7. A Mass was concelebrated by Bishop Finnigan to mark the 90th anniversary. Over 300 attended and many people expressed an interest in the Legion in their parish with 3 definite contacts for follow-up. The Vietnamese and Korean Curiae also attended this function and it proved to be a wonderful occasion. A new praesidium has started in a Nursing Home.

NEW ZEALAND
Auckland Senatus: Over 400 people attended the 90th Anniversary Mass, led by Bishop Dunn. Works reported on included 50 children, aged 5-13 years, taught Catechism after Sunday Mass. A new praesidium started for 18 to 28 year olds. Savau Curia in Samoa has 10 senior and 2 junior praesidia. Extension is ongoing in the villages and the Legion is well supported by the clergy. Christchurch Curia is rebuilding again after the earthquakes having 7 praesidia with 45 members. There is need for recruiting younger members. South Auckland Curia has 9 senior praesidia and one junior Curia with 9 praesidia. Brown scapular enrolments and 4 Exploratio Dominicalis projects took place; one suicide was prevented.

PHILIPPINES
Western Visayas Regia: The Regia was overjoyed at the news of their elevation to Senatus status. Many praesidia report on Exploratio Dominicalis projects. For World day of the sick, one area arranged for 304 patients to receive the Sacrament of the sick. A Curia reported helping a mother (whose son had died) not to transfer to a sect offering to help her financially. A drug addict was helped to rehabilitate and is now conducting Bible study in his locality.

Cebu Senatus: Five Regiae, 10 Comitia, 10 Curiae and 12 praesidia gave their reports during this period. A Curia reported that several Patrician meetings take place in Churches throughout the parish. There were 13 members recruited following a Columban Drive. In another Curia the number of junior members exceeds the seniors by 38%. A former junior Curia President has joined the Poor Clare Nuns. Apostolate undertaken included backyard catechism classes, brown scapular enrolments, instructing 1,000 children for first Holy Communion reception and home visitation with many receiving confession. Five seminary praesidia are planning ministry on Pastoral Formation.

Bicolandia Senatus: The Senatus has translated and printed the three Causes prayer leaflets. Most reports feature teaching catechism to elementary pupils and high school students; enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the homes and helping the elderly and sick to go to confession. A yearly retreat for prisoners, organised by a praesidium, had an attendance of 70. One of the Curia has a praesidium in the Tinangis Penal Colony Jail.

Senatus of Northern Philippines: Attendance range from 69% to 100% in the junior Curia. The Episcopal Commission on Pastoral Care for Prisons acknowledged the valuable assistance that the Legion provides to the prison apostolate. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Military Curia covers 6 military camps with 6 praesidia doing home visitation inside the camps, also organising a Marian and Legion exhibit in the camp chapel attended by soldiers and their families. A youth retreat was attended by 37 and 10 junior praesidia officers. Many Curiae and praesidia set up officers' training days and a Congress was held. An abortionist was enlightened by persevering legionaries to change her life and return to being a good Catholic. She is now an active lay worker in her parish.

Mindanao Senatus: An inspiriting report was given on the biennial conference of all Philippine higher councils held in Cebu in May 2011. Graduates at Xavier University conducted an Orientation course for 37 new students who it is hoped will join one of the 9 praesidia in the University Curia. The Spiritual Director of the Senatus recommends elderly legionaries who have difficulty attending meetings, not to be transferred to auxiliary roll but make efforts to arrange transport for them.

South America

PERU
Lima Senatus: In response to a request from the Senatus, the correspondent provided suggestions for shortening the 3½ hour meeting. Two projects of 12 members each had very good contacts. Several people are returning to the sacraments and a big number of couples are preparing for the sacrament of marriage. Attached Curiae reported setting up two and one praesidia respectively. Visitation of the praesidia has been positive. A monthly auxiliary prayer meeting attracts about 40 people.

BOLIVIA
Senatus of La Paz: Extension is on the monthly agenda. Most praesidia meetings are held in the afternoon; however it is proposed to set up new praesidia at hours that suit prospective legionaries. An officers meeting was held. In the south of the country bordering Argentina, legionaries from both countries have co-operated in extension projects and other works. The Senatus is blessed in the city of La Paz with two excellent Spiritual Directors. Despite road blocks and other obstacles Legion meetings continue.

CHILE
Senatus of Santiago: The 90th anniversary celebration was a great occasion with legionaries and their banners filling the Cathedral. Statue visitation means that legionaries get into homes that would not usually receive them. A stand is used at open air events and markets resulting in good contacts. The Regia of Temuco has a strong correspondents group of 11 legionaries who write to their distant councils in the far south of the country. Mgr. Andres Artiaga is the auxiliary bishop in charge of the laity. He has given great support to the Legion.

COLOMBIA
Senatus of Medellin: Works include visitation of hospitals, the elderly and clinics; catechesis is given in schools. During prison visitation, Gospel passages are read and meditated upon, followed by the Rosary. Discussions on the faith are held in parks and public places. Exploratio Dominicalis and Peregrinatio Pro Christo projects have taken place.

Senatus of Bogotá: The Legion's 90th anniversary was celebrated in a full Cathedral in Bogota supported by The National Police Symphonic Band; a greeting from the Republic's President was read. One of the 2 university praesidia is 26 years old; its work includes street contact with young people; they have formed 3 new praesidia.

URUGUAY
Senatus of Montevideo: The Senatus Spiritual Director was 90 in September. All members of a Curia of 6 praesidia are over 70 years old. Fr Tommy Toal celebrated his 25th ordination celebration on 12th Oct.

VENEZUELA
Senatus of Caracas: Exploratio Dominicalis and Columban Drives feature; 65 legionaries went on PPC while 67 took part in Maria et Patria projects. In Valle de la Pascua, a junior praesidium was revived, a Curia divided and a praesidium of men set up to undertake work in bars and with prostitutes. Formation Schools are mentioned. The Rosary was dramatised on a street in San Fernando while talks on the faith were given to 20 doctors.

ECUADOR
Senatus of Quito: The elderly are helped with personal hygiene and cleaning their homes. A talk was given to seminarians on the Legion. In Portviejo it is difficult to accompany the priest during jail visits due to security risks. Conversions from the sects feature. Some new praesidia have been formed. A monument was erected to commemorate the country's consecration to the Sacred Heart in 1874.

PARAQUAY
Senatus of Asunción: The Senatus has a new Spiritual Director, appointed following the death of his much loved predecessor who passed away earlier in the year. A Curia in the city of Pedro Juan Cabalero was raised to Comitium consisting of 7 Curiae and 10 praesidia. A Curia of 3 praesidia work with the Armed Forces of the Navy, mainly providing catechism.

Africa

GHANA
Senatus of Accra: The Senatus organised 40 Hours of Adoration to promote the Cause of Frank Duff. Tema Curia was raised to Comitium, it recently established 3 new praesidia and also organised a three-day programme, involving 126 legionaries from the Comitium and Senatus. They visited the homes, two hospitals and contacted people on the streets. The praesidium in the Liberian refugee camp has 16 members, they visit the homes and clinics and does street contact work.

ZIMBABWE
Mupamonde Curia do home and hospital visitation, visit the elderly and bereaved, teaching catechism and encouraging couples to marry in the Church.

LESOTHO
Lesotho Senatus: Annunciata Curia reported 26 lapsed returned to the sacraments and two marriages rectified. Mother of the Church Comitium, Maseru formed a new junior praesidium of 15 members and had 26 lapsed returned to the sacraments

CAPE VERDE
Constant growth is reported in all reports although age, sickness and emigration results in the loss of members. A Comitium in the principal of five islands has an attendance of 98% at its meetings. One council has 192 catechists whose work reaches to adults and young people. In another area an apostolate is carried out among drug addicts and alcoholics. A Peregrinatio pro Christo project was organised with participants from Angola and Brazil.

EGYPT
The Treasurer of the Senatus visited Concilium early in October whilst attending a Conference in Dublin. The Senatus continues to extend - for instance there are 5 praesidia in Ismailia. They celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Legion of Mary and felt very much part of the Concilium family on that occasion.

ANGOLA
Benguela Senatus: Most Senatus meetings have some officers from distant councils in attendance. At one meeting twelve officers from nine councils, which are between 75 and 350 miles from Benguela, attended. The Ganda Comitium set up a new Curia. The Bocoio Comitium has proposed to the Senatus to divide the Comitium and set up another. The retired Bishop of Benguela, D. Oscar Braga, attended the May meeting of the Senatus. That same month the Comitium in the Namibe Diocese was divided into four Comitia. In the Diocese of Kwito-Bié, a year of jubilee began on 29 May 2011 to mark the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Legion in the Diocese and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the first Comitium there. There are now five Comitia and another one is planned. The junior Comitium in Benguela set up four new praesidia and a Curia. They now have nine Curiae; five in Benguela and four in Lobito, with a total of 35 praesidia. Their membership totals 1,901, of whom 753 are aged 10-18 years; and 1,148 are over 18 years of age.

Luanda Regia: It was reported that an English-speaking praesidium has been set up in Luanda. In a letter, the Regia President says that the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the Legion in Angola was celebrated in Malanje on 12 November 2011, where Rev. Fr. Henrique Verdijk, C.S.Sp, set up the first praesidium. About 5,000 legionaries from ten dioceses attended a concelebrated Mass; the Chief Celebrant was Most Reverend D. Luís de Honraita, Archbishop of Malanje, and several priests and Spiritual Directors from Luanda and Malanje concelebrated.

MOZAMBIQUE
Maputo Regia: The Spiritual Director of the Regia wrote in September to say he had been transferred to Quelimane. The Comitium President in Quelimane wrote in August and October to say they were working on restructuring the Comitium. A visit to Nampula by the President and another legionary is being planned. At the end of October about 200 legionaries from Beira are expected to visit Quelimane.

JOHANNESBURG
The Senatus has 20 attached Praesidia and 3 attached Councils. Works include visiting 58 non-Catholics, arranging to have children baptised, teaching the Rosary to children, also teaching Catechism, visiting a prison and praying with the prisoners both old and young with the help of the Priest. They encourage drug addicts to stop taking drugs. The main problems are absenteeism at Senatus meetings and failure to send in reports to the Senatus when due.

CAPE TOWN
Cape Town Senatus: Plans are underway for the setting up of two new praesidia in the Senatus area. A very successful retreat had an attendance of 150 legionaries. Great efforts are made to promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff. In one parish the legionaries spoke at four Masses and gave out the prayer leaflets. The Afrikaans Handbook is being typed.
Marianhill Comitium: The non-Catholics who want to pray the Rosary are taught and some of them have since joined the Catholic Church.
Pietermaritzburg Comitium (Esigodini) Last letter received dated 15 August. The President's two daughters were killed in a car crash. Many new people are joining the legion.

New Senatus and two new Regiae for Northern Nigeria

The Concilium approved, subject to ecclesiastical sanction, the raising of Abuja Regia, Nigeria to Senatus status to govern the Legion in the the Archdiocese of Abuja and its suffragen dioceses (Idah, Lafia, Lokoja, Makurdi and Otukpo). For the new Senatus to raise Otukpo Comitium to Regia status to govern the Legion in the Dioceses of Otukpo, Idah and Ugbokolo and for Makurdi Comitium to be raised to Regia status to govern the Legion in the Dioceses of Makurdi, Gboko and Katsina-Ala (Gboko, Katsina-Ala & Ugbokolo are proposed new Dioceses). The new Regiae are subject to ecclesiastical sanction and will be affiliated directly to Abuja Senatus.

ELISABETH KRISS - EXTENSION WORKER IN UKRAINE

Elizabeth Kriss tells us that everything is going through the priest and she and the priests have been in contact with the Bishop in Odessa who is very interested in the Legion and has invited the Legion to come to his diocese. She will return to Austria at the end of November in order to arrange the necessary visas for her travels to the Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Please do keep her in your prayers.

ANNIVERSARY MASS FOR
THE SERVANT OF GOD FRANK DUFF

On Saturday 19th November 2011, the 31st Anniversary Mass for the Servant of God, Frank Duff, took place in St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin. The principal celebrant was His Eminence Seán Cardinal Brady and 47 priests concelebrated. The estimated attendance was over 800. The Lord Mayor of Dublin was represented by Cllr. Mary O'Shea.

Cardinal Brady's homily was an acknowledgement of the Legion of Mary and its place in the life of the Church. He praised the vision of Frank Duff and the work, which is carried out by legionaries throughout the world. He said Frank Duff had a remarkable understanding of the distinctive roles of both the priest and the laity, and thanked every member of the Legion for their membership.

Sile Ni Chochlain thanked the members of the Bethlehem Curia, Dublin for their superb organisation of this event.

VISIT BY CONCILIUM TO
THE PHILADELPHIA AND HOUSTON SENATUS

Raymond and Annette Mulrooney and Seamus Rickard, representatives from the Concilium, visited the Senatus of Philadelphia and Houston from the 3rd to the 13th October 2011.

They spent three days in Philadelphia making contact with the officers of the Senatus and attending local praesidia meetings. Two novel features was a visit to the office of the U.S.A. Supplement for the Maria Legionis magazine and the work carried on for street people at their Brother House in Norristown, PA, on two nights of the week.

Houston Senatus: The legionaries received an invitation to attend a Peregrinatio Pro Christo conference, which had to be suspended three years ago, due to the disruption caused by Hurricane Ike. An attendance of 550 legionaries was recorded on this occasion. A Mass concelebrated by 6 priests preceded the all-day conference.

They attend the Senatus and Offices' meetings and reviewed plans for further expansion of councils to cater for the big influx of new members, including many of the Hispanic community. Again, many local praesidia were visited.

Sile Ni Chochlain, President of Concilium, thanked the legionaries for undertaking this successful visitation.

Peregrinatio Pro Christo

The Peregrinatio Pro Christo Annual Conference was help on Saturday 22nd October in St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin. It was a wonderful experience of enthusiasm for the 240 legionaries who journeyed from all parts of Ireland and Britain.

The discussions were lively and showed many returns to the Sacraments as well as those interested in instruction. British legionaries gave an insight as to how they secure new projects each year.

A word of thanks to Sile Ni Chochlain, President of Concilium for her challenging address in which she concluded her talk with "There is much to be done, let us have the courage to undertake it in the knowledge that Jesus and Mary wish us to do it for them".

Fr. Bede McGregor, Concilium Spiritual Director, and five priests concelebrated the Conference Mass for which the Peregrination Pro Committee is most grateful.

All are asked to continue to pray for those contacted by Peregrini in the past year as well as for next years' projects.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Cause of The Servant of God, Frank Duff

The prayer for Beatification can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website:
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie
or from Concilium Legionis Mariae

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets to legionaries and to the general public; through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
Dublin 7, IRELAND.

N O T I C E
Any Legion council officers who are registering for the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin are asked to note that the June 2012 Concilium meeting will take place on

SATURDAY 9th June 2012 at 3.00 pm
in Legion headquarters


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Concilium Allocutio November 2011
By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P. Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary
The Souls of our Departed Legionaries

One of the most effective ways in which a Christian and therefore a Legionary grows in grace and deepens their Catholic faith in all its depth and breadth is by keeping in tune with the Church throughout the liturgical year. In the month of November we remember especially all those who have died and gone before us marked with the sign of faith. In other words we focus on all the members of the mystical Body of Christ and how precious this doctrine is to the Legion. We think of those members who now see Jesus face to face and are our God given friends and companions on our journey through life. Then we focus on those members who are in purgatory, those holy souls whom the Lord is preparing for eventual entrance into heaven. And of course in the Legion we give most special attention to those members who are in darkness and in the shadow of death, those who are lukewarm and those who are dead in sin. We pray for those who are not yet fully members of the Body of Christ and work and accompany them until, God willing, they become full members of the Catholic Church which is the Body of Christ. Finally, we concentrate on all those who are not yet actual members of the Body of Christ and have never adequately heard the Gospel and who therefore have a definite priority in the Legion apostolate. But today let us reflect on the members of the mystical Body who are in purgatory. The Legion following the spirit of our Founder Frank Duff always seeks to translate the doctrines of our faith into practical ways of living. So we have a detailed programme of prayer for the souls of the faithful departed. Every day we pray: 'May the souls of our departed legionaries and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.' And in the concluding prayer of the Tessera we ask the Trinity that 'the battle of life over - our Legion may reassemble without the loss of any one, in the Kingdom of your love and glory.' There are other duties of prayer, especially the offering of Mass, the Rosary and all the Legion prayers when a Legionary dies. The Handbook then states: '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.' It must surely be a great source of encouragement to every legionary to know that after they have died there will be millions of legionaries all over the world continually praying for them, above all by the offering of the Holy Mass. In the letters of Frank Duff there are considerable references to the doctrine of Purgatory. Let me refer to a few of them. For instance, he frequently writes that the sufferings of this life may lessen the sufferings of Purgatory. So he writes to Sheila in England who is going through very painful marital problems: 'I see that you have been talking to the Priest about your condition and that he said to you that you were suffering your purgatory. That is most certainly the case. It does not exactly mean that you are now in purgatory because you are not, but it does mean that what you would otherwise have to suffer in purgatory is in part being transferred to you now - which is a very much better transaction.' He states that principle repeatedly. It is only a practical application of the wider theological principle that God does not allow any evil or suffering without willing to draw out of it an even greater good. Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say that there is a great deal of wasted suffering in our world. It is vital for us legionaries not to waste our sufferings. If someone needs help and we can help them, it would be callous not to do so. It would point to a very flawed character to stand by and do nothing. The souls in Purgatory can no longer help themselves but as fellow members of the mystical Body of Our Lord we can most certainly help them. It would be shocking not to help them. God in his providence has arranged that we should help them not only for their good but also for our own good because every time we pray for them we are practising unselfishness by thinking of others. Serving each other in the Body of Christ is most pleasing to God. We are called to be members of the Body of Christ not only to be someone who is helped by the other members but to do our share of helping. We must be helpers and not only the helped. The Church is a vast community of people who help each other in this world but especially to mutually help each other into heaven. Of course, the living need prayers as much as the dead. We needn't wait until people are dead before we pray for them and offer help and friendship. Finally, our Founder has a great deal to say about Mary and the souls in purgatory. It was in the Legion that I first heard Our Lady referred to as the Queen of Purgatory. A praesidium in Dublin had that title. It would require a little book to do justice to Frank Duff's reflections on Mary and Purgatory. It is suffice for now to cite one of the quotations found in the Handbook: "Purgatory forms part of the realm of Mary. There, too, are her children, whom 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."

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Concilium News November 2011

Frank Duff Anniversary Mass

His Eminence Sean Cardinal Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, was the Chief Celebrant at the 31st Anniversary Mass in St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral, Dublin, on Saturday, 19 November 2011. More than 40 priests concelebrated and the estimated attendance was over 800. Cardinal Brady praised the vision of Frank Duff and the work which is carried out be legionaries throughout the world.


New Senatus for Nigeria

The Concilium raised the Regia of Abuja, Nigeria, to Senatus to govern the Legion in the Archdiocese of Abuja and its Suffragan Dioceses: Idah, Lafia, Lokoja, Makurdi and Otukpo. Abuja is the Federal Capital of Nigeria. Congratulations were extended to the new Senatus.


Visit to Equatorial Guinea on behalf of the Concilium

Javier de Frutos, President of Madrid Senatus, Spain, reported on a visit with Concha Ferraz, Vice President of the Senatus, to Equatorial Guinea, in September 2011, during which they visited the Malabo Comitium and the Bata Comitium. They met with many legionaries, including Council officers and had very useful discussions. The legionaries are engaged in good apostolic work. The visitors were made very welcome everywhere by the priests and legionaries and were also given a warm reception by Don Ildefonso Obama Obono, Archbishop of Malabo, and Don Juan Matogo Oyana(Claretian), Bishop of Bata, both of whom give great support to the Legion.


Visitors from Madrid Senatus

The Concilium was delighted to welcome eight legionaries from the Madrid Senatus, including Javier de Frutos, President, Concha Ferraz, Vice President, Carmen Lopez, Treasurer, Agustin Luque, Assistant Secretary, and Maribel Guzman, Maria Teresa Horcajo, Consolacion Tello, and Hijinio Ruiz.


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Concilium News October 2011


Visits to the U.S.A. on behalf of the Concilium

Mary Fahey and Mary Bonner reported on their visits to the Senatus of New York and the Senatus of Cincinnatti where they had discussions with Senatus officers and attended various meetings. There are six Comitia, 14 Curiae and 21 praesidia directly-attached to the New York Senatus. There are 50 junior praesidia in the Senatus area. The visitors attended the Cincinnatti Senatus meeting and several praesidium meetings.

Annette and Raymond Mulrooney reported on their visits with Seamus Rickard to Philadelphia Senatus and Houston Senatus. In Philadelphia they had discussions with Senatus officers and attended some praesidium meetings. In Houston the visitors attended the Senatus meeting and the Senatus Officers’ meeting and a Peregrinatio pro Christo Conference which had an attendance of 550 legionaries.


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Concilium Bulletin October 2011

Asia

JAPAN
Osaka Senatus: Help is being given to victims of the tsunami and earthquake, some legionaries have volunteered their time and expertise. A retreat is planned and is to be conducted by the Spiritual Director.

WEST MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur Regia: Reports from four praesidia with a membership of 50 were presented. Works included home and hospital visitation, visits to HIV and AIDs centres for men, women and children, also visits to orphanage home shelters for boys and old folks home, help in RCIA, teaching catechism, help in soup kitchen and breakfast corner and block Rosaries before Mass. Some praesidia held recruiting drives. Legion Birthday celebrations took place and Archbishop Murphey Pakian of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur expressed his warmest anniversary wishes to the Legion and its members.

HONG KONG
Hong Kong Comitium: The average attendance at the meeting is 93%. Archbishop Tong and 20 Priests concelebrated Mass for the 90th anniversary of the Legion and about 1,500 people attended. Works mentioned were book barrow, extension and parish activities. In his Allocutios over 3 months, Fr. Lok placed great emphasis on evangelisation that it was a great blessing to a legionary, and was the essence of the Church.

Singapore Senatus: On October 8th 2010 Kenningau Curia in Kota Kina Balu Comitium was raised to Comitium, 2 new Curiae were formed in the same Comitium in the past year, a new Curia is in the pipeline in Kuching Comitium. The Archbishop Nicholas Chia will be the chief celebrant at the Mass for the 90th anniversary celebrations. Mention is made of a "Legion Travelling Exhibition" and the Senatus President has urged each Curia to arrange that the Exhibition reaches every Church. Works carried out include home and hospital visitation also prayers at funerals and wakes. The University praesidium took out the book-barrow on 25th March and held a Patrician meeting. Another praesidium carried out visitation before the Semester Exam.

TAIWAN
Taiwan Senatus: A successful Peregrinatio Pro Christo project took place in the Nan-ao region which is inhabited by Japanese aboriginal people. Great support was given by the priest and a praesidium was established. Four new praesidia have been set up in Taiwan in recent months. Many praesidia organise Sunday School instruction for children. Taiwanese are enthusiastic about the Eucharistic Congress and many plan to come to Ireland in June.

KOREA
Seoul Senatus: Wonju Regia has a total of 523 praesidia with 4,281 active and 3,457 auxiliary members. Three new Curiae were set up, there were 923 Baptisms, 1,155 returns to the Sacraments, 31,188 visits to sick and infirm Catholics and 13,129 visits to sick and infirm non-Catholics. Chuncheon Regia with 489 praesidia including 12 junior, have 4,130 active and 3,900 auxiliaries, there were 1,400 Baptisms and 1,144 returns to the Sacraments. Two praesidia of taxi drivers presented reports to the Senatus.

Gwanju Senatus: The President and Treasurer of the Senatus and Presidents of four affiliated Regiae attended the August Concilium meeting. The Sam-Dong Comitium has seven Curiae, including one junior with a total of 99 senior and eight junior praesidia, one of their praesidia was the first praesidium established in Korea in 1953.

Daegu Senatus: The Archdiocese celebrated its centenary in May, 395 legionaries helped with the celebrations. On 1st May, Our Lady's Night Ceremony was hosted by the Senatus at the Shrine of Our Lady, the Archbishop was the celebrant, around 3,000 legionaries were in attendance. The Senatus is translating the Concilium news on the Concilium website. Legionaries in Taejon Parish in the Comitium participated in the activities of a mission. The Parish Priest requested street contact and visitation and 120 have since enrolled in Dogma school.

INDONESIA
Malang Senatus: In a triduum of prayer from 5th to the 7th September, the Senatus celebrated the 90th Anniversary of the Legion of Mary. It was celebrated by each Curia and praesidium. The Spiritual Director and four legionaries attended the September meeting of Concilium. They visited Frank Duff's house and other places of Legion interest. A praesidium in Bangil visits lapsed Catholics, the sick, help to prepare children for First Holy Communion and engage in parish and social work helping with nutrition and health care for poor children.

Jakarta Senatus: Cengkereng Comitium has 1,202 active members, 84 praetorians and 122 Adjutorians. They work in 16 parishes and 2 stations. Serpang Curia hold monthly meetings for auxiliaries. Mirror of Justice Curia, Campus has 9 senior praesidia with 77 active and 138 auxiliaries in 5 Universities. A Korean Curia has 4 praesidia.

Europe

AUSTRIA AND COUNTRIES UNDER THEIR CARE
Austria Senatus: Extension in the Spanish community is going well. Both the Spanish speaking and French speaking African praesidia are being nurtured. One praesidium undertakes an apostolate to street girls. Vienna West Curia makes regular extension efforts in the 7 parishes without the Legion. The attached Comitia and Curiae all celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Legion by organising a pilgrimage, a talk on our Founder followed by a special Mass and initiating a Novena.

UKRAINE: All councils held the Acies. Extension efforts were made in Crimea, in Zaparoshe and Kamenets. Elizabeth Kriss, Extension Worker, is in touch with all the councils.

MOLDOVA: Seven legionaries from Chisinau Curia attended the Summer School in the Ukraine. Efforts are being made to ensure work is done in pairs.

BULGARIA: The visit to Sophia by Fr. Calice and Austrian legionaries went well. Preparations are underway to start praesidia and print the Tessera in Bulgarian. One Greek Catholic Bishop and two Roman Catholic Bishops have given permission for the Legion in their Dioceses.

SLOVAKIA: Zseliz Comitium and Egyhasgelle Curia are seeking to extend. The establishing of a new Comitium is under discussion. Trnava Curia distribute the Legion magazine by email.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Bishop Karel Herbst, Spiritual Director of Prag Comitium celebrated Mass on 7th September for the 90th anniversary of the Legion. Olmuetz Comitium with 6 praesidia and attached Bruenn Curia undertake home and prison visitation.

BELARUS
Minch Comitium governs 7 directly attached praesidia and 10 Curiae. They are diligent in visiting their attached praesidia and Curiae. Most of the praesidia are engaged in similar works, e.g. visitation to ill Catholics, to problem families, to social and orphan asylums, to hospitals where and when as required they accompany the priest, contact work in parks and at bus stations and church work. Vitebsk Curia reported on preparation of children in a boarding school for Confession. Lida Curia has been blessed with a Spiritual Director. During work in an orphan asylum they prepared 8 children for First Confession and 3 for Holy Communion.

CROATIA AND COUNTRIES UNDER THEIR CARE:
Zagreb Regia: Praesidia reports presented told of numerous returns to the Sacraments from home, hospital and prison visitation. Osijek Comitium received a letter of appreciation from the Archbishop for the work of evangelisation in the Diocese. Queen of Martyrs Curia organised a Cana Fest - two day gathering of junior legionaries. Seventy-seven attended and the theme of the gathering was "The Life of Frank Duff".

BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA: Sarajevo Curia set up a new praesidium bringing their number to 6. Works include visitation of families, hospitals and nursing homes. Six contacts received the Sacrament of Confession and Holy Communion after a long time.

SLOVENIA: Ljublijana Curia has 6 praesidia, 762 Auxiliary members of whom 29 are Adjutorians. Two returns to religious practice were recorded.

HUNGARY
Budapest Regia: For the 90th anniversary, a pilgrimage was organised to Mariazell. Among works undertaken are organising Eucharistic Adoration, reciting the Rosary at funerals and teaching children in schools and crèches how to pray. Transport difficulties are the reason for low attendance at council meetings.

LATVIA
A praesidium in Salaspils set up in June has 3 members. A praesidium of 7 members engaged in home visitation and street contact say they are encountering increasing numbers of young people joining the Jehovah Witnesses. Fr. Hsmars, Spiritual Director of the Comitium, spoke on the Legion at a Priests' Conference in Riga and a number of priests showed interest.

LITHUANIA
Kaunas Comitium: A new praesidium was established in Pasturva with 8 members and 18 Auxiliary members enrolled. A praesidium of 6 members report bringing a family of 5 into the Church.

Telsiai Comitium: A praesidium of 12 members brought the priest to 15 ill people in their homes and during home visitation received a commitment from 47 people to pray the Rosary. A junior praesidium of 6 members invited 142 people to Mass in Church and spoke with 130 young people in schools.

POLAND
Lublin Regia: Three new praesidia were set up. Some fruits of the apostolate were four returns to the Sacraments, four children Baptised and three children prepared for First Holy Communion. The 90th anniversary was celebrated with Holy Mass in Lubelski Archcathedral presided over by Bishop Mizinski with 25 Spiritual Directors concelebrating.

Warsaw Comitium: The Comitium arranged for the Legion of Mary to feature in the first Catholic programme on Polish TV entitled "Between the Earth and Heaven". On Sunday 11th September, Fr. Jozef Sarznski, Spiritual Director of Lublin Regia and Anna Karlowicz, Secretary of Warsaw Comitium spoke briefly about the Legion on its 90th anniversary. A new Curia has been established in Plock Diocese. Helping victims of drugs and alcohol and poor children feature in work reports.

Katowice Comitium organised 3 Peregrinatio Pro Christo projects to Ostrava in Czech Republic. The 17th National Pilgrimage of the Legion of Mary to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa took place on the 9th and 10th September. Approximately 8,000 active and auxiliary Polish legionaries and 50 Belarusian legionaries came to Jasna Gora. The all night vigil was devoted to the subject - "The Charism of Frank Duff and the Legion". Holy Mass was concelebrated by Bishop Protect Ronan Marcinkowske and more than 70 Priests.

Africa

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Bangui Senatus directs a huge and varied apostolate involving thousands of members including large numbers of children and youth. A Comitium's Annual General Reunion had 643 present. The Senatus reports many cases of recovery from drugs, marriage regularisations, abortions prevented, orphans sheltered, sick people cared for and members of sects converted through kindness are recounted. Bossangoa Diocese has 2327 active members.

DEMOCRATIC CONGO
Following the visit of Concilium Visitators to the Congo by Pia Makengo and Henri Kaite, discussions are taking place in Kinshasa Senatus in regard to proper election procedures. The Regia of Kisangani is holding a Congress.

Senatus of Kananga: This body has been out of touch for some time but when visited by representatives from Kinshasa was found to be working well, as was the case when the Concilium Visitors attended the July meeting. A letter has been sent to thank the Archbishop of Kananga for agreeing to allow his internet facilities to be used for sending minutes to Concilium and for receiving Concilium letters and bulletin, the postal services being unreliable.

Senatus of Bukavu: Reports from Comitia are that two young legionaries have recently been ordained; their parents are also legionaries, two new Comitia have been set up, one in Burhuba and the other in Kamole. Two new junior Curiae have also been created. The death of Fr Andre Nakalonge, RIP, of Cimpunda Comitium is reported. Apostolic work included the preparation of 2,015 for the Sacraments; the enrolment of 2,532 in Catechism classes, visitation of 4,940 sick and elderly and bringing Communion to 1,534, both at home and in hospital, the regularisation of 39 marriages, visiting 300 ex-legionaries, of which 252 came back to the Legion. In an evangelisation mission: 10 Protestants, 3 Anglicans and 8 Jehovah's Witness returned to the Catholic Church. The Senatus has had 1,000 handbooks printed in Swahili in Butembo.

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Butembo Senatus: Works reported at the meeting include teaching of prayers to children, preparing sick for the Sacrament, 48 couples married, 6 conversions from sects and preparing Christians for Confession.

RWANDA
Kigali Senatus: A meeting of the diocesan chaplains congratulated the Legion on their efforts in schools. Two Curiae and many praesidia including one in a University and another in a secondary school were set up. One reporting Comitia has 2,692 active members in 17 Curiae and 9 attached praesidia and 33 junior praesidia. Another Comitium with 4,500 active members has 33 Curiae, 24 attached praesidia and 4 junior praesidia.

MAURITIUS/RODRIGUES
Minutes show that the new team of officers of Mauritius Regia is working well. Reports were received from St. Sacrament Comitium, St. Gabriel's Curia, Rodrigues and St. Paul's Curia, Mauritius. Mention is made of retreats for both seniors and juniors, efforts to recruit for the junior curia and annual outing. A concelebrated Mass was offered on 18th September to commemorate 90th Anniversary of the Legion.

REUNION
Reports from 3 senior and one junior Curiae. Works include visitation of homes, hospitals, mortuaries and teaching catechism. St. Peter's Curia has 47 Praesidia. Restructuring of council was discussed with Concilium Officers on the recent visit of Seyschelles, President and Dena, Treasurer, who also reported on visitation to 3 Curiae in Madagascar. They met Bishop Martin Nugent, who said he had been a Legionary in Dublin prior to ordination and is very interested in the work of the Legion.

Argentina and Brazil

ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Senatus: A meeting was held to discuss the points suggested to the Senatus President and Secretary on their Concilium visit. All present were delighted with the report given and accepted all that was proposed. A report was given also on the Concilium visit at a national meeting of legionaries held in the Corrientes Regia area at which most councils of the Republic were represented. Many Argentinean legionaries hope to travel to Ireland for the International Eucharistic Congress.

Salta Senatus: A National Youth conference is planned for three days in January to include Alfie Lambe's Anniversary in Buenos Aries. Rural extension is being carried out especially in villages with no priest. A Legion Stand in one of the main squares is manned during the celebrations of the patrons of the province at which over 100,000 pilgrims and tourists attend.

Cordoba Senatus: There are only 5 praesidia directly attached and there are 2 Comitia and 6 Curiae in the Archdiocese and 5 Comitia and 5 Curiae in provinces. Two praesidia were set up in Olivia recently.

Corrientes Regia: There are 6 Comitia, 9 Curiae and 26 praesidia attached to the Regia. It is hoped to set up a new Curia with some of the 26 praesidia. A number of praesidia were set up recently. Visitation of jails is undertaken.

Rosario Regia: One praesidium gives talks to godparents and helps the priest at Baptisms. They held a Frank Duff Promoters meeting and had an enrolment in the Brown Scapular. The Regia did extension work in the Indian reservation.

BRAZIL
Belo Horizonte Senatus: A week-end conference is to be held for officers of councils attached to the Senatus, which has over 65,000 active members. A city centre praesidium includes all in its visitation: apartments, commercial properties and special attention is given to domestic servants. Two prisoners testified to a spiritual transformation enabling them to forgive others resulting from the legionaries' visits. Medical and other staff are contacted at an Accident and Emergency Centre. One parish priest expressed renewed confidence in the Legion after a Spiritual Directors' conference.

Fortaleza Senatus: One Comitium reported 249 Enthronements of the Sacred Heart in homes; a Comitium in Crato reported 8,640 visits to homes and a Curia visited 2,337 sick people in hospital.

Ponta Grossa Senatus: The new Regia of Guarapuava reported 6,534 visits to homes; many visits were made to the bereaved, to the sick at home and in hospital, to prisons and to relatives of prisoners and to drug users.

Recife Senatus: The Senatus President attributes her recovery from a grave illness to prayers of intercession to Servant of God Frank Duff. The Rosary is recited in many homes including those of Protestants. Lapsed families return to the Catholic faith. Juniors do home to home visitation accompanied by an adult member. One Comitium reports an increase of 71 active members, 51 being juniors. All councils are involved in extension based on the plans of the Senatus. The Senatus produces a Legion journal for the whole country printing over 27,000 copies.

Rio de Janeiro Senatus: The Rosary is recited frequently on home visitation including in many Protestant homes. The sick are accompanied to hospital for medical attention. Legionaries in the State of Rio prepare couples for the celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage in groups. Niteroi Regia is to host a national Spiritual Directors' conference. Up to 70 priests and two bishops are expected to attend. The affiliated Belem Regia reports Exploratio Dominicalis and the setting up of four praesidia. In the western region of Amazonia the Bishop accompanied the legionaries on visitation.

Salvador Senatus: Many praesidia have between 10 and 16 members. Efforts are made also to set up junior praesidia. Apostolate to the sick involves dressing wounds and giving injections. Also blood is donated in life threatening situations. Youths are recruited for Catechism classes. In Barra city Legionaries give courses to parents and godparents in preparation for the baptism of children. In the town of São Felipe a special effort is made to promote the Rosary, in particular among men. Families in conflict and families of murdered victims are helped though visitation to survive the tragic conditions. Also a legionary pair look after a family suffering from Aids.

São Luís Senatus: Street Rosaries are said twice a week and 10,000 Rosaries were recited in homes. Also, over a thousand Bible circles were held in homes. In another home a Protestant minister joined hands with the Legionaries in saying the Hail Mary. About 10 correspondents take part in the Regia meeting. Besides visiting those in prison, legionaries also visit their families. Twenty two people were given literacy and artisan courses.

São Paulo Senatus: Some young legionaries reported on a Peregrinatio Pro Christo in three towns in Porto Alegre; a junior praesidium was set up. At the September meeting some other young legionaries reported on the World Youth Day in Madrid. A report from one Comitium showed 456 street contacts with people away from the Church. Brasília Regia: The Bishop of Mozarlandia wrote to the Regia expressing his gratitude for the Peregrinatio Pro Christo project that resulted in setting up the Legion in his Diocese. On family visitation Legionaries promote reception of the Sacraments and attendance at Catechism. Also many rosaries are said and Bible circles organised. The Regia carried out Curia visitation in a region over 500 miles away.

ELISABETH KRISS - EXTENSION WORKER IN UKRAINE

Elisabeth Kriss continues to work in the Ukraine and has set up a senior and a junior praesidium among the Greek Catholics. She will leave Ukraine at the end of this month in order to obtain a visa in Vienna which will enable her to continue her work there. At the same time she will also do the paperwork for her visa to Kazakhstan. Please keep her in your prayers.

VISITATION BY CONCILIUM OF CINCINNATI, OHIO AND NEW YORK COUNCILS

Mary Fahy and Mary Bonner attended the Cincinnati Senatus Meeting and visited some of its attached praesidia. The Legion covers five States and has a Legion presence in all five. There is an extension worker attached to this council who is extending the Legion in the North of Cincinnati. Some of the works being undertaken by legionaries are RCIA and visiting the sick. The importance of working in pairs was stressed. They also met the Auxiliary Bishop. Thanks were expressed by the members of this council to their correspondent, Noreen Murphy.

The legionaries also visited New York Senatus which covers 2 Dioceses and has 6 Comitia, 14 Curiae and 21 praesidia attached. They attended the Senatus meeting and visited a number of praesidia and found them to be working very well. Works being carried out are visitation of prisons and the sick in homes and nursing homes and legionaries work in close union with the priest.
Sile Ni Chochlain, President of the Concilium, thanked the legionaries for undertaking this visitation.

Thanks is expressed to all Legion councils which arranged a special Mass to mark the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the Legion.

Cause of The Servant of God, Frank Duff

The prayer for Beatification can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website:
www.legion-of-mary.ie or from Concilium Legionis Mariae

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets to legionaries and to the general public; through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.

Favours attributed to the intercession of The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:
Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND.

N O T I C E
Any Legion council officers who are registering for the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin are asked to
note that
the June 2012 Concilium meeting will take place on
SATURDAY 9th June 2012 at 3.00 pm
in Legion headquarters


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Concilium Allocutio October 2011
By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.
Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

Reflections on the First Allocutio in Legion History

During the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Legion of Mary we have been reflecting on various aspects of the very first meeting of the Legion. That first meeting is very special in many ways because it sets the pattern and spirit of every other meeting that takes place in the Legion. We have already meditated long and deeply on the indissoluble connection and influence of the True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis Marie de Montfort on the first meeting. There would probably have been no first meeting and no Legion if the 'first nighters' had not been exposed beforehand to de Montfort by the talk and explanation given by our Founder Frank Duff. The spirit and teaching of de Montfort has been branded on the very soul of the Legion. But there were others things at least as important as the True Devotion to Mary that dominated the spirit and motives of that first night and every moment of the existence of the Legion ever since. These were the spiritual reading and the first allocutio and the discussion that took place on them.

There was, of course, no Handbook from which to pick the spiritual reading at that time. That became more or less customary much later. So Fr. Michael Toher, the local curate, read the 25th Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel and then commented on it by way of an allocutio and then the whole little group discussed it at length. They fastened on the key words: 'Whatever you did to the least of my brethren you did to Me.' Those words provided the motive and method of every Legion apostolate. They express the doctrine of the mystical Body of Christ in the clearest and most practical way. There is no Legion without the doctrine of the mystical Body of Christ. From the very first meeting the Holy Spirit made sure that the Legion would be properly centred and rooted in this Gospel teaching. Frank Duff vividly recalls how the first young legionaries vied with each other to visit the very poor in the Cancer Ward of the old Union Hospital and the joy they brought to this apostolate because they firmly believed that they were meeting and caring for Our Lord in these hopeless patients.

Again in an Address to a group of Quakers on the work of the Morning Star Hostel he said: 'How is the work of the Morning Star possible? There is one way only - it comes from the realisation of the Christian truth that in our neighbour we must see Christ Our Lord and that not as a mere sentimental expression, but in a manner which though supernatural and beyond our power of understanding is nevertheless in the order of reality. The 25th Chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew "As often as you did it to some of these my least brethren, you did it to Me". These words are the charter of the Morning Star; they are its moral foundation stone, its motive-power, and its guarantee of its success. Without that motive power, the work would not go far. It is too thankless, too arduous, too grim, too much above mere human striving and thoughts.'

One would have to add that this pivotal attitude of seeing Christ in our neighbour is not only activated in our formal Legion work but should be present in every personal contact. It provides a deeper meaning to the Legion saying that the legionary is never off duty. Certainly in his writings, his letters, his audio tapes, the Handbook, one comes across familiar passages like the following: 'The rich, the poor, the respected or those who, for various reasons, are not respected - the Legionary approaches all with the same respectful manner. This is not a business manner, assumed for the purpose of ingratiating themselves. It is a consequence of the Mystical Body of Christ. "So often as you did it unto one of these my least brethren, you did it to me." Even the unthankful, the evil, and the greatest objects of natural repulsion, are to be viewed in this light, and to be rendered a reverential and princely service.'

This doctrine of the mystical Body of Christ developed and deepened gradually in the thought and life of our Founder. He certainly learned about the application of the Gospel text in Matthew from his years in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul which he joined in 1913. He wrote about seeing Christ in our neighbour in his pre-Legion classic 'Can we be Saints?' He rejoiced that this doctrine was central to the first meeting of the Legion and it was incorporated into all the editions of the Handbook. Finally, lest it should ever be neglected or overlooked it was placed in the Standing Instruction to be read at the first meeting of every month. 'Every legionary binds himself to the performance of a substantial active legionary work, in the spirit of faith and in union with Mary, in such 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.' From time to time I think it would be a very helpful exercise if every praesidium were to ask itself whether it is really living the doctrine of the mystical Body of Christ in its meetings. If it is not being lived there, it is hard to see how it can be lived in our apostolates and other personal contacts.

By way of conclusion let me add that in one of the interviews recorded on video tape the interviewer, the late Father Al Norrell, asked Frank what he thought of the Legion as a maker of saints. Frank found this designation absolutely justified. 'The Legion of Mary,' he said, 'put into the legionary mind the capacity for understanding the great Catholic doctrines: the doctrine of the Mystical Body, the Motherhood of Our Lady, and the extraordinary influence of Our Lady with the Holy Spirit. These things are holy and sanctifying,' he added, 'and they make saints by the bushel.' The Legion is not a pious association of men and women with a deep but sentimental devotion to Our Lady and a fussy desire to do all kind of useful little things for the Church. From its very first meeting it resolved to live the great doctrines of the Church especially the teaching on the Mystical Body of Christ and the Motherhood of Mary and it specialised in heroic forms of the apostolate and was willing to undertake what humanly speaking seemed to be impossible.

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Concilium News September 2011

90th Anniversary of the Legion of Mary

Reports were presented at the Concilium Meeting on the celebrations in Dublin to mark the 90th Anniversary of the foundation of the Legion. There was an Open Day at the Concilium headquarters and in the adjoining Legion Hostels, the Regina Coeli and the Morning Star, on Wednesday 7 September. This included an Exhibition showing photographs and some of the history of the Legion and of the Founder, the Servant of God Frank Duff. Mass was celebrated in Our Lady of the Angels’ Capuchin Church in Church Street in the evening. Celebrations were held also in Myra House, Francis Street, where the first Legion meeting was held. On Saturday 10 September there was Eucharistic Adoration all day in the Church of St. Nicholas of Myra, Francis Street and Mass was celebrated in the evening. There was an Exhibition on both Saturday 10 September and Sunday 11 September in Myra House.

Peregrinatio Pro Christo

A report on the Peregrinatio Pro Christo showed that there were 20 projects to Britain in 2011. There were projects also to Finland, Berlin and Amsterdam.

Change of Date of Concilium Meeting in June 2012

Correspondents were asked to remind councils that as the International Eucharistic Congress takes place in Dublin 10 – 17 June 2012, the Concilium meeting that month will be held on Saturday 9 June at 3 p.m.

Visitors

Among visitors to the meeting were Rev. Fr. Emanuel Wahyu Widodo, Spiritual Director, and Mary Irawan, Theresia Maria Dowi Sumargo and Yulia Herawati, Malang Senatus, Indonesia; and Marko Knezevic and Ivan Medic, Our Lady of the Snow Curia, Petrinja, Croatia.


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Concilium Bulletin September 2011

ASIA

NEPAL
Mumbai Regia visitors visited Nepal between 25 August and 4 September. The praesidium in Baniyatar has 9 members and Rev. Sr. Jeliyola as spiritual director. They visit homes, jails and hospitals.
The Godavari praesidium, which had gone down to 3 members now has 5 seniors with Sr. Rose Lima as spiritual director, and 14 in the junior praesidium. The praesidium in Jhawalakhel has 11 members and Fr. Richard Rai as spiritual director. The Curia was reactivated after a year's lapse and Bishop Anthony Sharma has appointed Fr. Richard as Spiritual Director. The visitors have made recommendations to help the legionaries.

PAKISTAN
The senior praesidium reported at Curia has 18 members visiting homes and ghettoes. Extension was undertaken to 2 parishes.

SRI LANKA
Jaffna Comitium celebrated its 75th anniversary with Bishop and 1,000 legionaries. Lanka Comitium has 180 senior praesidia with 2,170 members and 64 junior praesidia with 622 members and also report on auxiliary, adjutorian and praetorian members. A conference on the charism of Frank Duff was held at which there was an attendance of 28. Colombo junior Curia has 5 praesidia in schools, parishes and 2 in the seminary. Much extension is done. Eight chapters of the English Handbook have been translated into Sinhala.

MYANMAR
Just 5 parishes in Yangon Archdioceses don't yet have the Legion but extension is underway. Much good work is done: people are asked to change their lifestyles to enable them to validly receive the Sacraments; prisons visited; workshops are organised to discuss the Legion's spirituality now that the Handbook is available in the Myanmar language.

THAILAND
There are 13 junior praesidia in Bangkok with 200 members visiting orphans, the blind and the elderly. Much good work is done among families and bible study is being encouraged.

INDIA
Visakhapatnam Comitium visited 6 villages and hope to start the Legion but most of the villagers are illiterate. It was suggested that classes be started to help people to learn to read and write which would add to the dignity of the person. Coimbatore Comitium a fifth praesidium was started, in one parish, of 5 members. A youth seminar was organised followed by curia meeting followed by social and competitions for youth. Port Blair Comitium (Andaman Islands) sent a report for the year 2010. The Legion presence in 4 parishes totals 34 praesidia. Members visit the sick, encourage family prayer and arranged burial services for 38 Catholics, 5 Christians, 4 Muslims and 6 Hindus. There are 3 Curiae also attached.

Mumbai Regia has the Legion at work in 20 of the 45 dioceses in their care and hope to start in 4 more dioceses in the near future. The number of candidates for RCIA and auxiliary membership has increased. The Rosary is promoted, marriages regularised and homes enthroned to the Sacred Heart. Extension features in all reports.
Karnataka Regia works in all 11 dioceses. Further extension is underway in 2 dioceses. There is an outreach to Catholics, Muslim and Hindus with good results. The Regia will be inaugurated at the Senatus meeting on 15 October with the Archbishop of Bangalore in attendance.
Kottar Regia: Much good work is done in the visitation of homes and hospitals, and visitation of councils and praesidia is well organised. Marathandam Comitium with 8 Curiae, 18 affiliated praesidia is also helped. Tuticorin: Family disputes were settled, marriages were regularised, pilgrimages were organised. The President asked that those displaced by the tsunami be visited and encouraged as many feel isolated. A second Comitium has been established in Vallioor. Kolkata Comitium: a question and answer session was taken at the May meeting.

EUROPE

FRANCE
Paris Regia: The Regia has more than 20 directly attached praesidia, plus 3 Curiae. Membership in reporting praesidia ranged from 5 to 8 and works included bringing the Eucharist to the sick, support for bereaved families, street apostolate and contact with homeless people. Two families were prepared for baptism. The correspondent with Guadeloupe Comitium reports that the council has 23 praesidia and 5 Curiae directly attached.
Valence Regia: Works include visiting hospitals, nursing homes, people living alone, bringing the Eucharist to the sick, and running a junior praesidium. There are two praesidia at Chateauneuf de Galaure, and the Vietnamese Curia at Lyon has 4 praesidia with 20 active and 30 auxiliary members.
Aire et Dax Regia: Extension attempted in 3 parishes in the Regia area. One praesidium with 4 members was set up in Oloron-Ste-Marie. The praesidium reporting in June has 11 members, 21 auxiliaries and 7 Adjutorians.
Strasbourg: Colmar Curia organised a celebration in August for the 90th anniversary, and much joy reported on the occasion of the ordination by the Bishop of Metz of a legionary brother to the deaconate.

ENGLAND
Birmingham Senatus: New converts reported in Perry Bar Parish and Dudley Road parish, and one young Chinese man who was contacted at Warwick University in Coventry was received into the Church at Easter. South Birmingham Curia reports a new praesidium with 5 members in Sheldon, and parents of a family of 5 children married and the children prepared for Baptism. In Bristol one contact returned to the sacraments after 50 years. Swansea Curia has 4 praesidia and good efforts to extend into new parishes are being made. Northampton Curia has 9 praesidia and 1 affiliated Curia, and an approach has been made to Kents Hill Parish to start the Legion. Caring for the newly-baptised and preparing children for the sacraments mentioned in reports, and also prison visitation are among the works listed.
Liverpool Senatus: Manchester Comitium has 2 attached Curiae and 7 praesidia. The juniors are very active in Blackburn, an intermediate praesidium with 5 members, and the participation of young legionaries in the Holy Father's visit to Britain. A new praesidium has 10 members reported in St. Joseph's, Bury. Leeds Curia report a new praesidium in the Cathedral Parish; a new junior praesidium in St. Anselm's College, Birkenhead. Juniors mentioned in the reports from Newcastle Comitium and Fylde Curia. Newcastle also mentioned Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the little chapel in Gateshead Metro Centre. Warrington Curia reports a new praesidium at Widnes, and the new praesidium at Our Lady and St. Philomena's continues to thrive. Our Lady of Guadalupe Praesidium held a talk on Frank Duff in the Sacred Heart Catholic College and distributed leaflets to over 200 students. Legionaries in Leigh Curia recite the Litany of Loreto each day for the success of PPC projects.
Central London: Members of the Congolese praesidium visit families in the company of their priest, a number have returned to the church. One praesidium held a recruiting drive and increased their membership by 9. A praesidium, with 8 members recited the Rosary during Lent on the steps outside the Church after Monday evening Mass and in May.
Brentwood Comitium: A new praesidium has been set up at the Sacred Heart Church in Southend attached to Brentwood East Curia. Another new praesidium has started in Basildon. On the occasion of the first anniversary of the setting up of Mary Mother of God praesidium in Chelmsford a Mass was celebrated.

WALES
Cardiff Comitium has set up Merthyr Curia, and the Wrexham report of Our Lady Help of Christians in Queensferry reports visitation of homes, hospitals and the housebound, and manning the tea-bar at Deeside Hospital where many good contacts are made.
Hammersmith Curia has 8 praesidia. Members engage mostly in parish work and visiting hospitals and nursing homes.
West Middlesex Curia: The death of former President Ivor Harris was announced, and Fr. Bill Hanly is the new Spiritual Director. The membership of 4 reporting praesidia is 9, 4, 5 and 5, and of these 5 are praetorians. Works include a young unmarried student mother is now under instruction in the faith and an elderly Jewish lady is being taught how to make the sign of the Cross.

SWEDEN
Sweden: A group from Sweden visited Dublin as part of the 90th foundation celebrations, all members are of the Chaldean rite; they were accompanied by two legionaries from the caretaking council - Liverpool Senatus. A praesidium has been established in Stockholm, and Liverpool Senatus appointed 3 new correspondents for Sweden recently. Funds from the sale of the Senatus House in Derby Lane will be used towards the translation of the Handbook into Swedish.

GERMANY
Frankfurt Senatus: The Korean Curia has 13 praesidia, a new one formed recently, and a retreat had an attendance of 143 from all over Europe.
Köln Regia has 2 Comitia, 5 Curiae and 8 directly attach praesidia. Extension was carried out in Moenchengladback and PPC to East Berlin. The Spiritual Director of Köln Regia and the President of Munich Senatus attended a meeting of lay organisations called by Archbishop Zollitsch.
Berlin Comitium - 10 adults were baptised in the Korean Curia, there are 20 members in the Croatian and 12 in the Filipino praesidia. The African Mass is promoted by Freiburg Comitium.
Munich Senatus awaits ecclesiastical permission to become a Regia and be attached to Frankfurt Senatus. Munich North West Curia has 3 praesidia attached and Wuerzburg Curia has 2 with hopes for a new praesidium in Muennerstadt.

SWITZERLAND
Zurich Curia report new praesidia at Bern and Zug and in Luzern Curia a restaurant apostolate is carried out.

SIBERIA
The new Curia in Irkutsk made contact with parishioners in Novosibirsk and Krasnojarsk. Frankfurt Senatus will again send 2 legionaries to Siberia in October.

THE NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam Regia - the praesidium at Lisse report the Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion of a 90 year old lady. The auxiliary Bishop of Haarlem/ Amsterdam confirms the imprimatur of the Dutch Handbook. The Cape Verde Curia in Rotterdam has 3 praesidia, 56 active and 50 auxiliary members. They keep contact with the praesidium in Amiens (France) which they helped to establish. Antwerp Senatus: Beringen Curia has 6 praesidia. Five members of the Senatus helped at the Permanence in Lourdes. Extension work in Switzerland was undertaken by 11 legionaries as requested by the Concilium. They did mainly street contact and visited a school in Lugano where they were received by the Bishop; 7 auxiliaries were recruited.

NORWAY
There are 2 praesidia in Norway. In Tonsberg there are 5 active members, 12 auxiliaries, and works include teaching catechism to children and encouraging people to attend Mass. Efforts continue to establish the Legion in Sandefjord and in the city of Oslo. Dramman praesidium has 10 members two of whom attended World Youth Day in Madrid where they found a Legion stand and great contacts were being made.

SCOTLAND
Edinburgh Curia reported an increase in membership. A new praesidium has been established in St. Andrews; members encourage people to pray in church and they bring the Rosary to children in the Primary School. The harsh winter affected the Christmas Crib apostolate, but the success of the PPC projects in July and August was a consolation. Susan Boyle attended the Curia reunion and entertained the legionaries with her beautiful voice. Mater Ecclesia Curia reported that a Patrician Group for parents of secondary school students was organised. Annunciata Curia reported good contacts at the Crib despite the awful weather. Ayrshire Curia plans to hold a Congress in October and had very worthwhile contacts at the Easter Garden. The curia had a stall at a fete in Kilwinning. Our Lady Seat of Wisdom praesidium members work in the Wayside Club, and home visitation, park contact and the book barrow are listed among the work. Notre Dame de Lourdes praesidium had a review of the year's work - what worked and what didn't. The officers met twice during the year, reviewing the work with Canon Conroy and Fr. Kane.

FINLAND
In the caretakership of Scotland, extension in Finland was well aired at the March meeting of the Senatus. The extension in the autumn by two visiting legionaries, followed by further visits in the Spring of 2012 is planned.

AFRICA

CAMEROUN (CHAD)
A junior praesidium has been set up in a minor seminary and another one of 24 juniors in a school. Many other Curiae mention new junior groups and also Exploratio Dominicalis. Yaounde Regia has 14 Comitia, 11 Curiae and 8 attached praesidia with a total of 9,234 active legionaries and 3420 auxiliaries. Limbe and Bamenda Comitium were congratulated for their extension efforts. In the Diocese of D'Eseka a praesidium of 33 juniors was set up. The national chaplain for the Legion of Mary and the lay apostolate in the Cameroon congratulated and encouraged the legionaries on their work with juniors.

IVORY COAST
Due to the serious civil unrest in the country the Senatus of Abidjan elections for President and Vice-President will not take place until December.
A praesidium in Yopougan Comitium reported visits to the sick, to prisons, to workshops, to hairdressing and fashion salons and teach catechism. During the year many souls were led or restored to the Church. Grand Bassan Comitium also had large numbers who returned to the Church.
The Senatus set up a Regia for the ecclesiastical province of Gagnoa on 20th February last in the presence of the Archbishop of that city.

REPUBLIC OF BENIN
Directly related praesidia of Cotonou Regia have active memberships of 13, 22 and 28. There are between 13 to 21 praesidia in the attached Curiae and Comitia governing 8, 9 and 12 Curiae. The junior Curia in the city has grown from 5 to 6 praesidia catering for 131 junior members with 2 Frank Duff clubs attached. The Regia carried out visitation in Gabon from 3rd to 12th May.

BURKINA FASO
The Cathedral Curia has 7 praesidia visiting homes and hospitals and engaging with Muslims and Protestants while Koubri Curia has 9 praesidia. This Curia reports a seasonal drop in attendance when the people leave to work on the land.

ECUATORIAL GUINEA
A visitation by the Senatus of Madrid to this council took place from the 7th September to 23rd September. A report is awaited.

GUINEA
Conakrey Comitium: A report is awaited from the President of the Comitium on the visitation of the distant councils. A growing practice of visitation is evidenced in the minutes. Two legionaries from Conakry Comitium visited a distant council in Gueckedou and found difficulties with illiteracy, which prevents correspondence and the keeping of minutes, a meeting was held with all legionaries.

TOGO
Lome Regia: All councils reported doing home visitation, contacts with Muslims and those following the traditional African religion. Adidogome Curia has 40 praesidia and one junior Curia with 20 praesidia. Most curiae report having juniors attached. Since 2007, Lome Regia organises a PPC project every year to Ghana. President and another legionary made a visitation to the Archdiocese of Dakar and 6 other Dioceses during a 2 and a half week period. All Dioceses have a presence of the Legion with the exception of Saint Louis where the legionaries got permission to start the Legion. Lack of Handbooks and Tesserae is hampering the development of the Legion in Senegal.

CONGO
Brazzaville Regia: Works include teaching Catechism, preparing the liturgy, home and prison visitation and bringing Holy Communion to the housebound. One Comitium reported 28 marriages regularised, 261 couples reconciled, 95 returned to the Sacraments, 35 people requested Baptism. Contact is made with Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Muslims, Pagans, member of sects and atheists. Over 200 legionaries took part in a meeting on the theme 'The role of praesidia officers … organise your Church and live the Faith'. Led by the Spiritual Director of the Legion of Mary for the Archdiocese of Brazzaville.

CENTRAL AMERICA

MEXICO
Mexico City Senatus: A Curia reported the return of a family to the Church. A number of children including older children were baptised. An attached Comitium set up a new Curia and a Patrician meeting. Two officers of the Senatus visited the Concilium for the 90th Anniversary. They reported some extension in the Senatus area but it is slow.

Merida Senatus: A copy of the audit for 2010 was sent to Concilium. Arising from home visitation large numbers returned to the sacraments and 5 children of Jehovah Witness parents were baptised and received into the Church. A number of junior praesidia were set up. A PPC project was carried out to Chiapas. About 700 homes were visited, numerous problems were encountered and a large number returned to the sacraments. Two legionaries from the Senatus recently carried out a very successful visit to the Legion in Guatemala on behalf of Concilium and that council will now caretake Guatemala on behalf of the Concilium.

Leon Regia: The junior Curia with 9 praesidia and two in formation reported. They bring children to Mass and give a catechism class. They are campaigning to stop the use of bad language. Forty young persons attended an outdoor Holy Week ceremony.

Hermosillo Regia: Two women returned to the practice of the faith and joined the Legion. Four praesidia were set up but one did not survive. A praesidium teaching catechism invited children and parents to a retreat. Promotion of the Frank Duff cause is obvious and legionaries are encouraged to study the handbook for 5 minutes per day. A new Spiritual Director, who was appointed recently, is very helpful to the Regia.

Monterrey Regia: Two legionaries spoke at the Masses in Linares. The correspondent subsequently visited two priests and the Bishop. They have promised a letter of recommendation to the priests. Juniors organised a retreat and attracted many young people from other religions. A praesidium has been set up and 3 more are in formation. There are 12 Curiae in the attached Comitium of Saltillo.

Guadalajara Regia: In the course of home visitation the Miraculous Medal and the Rosary are promoted. The Regia is extending and special efforts are being made to encourage juniors. A Comitium reported 142 juniors and an attached Curia reported having 105 juniors.

COSTA RICA
Senatus of San Jose: All praesidia are doing home visitation and offer the Miraculous medal with an explanation leaflet. The Rosary is also promoted.

EL SALVADOR
Senatus of San Salvador: There are 2 Comitia, 10 Curiae and 9 praesidia attached to the Senatus. The Legion is in all the dioceses. Most of the councils have had their accounts audited. The Comitium of San Vicente gives particular attention to the juniors.

PANAMA
Panama Regia: The Regia emphasises the value of recruiting and all the praesidia have a large number of faithful auxiliaries. A praesidium reports the consecration of the Sacred Heart in many homes each month. Legionaries helped organise and took part in the Corpus Christi procession in their parish, which attracted a large number of parishioners including many young people. The praesidium is now setting up a junior praesidium.

NICARAGUA
Regia of Managua: The Archbishop indicated that he would like to be present at a Congress, which the Regia is planning. The 4 praesidia, which reported have 22, 20, 16 and 10 members respectively. All do extensive home visitation and report very positive results particularly returns to the sacraments. One praesidium makes contact with the young people in the market area.

HONDURAS
Senatus of Tegucigalpa: The legionaries conduct a programme on catholic radio. The suggestion to study the handbook for 5 minutes per day is proving very positive. A praesidium reported that they set up another praesidium in a neighbouring parish.

ELISABETH KRISS - EXTENSION WORKER IN UKRAINE

Elisabeth Kriss has been working in the Ukraine for the past few weeks among the Greek Catholics. She has received a warm welcome from the Bishop and the clergy she has met. She hopes that a junior praesidium will start shortly. The Bishop is giving her a letter of introduction, as is the Concilium. Elisabeth is also making arrangements for her visas both for the Ukraine and for Kazakhstan where she will do extension work later in the year. Please pray for the success of her work

90th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AT CONCILIUM AND MYRA HOUSE, DUBLIN

The open day was held in Concilium on the 7th September 2011, the birthday of the Legion, from 10 a.m. till 10.15 p.m. During the day more than 300 people came to visit among them groups from Cork to Belfast and Wexford to Donegal. They visited the 2 elements of the exhibition in Legion headquarters and in Nazareth Hall, had a tour of the Regina Coeli and Morning Star Hostels, visited Frank Duff's House and had the possibility of availing of a shuttle bus, which brought people from Concilium to the grave of Frank Duff in Glasnevin Cemetery. The 7.30 p.m. Mass in St. Mary of the Angels Church had a packed attendance, was celebrated by Bishop Fiachra Ó Ceallaigh with a homily by Fr. Pádraig Ó Cochláin. This was followed by tea and social back in Nazareth Hall, which was attended, despite the inclement weather, by about 200. All in all in was a joyful day full of blessings. On the 10th and 11th September in Myra House, where the first Legion of Mary meeting took place, there was an exhibition and all-day Adoration in St. Nicholas of Myra Church and concluded with a special Mass, celebrated by Fr. Bede McGregor OP, Spiritual Director of the Concilium. On the Sunday there was a chat-in at which approximately 80 people attended and it was found to be very interesting and informative. Síle Ní Chochláin, President of Concilium, extended thanks to all who made these events enjoyable and successful.

Cause of The Servant of God, Frank Duff

The prayer for Beatification can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website: http://www.legionofmary.ie or from Concilium Legionis Mariae

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets to legionaries and to the general public; through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:
Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND.

N O T I C E
Any Legion council officers who are registering for the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin are asked to note that the June 2012 Concilium meeting will take place on
SATURDAY 9th June 2012 at 3.00 pm in Legion headquarters


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Concilium Allocutio September 2011

By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.

Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

Birthday of the Legion of Mary

The 7th of September 2011 marked the 90th birthday of the Legion of Mary. Frank Duff never tired of recalling the first meeting of the Legion of Mary then named 'The Association of Our Lady of Mercy'. The story of that first night is placed as the first chapter of the Legion Handbook. Why? I think because it puts at the beginning the spirit and the pattern of every future meeting of the Legion no matter where it takes place in the world and no matter what language it is conducted in. A legionary should feel completely at home at a Legion meeting anywhere and everywhere in the world. Let me quote at length our Founder: 'But not the least wonderful thing was that the very first meeting showed us the Legion of Mary as it is today.' There were a few things that were necessarily absent - we had not the name Legion of Mary, we had not the Standard, we had not the purely Legion Prayers - all these came at a later stage. But as regards the system and setting, the devotional outlook, the spirit and the atmosphere, the Legion was as fully grown at its first meeting as it is today.

The Handbook says that the starting of the Legion of Mary was not a work of human premeditation. It just happened and with an absolute minimum of discussion, such that everything had almost the air of being cut and dried. But when afterwards, in the light of its great development, one scrutinised the event minutely, it became manifest that it was the work of Providence and that every detail was most precisely arranged. This minuteness, moreover, would go infinitely beyond anything which we could imagine. But is not this painting the Legion in too high a colour? No, because God goes into that unlimited detail in absolutely everything He does. Look at the eye, or any other part of an insect, through these new electronic microscopes and see the sheer wonder of it. If that applies to the insect which is destined to live for a day or two and whose purpose is obscure to us, why deny the same sort of preparation and perfection to the Legion of Mary which has already figured as a major item in the Church?

'To see God in His works is an act of adoration. Also it is one of His most incomprehensible aspects that He takes pleasure out of our admiration of what He does.'

The reason I stress that the spirit and structure of the Legion meeting in all its detail are a gift of divine providence is that we might always remember that they are therefore sacrosanct and not open to changes demanded by purely human agencies.

Now the question might arise: was there no development from that first meeting? Yes, of course there was growth and development. Frank Duff explains: 'It has been said that the Legion was born fully grown. That is not completely accurate. For instance it did not possess its name at the outset. The Vexillum, the Tessera, the Promise, its Patrons, the Catena, the Legion Prayer were hidden in the future. Its own primary doctrines such as the Mystical Body and the Holy Spirit were imperfectly grasped in the earlier stages but they were there - just as the baby has organs which it does not as yet comprehend. But that baby image is completely effective in one respect. The baby concentrates on its mother and the infant [Legion] did likewise in regard to its Mother.'

Let me take just one example of profound development of that initial meeting of the Legion. The Legion developed but did not change its radical identity. The first corporate act of the Legion was to go on its knees and pray to the Holy Spirit. What a magnificent beginning to any spiritual movement especially an apostolic one. We forget this principle at our absolute peril. The Legion came into existence directly under the influence of De Montfort's true devotion to Mary and the first legionaries were most conscious of Mary and her place in the divine plan. Nevertheless, they begin everything by invoking the Holy Spirit. The primacy of the Holy Spirit is there from the first meeting but it becomes more explicit as the Legion grows. We see that development in the message of the Vexillum, the painting of the Tessera and above all the Legion Promise which is a total dedication to the Holy Spirit in and through and with Mary. There is no tension between the true devotion to the Holy Spirit called for by the Legion Promise and true devotion to Mary which is at the foundation of the Legion. The Holy Spirit and Mary are inseparable. There is perfect harmony between them and it must never be forgotten that it is through the Holy Spirit together with Mary that Jesus comes into the world and in no other way. It is through the Holy Spirit together with Mary that Jesus is put at the very centre of Legion spirituality.

This pivotal principle that was present at the birth of the Legion is now more fully possessed and developed. There is a theological logic in the thought of Frank Duff when he says that devotion to the Virgin Mary is incomparably the best devotion to the Holy Spirit. The Archangel Gabriel puts it so succinctly and categorically: 'the Holy Spirit will come upon you.' Mary is profoundly immersed in the Holy Spirit so that to be united and devoted to Mary will mean a lovely and true devotion to the Holy Spirit. The Legion of Mary could be just as truly called the Legion of the Holy Spirit. Of course it is both.



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Concilium Bulletin August 2011

United States
ST. LOUIS
Saint Louis Senatus: The Legion had a booth at the Eucharistic Congress held at the St. Louis University High School and at the Cathedral. Prayer Services were held in Jefferson County jail and in the Juvenile Detention Centre. Confessions were organised. Twelve women prisoners attend RCIA courses and 2 inmates were converted. Two prison guards began Catechism classes. As a result of a Novena to Frank Duff, a lady suffering from arthritis was cured. Details will be forwarded to Concilium.

HOUSTON
Houston Senatus: Eighteen legionaries took part in a Peregrinatio Pro Christo project to Arizona. Gallup Comitium rotates their meeting venues to encourage attendance. The Southern Comitium has done extension and hopes to establish new praesidia. In New Orleans Regia, a praesidium had done 538 hours of door-to-door visitation. The Sacred Heart was enthroned in many homes. The Vietnamese Curia is a great support to their community and their priests. In the Bay Area Curia, juniors had a Pets Day in nursing homes. A Chinese Curia organised a Mother's Day crowning ceremony.

CHICAGO
Chicago Senatus: In Rockford Curia door-to-door visitation resulted in 12 converts and 12 returns to the Church. A praesidium in Chicago was instrumental in bringing a priest to hear 16 Confessions in a nursing home. There are 4 prison praesidia and members hope to continue their membership on discharge. Eight prisoners were converted. Contact is done at train stations and a booth was manned at a 6-day fair. Good contacts were made.

PHILADELPHIA
Philadelphia Senatus: Metachen Comitium reactivated a dormant praesidium and started a junior one. In Camden Comitium in New Jersey prisons are visited and 4 book-barrows operated. They had 26 returns to the faith, 7 Baptisms and one Marriage validated. A Women's shelter and prison are visited. In Pittsburgh Regia visits are made to a women's shelter and a women's correction centre, curb-side contacting is done in a difficult district. Two new praesidia have been started. The Korean Curia does street apostolate and the Spanish Curia visits a flea market and had 3 returns, 3 Marriages validated and 18 children baptised.

BOSTON
Boston Senatus: Two visitors from New York visited the Senatus in May. Catholics are encouraged to attend Sunday Mass. Universities are visited to encourage the youth to become Catholics and explain the value of the Mass. Prisons are visited and there are some praesidia in the prisons. The Cardinal who was a former legionary visited the Sancta Maria Women's Shelter and donated a picture of Our Lady of the Wayside.

CINCINNATI
Cincinnati Senatus: The Senatus continues to visit attached councils.

NEW YORK
New York Senatus: A reconciliation day for 7 to 9 and 10 to 13 year olds had 106 in attendance. The day consisted of games, Eucharistic Adoration, Confession and Mass. The attached Rockville Comitium had their officers' meeting at which they discussed motivating legionaries to set up new praesidia. In 9 years they set up 30 praesidia and lost 35 legionaries due to age and health. They say "Where it is not health and age reasons, they want to stop closures. The supervisory Curiae were told, "That it cannot stand by and play dead. Being wimpy is not being Christ-like".

MIAMI
Miami Regia: The Regia went to Jamaica where they visited the Immaculata Comitium in Kingston. The Legion is working well in Victoria Curia. They have 6 good praesidia. In the Haitian Curia a new junior praesidium has been set up. A Congress will be held in November.

Canada

Rev. Br. Colm Mannion and Pat O'Hora visited Toronto Senatus, Ontario Senatus and Montreal Senatus. A report on this visit is to be found elsewhere in the bulletin.
Toronto Regia: They had a table at a Marian Congress. Visiting residences, hospitals and a club for sea personnel featured. In the club, Catechism is taught and preparation for Holy Communion and Confirmation where necessary. Prisons are visited and they assist at funerals.
Vancouver Comitium: Plans are in preparation to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the Legion. An Italian praesidium carried out a Family Rosary Crusade and many are taught how to say the Rosary. Two people were Baptised at Easter. Train stations and areas where the homeless congregate are visited.
Ontario Senatus: Praesidia are engaged in Market Ministry where medals and Rosaries are distributed. They conduct the Liturgy of the Word and visit cemeteries.
Edmonton Comitium: Extension is planned to Devon and Spring Grace. One member has entered the Seminary. A Patrician meeting is held. Home and hospital visitation is done.

West Indies

Santiago de los Caballeros Senatus: Sagrado Corazon de Maria Comitium has 6 attached Curiae. A man who lived a disordered life had his leg amputated and after contact with the legionaries he received the Sacraments and now helps in the Church. Sanctisma Trinidad Comitium has 4 attached Curiae. Their works include home, hospital, prison visitation and preparing children for First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Cohabiting couples received the Sacrament of Matrimony.
Santo Domingo Senatus: Minutes for several months have been received. Excellent work is done. Great attention is given to homes, hospitals and prisons. Reina de los Martires Comitium prepared the sick for First Holy Communion, Baptism and two for Matrimony. Marriage counselling is also reported. Immaculata Corazon de Maria visited 1,500 homes and had adults, infants and youth Baptised. They also reported 7 Confirmation, 100 Confessions, 16 adult First Holy Communions and 3 Marriages regularised.

HAITI
Notre Dame de L'Assumption Senatus: Two members of the Paris Regia visited the Senatus on behalf of the Concilium. They found joyful, motivated legionaries in face of their suffering following the earthquake and cholera outbreak. Many are sleeping in tents including seminarians and legionaries. They lack everything including Legion literature and equipment.

TRINIDAD
Trinidad Regia: Contact is done at markets, beaches and rum shops. The Police Station was visited and the prayer to St. Michael was given to those working there.

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico Senatus: The attendance at this council needs improvement. Attached are 7 Comitia, 6 Curiae and 7 praesidia. The Comitium in Manati brought 7 women to the Sacraments. They started a school of "Christian Formation" in the Dioceses and had an Evening Mass revived. True Devotion to the Nation features in the reports; a house was obtained through government help for a family after a fire. In the Virgin Islands they help immigrants, a Protestant family was converted and a homeless man reunited with his family in the United States. The Curia in St. Thomas Island has 4 praesidia and in St. John's Island there is one praesidium.

Europe

ITALY
Rome Senatus: Reports are mostly of involvement in parish works; ministry of Holy Communion, Catechism for First Communion and Confirmation, preparing baptismal sponsors and doing marriage preparation. Legionaries help the Mother Teresa nuns in a hostel for single mothers. In Salerno, the two Curiae report visits to the sick and contact with immigrants. A member in Tivoli maintains a blog to spread the word about the Legion. The report of the first praesidium of Frascati Diocese reveals a very active praesidium of 13 members. Efforts at Latina have resulted in a new praesidium. The Senatus is to have an Audience with the Holy Father on 12th October and legionaries from all over Italy will be there for the memorable occasion.
Milan Regia: Report big attendances at the Rosary said in the courtyards of apartment blocks in May. The lonely and young people met in public places, bars, markets and gardens discuss their many problems. A new Praesidium "Madonna de Fatima" was started.
Padova Comitium: The Spiritual Director, Fr. Don Gino, a de Montfort Father, gave two talks on the Life and Spirituality of Frank Duff. The praesidium Madre della Sapienza recited the Rosary in a public square where drug addicts congregated. Since then syringes are no longer found there. A group of Nigerians have been found using the Handbook and saying the Legion prayers. It is hoped to affiliate them to the Comitium as a praesidium.

PORTUGAL
Lisbon Senatus: Great work is done at a parish centre in Faro where poor and destitute people are met. A hostel for unmarried mothers is visited. One praesidium has 5 new members resulting from a Columban Drive. Praesidia are involved in Pastoral Programmes where families are having difficulties and also with marriage problems. A separated couple were reconciled. Contact is made with drug addicts, the unemployed and immigrants. School children are prepared for Confirmation.

SPAIN
Madrid Senatus: The Senatus was very active helping with the Youth Day in Madrid. It is accommodating many of the visiting Brazilian legionaries in the Senatus premises. Some of the young legionaries, from Argentina and Brazil plan to visit the Concilium before returning home. A Madrid Curia was instrumental in having a chapel and the Blessed Sacrament installed in a private clinic they visit. The Curia of La Linea has 16 very good praesidia and is active in extension. There is one praesidium in Ceuta, North Africa, and more extension is planned. The Curia of Compostella is engaged in many works. It was suggested to them that they could also approach the many pilgrims who do the Camino. Marisa Pico, who has held many Senatus Offices, and whose life was devoted to the Legion, died in July.

Barcelona Senatus: Virgen de Gracia praesidium teaches Spanish and Catalan to immigrants. The Senatus is promoting devotion to Frank Duff. There are plans to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Legion.

Bilbao Senatus hosted the biannual meeting of the three Senatus councils in Spain. Issues discussed included what can be done for young people and immigrants. It was recognised that there is a need to upgrade the apostolate; works of consolation are the most common. There is a difficulty regarding Praetorian membership due to scarcity of daily Mass.

CYPRUS
The 4 praesidia in Cyprus held a joint Acies in Nicosia. They visit rest homes for the sick and elderly who are mostly Orthodox and appreciate their visits. They promote the Rosary through visitation with the statue of Our Lady and by reciting the Rosary at a Grotto in the Church grounds.

MALTA
Malta Regia: A series of 13 talks on the True Devotion will be broadcast on a local radio station. Twenty three attended a meeting for Spiritual Directors as well as the Archbishop who spoke about the importance of the New Evangelisation and how legionaries need to be prepared to face new challenges. An Italian-speaking praesidium carries out an apostolate to the Italian community. Lent and Advent retreats are organised for them and their auxiliary members. Praesidia reported teaching Catechism, visits to a corrective facility, sea apostolate and visitation of refugee centres. A weekly meeting for unmarried mothers has an attendance of 23. Four juniors joined the senior ranks on reaching 18. Posters were sent to all parishes with details of Masses in foreign languages.

Gozo Comitium: The Bishop attended the annual reunion, the Acies and a retreat for Spiritual Directors. Legionaries joined with members of other lay organisations for a 6-day apostolate to contact people in shops, clubs, etc. to promote the Mass, Sacraments and prayer. A priest accompanied each team.

GREECE
The praesidium in Thessalonica has 9 active and 25 auxiliary members. Their apostolate consists of home visitation, religious instruction of children, bringing the old and infirm to Mass and other parish activities.

ALBANIA
Corrections to the Albanian Handbook are nearing completion and it will soon be ready for printing. Shkoder Comitium continues to meet monthly at the Cathedral. A pilgrimage was held on May 13th to the Marian Sanctuary with a big attendance of legionaries from the attached Curiae of Bajza, Lezhe and Sape.

Africa

NIGERIA
Enugu Senatus: Owerri and Abakaliki Regiae report many received into the Church and thousands prepared for the sacraments. Twelve legionaries were ordained deacons in Owerri and the Regia established 31 senior and 31 junior praesidia and revived 12. Abakaliki has a fruitful apostolate to Traditional Worshippers and 59 converted to Catholicism. They established 59 praesidia, 8 senior and 6 junior Curiae and 2 Comitia in the last year. A Comitium attached to Onitsha Regia set up a Curia. Reports include much preparation for the Sacraments and encouraging couples to have their marriages blessed. Follow up on Exploratio projects is emphasised and is proving very fruitful. Jos Regia is assisting a Youth Curia, which is in an area where 95% are Adventist. Two Comitia were established.

Ibadan Senatus: A Comitium formed 5 Curiae, had 229 marriages regularised and 55 lapsed returned to the Church. A praesidium in Ibadan University runs Patricians while a praesidium visiting brothels made contact with 120 people. Benin City Regia reported 3 senior and 6 junior Curiae and 28 senior and 6 junior praesidia established. Lagos Regia: In one Curia only 102 of the 1956 members are over 40. One council reported 274 Marriages rectified. One member is 95 years old. Abuja Regia: A praesidia had 10 conversions, 8 Marriages rectified and 4 lapsed returned. A member died in a bomb blast. The Regia had 10,509 conversions including 995 Muslims in a year. Six junior praesidia were set up in a college. Kaduna Regia: In 6 months minutes they reported over 5,900 prepared for the Sacraments, over 2,400 recruited, 23 conversions including 5 Muslims, 220 lapsed returned, 311 Marriages blessed in Church and 70 marriage cases settled. There were many references to council visitation, Exploratio projects, Patricians and the Causes.

KENYA
Senatus of Kenya: Rt. Rev. Martin Kivuva, Bishop of Machakos was the Chief celebrant at the Mass at Venerable Edel Quinn's grave on 8th May. There was a large gathering of legionaries including 137 from Uganda of whom 9 were priests. Plans are underway to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Legion in Kenya on 8th December. Thika Comitium reported teaching Catechism, caring for juniors and one traditional brewer left the trade. The Senatus is very diligent about visiting attached councils. Much extension is being undertaken and there are plans for some higher councils. Embu Comitium reported 5 returns to the sacraments.

UGANDA
Uganda Senatus: Many references to youth including news of deacons who train Legionaries in schools. Praesidia and music festivals are run for youth to encourage participation rather than competition. The Legion is being introduced into another university while the praesidium in St. Mbaaga's Major Seminary is to split. A Schools Curia Reunion had 783 present and another reported the conversion of a Muslim and 8 Protestant students. His Grace, Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, Archbishop of Kampala attended the December Senatus meeting. The piece on the Charism of Frank Duff is being translated into 11 languages. Mass for Alfie Lambe was celebrated on his Anniversary. Legionaries from Kabale Regia participated in a 382 Km pilgrimage on foot to the Uganda Martyrs Shrine.

MALAWI
Blantyre Senatus: The Senatus gives great attention to the 4 Regiae set up in 2010 and has requested all attached councils to submit their plans for the year and give copies to their priests including the Senatus and Regiae. As there were 21 Curiae directly attached to the Senatus, it was necessary to set up more Comitia in Blantyre Archdiocese. Ecclesiastical permission has been obtained and seminars held in preparation. The Handbook has been translated into Tumbuka for the Mzuzu Diocese and the Legion is promoted by youth groups on Radio Maria in southern Malawi.

THE GAMBIA
Banjul Curia recently established 2 new praesidia with 18 and 14 members respectively.

TANZANIA
Hai Moshi Comitium reports on preparing people for the Sacraments, teaching children prayers and home/hospital visitation resulting in many returns to the Sacraments and marriages blessed. Following contact with 30 young drug addicts 15 abandoned the habit. Rombo Comitium reported teaching prayers to 2,300 children and 200 adults, 120 lapsed returned to the Church and 460 marriages were blessed. Extension efforts yielded many new junior members in schools and new praesidia in parishes. Mtwara Comitium: One Curia reported 21 marriages blessed and 17 lapsed returned. They pray the Rosary in the outstations in October. Another Curia visits the sick at home and in hospital, works with juniors and promotes the Causes. They have an extension programme for the diocese. Njombe Comitium: They encourage co-habiting couples to have their unions blessed, lapsed to return to practice, prayer for various intentions, and 13 separated couples were reconciled and had their marriages blessed and recruiting has resulted in praesidia being revived.

LIBERIA
There seems to be 8 praesidia attached to the Curia and attendance is approximately 17 legionaries. The Curia President recently appealed for improved attendance. Fr. John Keane, who was present at Concilium recently, attends their Curia Meetings. Some praesidia appear good, while others are weak. Twenty-two legionaries with Fr. Keane and a "host" Parish Priest attended a Seminar on Duties of Officers. A Patrician Meeting was also mentioned.

ZAMBIA
Kasama Regia: Extension is planned, but is hampered by lack of funds. A grotto which they helped build has led to increased Marian devotion.

Visit by Concilium to Canadian Councils
Rev. Br. Colm Mannion and Pat O'Hora undertook the visitation of the Senatus of Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal from the 6th to 27th July 2011.

One of the purposes of the visit was to remind Councils of the importance of Conversion work over Consolation work i.e. the Legion of Mary is first and foremost an apostolic organisation. They visited the Ordinary in each Archdiocese. His Grace Archbishop Collins of Toronto was impressed with the apostolic nature of the Legion. He offered to meet with the Spiritual Director and the executive of the Senatus of Toronto to discuss further plans of apostolic work, including establishing a praesidium in the Seminary and offered the Legion "air time" on "Salt and Light" the multi-media organisation attached to the Archdiocese. This goodwill was also reciprocated in the other Archdioceses.

Overall the two legionaries were impressed with the hard-working active members attached to each of the councils. One of the highlights of the visit was a report from the Scarborough Juniors (boys/girls 12+) who do street contact work with the seniors. Other highlights of the visit included potluck evenings with the active members attached to each Senatus.

There was an excellent Conference in Toronto on Saturday 16th July based on what Frank Duff called the three columns of the Legion, namely Formation, Our Blessed Lady and Evangelisation. The officers of Councils attached to the Senatus of Toronto and the Senatus of Ottawa attended this Conference. Rev. Br. Colm and Pat attended the reception on Sunday 18th July for the raising of the Regia of Toronto to Senatus status. The visiting legionaries would like to thank everyone who made the visit a success.

Sile Ni Chochlain, President of the Concilium, thanked the legionaries for their thorough preparations before the visit, which proved to be very fruitful and will require lots of follow-up.

Visit to Concilium by the Officers of Kwangju Senatus, Korea

On Friday 19th August the officers of Kwangju Senatus and their attached Regiae had discussion with the Concilium Officers; on Saturday they visit Our Lady Shrine in Knock, Co. Mayo and on the Sunday attended the Concilium meeting.

The officers from the Senatus were: Kim John Mary Vianney President, Theresa Lee Minja Treasurer, and the Presidents of the 4 Regiae attached to the Senatus, Francis (Masan Regia), Thomas (Busan Regia), Germano (Jeju Regia) and Michael (Cheon Ju Regia).

Sile Ni Chochlain, President of the Concilium, thanked the officers for coming to Dublin, for the work they undertake for Our Blessed Lady and sent greetings to all the legionaries in Kwangju.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.


Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND.


Prayer of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress

Lord Jesus,
You were sent by the Father
to gather together those who are scattered.
You came among us, doing good and bringing healing,
announcing the Word of salvation
and giving the Bread which lasts forever.
Be our compassion on life's pilgrim way.

May your Holy Spirit inflame our hearts,
enliven our hope and open our minds,
so that together with our sisters and brothers in faith
we may recognise you in the Scriptures
and in the breaking of bread.
May your Holy Spirit transform us into one body
and lead us to walk humbly on the earth,
in justice and love, as witnesses of your resurrection.

In communion with Mary,
whom you gave to us as our Mother
at the foot of the cross,
through you
may all praise, honour and blessing be to
the Father
in the Holy Spirit and in the Church,
Now and forever.
Amen


N O T I C E

In 2012 the JUNE Concilium Meeting will take place on
SATURDAY 9th June 2012 at 3.00 pm

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Concilium Allocutio August 2011

By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.

Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

Teaching Christian Doctrine to Children

By any objective standards the Chapter in the Handbook on 'Suggestions as to Works' is very impressive and challenging. Any Bishop or Parish Priest reading this chapter would be amazed at what the Legion could offer them if given half a chance or some encouragement. Many of these works are universally urgent and relevant in most parts of the Catholic world today. Of particular importance is the section on 'Teaching Christian Doctrine to Children'. The Legion has a long and fruitful history in this field in many parts of the world. Teaching Catechism to children was one of the earliest works undertaken by Bro. Duff himself as a young man. He knew from personal experience the rich possibilities of this apostolate not only for the children but also for their families and neighbourhood. It is not surprising that he describes this apostolic work in the Handbook as 'this supremely valuable work'.

But why is this work supremely valuable? Basically, teaching catechism is to introduce a child to Jesus as his greatest friend and the deep meaning of his life. Can there be any work more sublime than that? This was and is the vocation and mission of Mary: to give Jesus to us. Surely, it must have a special place in the Legion of Mary. I am reminded of the words of Pope Benedict: 'There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak of our friendship with Him'.

Through his years of work as a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in the depressing slums of Dublin and later in his habitual presence of many other types of poverty in the Hostels that he started, Frank Duff knew a great deal about the need to relieve material poverty. The corporal works of mercy are an integral part of the Christian life. As Christians we cannot abdicate our responsibilities in this area. But our Founder believed with utter conviction that the greatest poverty of all was the poverty of the soul. The most profound deprivation for anyone but especially a child is to be deprived of the gift of faith, of a knowledge and love of Christ. The greatest gift you can offer anyone is the gift of our Catholic faith. There is absolutely nothing more precious than our Catholic faith. This conviction must be the first and permanent motivation behind all teaching of Christian doctrine. Its value to a child is not only temporal but eternal.

For the Legionary there is of course another fundamental attitude and approach to his teaching of Christian doctrine. It is worthwhile quoting the Handbook on this point:'In all works, the legionary watchword should be "How would Mary view and treat these, her children." In this work, even more than in others, that thought should be vivid. There is a natural tendency towards impatience with the children. But a worse fault would lie in the imparting to the instruction of a mere businesslike and secular tone, in such a way that these classes would only be regarded by the children as additional hours of school. If this comes to pass, nine-tenths of the harvest will be left un-reaped. So once again consider: "How would the Mother of Jesus instruct those children, in each one of whom she sees her own Beloved?"'

It goes without saying that 'special care is needed in selecting catechetical material which fully conforms to the Church's teaching'. We are fortunate today that we have excellent material available to us. First, if possible, the Legionary should slowly study and pray his way through the Universal Catechism of the Catholic Church. If circumstances or opportunities make this too difficult, he could try the Compendium of the Catechism which is shorter and perhaps easier to assimilate. But failing these primary sources many Episcopal Conferences have produced local catechisms precisely geared to the teaching of children. Also there are quite a number enterprising Bishops who have produced their own catechisms and some of these are extremely good. Anyhow, the point here is that if a legionary is going to teach catechism, he needs to have a basic and up to date knowledge of a catechism that is well informed by the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and the local cultures and languages.

Does one need to do a catechetical course? Obviously it could be very useful but one would have to be careful in choosing such a course. But it is not absolutely necessary to do a formal course. Most parents have neither the opportunity nor the time to do these courses and yet the Church exhorts them to be the first teachers of the faith to their children. True teaching of Christian Doctrine is not merely a question of imparting information about the faith but also sharing our own faith convictions especially by example. It seems to me that if we are going to teach catechism the basic question is what does our Lord actually and in practice mean to me?

In conclusion I think it would be a tremendous thing if Legionaries throughout the world would discuss this section of the Handbook afresh and discern in each praesidium what is the best way for them to engage in that 'sublimely valuable work' of teaching children the faith. We must be in the business of saving the children of our world.





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Concilium News August 2011

Appointment of Chairperson for Peregrinatio Pro Christo Committee

Maureen McManus, who has just completed six years as President of Immaculata Curia, Dublin, was appointed Chairperson of the Concilium Peregrinatio Pro Christo Committee for a period of one year, in succession to Mary Murphy, now Treasurer of the Concilium.

Visitors from Korea

The Concilium was happy to welcome the President and Treasurer of the Gwangju Senatus, Korea, who were accompanied by the Presidents of the four Regiae affiliated to the Senatus, Busan, Jeon-ju, Masan and Jeju. The Senatus and four Regiae have a total of almost 75,000 active legionaries and over 49,000 auxiliary members.

Concilium Visit to Canada

Pat O’Hora reported on a recent visit with Colm Mannion to Canada where discussions were held with officers of Legion councils in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. The visitors were kindly received by the Archbishop of Toronto and by the Vicars General in Ottawa and Montreal.


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Concilium Bulletin
July 2011

Asia and Oceania

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Madang Regia: Works of conversion are being done especially from the sects where former Catholics have become disenchanted and are willing to return to their faith. The Legion is weak in the capital Port Moresby and has been out of touch for a long time. Happily, an Irish priest is now in touch with the Regia which is of great assistance.
Rabul Regia: There are many islands attached to the Regia and visits are made by boat, some of which have attached Comitia with many legionaries. This vibrant council has many new praesidia and Curiae. Rev. Fr. Birkmans who was of enormous help to the Concilium visitors in 2005, has had to retire, due to ill health.
Mount Hagan Regia: Fruitful works are being done in conversion from the sects and the clergy are very supportive of the Legion in this mountainous region where Catholic communities have Mass on rare occasions. Adults and children are prepared for the sacraments. New praesidia are being formed even though illiteracy is a big problem.

NEW ZEALAND
Auckland Senatus. Recruiting and extension features in reports. Twenty-eight took part in a fruitful Exploratio Dominicalis. All councils are preparing to celebrate the 90th.anniversary of the Legion in September. Wellington Comitium has 13 praesidia and a Samoan Curia with 8 praesidia. The Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Balvo led the Acies. In Tonga, there are 2 Curia, one mostly of juniors; concern is expressed about the lack of seniors. The Tongan Handbook is now translated and printed and eagerly awaited.

AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Comitium: A new praesidium was set up with 5 members. Some praesidia are a long distance away so attendance at Comitium is low. The Korean Curia has 7 praesidia with 65 members. Through visitation to non-Catholics, 21 joined the catechism class and 8 people were Baptised.
Vietnamese Curia has 7 praesidia. They joined with the Comitium for their Acies, which was celebrated with over 100 in attendance. Some of the works reported on were home and hospital visitation, transporting people to Mass, teaching religion in schools and praying the Rosary before funerals.

Melbourne Senatus: Six directly attached praesidia, 8 Curiae, 3 Comitia, and 5 Pacific Island Comitia reported. Extension, Patricians, Prison visitation and apostolate in market areas were featured. Wagga Wagga Curia held a Congress. Flemington Comitium have 16 directly attached praesidia and 3 Curiae, with a total of 335 Vietnamese members. They published a Memoir book about the 27 years of the Legion in Melbourne. Members run a religious class for those interested in the Catholic faith.
Perth Comitium has 12 praesidia and 12 Curia in the Metro area and 6 distant praesidia and 2 Curiae. Legionaries speak to practicing Catholics and encourage them to "come and see". This has resulted in growth in active and auxiliary membership. In November the Annual Mass to commemorate the life of the Servant of God, Frank Duff was combined with the 70th anniversary of the presence of the Legion in western Australia.

PHILIPPINES
Western Visayas Regia: Attendance 62 officers representing 22 councils and 42 officers representing the 15 directly affiliated praesidia. Eight councils and five praesidia had 100% attendance. Three Comitia presented quarterly reports. Much of the work was in the area of visitation, sacraments arranged for the sick and dying, a couple co-habiting were prepared for the sacrament of marriage. Two senior and one junior Curia also reported. Exploratio Dominicalis project was carried out by 3 praesidia. A Peregrinatio Pro Christo project was carried out from 25 to 30 April.

Mindanao Senatus: Report of cures through the intercession of the Servant of God, Frank Duff was received. Koronadal Comitium is working towards Regia status in the near future.

Biocolandia Senatus: Some visitations to councils were postponed due to typhoons and rough seas. Items reported were preparing children for First Confession and Holy Communion, teaching catechism in schools, home and hospital visitation and encouraging jail inmates to pray the Rosary and become auxiliary members. The Comitium of Nabu who are involved in parish activities was encouraged to hold an exhibition to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Legion.

Cebu Senatus: All praesidia were asked to strive towards setting up a new praesidium to mark the 90th anniversary of the Legion. Visitation to all councils is undertaken. A Comitium with 4 Curiae, 8 senior and 2 junior praesidia has 317 full members and 77 on probation. Praesidia of 12, 14 and 15 members do works of visitation to jails, orphanages, hospitals and homes. Crowd contact is done among vendors, policemen, security guards, sales clerks and customers. A junior praesidium of 15 has 100% attendance at their meeting and undertook True Devotion to the Nation.

Senatus of Northern Philippines: Three Regiae are organising the preparations to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the founding of the Legion. Two Seminars took place on "Back to Basics". A new Curia was formed in Abra. Makati Comitium reported 372 mute and deaf individuals were catechised. Dagupan Comitium reported 1,160 public school students were given catechetical instruction and 68 individuals received the sacrament of Baptism. In Illagan 832 students were catechised with their parents and brought to confession and Holy Communion and 409 lapsed returned to the sacraments. Jail apostolate resulted in 400 inmates going to confession and Holy Communion.

Africa

GHANA
The Senatus and directly attached Councils continue to extend and a number of new praesidia have also been formed in schools, seminaries and third level colleges. All reports indicate good apostolic work including visitation of homes and hospitals, street contact and preparation of adults and children for the Sacraments.

Sunyani Regia reported 83 people being converted from traditional worship, 94 lapsed Catholics returned to the Church, 1,640 Catechumens were prepared for Baptism, 742 for First Holy Communion, 686 for Confirmation and 68 for Marriage.

Kumasi Regia looks after 1,252 Sunday school students in the various parishes. Legionaries involved in a week long project contacted 5,997 people, held various programmes in the evenings, held dawn broadcasts in some of the outstations and organised candlelight Rosary processions in most of the communities visited.

Cape Verde Regia: The ten islands with a population of just over half a million have 6,255 active members. They recruited 631 active members. Irregular marriage situation caused some to leave active membership. Two new Curiae were set up. A Jehovah Witness family was converted and the mother became a legionary. 3,000 children and 650 adults were prepared for Baptism and 400 were prepared for First Holy Communion. Contact was made with emigrants and 1,200 people were taught to read. Praesidia undertook almost 500 Exploratio projects.

ZIMBABWE
An email was received recently from Mupamonde Curia where some of the legionaries are catechists and teach Catechism to children and adults and help the priests to instruct those preparing for Marriage. Harare Curia: Acies was held in March.

LESOTHO
We have just learned of the untimely death of Sr. Moshoeshoe, Senatus president may she rest in peace. Attendances at the Senatus meeting continue to be small with the average attendances at four meeting being 8 praesidium and 12 council officers. The Senatus is considering "dissolving" a Curia and attaching its praesidia to the Senatus. Regina Curia reported 34 lapsed revived. Mother of God Curia reported the conversion of a Zion Church member. A Youth praesidium with 13 members has been set up by Loreto Comitium.

ANGOLA
Benguela Senatus: The Junior Curia directly attached to the Senatus was raised to Comitium on 19 December 2010. It has 17 directly attached praesidia and 4 Curiae. The Comitium in the new Diocese of Namibe was divided to form three new Comitia, making a total of four in the Diocese. It is notable that since the war this area had a wonderful influx of new members. Recent statistics from the Senatus show a total active membership of 99,406.

Luanda Regia: There was a report on a visit by two legionaries to Dondo where some formation sessions were held for the legionaries. The Junior Curia president encouraged recruiting for juniors and asked about having the Legion in Seminaries. A meeting with young people was due to be held on 25 May and a new Curia was due to be established on 29 May. An Assistant Secretary of the Cabinda Comitium, died.

MOZAMBIQUE
Maputo Regia: There is a report on the visitation to Mozambique by two legion representatives elsewhere in the bulletin.

JOHANNESBURG
Johannesburg Senatus: Works include contacting non-Catholics and lapsed Catholics also home visitation. Legionaries made contact with 8 drug addicts.
Marian Hill Comitium: An elderly lady who was lapsed and joined another church was brought to confession and she was delighted. Non-Catholics are taught how to pray the Rosary.
Esigodeni Comitium: Five Curiae reported. Their works include teaching catechism every Sunday, encouraging parishioners to pray the Rosary before Mass. They visit sick in hospitals and those who are suffering with HIV. The Acies had an attendance of 610 members including the Curia of Durban.
Durban Comitium: Members visit the sick at the local hospital and teach catechism.

CAPETOWN
Cape Town Senatus: Efforts are being made to set up two new praesidia in the Senatus area. The Senatus is enthusiastically promoting the Cause of Frank Duff. The publishing of the Afrikaans handbook is a work in progress and the Tessera will be translated into Hhosa language.

EGYPT
Fr. Benjamen has been appointed by Patriarch Antonios Naguib as assistant to Fr. Gabrail El Ahmar. A planned conference has been deferred to 2012 on the advice of the Patriarch.

South America

PERU
Lima Senatus: Efforts are being made at praesidium and council level to encourage and promote the Theme for 2011. Councils are extending, a Regia for the north of the country and two new Comitia have been suggested. Legionaries who visit the jail praesidium are setting up a prayer/play group for the prisoners' children, who are looked after in the jail.

CUBA
Havana Comitium: Legionaries give catechism classes to adults who want to make their First Communion. They also make contact with people who make a visit to the Church.

BOLIVIA
Senatus of La Paz: Many legionaries are suffering from flu after the unusually cold winter. A novel work is the teaching of catechism in the public market when the stallholders have finished their days' work. One praesidium organises novenas for Our Lady's feast days. A Bolivian girl, trained in a Dublin praesidium, returned to her native Cochabamba and got permission to start many junior and youth praesidia. Also a Divine Word missionary, Spiritual Director of a Dublin praesidium, has been appointed for two years to Bolivia.

CHILE
Senatus of Santiago: All reports have home-to-home visitation first on their list. The Auxiliary Bishop in charge of the Lay Apostolate came to the May meeting and gave the allocutio. Afterwards the 6 officers of the Senatus met with the Bishop and discussed many outstanding issues relating to the apostolate of the Legion and legal matters connected to Senatus property. A new work is the approach to tour buses, especially at famous churches. 90th anniversary celebrations are to be held in the Cathedral of Santiago. Senatus officers remind all legionaries that spiritual exercises are not Legion work and that being a council officer does not exempt one from the weekly work assignment.

COLOMBIA
Senatus of Medellin: Comitium de Rio Negro has 2,500 active members of which more than one quarter (653) are praetorians; there are 5,700 auxiliary members. They teach moral and spiritual values in nursery schools and have an apostolate to drug addicts and prisoners, some of whom have become legionaries and attend daily mass. Another Comitium started a Patrician meeting in a neighbourhood; current affairs are discussed in light of the Gospel. Children of mothers, who have to work, are cared for. Frank Duff is promoted amongst auxiliaries. Lectio Devina features. A Curia helps invalids to go to Mass, to the doctor and with housework. The Curia helped a co-habiting couple to return to the faith. Other items include study of the Handbook in pairs and Peregrinatio Pro Christo preparation over a 2-month period.

Senatus of Bogotá: One Comitium reports 11 youth groups, 3 pre-junior groups and 2 junior praesidia. Extension is done in universities. Indigenous Indians are visited in an area only accessible by air and translators are needed.

URUGUAY
Senatus of Montevideo: This is the most secular country in South America where Christmas Day has been re-named Family Day; in Montevideo only 2% of Catholics practice. A lot of True Devotion to the Nation type work is done and Fr Bede McGregor's (Spiritual Director of Concilium) letter has been circulated to all praesidia in the country.

VENEZUELA
Senatus of Caracas: A Maria et Patria project has been held. One adult and 3 junior praesidia are in formation. Columban Drives, extension and Patricians are mentioned while 53 went on Peregrinatio Pro Christo to the city El Tigre in the east of the country. Hairdressers were brought to 40 elderly people in Chacao.

ECUADOR
Senatus of Quito: Many families have been converted through statue visitation. Fifty legionaries took part in 8 Exploratio projects. Numbers of juniors, praetorians and adjutorians appear to be very low.

PARAQUAY
Senatus of Asunción: Extension work features and local radio stations are used to reach the youth and other listeners. The Legion is also organising a "Rosary Chain" around Paraguay so that all legionaries will recite the Holy Rosary together with their Families on the fourth Friday of every month at 9pm for the family, the church and legionary spirituality and unity. A reminder was given as to what the Handbook says in regards to adding to what is asked of active members. A Workshop was held for Officers of Councils and great benefit was gained by all attending.

Election of Concilium Vice President

Nominations were sought for the office of Vice President of the Concilium, as Sile NiChochlain had completed her second term and had been elected President of the Concilium at the June meeting. Aileen O'Donoghue was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations Aileen O'Donoghue was elected Vice President of the Concilium

Election of Concilium Assistant Treasurer

Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Treasurer of the Concilium, with responsibility for literature (printing and sales), as Aileen O'Donoghue had completed two terms of three years. Annette Mulrooney was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, Annette Mulrooney was elected Assistant Treasurer of Concilium.

Sile Ni Chochlain wished Aileen and Annette every grace and blessing in their new positions and thanks them for allowing their names to go forward.

Legion of Mary 90th Anniversary Celebrations

Wednesday 7th September 2011

Open day at Legion of Mary Headquarters from 10 am.
During the day there will be guided tours of:
Legion Headquarters, Hostels and Frank Duff's House;
Visits to Frank Duff's Grave in Glasnevin; and
Exhibition including the Causes and History of the Legion

Holy Mass at 7.30 pm in
Our Lady of the Angels, Church Street

Refreshments and entertainment afterwards at Legion Headquarters

Visitation by Concilium to Mozambique

On behalf of Concilium Paddy Fay, Concilium Secretary and Lícia Violeta de Souza from Brazil visited Mozambique arriving there on 25 June 2011. They were warmly received by the Spiritual Director, Vice President and Treasurer of the Maputo Regia. The visit was spread over four Dioceses: Maputo, Xai-Xai, Quelimane and Beira.

The Legion in Maputo was founded in July 1959. The Regia there has 5,766 active and 3,575 auxiliary members. The principal works undertaken by the praesidia are visits to homes, visits to the sick, infirm and bereaved families and some praesidia teach catechism and prepare children for First Holy Communion. They were received by the Archbishop of Maputo, Dom Francisco Chimolo, OFM (Cap) who showed his joy and satisfaction with the works being done by the Legion of Mary.

The Comitium in Xai-Xai Diocese has eight Curiae affiliated and the average membership of praesidia is 30. Their works are visits to homes, bereaved families and teaching Catechism.

In Quelimane Diocese the Comitium has 12 Curiae affiliated and 170 praesidia attached to the Curiae with a total of 8,715 active and 802 auxiliary members. The visitors made contact with almost 2,000 legionaries during their visit to this Diocese. Here also they were received by the Bishop of Quelimane, Dom Hilario, who praised the works of the Legion of Mary, and the strength, organisation and perseverance of the legionaries.

The Beira Diocese has a Comitium with 7 Curiae and 88 praesidia affiliated to the Curiae with a total of 3,000 legionaries including auxiliaries and the visitors met the Spiritual Director and officers of Curiae and praesidia. A visit was made to the Archbishop, Dom Jaime, who spoke of the value of the work of the legionaries in the parishes.

The great appeal made by all the legionaries and priests was the translation of the Handbook into the local languages. In the Dioceses there exist commissions, which can help in the translating.

Thanks was expressed by Sile Ni Chochlain, President of Concilium, to Lícia de Souza and Paddy Fay for undertaking this valuable visit.

Prayer for the Beatification of

The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.


Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND.

Prayer of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress

Lord Jesus,
You were sent by the Father
to gather together those who are scattered.
You came among us, doing good and bringing healing,
announcing the Word of salvation
and giving the Bread which lasts forever.
Be our compassion on life's pilgrim way.

May your Holy Spirit inflame our hearts,
enliven our hope and open our minds,
so that together with our sisters and brothers in faith
we may recognise you in the Scriptures
and in the breaking of bread.
May your Holy Spirit transform us into one body
and lead us to walk humbly on the earth,
in justice and love, as witnesses of your resurrection.

In communion with Mary,
whom you gave to us as our Mother
at the foot of the cross,
through you
may all praise, honour and blessing be to
the Father
in the Holy Spirit and in the Church,
Now and forever.
Amen

N O T I C E

In 2012 the JUNE Concilium Meeting will take place on
SATURDAY 9th June 2012 at 3.00 pm


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Concilium Allocutio July 2011

By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.

Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

The Legion in the Parish

'Suggestions as to Works' is one of the longest chapters in the Handbook and could provide a helpful sort of examination of conscience concerning the apostolic work legionaries are actually doing or not doing in their praesidium. The very first suggestion in this chapter thirty-seven is the apostolate in the parish. I think it would be very useful for every praesidium to ask itself what it is really contributing to the parish or what it should or could be doing for the parish. Is the praesidium or praesidia truly a leaven in the parish or is it just another society tucked away in the background with very little impact. Is it, in fact, a burden or a blessing on the priest?

As we all know, the parish is the normal and natural environment of the Legion and union and collaboration with the priests of the parish are essential to the life of the Legion. To more deeply understand the role of the Legion in the parish it might be helpful to grasp what it means to be a parish and what it means to be a priest. Well, on one occasion a seminarian asked Frank Duff: 'Could you sketch briefly what you consider would be an ideal priest?" Towards the end of this reply Frank Duff said: 'You can see, if you put the whole picture together like that, it is that God works in and through the priest. That is the truth that he is supposed to be the sort of incarnation of Our Lord. He is supposed to be, to use a phrase of my own, "Christ on the spot", a local Christ.' In less colloquial terms the priest is the sacramental presence of the Risen Lord as Head of the Church. He is an 'Alter Christus, another Christ.' This pivotal idea was at the root of Frank Duff's radical attitude and alignment with the priest and the one he wished to be at the heart of the Legion. And the parish is the reality of the universal church in a particular place or among a particular people. It is the presence of the Mystical Body of Christ - priest and people together. The Legion praesidium is a cell of the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the parish.

With that background I want to briefly reflect on just one primordial characteristic that Christ, the Church, and the Legion have in common if they are to be understood at all. That characteristic is catholicity. Christ died for every single human being; he loved each one without exception, the good, the bad and the indifferent. It wasn't any kind of love. It was a love that is infinite, passionate and intensely personal. He has given absolutely everything for the salvation of souls. He founded the Church to be a sacrament of this love and a real presence of his will to save all. The Church has no other reason for existence apart from sharing this good news - which is the work of evangelisation. The Church must be radically catholic; universal in its outreach to every soul. Now the parish is the Catholic Church in a particular place and therefore must have this character of universality. It must be profoundly concerned not only for practising Catholics, but for the lapsed, our separated brethren, the non-Christians, the atheists and agnostics, the functional and dysfunctional, everyone living within the parish. Frank Duff's vision of the Legion embodied this catholic mark of the Church and therefore parish. The Legion is called to be the outreach of the parish to those who in various ways and degrees are not involved in the Church or are alienated from her. Let me quote from the Handbook which in turn is quoting Blessed Pope John Paul: 'In the present circumstances the lay faithful have the ability to do very much and therefore ought to do very much towards the growth of an authentic ecclesial communion in their parishes in order to reawaken missionary zeal towards non-believers, and believers themselves who have abandoned the faith or grown lax in the Christian life.'

We all know how encouraged Frank Duff was with these words of Blessed Pope John XXIII: 'The Legion of Mary presents the true face of the Catholic Church.' My question is: does every praesidium in every parish in the world manifest the missionary nature of the Church? How many members of the praesidium are engaged with non-believers, the lapsed or non-Christians? To put it another way: is the Legion everywhere taking on board its traditional commitment to what is now called the New Evangelisation? It would be a tremendous blessing for the Church if during this year when we are recalling and renewing the charism of Frank Duff and the Legion that we emphasised the missionary nature of the Legion. I think the Legion has a great role in helping the priest to be in practise a truly Catholic priest and a parish to be a truly Catholic parish.

I always feel bluntly challenged when I re-read the words of St. Francis Xavier so often quoted by Frank Duff: 'Souls! Soul! Souls! To travel the whole world over, to suffer everything and then at the end of it all to have won a soul. Oh what a triumph.' And our Founder adds: 'Such is the value of one soul, one soul!' As a minimum ideal, every one of us should be praying and working for the salvation of at least one soul. Every parish would then be at least moving towards being a missionary parish and the Legion would be a major instrument in bringing this about. Let us all get dug into the New Evangelisation. Let us ask Our Lady for the grace to help her in her mothering of every soul especially those who most need the experience of her motherly heart. Amen.

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Concilium News July 2011

Election of Concilium Vice President

Nominations were sought for the office of Vice President of the Concilium, notice of the election having been given at the previous meeting. Aileen O’Donoghue was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, she was duly elected Vice President of the Concilium.

Election of Concilium Assistant Treasurer

Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Treasurer of the Concilium, notice of the election having been given at the previous meeting. Annette Mulrooney was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, she was duly elected Assistant Treasurer of the Concilium.

New Editor for Maria Legionis

Paul McKee was appointed Editor of the magazine Maria Legionis for a period of one year. Tributes were paid to Tommy McCabe for leading the Editorial team for the past six years.

Concilium Visit to Mozambique

Lícia Violeta de Souza, Aracaju Regia, Sergipe, Brazil, presented a report on a visit to Mozambique with Paddy Fay for three weeks during which they visited the Archdioceses of Maputo and Beira and the Dioceses of Xai Xai and Quelimane and met with over 2,000 legionaries. The visitors received a warm welcome everywhere. There has been a great increase in the membership of the Legion in these dioceses, especially during the past ten years. The visitors were very happy to be received by the Archbishops of Maputo and Beira and the Bishop of Quelimane, who all expressed their appreciation of the work of the Legion of Mary in their dioceses.


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Concilium News June 2011

Election of Concilium President

Síle Ní Chochláin was elected as President of the Concilium in succession to Tommy McCabe who had completed two terms of three years in that office. As two candidates were proposed and seconded for the office a ballot was held and resulted in the election of Sr. Ní Chochláin. Tributes were paid to Tommy McCabe for his dedicated service of six years as President by Sr. Ní Chochláin and Rev. Fr. Bede McGregor, Concilium Spiritual Director, who also congratulated Sr. Ní Chochláin on her election and thanked her and the other candidate for allowing their names to go forward. He asked for prayers for the newly-elected President.

Notice of Elections

Notice was given of elections to be held at the next Concilium meeting in July for the offices of Concilium Vice President and Concilium Assistant Treasurer, with the completion of their two terms of three years by Síle Ní Chochláin as Vice President (newly-elected President) and Aileen O’ Donoghue as Assistant Treasurer.

Three New Senatus – Canada, India and the Philippines

The concilium was very pleased to raise three Regiae to Senatus: Toronto Regia, Canada; Western Visayas Regia, Philippines; Karnataka Regia, India. Our congratulations and good wishes go to the new Senatus.

Catholic Youth Conference (Dublin)

The Conference took place in All Hallows College on Saturday and Sunday, 11 and 12 June. 159 attended on Saturday and 126 on Sunday. Talks were given by Most Reverend Patrick O’Donoghue, Bishop Emeritus of Lancaster, Journalist Andrew O’Connell, Rev. Sr. Miriam O’Donoghue, Missionary in Uganda, lay Theologan Carole Browne, Fr. Terence Crotty, O.P. Fr. Pádraig Ó Cochláin, Fr. Michael Ross, SDB, conducted a Holy Hour of healing. Four legionaries gave testimonies. Mass was celebrated on Sunday evening by Fr. John Harris, O.P., who also gave the homily. On Sunday, Mass was concelebrated by Bishop O’Donoghue and six priests and Fr. Paul Churchill gave the homily.

Venerable Edel Quinn Mass (Dublin)

About 200 attended the Edel Quinn Anniversary Mass in St. Saviour’s church, Dominick Street, on Saturday 14 May. Fr. Terence Crotty, O.P. was chief celebrant and homilist.

Commemoration of Frank Duff in Glasnevin Cemetery (Dublin)

The annual commemoration of the Founder of the Legion took place in Glasnevin Cemetery on Sunday, 5 June and had an attendance of 200 approx.

Extension in Holland

Ann and Eddy Evers reported on their Extension work in Holland with Agnes and Ron Jones from Birmingham Senatus. They found a very favourable attitude towards the Legion on the part of the Bishops and Priests. The Auxiliary Bishop suggested that the Legion give talks to Deacons and in the Seminary and in the congregation of new movements.


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Concilium Bulletin
June 2011

ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Senatus: Great importance is given to the Alfie Lambe Cause all during the year. Senatus officers are making arrangements to meet with the Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires to seek the appointment of a new Postulator for the Cause. A Youth Conference called Youth with Mary is organised on the same lines as the Youth Conference organised in Dublin by Deus et Patria.

Salta Senatus: An annual correspondents' meeting is held in which experienced legionaries help new correspondents and an annual day for planning is held in which extension is high on the agenda. The Regia of Jujuy organised a Triduum for the Cause of Alfie Lambe. Non-legionaries were invited to take part.

Cordoba Senatus: An attached Comitium reported street apostolate, home visitation and leading prayers and Rosary at wakes.

Rosario Regia: A Curia with nine praesidia, which does statue visitation, has 59 statues of Our Lady. Some praesidia do house to house visitation and there are 14 prayer groups. In another Curia an Exploratio Dominicalis was carried out to a Barrio, which had never been visited before. They have 11 Marian prayer groups.

BRAZIL
Belo Horizonte Senatus: Two Bishops and thirty priests attended a Spiritual Directors' conference organised by the Senatus. Average attendance of praesidium officers at recent Senatus meetings is 50%. A special apostolate is directed to apartment building porters. The apostolate to the sick also includes their families, nurses and doctors. In an allocutio, the Senatus Spiritual Director reminded legionaries that spiritual care can also help physical health. Catechetical work is done in rural areas that have no resident priest. In the town of Itabrito, a Rosary is arranged at 5 am. Fifty three sick people were helped back to Confession. A Christmas party was organised for street people. A Christmas Novena was held in three apartment buildings and was well attended by occupants. Poor families visited are taught how to prepare cheap nourishing food and babies are weighed. An average of 72 take part in the Street Rosary.

Fortaleza Senatus: Reports show thousands of visits to homes and to the sick at home and in hospital. Holy Communion is brought to many of the sick in their homes. The Sacred Heart has been enthroned in many homes. Visiting prisoners and teaching catechism are also undertaken.

Ponta Grossa Senatus: Reports from six Comitia showed a total of 18,700 visits to homes and contact with 43,000 people. The new Regia of Guarapuava was inaugurated on 12 February.

Recife Senatus: Extension work continues in city parishes. A praesidium has an apostolate in a hilly and poor area, which includes, besides family visitation, the weighing of 386 children. One Comitium has over 800 junior members. Legionary care of a young single mother prevented a suicide. Visitation of Evangelicals has resulted in some saying the Rosary. Legionaries evangelise on the streets and in buses and reach out to drug addicts, helping in their rehabilitation.

Rio de Janeiro Senatus: The recently established Regia in Niteroi has two new praesidia. They report the recitation of 16,000 Rosaries in homes. Prison apostolate involves visits to prisoners and bringing family members to visit them, leading in one case to a mother becoming an active legionary. The sick are bathed and given injections in the town of Volta Redonda. A new Curia was set up in the Amazonian state of Roraima. In the western Amazonian State of Acre, 140 children were prepared for First Holy Communion. In a hospital nine prayer groups function with Protestants taking part. In the Regia of Sao John de Meriti, north of Rio, the three Bishops, either former legionaries or sons of legionaries, accompany members in some of their work.

Salvador Senatus: A family suffering from Aids is cared for and a special needs person is given total care by the Legion. Many services are done for the sick. In an area of drug related violence, those bereaved through assassinations are comforted. Also the children of the poor are looked after while parents earn a living. The Rosary is recited with prisoners.

Sao Luis Senatus: April minutes report the saying of half a million Hail Mary's. Combined statistics show 13,500 visits to homes each month. Parents and godparents receive preparation for the Baptism of their children. Bible circles and Prayer circles are organised among families.

Sao Paulo Senatus: A weekend Retreat for young legionaries had an attendance of over 100. The annual audited accounts of the Senatus were presented at the March meeting. The new Regia of Campo Grande reported 3,395 visits to families. Many visits to the sick and the elderly as well as visits to homes are shown in reports.

Brasilia Regia: A new praesidium resulted from an Exploratio Dominicalis project in which over 800 were contacted. A full family apostolate involves convincing couples of their duties to their children from Baptism to participation in parish catechism. In the State of Goias, an effort is made to reach all through visits to bars, schools, youth workshops and farms.

Europe

AUSTRIA
Senatus of Austria: The Senatus in Vienna of Klanenfurt Comitium organised a widespread consecration of the Austrian people to Jesus through Mary with the aid of 33 days preparation booklet. This booklet was translated into Korean and 50 Koreans undertook the consecration. Cardinal Schoenborn asked the Legion to encourage Eucharistic adoration in parishes. A new praesidium was started in Vienna South Curia. Hollaburn Comitium is planning the annual Kanafestival for young people in Roggendorf. Bishop Kueng will celebrate Mass in September for the 90th anniversary of the Legion organised by the Comitia in Zwettl and in Ybbs.

Countries under caretakership of Austria Senatus
Ukraine: In addition to extension in the Crimean Peninsula, Elizabeth Kriss and Leo Fuehrer visited some councils. The Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine is open to starting the Legion.

Czec Republic: The Senatus gave financial help to Olmuetz Comitium with printing of literature.

Slovakia: The Senatus and Szeliz Comitium are considering a second Comitium in the region. Trnava Curia is extending.

Moldova: The correspondent has sought more information on a planned project to Poland by Chisinau Curia.

Bulgaria: Fr. Florian, Elizabeth Ruepp and Bro Tomish a native Bulgarian visited Bulgaria and obtained permission to start the Legion there.

Belarus: Minsk Comitium: Extension efforts are continuing in the Dioceses of Grodno and Vitebsk. A new praesidium was established in Logoisk. Works undertaken by praesidia and attached councils include evangelisation at bus stations, squares, and trade centres. The baptism of three children was recorded. A praesidium of 12 members frequently visits a house for veterans where a prayer group was organised for them.

CROATIA
Zagreb Regia: Extension is ongoing resulting in some new praesidia. A praesidium of 6 members set up a new praesidium in a neighbouring parish. A new praesidium of 6 members reported the baptism of a 60-year old person. New praesidia were set up by 2 Curiae. The Comitium at Osijek reported work with youth and legionaries in Split East Curia carry out prison visitation. Some visible results include returns to the sacraments after long periods, marriage validation and anointing of the sick. Annual audits are submitted to the Regia with reports.

Countries under caretakership by Zagreb Regia
Bosnia Herzegovina: The Bishop has appointed a new Spiritual Director to Sarajevo Curia. Apostolate undertaken by legionaries resulted in 2 contacts receiving the sacraments after many years.

Slovenia: Ljubljana Curia, which has 6 praesidia, reported difficulty in getting new parishes for extension. The Regia has agreed to help. Legionaries undertake street apostolate and one person returned to the sacraments after a long time.

HUNGARY
Regia of Hungary: Four new praesidia were set up and two praesidia amalgamated. In 2010, 160 Exploratio Dominicalis projects were carried out. There were 18 conversions, 31 marriages, and 253 returns to the sacraments after a number of years. Pecs Curia visits families of young couples and encourages them to live a faithful life.

LITHUANIA
Telsiai Comitium has 10 praesidia and 2 Curiae affiliated with 176 active and 3600 auxiliary members. Efforts to start the Legion in 3 new parishes did not succeed. The attached Queen of the Family Curia undertakes visitation of families as well as hospital and nursing homes.

Kaunas Comitium: Efforts to start a new praesidium in Kaunas did not take off. A praesidium of six members has recently started. Patrician meetings are held and on home visitation people are invited to attend. Visitation of praesidia is mentioned in all minutes.

LATVIA
Permission has been given by two Parish Priests to start praesidia on the outskirts of the city. The apostolate of a praesidium of 5 members in Riga includes contacting people in homes, hospitals, streets and train stations. A Holy Hour has been started in a hospital where 8 to 10 patients are attending.

POLAND
Lublin Regia: A new Comitium of 3 Curiae was established on 5th March in Czestochowa. The Bishop has agreed to the setting up of a Curia in Radom, and in Leczna - carrying out an excellent apostolate, organising secondary schools, catechism for blind children and visiting the homeless. Twelve marriages, 13 confirmation, 2 baptisms, 63 confessions were some of the visible results. One Comitium held a Rosary Congress and a Legion Congress.

Warsaw Comitium: The Comitium is working well, keeping in touch with all its praesidia and attached Curiae, two in the Warsaw region and one in Malbork in the North. Contact is being made with other Dioceses in the North. The Curia in Wolomin has strong praesidia and a goodly number of auxiliaries.

ROMANIA
Satu Mare Regia has 15 Praesidia, 3 Curiae, and 1 Comitium affiliated. A new praesidium was recently established. The apostolate includes Nazareth groups, Radio Maria, hospital and nursing home visitation as well as visits to socially disadvantaged families.

Africa

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Reports indicate tremendous work in restoring marriage break-ups, preventing abortions, visiting prisons and rescuing girls from brothels. Formation sessions are held in Bangui and in the provinces. The day of the inauguration of the Senatus was declared a public holiday. Fr. Francis Athimon has passed the mantle of Senatus Spiritual Director to Fr. Serge-Hubert, National Director of the Lay Apostolate.

DEMOCRATIC CONGO
Concilium visitors are presently visiting the Congo. Lubumbashi Regia and Kananga Senatus have been visited. At Kinshasa Senatus they attended the funeral of David Kindombi, former Senatus Vice-President and recently nominated to the Presidency, who died suddenly. The visitors travelled to Mbandaka and they met the Archbishop of Kisangani.

Bukavu Senatus: News from attached Comitia mentioned a three-day retreat for 60 young legionaries and 33 new legionaries took their Promise. Reports from attached councils give details of returns to the Sacraments of 220 Christians and the baptism of 280 babies and 1,500 young adults. 2,210 catechists were prepared to give instruction on the various sacraments; 200 marriages were regularised, 700 sick people visited, 300 people, who were formerly members of sects, welcomed back into the Catholic Church. Fourteen families whose houses had been burnt and destroyed were consoled, pastoral work was carried out with youth and 180 funerals were attended. Reference is made to the ongoing formation for the Officers.

REUNION ISLAND
Works reported include home and hospital visitation, help in mortuaries where prayer services are held, Rosary recited in Church, Eucharistic ministry, visitation of auxiliaries, Catechetics, preparing ill at home for Confession, organising Stations of the Cross in Lent. A reunion for auxiliaries with the Spiritual Director was held on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. A junior praesidium of 20 active members distributes Miraculous Medals, recruits other young members and takes part in the choir where some play instruments.

Election of New Concilium President

Nominations were sought for the office of President of the Concilium, as Tommy McCabe had completed his second term. Sile Ni Chochlain and Mary Murphy were proposed and seconded and after an election, Sile Ni Chochlain was duly elected President of the Concilium. She thanked Tommy McCabe for his outstanding contribution as Concilium President and also thanked Mary Murphy for allowing her name go forward for this officership. Fr. Bede McGregor, Spiritual Director of Concilium, wished Sile Ni Chochlain every grace and blessing on her election as President of Concilium.

Raising of Councils to a Higher Status

Toronto Regia to Senatus (Canada):
The Concilium proposed and seconded the raising of Toronto Regia to Senatus. It consists of 13 senior and 5 junior praesidia, 9 Curiae and 3 Comitia and covers 8 Dioceses. It has already been given responsibility for territories such as Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, which were formerly attached to the Concilium. There are 2,056 senior and 422 junior members. Ecclesiastical permission has been granted.

Western Visayas Regia to Senatus (Philippines):
The Regia cares for the Legion in the Archdiocese of Jaro in the Philippines and its 7 suffragan Dioceses. It consists of 16 praesidia, 18 Curiae and 12 Comitia. The Legion is working well in all the Dioceses. There are 17,575 senior and 2,584 junior members. The Archbishop has given his permission for the raising of Western Visayas Regia to Senatus, which was proposed and seconded at the June Concilium meeting. The Archbishop expressed his appreciation for the great work being undertaken by the legionaries.

Karnataka Regia to Senatus (India):
This Regia looks after the Legion in the Archdiocese of Bangalore, India and consists of 9 praesidia, 15 senior Curiae, 1 junior Curia and 5 Comitia. There are 4,406 senior and 883 junior members. The Legion is working in 9 of the 11 Dioceses with further scope of development. The Concilium has, in addition, asked if they would endeavour to help with extension in the Archdiocese of Hyderabad. The Concilium proposed and seconded the raising of Karnataka Regia to Senatus status. The proposal is made subject to ecclesiastical permission.

Congratulations were extended to all those responsible for the raising of these three councils to a higher status. They were wished every grace and blessing for the wonderful work they undertake for Our Blessed Lady

Dublin Catholic Youth Conference

The 10th annual Catholic Youth Conference took place at All Hallows College on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th June. The gathering was welcomed by Fr. Bede McGregor, Spiritual Director of Concilium, who invited the young people to consider the theme "Trust Christ as He Trusts you" and to put it into practice in their daily lives. Among the speakers were Most Rev. Patrick O'Donoghue, Bishop Emeritus of Lancaster who spoke on the power of prayer; Andrew O'Connell powerpoint presentation gave a critique of the media; Sr. Miriam Duggan spoke of her trials in Uganda. She related how her trust in God was tested in her failure to get funds to complete her hospital when a donation from a non-Catholic allowed the work to be completed.

Evening Mass was celebrated by Fr. John Harris, OP, a Holy Hour of healing was conducted by Fr. Michael Ross SDB and Confessions were heard by 4 Priests. The customary evening football game was followed by an evening of song and dance.

On Sunday the first speaker was Carole Browne, a lay theologian from the American Mid West who gave several insights from her own life where her trust in God was rewarded. Sunday Mass was concelebrated by 6 priests led by Bishop O'Donoghue. Fr. Paul Churchill in his homily spoke on prayer and giving absolute trust in God. Fr. Terence Crotty, OP told of conversions, which resulted from the trust, which he had in God. The conference ended with Fr. Padraig O'Cochlain reminding all that they were the future of the Church.

Testimonies of 4 legionaries over the 2 days were for many the highlights of the conference and showed how the Lord helps us if only we give him the trust and love that he deserves.

Extension to Amsterdam

Ann and Eddy Evers, Dublin and Agnes and Ron Jones of Birmingham did Legion extension work in Amsterdam from the 21st May to 29th May 2011. They visited many councils with positive results. During the visit they met Bishop Punt who said that he or his Auxiliary Bishop would officiate at a Mass to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the Legion of Mary. He urged local legionaries to use all means to advertise and promote the Legion, including the Diocesan website and bulletin as well as national newspapers. The Auxiliary Bishop also encouraged talks at bi-annual meeting of the deacons, the local seminary and the Congregation of new movements in the Netherlands. Thanks and appreciation were expressed to the legionaries for undertaking this mission.

Commemoration Ceremony for The Servant of God, Frank Duff at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

The Annual Commemoration Ceremony for The Servant of God Frank Duff took place on Sunday 5th June 2011, Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord, in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. Paddy Fay, Secretary of Concilium, gave an inspiring address on many aspects in the life of Frank Duff and concluded his talk by saying that '… when Our Lord gave His great Commandment which echoes across the centuries: "Go preach the Gospel to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15). Frank Duff spent his life following that command of Our Lord. Are we following in his footsteps?' There was an attendance of approximately 250 people and the ceremony concluded with the Rosary and a procession to the grave of Frank Duff.

Legion of Mary 90th Anniversary Celebrations

Wednesday 7th September 2011

Open day at Legion of Mary Headquarters from 10 am.

During the day there will be guided tours of:
Legion Headquarters, Hostels and Frank Duff's House;
Visits to Frank Duff's Grave in Glasnevin; and
Exhibition including the Causes and History of the Legion

Holy Mass at 7.30 pm in
Our Lady of the Angels, Church Street

Refreshments and entertainment afterwards at Legion Headquarters

Visitation of Councils during the coming months

The Concilium have recently given permission to send two legionaries to the following countries:

NETHERLANDS in May 2011 was visited by Anne and Eddy Evers, Dublin and Agnes and Ron Jones of Birmingham.
MOZAMBIQUE in June 2011.
CANADA in July 2011
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO in October 2011.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC in January 2012.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - two separate visits are planned in the Autumn 2011 - one to the New York and Cincinnati areas and the other to the Houston area.

Prayer for the Beatification of

The Servant of God, Frank Duff


God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.

In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.

We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …

We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legionofmary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.


Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND

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Concilium Allocutio June 2011

By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.

Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

The Most Holy Trinity

Today is the feast of the Most Holy Trinity and so we are invited to reflect and pray on this central mystery of our faith. The Trinity is not only a doctrine that we feed our minds on; it is the inner life of God, which we are called to share in and to make our home in. We are baptised into the life of the Trinity. The relationships which we have to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the deepest relationships that we can have in our lives. As Christians we actually participate in the very life of the Trinity. The life of grace is simply the life of the indwelling of the Trinity in the deepest core of our being, our very souls and pervading every aspect of our lives. This mystery of our faith is not only the centre and core of our contemplative life but the animating source and goal of our apostolic life. Our Lord's last words on this earth, his great command to evangelise the whole world are about being baptised into the life of the Trinity. All pastoral and missionary apostolate is ultimately about leading people into the life and intimacy of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is what conversion work is all about.

The chapter in the Handbook on 'The Legionary and the Holy Trinity' is perhaps the most profound and most practical part of the Handbook. Frank Duff, our Founder, writes there: 'The saints are insistent on the necessity for thus distinguishing between the Three Divine Persons and for rendering to each one of them an appropriate attention. The Athanasian Creed is mandatory and strangely menacing in regard to this requirement, which proceeds from the fact that the final purpose of Creation and the Incarnation is the glory of the Trinity.' As was his wont, Frank Duff sought insight into the relationship we have to each Person of the Trinity by turning to Mary. He writes: 'But how can so incomprehensible a mystery be even dimly probed? Assuredly by divine enlightenment alone, but this grace can confidently be claimed from her to whom, for the first time in the world, the doctrine of the Trinity was definitely intimated. That occasion was the epochal moment of the Annunciation. Through its high angel the Holy Trinity thus declared Itself to Mary: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God." (Lk 1:35) In this revelation all the Three Divine Persons are clearly specified: first, the Holy Spirit, to whom the operation of the Incarnation is attributed; second, the Most High, the Father of him who is to be born; third, that Child who "will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High." (Lk 1:32) The contemplation of Mary's different relations to the Divine Persons helps towards our distinguishing as between the Three.'

Put very simply Our Lord shares with us His life with the Trinity. He teaches us to pray 'Abba Father' because that is the reality. We are the children of the Father in Christ. In him we seek always and everywhere to do the will of the Father. As Blessed Dom Marmion use to say, our lives like Christ must be totally Ad Patrem, turned towards the Father. We live within the ambit of the Father's loving providence that governs the minutest detail of our lives. We can experience in faith the Father's love and relationship to Jesus and the relationship of Jesus to the Father. These are stunning truths and realities of our faith. How desperately impoverished our lives would be without them.

Then, of course, we begin and end everything with the sign of the Cross. It is through the Cross that Christ gained entrance for us into the life of the Trinity. Our life in the Trinity is the fruit of the Passion and death of the Lord. As Saint Francis was fond of praying to Our Lord: 'My Lord and my God, my God and my all.' Of course our faith and life are radically Christocentric.

Finally, the Father gives to us His Son and then the Father together with the Son gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. We become temples of the Holy Spirit. We are enveloped in the life of the Trinity. This Trinitarian life is the fruit of our redemption and the beginning of eternal life even here on earth. The Handbook spells out much more succinctly and beautifully how Mary lives out the mystery of the Trinity in its unity and plurality of persons. We will never cease to benefit from re-reading again and again this chapter of the Handbook.

The best commentary on this chapter that I have come across is the life and words of the Venerable Edel Quinn. The vice postulator for her cause wrote a wonderful article entitled: Edel Quinn: A Life in the Trinity.' Let me conclude by giving you some very brief quotations from Edel and the conclusion of the article. She writes: 'Let us ask the grace to live in realisation of our life in Christ through Mary, adoring the Trinity'; 'In Christ Jesus we have all. Realise this. Often offer Him to the Trinity, present in our soul, giving all honour, reparation and glory throughout the day'; 'Realise I am a temple of God, the dwelling place of the Trinity'; 'In Christ we adore the Trinity. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus. Try and adore the Trinity in our souls, even in the midst of trouble or external duties'; 'With Christ and helped by Mary, let us adore the Trinity. Cut out useless worrying thoughts ... to adore with and in union with Jesus ... the Trinity in the soul ... per Mariam.'

Fr. Anselm Moynihan concludes: 'For Edel Quinn, then, the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity was not just an abstraction, to be accepted indeed on faith but with little bearing on the practical working out of our lives. For her it was supremely practical, vital and energising. Her manner of applying it to her life, her prayer, her work, her relations with others offer an example we can imitate - to the glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.' He concludes with a quotation from Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity whom Edel read avidly: 'The Blessed Trinity ... there is our dwelling place, our home, the Father's house which we must never leave.' I would add that if we wish to seriously try to live the Christian life in depth which is the primary aim of every legionary, we will have to learn to practice in real earnest, living with the tremendous reality of the indwelling of the Trinity in our souls. Amen.

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Concilium News May 2011

New Regia for India

The Concilium approved the raising of Kottar Comitium, Tamilnadu, India, to Regia to govern the Legion in the Diocese of Kottar, which has four Vicariates: Kottar, Colachel, Mulagumoodu and Thiruthuvapuram. The new Regia will be affiliated directly to the Concilium.

Extension Work in the Netherlands

Ann and Eddy Evers asked for prayers for an Extension project in the Netherlands which they are to undertake this month, on behalf of the Concilium, with Agnes and Ron Jones of the Birmingham Senatus.

Visitation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Pia Makengo, President of Brussels Senatus, Belgium, asked for prayers also for a visitation to some Legion councils in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which she and Henri Kaite, who was present also at the meeting, expect to make, on behalf of the Concilium, within the next month.

Visitors

The Concilium was honoured to receive a visit from Most Reverend Anton Justs, Bishop of Jelgava, Latvia, who in an address to the meeting, spoke of his happiness at having the Legion in his diocese and thanked particularly the Concilium President, Tommy McCabe, for his assistance in establishing the Legion there. He spoke of the dedicated apostolate which the legionaries undertake in his diocese. Bishop Justs had attended the Beatification of Blessed Pope John Paul II, who had ordained him Bishop in Rome in 1996. He spoke of the devotion of Blessed Pope John Paul II to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Also welcomed to the meeting were the President of Madrid Senatus, Spain, Javier de Frutos, and four other officers of the Senatus who had taken part in discussions with the Concilium officers the previous day. The Senatus President said that their visit will strengthen their ties with the Concilium. Among other visitors welcomed was Edmundo Zuniga Garcia, Vice President of the Managua Regia, Nicaragua.

Notice of Election of Concilium President
As Tommy McCabe completes six years as Concilium President in June this year, notice was given of an election for the office of Concilium President at the June 2011 Concilium meeting. Prayers are requested for this election.


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At the centre of our lives is the Mass

Concilium Allocutio May 2011
By Fr.Paul Churchill
Spiritual Director of Presentata Curia, Dublin

I heard recently of a person being invited to some "born again" Christian group. My Catholic friend was told they came together and read the Bible and sang hymns. And I thought to myself: what makes the difference with us Catholics? What makes us different from so many groups who claim to be Christians is that at the centre of our lives is the Mass. And how richer it is compared to so many because at its heart lies the greatest act any human has ever done.

To help understand I want you to come with me to Calvary. That act of Jesus in which he allowed himself be taken and wrongly condemned and treated shamefully before he died was an act of supreme love, unequalled in human history. Compare what Jesus did to any other figure in history and you will find none equal. Scandal to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles, yes. And that even today. But if you reflect on it and try and enter it yourself you will see its greatness. No wonder the centurion said, 'This truly was the son of God".

There too I note St. John and Our Lady standing, immersed in that awful moment. Do we have any idea what it did to them? Sometimes our artists try their best but miss. There is a modern term I want to use. It is the term traumatised. Post traumatic stress disorder can leave some people scarred for years. I wonder if St. John wrote his Gospel last of all because it took all that time for him to deal with what he had seen. After all he had been very young when he watched the way Jesus died. And perhaps when Jesus gave Our Lady to St. John, and he to her, was responding to their suffering which he recognised even in the midst of his own pain.

When St. John finally processed all the data he came to only one conclusion, that Jesus was the Lamb of God. He was the new sacrificial Lamb who took away the sins of the whole world, the one Isaiah had prophesied. By his sublime act of trust in God, his total forgiveness of what was done to him, his refusal to utter even one negative remark in the midst of such suffering, indeed to the contrary the goodness of his words from the Cross, not to mention his dignified bearing of it all, you can see why the hardened centurion was impressed. But so was God. And by this act he saved us all from damnation.

In our Mass we celebrate that great act. It is not just that we remember it as something past. In some mystical way we are brought into its presence. As the Blessed John Paul II said "Every priest who celebrates Holy Mass, together with the Christian community that takes part in it, is led back in spirit to that place and that hour" (Ecclesia de Eucharistica, n.4). It has become the one eternal sacrifice which Christ makes everlastingly to God and it is no longer confined to the limits of space and time. Christ, by his own plans, shared at the Last Supper with the Apostles, has given his priests the power to bring it to us so that we can tap into its graces.

We do not have to behold its trauma as St. John and Our Lady did. But we can make real contact with that event and with the great heart of love in God which is really what lies behind it all. We meet the level and quality of that love he spoke about at the Last Supper when he said that a man could have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends and asked that we love one another as he had loved us.

At Mass we are in the heart of an act of worship which differs so radically from prayer meetings or those other gatherings of Christians which just read God's word and sing psalms and say prayers and have a good social occasion. This, our Mass, is about encountering Christ's act of sacrifice which is frightening and awesome and difficult to grasp and challenging even to consider imitating.

But he did say, "Do this in memory of me". Yes, those words mean that we are to re-enact his words and acts at the Last Supper. But there is also this challenge - that we too try to enter into his act and give up our bodies for others and pour out our blood so that sins might be forgiven.

So now our Mass becomes not just something to attend or be present at the way you would a concert or a film. It is an act of true worship in which I offer God my life and its energies to do his will and to trust him in all that happens, even to accepting a shore in the suffering of Christ if that be God's will. Mass is where I consecrate myself before God and commit to follow Christ and imitate him in the way of heroic love. The Mass contains all the treasure of the Church for it is not just Christ but the Christ who is continually offering himself to God on our behalf in that sublime sacrifice of love which challenges and energises us. It is the source of all the love the world needs.

Receiving Christ in Holy Communion is both an identification with him but more the taking him into our lives so that he can strengthen us in our daily living as Christians.

There is a very interesting set of words communicated at the beginning of Chapter 6 of the Acts of the Apostles. There you will read how the apostles discussed the burden of work they had with the whole body of the disciples. As a result, the deaconate was founded. But just after this we are told that a large number of the Temple priests came over to join the apostles. In other words we find in that very description of the early Church the basic structures of the Church as we have it today: the body of the disciples, the apostles whose task was taken over by the Bishops, the deacons and the priests. I am not sure what exact role the disciples gave those Old Testament priests but what we do know today is that the task above all that the New Testament priests have is not to offer spring lambs in atonement for our sins but to offer the spotless Lamb of God by bringing the sacrifice of Calvary into our present moment.

And on this Vocations Sunday it is worth reflecting that without the priest there can be no Mass. Priests are called to be special people. It is their vocation in a special way to enter into the mystery of Calvary, to be identified with the sacrificial Lamb of God so that they can more fittingly make present to the Church that great act of salvation Christ brought to us. In a way St. John, standing there at the foot of the Cross, represents the spirituality of priests if I may put it like that. Like John each priest is called to meditate deeply and try to emphasise with that self-giving in love by Jesus. It is in reflecting on the deep meaning of what he celebrates that priest will better grasp his vocation. It is no surprise that when the Church is persecuted the first and main thrust of the attack will be directed against the priests. And anyone contemplating priesthood must reflect that it will chiefly be in sharing in the injustice and hate directed at Jesus that he will be proved to be priest. If he is a hireling he will look after his skin and run. Each priest must be a lamb for God, someone innocent of heart and with only good intentions, with a heart fixed on the will of God, who will suffer because of misunderstanding and sometimes malice from those who hate the message of the Gospel.

John calls himself the beloved disciple. He above all had a deep sense of the love, the understanding and forgiving love in the heart of Jesus. That too each priest must come in contact with. I find it interesting that Fr. Gobbi, who founded the Marian Movement of Priests, should put on the front of his blue book the words, "Our Lady's beloved sons". Perhaps her ministry to the young disciple also helped him to grow to see this truth in his life.

Our Lady, whose vocation is that of wife and mother, represents the lay participation in Mass. When you share in some trauma, suffer with people who experience tragedy, carry your burdens and stand with Jesus in a world that howls out its hate of the Word and his Church, then you stand with her at the foot of the Cross. And where better to celebrate this and share with Christ in it than at Mass.

There, with him, you can also offer up your life in dedication, offer up the pains it cost you to follow him, including the jibes and sneers of others who just use modern idioms of "if he is the Christ let him come down from the Cross!" And with him we offer up the suffering for the forgiveness of sins as we forgive those who offend us in any way.

But perhaps there is another truth here worth reflecting on that Our Lady took John into her heart and care as if he were a son, indeed a beloved son. And if John made a place for her in his home then I believe it was more than reciprocated by her. This also points to another reality in the heart of the Church and certainly one experienced in the Legion of Mary and that is the love of the faithful for the priests. It is my experience, and I suspect that of so many of my brother priests, that I find myself at home in the Legion. I have found a home and support over the years in the Legion which is unparalleled.

On this Vocation Sunday, I thank you on my own behalf for your witness to Jesus and your love for him and his church and for your great encouragement you give to Priests. And while I say this on my own behalf I also suspect that thousands of priests everywhere would echo my sentiments.

Vocations Sunday is above all vocations in the Church. It is not just about getting people to hear their vocation and follow it. But it should include a prayer and support for those living their vocations. So I ask your prayers over these days not just for those who are called to be priests but also for those already priests that they will grow in their vocation and keep faithful to it.

On Calvary, Mary and John stood in solidarity with Jesus. But by his words to them he showed that he was in solidarity with them too. May our Mass become a place of solidarity too where we commit to support each other in our various Christian vocations as we listen to God's call and strive to follow the way of Jesus, Son of Mary. Amen.

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Concilium Bulletin
May 2011

Asia
MEXICO
Mexico City Senatus: Reports were received from 3 praesidia, 4 Curiae and 1 Comitium. Extension is evident in the reports. A new praesidium of 10 and a junior praesidium of 15 members were set up. An attached Curia reported 3 new praesidia in formation. About 50 legionaries plan to visit the Concilium for the 90th anniversary in September.

Merida Senatus: Attendance of directly attached praesidia is 74%. A Peregrinatio Pro Christo project was carried out in Chiapas, a border town with Guatemala. All praesidia do systematic home-to-home visitation and crowd contact resulting in many returns to the practice of the faith and great contacts with the sects. Big numbers including whole families have been converted. On home visitation they discuss the Sunday readings, if possible, and promote the Miraculous Medal. All reports indicate good numbers of auxiliaries.

Guadalajara Regia: Reports indicate solid Legion work, many returns to the sacraments. The statue of Our Lady is brought to homes and prayers are said. A number of couples have received the sacrament of marriage.
Leon Regia: The theme for 2011, and Fr. Bede McGregor's letter have been distributed to all praesidia. The 5-minutes study of the Handbook is also promoted. 10,000 Frank Duff prayer leaflets were printed.

Hermosillo Regia: La Paz Curia reported 6 new praesidia in formation with 100 probationers. A new Curia was set up in Ciudad Obregon. A large number of legionaries went on extension to San Pedro in the mountain area. An attached Curia is visiting 5,000 homes with an image of Our Lady. A retreat for First Communicants was organised.

Durango Regia: Four new members were recruited following two recruiting drives after Sunday Masses. Four sick persons went to confession after regular visitation by legionaries.

Monterrey Regia: Two new praesidia with 10 and 12 members were set up. Another praesidium of 11 gave its first report. Legionaries are promoting the Cause of The Servant of God, Frank Duff. Thirty homes have been consecrated to the Sacred Heart as suggested for the 90th anniversary.

Central America

COSTA RICA
Senatus of San Jose: On home visitation the Rosary is encouraged, the wearing of the Miraculous Medals, the Enthronement of the homes to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart are promoted.

SAN SALVADOR
El Salvador Senatus: Reports show a great number of conversions, both returns to the practice of the Catholic faith and conversions from the sects. A 16 year old boy, whose parents are atheists, received 3 sacraments. Three young Protestants were received into the Church and are now in the Legion. A Mormon family was baptised and the parents received the Sacrament of Marriage. A new Curia and 3 new praesidia were set up recently. An attached Curia had an attendance of 100% at the Acies ceremony.

Panama Regia: The new Regia is working well and correspondents have been appointed for the 2 new Comitia. The Regia officers visited the new Comitia to explain the administration and how the Comitia would operate.

Guatemala: The visiting legionaries from Merida Senatus were very well received and there is a willingness to learn.

Nicaragua: The former President who is now the Vice-President of the Regia of Managua, Br. Edmundo Zuñija attended the May Concilium meeting. He is the first legionary from that country to visit the Concilium and is 50 years in the Legion. The Legion is working well there and they have a good number of juniors who pass on to senior membership. All councils are working at parish level. He brought letters of greetings from the Archbishop to Fr. Bede McGregor, Spiritual Director of Concilium and Tommy McCabe, President of the Concilium.

Asia
NEPAL
The curia is not currently functioning but news comes from a dedicated spiritual director, Fr. Pius Perumand that there is 1 junior and 2 senior praesidia working in Kathmandu, Godavari and Baniyatar.

ARMENIA
The praesidium in Yerevan has 11 active, 2 praetorian and 15 auxiliary members. They recruited 4 new members, have 90% attendance and the Spiritual Director attends all the meetings. They prepare children for Confession and First Communion. In the Eastern rite Confirmation is received immediately after Baptism.

GEORGIA
Br. Bernardo has been in regular contact. The Vice President of the Yerevan praesidium while visiting relatives called to meet the remaining praesidium in Ude, who were overjoyed with the visit. They were encouraged to re-establish contact with Br. Bernardo whose letters they had received. There are 7 members, 3 of whom are new. Many families were brought back to the practice of their faith. They have the Tessera in Georgian but not the Handbook, something that would be necessary if the Legion is to extend.

MYANMAR
Legionaries staffed a booth at a shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, a 4 hour journey from Yangon and met legionaries from all over the country. The Senatus held its 6th national conference at the shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary near Mandalay at which 358 legionaries, 3 Priests and 11 Religious Sisters attended. The new Myanmar Handbook was available and a copy was given to each praesidium.

SRI LANKA
The Senatus meeting is bilingual, the majority speaking Sinhala. Eight chapters of the Sinhala handbook have been translated. Juniors propagate and recite the Rosary in schools and homes. The Bishop of Kurunagala wrote requesting a senior and junior praesidium be set up in every parish in the diocese to mark its 25th anniversary.

THAILAND
Much apostolic work in done for children promoting the Bible, getting to know Jesus, how to pray and participate at Mass. Two legionaries were assigned to work in an adjacent country for 2 years.

PAKISTAN
A praesidium of 23 undertakes home and hospital visitation and visit bereaved families. Those met are presented with the Catholic Church despite many other Christian churches enticing people with financial aid. The Curia has 300 senior and 100 junior members.

INDIA
Mumbai has 5,500 senior and 1,400 juniors at work in 17 Dioceses with 28 Dioceses available for extension. All praesidia have praetorian and auxiliary members. Goa held a training day, 300 attended, they also started prison visitation. The Regia does much promotion for the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff.

Kerala Senatus: 6 Comitia, 3 Curiae and 3 praesidia reported Catholics and others of all religions met, hundreds of homes were consecrated to the Sacred Heart, marriages regularised 71 in one area and 99 in another. Some conversions were recorded and adults and children baptised. Bereaved families were consoled and the Rosary was recited in homes. A Comitium had 2 Rosary Rallies with attendances of 2,000 and 500. Prisons and homes for destitute were visited. A new Curia of 12 praesidia was set up.

Karnataka Regia: The Legion is very vibrant in spirit and dedication and works in 9 of the 11 Dioceses. They visit people of all faiths and none. A congress was organised by 2 councils.

Pondicherry Senatus: The annual get-together was held with the Archbishop and Spiritual Director present. Work is done in all sectors of society, from mentally and physically ill to jails and those suffering from Aids and leprosy. Twenty new praesidia and 2 Curiae were set up during the year.

Kottar Comitium: Five praesidia were started. A mini Peregrinatio Pro Christo with 60 legionaries taking part worked in an area of Madurai Diocese. Tuticorin Comitium started a Curia of 7 praesidia in January and another of 6 in February. A third is in formation which will bring the number of Curiae to 18. Madurai Comitium is in line to be raised to Regia status. We await minutes. Visakhapatanm have 9 nearby and 40 distant praesidia and 6 nearby and 6 distant Curiae. They are working on reorganisation. Coimbatore Comitium have been given guidance on procedures. Kolkata Comitium had regularly corresponded in the past and have been requested to resume contact.

Europe

Amsterdam: The Senatus has agreed to Regia status due to its considerably reduced size. Cape Verdian Curia in Rotterdam has 3 praesidia. Drug addicts are contacted. Twelve children and one adult were baptised.
Brussels: A former Senatus Secretary has become a deacon.
Denmark: A praesidium gained 3 new members and during Lent led the Way of the Cross every Sunday. Copenhagen praesidium has 12 members.

ENGLAND
Birmingham Senatus reported street contact at the Bull ring, apostolate to the gay community, two new converts received into the Church, a Patrician meeting at Birmingham University and a man returned to the sacraments after 40 years. Extension drives in 2 parishes in Bristol and Coventry report an Exploratio Dominicalis project to Warwick University. Birmingham junior Curia has 4 praesidia and Swansea Curia has a new praesidium in Ammanford.

Liverpool Senatus: Manchester Comitium is celebrating its 80th anniversary and report new praesidia at St. Joseph's and in Salford Cathedral. Ashton Curia held a Holy Hour for the Servant of God, Frank Duff, and Wrexham Curia showed the Legion DVD following the Frank Duff anniversary Mass. The Legion's 90th anniversary will be marked by a celebration in Lancaster Cathedral on Saturday 29th October.

Central London Curia reported favourable on the Red Light area apostolate and the Rosary is recited regularly at Hyde Park Speakers Corner.
Middlesex Curia reported on 3 praesidia with membership of 11, 6 and 8; works include contacting in local parks and promotion of Maria Legionis.

Brentwood Comitium: Reports at the meeting tell of legionaries who prepared four teenagers to receive the Sacrament of Baptism. Also legionaries, under the guidance of the Parish Priest, are instructing a Church of England gentleman. A legionary from the Harlow praesidium entered the seminary in September.

Brent and Harrow Curia organised an Edel Quinn pilgrimage to Aylesfort. Over 1000 people attended.

Hammersmith Curia has 8 praesidia. Works include praying the Rosary weekly with school children and bringing Holy Communion to Churches.

SCOTLAND
Ten members took the Promise in a new praesidium in Edinburgh Curia. The "Light a Candle Say a Prayer" project in Falkirk and Rosyth was successful. A recruiting drive at the Cathedral resulted in 34 names for possible membership. The Wayside Club going for 78 years and new praesidia in Aberdeen and in Dominic's, Bishopbriggs are doing well. The Christmas Crib apostolate took place despite terrible weather. In Greenock and District Curia of their 87 members 68 are Praetorians.

FRANCE
Paris Regia: The Legion is active in several communities, including a Vietnamese Curia and a couple of Haitian praesidia. Martinique Comitium is in the care of Paris and their works include home and hospital visitation.
Valence Regia: Recruiting is undertaken and valuable contacts made at the Foyer de Charite in Chateauneuf de Galaure. The praesidia at Valence and at Crest each have 7 members. A programme of praesidia visitation has begun.
Regia of Aire and Dax: Extension is taking places in many areas in the Regia's region. Strasbourg: Many legionaries including 4 priests took part in a PPC conference. Five PPC projects are planned for this year. A Jewish lady is being prepared for Baptism.

GERMANY
Meetings are held twice yearly between officers of Senatus Frankfurt and Munich and Koeln Regia with recommendations being given to their respective councils for consideration and approval. The Senatus was represented at the meeting for spiritual organisations organised by the Diocese of Limburg.
Comitium Berlin carries out an apostolate to the Korean, Croatian, Filipino, Vietnamese and Spanish-speaking communities. The Croatian praesidium of 22 is being encouraged to split.
Koeln Regia has 2 Comitia in Essen and Dusseldorf and 5 attached Curiae.
Comitium Freiburg has 3 attached Curiae.
Munich Senatus is awaiting ecclesiastical permission to revert to Regia status and be attached to Frankfurt Senatus. One praesidium has 231 auxiliaries.

NORWAY
Drammen praesidium with 10 members and 8 auxiliaries promote house Rosaries and home visitation. Tonsberg praesidium with 5 members and 12 auxiliaries carry out catechism classes for children. Extension is planned for Sandefjord and Oslo.

SIBERIA
The Bishop of Irkutsk thanked Frankfurt Senatus (which caretakes the Legion in Siberia) for setting up a Curia in Irkutsk. While attendance is low works include visitation of the sick and elderly.

SWEDEN
The Spiritual Director of the praesidium in Malmo supports the work of visiting the housebound and instructing young children for first Holy Communion. The praesidium of 6 in Vaxjo is working well. A group will come to Dublin in September for the 90th anniversary celebration.

SWITZERLAND (under caretakership of Frankfurt Senatus)
Curia Zurich reports a new praesidium in Bern.

Africa
CAMEROON
Douala Senatus: The Senatus has 22 Curiae and 8 praesidia directly attached with 1,542 active members. A Regia in Yaounde has 1,192 active members and nine Comitia directly attached to the Senatus and 14 Comitia attached to the Regia has a total of 14,759 active members. During the year 2 new Comitia, several Curiae as well as numerous new praesidia were set up. Works include youth apostolate; they have 654 junior members, visitation of homes, prisons, orphanages, the sick and helping with catechesis. During the year nearly .5 million homes and a million sick were visited in the hospitals or at home. 876 marriages were regularised, 4,418 people brought back to the Sacraments and over 33,000 street contacts made.

Conakry Comitium: The Comitium has been making strong efforts to visit local praesidia and to strengthen contact with councils. In March the Comitium President travelling over 2,000 km in 10 days to visit distant councils in the interior of Guinea. The Comitium have arranged a meting with the Archbishop of Conakry to discuss the Legion.

TOGO
Logo Regia: There were 115 people present at a presentation and lecture on The Servant of God, Frank Duff, a Mass and Conference was organised on Alfie Lambe. A junior Curia with 20 praesidia was mentioned in the report as well as a project to set up 3 new junior praesidia in 2 different areas. The Cathedral Comitium is setting up a new Curia.

BURKINA FASO
Ouagadougou Comitium reports that the young legionaries of Gounghin go to the Basic Christian Community meetings to pray with the people and speak to them about the Legion, also, recruiting youth for enrolments in the catechetical programme. Legionaries are welcomed by the majority of the Muslim population for their prayers and their help to the old with washing and drawing water.

IVORY COAST
Conflicts in this country have made it difficult for the Senatus to maintain the rhythm of its meetings. Prayers are asked for the legionaries and people of this country at this time.

BENIN REPUBLIC
During a 10-day visit to Gabon by two visitators from Cotonou Regia they covered 5 Dioceses travelling by plane, bus, train and car. This visit took place from the 3rd to the 12th May. Their report contains statistics together with proposals for upgrading Legion administration.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Malabo Comitium are planning to set up a new Curia. In Bata they had almost 100% attendance at the Acies ceremony. The ceremony started at 11.00am and finished at 5.00pm.

Visit by Officers of Madrid Senatus, Spain

The Officers of the Madrid Senatus, Spain, Javier de Frutos, President; Concha Ferraz, Vice President; Consuelo Molina, Assistant Secretary; Maria Carmen Lopez, Treasurer and Julia Garcia, Assistant Treasurer visited the Concilium on Saturday 14th May 2011. There are 15 praesidia, 5 Comitia and 18 Curiae in 7 Archdioceses. During the meeting with Concilium Officers the strength of the Legion in the Dioceses was reviewed and suggestions on the development of the Legion in their area were discussed. Tommy McCabe, President of Concilium thanked the officers for all the work they are doing for Our Lady

Visit to the Concilium by the Bishop of Latvia

The Concilium was honoured to receive a visit from Most Reverend Anton Justs, Bishop of Jelgava, Latvia, who in an address to the meeting, spoke of his happiness at having the Legion in his diocese and thanked particularly the Concilium President, Tommy McCabe, for his assistance in establishing the Legion there. He spoke of the dedicated apostolate which the legionaries undertake in his diocese. Bishop Justs had attended the Beatification of Blessed Pope John Paul II, who had ordained him Bishop in Rome in 1996. He spoke of the devotion of Blessed Pope John Paul II to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Raising of Kottar Comitium to Regia Status, India

The Concilium proposed and seconded that Kottar Comitium be raised to Regia status. The Diocese of Kottar has 15 praesidia, 14 Curiae and 3 Comitia with others being prepared for formation. The new Regia will govern the Legion in the Vicariates of Kottar, Colachel, Mulagumoodu and Thiruthuvapuram with the possibility of some Comitia of other rites opting to come in under the new Regia.

The President, Tommy McCabe, congratulated all legionaries involved in the raising of this Regia and wished them every grace and blessing.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.

In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.

We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …

We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND

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The Role of Mary in the Mystical Body of Christ

Concilium Allocutio April 2011
By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.
Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

On several occasions Frank Duff, our founder, expressed the conviction that if the whole Legion was blotted out and forgotten but there was one praesidium left that followed the spirit and letter of the Handbook it would have the same potential to expand and spread throughout the whole world just as did the original band that met on the eve of the Nativity of Our Lady in 1921. The original group of legionaries were an inconspicuous group of people. The unbelievable success of that first group was not due to any exceptional organising ability, nor were they particularly influential or gifted. Their achievements were due to one thing alone and that is internal quality. And every praesidium has the same potential as the original group.

But what was the secret of that original group, what was its inner power or dynamism or to put it in more modern terms, what was its special charism and absolute guarantee of success? Let us listen to the words of our Founder: ‘If you ask me now in a few words to say to you what that power lies in, I’ll tell you that it lies in its approach to the Blessed Virgin. That is the central germ. That first group offered itself deliberately to Mary, to be used by her in her mothering of souls. That was the notion which brought them together and that was the thought which filled them.’ The first praesidium had just read and committed itself to the practice of the True Devotion to Mary and that became the motor power of everything worthwhile in the Legion. There can be no stopping of the Legion anywhere in the world or in any generation of old or young or middle-aged legionaries if it has really and truly and effectively offered itself to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Make no mistake about it. She is the power behind the Legion. It cannot fail with Mary at its heart and the inspiration of its apostolic action.

To more fully understand the offering that the Legion makes to Our Lady we must see it in the context of the Mystical Body of Christ. Jesus continues his life in his Body the Church. He seeks to live his inner attitude and bonding to His Mother Mary in and the through the Church. The Legion like the Church as a whole seeks to reproduce the love of Christ for his Mother. His is the supreme love of Mary. His love is the ultimate true devotion to Mary. The Legion seeks to share in his utter love and commitment to his Mother. But then we seek to have the mind and heart of Mary towards the Mystical Body of Christ. She loves and cherishes each and every member of the Mystical Body just as she was completely centred on the historical Christ. She is totally focused on the Risen Lord living in his Mystical Body. Her divinely given role is the mothering of the Mystical Body. The mothering of souls. And the Legion seeks with all its heart to share with Mary her mothering of souls. The Legion seeks to be a real and special presence of Mary the mother of the Mystical Body wherever there is a praesidium.

Let me conclude with some extracts from our Founder’s own words instead of my paraphrasing of them. In one of his talks he says: ‘The special relation which existed between Our Lord and His Mother – that relation between Our Lady and the Mystical Body – is necessary to the life of that body. Our Lady’s place in salvation was an extraordinary one. It’s very important that we should get a glimpse of it, and one of the special occupations of the Legion of Mary is trying to give its members some idea of the wonderful place that she fulfilled from the first. From the first moment, God built His whole plan of salvation of the human race on that woman. That is the amazing situation. Without her prayer and co-operation, Our Lord would not have come.’

‘The Incarnation – that is, the coming of Our Lord on earth, the taking of human flesh, and all this other drama that we have been touching on – depended upon her. First of all He took His flesh from her, just as every child takes its flesh from its mother. But she played a part in regard to Him over and above that played by the ordinary mother in regard to her child. She brings the child into existence and she nurtures and she loves that child. Our Lady went further than all that because Our Lady was brought into the very mystery of salvation in a way which would be very profitable to go into but would take a little time. The Blessed Trinity brought her in as a co-operator. It built salvation, not only on her body, but on her will as well. It depends upon the will of the Holy Trinity and the will of this one woman.’

‘Therefore when we think in terms of the Mystical Body and realise that it is carrying on Our Lord’s life – it is working miracles as He did; it is preaching and converting; forgiving sin and all these other things that were such parts of His life – so it is loving her. It must love her to distraction. It must depend on her will. It must always have her in view, that is absolutely essential. That’s the intention of God and we must not fail in that. We must reproduce that unique relation between the son and the mother.’

‘The Church without her would be in a position equivalent to that of the natural body without a heart. That would be a monstrosity. As she is by the law of God made necessary to the functioning of the Mystical Body, so we must understand that fact and we must enter thoroughly into it. Therein lies the value, the secret, of whatever has happened to the Legion: in that and in nothing else, the fact of trying to understand that and exploit it. If we do not understand that and act on it, whatever the cause, we upset the due balance, and that heavenly nuclear reaction of grace does not operate properly in us. On the other hand, the section of Catholicism which does embrace Mary in that full way and sets out with her to try to share in her mothering function towards the Church – understanding her – that section of Catholicism was used by the Holy Trinity as its instrument in the world. It is not something which is proper to the Legion: it’s open, it’s a destiny which lies waiting for any body of Catholics anywhere.’


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Concilium News April 2011

Election of Concilium Assistant Secretary

Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Secretary of the Concilium, as Catherine Murphy had completed her second term. Alice Creaton was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, she was duly elected Assistant Secretary of the Concilium.

Parish Visitation Project

The Concilium heard a report on a home visitation project in St. Canice’s Parish, Finglas, Dublin, during the period 9 – 16 April 2011. Following an appeal from the parish priest, 145 legionaries from all over the Archdiocese of Dublin, devoted some days or some hours to visiting every home in several areas of this large parish. The main object was to draw people more closely into the life of the parish and they were invited to register with the parish. The legionaries distributed information on Mass times and times of Confession and Baptism. They also distributed cards with information on Church ceremonies during Holy Week and Easter. Information on organisations and groups and on various activities in the parish in which people might like to get involved, was provided also. Over 4,000 homes were visited and the legionaries were very impressed by the friendly reception they received. The project had the full support of the Parish Pastoral Council and parishioners gave unselfishly of their time to provide catering and transport for the legionaries. Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, concelebrated the Mass for Passion Sunday in St. Canice’s Church on Saturday evening 16 April, and thanked the legionaries and the parishioners for their work during the project, which finished that day. The project was backed by much prayer and we thank Jesus and Mary for their care throughout this memorable evangelisation project.


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Concilium Bulletin April 2011
Africa

UGANDA
Uganda Senatus: Contacts are made wherever people are encountered resulting in many receiving the Sacraments, conversions, including some Muslims, marriage regularisations, lapsed returned and a large number of councils and praesidia started. Attendance is generally good at events including those promoting the causes. A Spiritual Directors' Conference held from 17th - 20th August with 75 priests present was opened by one Bishop and concluded by another. The theme was "The Legionary Apostolate". Five members including the Senatus President participated in a Congress in Burundi at the request of the Legion there. Reports from the prisons included news of a legionary in one prison who when transferred to another started the Legion there.

KENYA
Kenya Senatus: Nairobi junior Curia with 10 praesidia, set up 2 praesidia.
Kisumu Regia reported the setting up of 5 new Curiae, 8 junior praesidia and one senior praesidium by its attached Comitia. Following visitation of families 4,030 babies were baptised, 1,733 adults returned to the sacraments, 367 Protestants were baptised, 390 former legionaries returned to membership, 185 alcoholics took the pledge, 10 of 30 street girls gave up the life and 12 witchdoctors burned their equipment.

MALAWI
Blantyre Senatus: The Legion continues to grow and has 13 directly attached praesidia, 21 Curiae, 19 Comitia and 4 Regiae. There are about 84,000 active members in the country. Archbishop Ziyaye celebrated a Mass for Legionaries in August at which he urged members, by their witness, to encourage others to join. Works include visiting the sick and elderly and encouraging the lapsed to return to practice and parents to have their children baptised.

NIGERIA
Ibadan Senatus: One Curia helped organise a Mass wedding for 18 couples. As the main junior work seems to be cleaning churches, the correspondent has encouraged work with seniors and among their own age group. Another Curia reported 11 marriages blessed and one lapsed returned.

Enugu Senatus: Abakaliki and Nsukka Regiae were both inaugurated.
Aba Regia recruited 1,440 members, establishing 5 new Curiae in the last year. They report many received into the Church and prepared for the sacraments also their contact with street girls and Sunday traders is fruitful.
A Comitium attached to Onitsha Regia held a Congress, reported many prepared for the Sacraments, couples encouraged to have their marriages blessed and reports indicate great participation, achievements and follow up on Exploratio projects.
Abuja Regia: A new Curia has been formed which will leave the Regia with a more manageable 16 Praesidia. A Comitium reported 108 conversions including 27 Muslims, 141 lapsed returned, 18 marriages rectified and 15 praesidia started.
Jos Regia: -One Comitium recruited 412, prepared 162 for Baptism, 2,972 for 1st Holy Communion, 1,753 for Confirmation. The recent trouble in the Jos area has caused many difficulties for legionaries and the January Regia meeting could not be held.
The Legion in Ikot Ekpene Regia is experiencing tremendous growth, reports show many candidates prepared for the Sacraments, marriages blessed, conversion and returns to the Sacraments.
Lagos Regia: One Comitium formed 8 praesidia and a junior Curia and 5 praesidia started at a police barracks are attached to the Regia. One Comitium had 263 marriages rectified.

TANZANIA
Dar-Es-Salaam Comitium: One Curia, which visits homes and hospitals had 37 marriages regularised, 3 lapsed returned and many received the Sacraments. Two praesidia were set up and 3 weak ones strengthened. The 32 members in Segerea Senior Seminary work within the Seminary. A retreat and Pilgrimage in January were well attended. The Comitium Chairperson was elected Treasurer of the Tanzanian Laity Council.
Hai Moshi Comitium: Reports include teaching children prayers, home/hospital visitation with many returns to the Sacraments and marriages blessed. Following visits to 2 illicit brew dealers, they gave up the business! The Comitium is active extending, visiting schools, the Seminary and attached praesidia and Curiae.
Njombe Comitium: Activities include visiting the sick, teaching Catechism, promoting prayer for peace resulting in returns to the Church and marriage regularisations.
Kahama Comitium: They have 957 active Legionaries and among their works are visiting the sick, teaching catechism, promoting devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, promoting Frank Duff's cause and 145 received the Sacrament of the sick before death. Juniors teach children the Rosary and 3 junior praesidia were revived.

THE GAMBIA
Banjul Curia continues efforts to establish more praesidia. Less than 10% are Christian and illiteracy is a challenge. The Curia is promoting the Frank Duff prayer to the Christian Community and one praesidium reported 3 favours.

LIBERIA
An Irish priest going to work in Monrovia in January brought correspondence with him. He subsequently rang to say the Curia is functioning and he has a praesidium of 20 members. Communication is a problem. In April a number of minutes were received, the latest August 2010. Elections were held in June 2009.

Europe

PORTUGAL
Lisbon Senatus: Columban drives in Lisbon resulted in three new praesidia. A Praesidium with 17 active members has an apostolate to the homeless and to prostitutes. Cascais Comitium with 16 directly attached praesidia places its emphasis on evangelisation on home visitation and catechesis of adults and children. The praesidium at Evora with 10 active and 75 auxiliary members has 3 Praetorians. They visit the sick at home and in hospital and bring them Holy Communion. Porto Curia with 27 attached praesidia plans to divide and is carrying out extension in 3 parishes. Legionaries in The Azores are preparing young people for world youth day in Madrid. The Legion Pilgrimage to Fatima had an attendance of 25,000.

SPAIN
Madrid Senatus: The Pesca Joven or "Fishing for Youth" work, where older legionaries contact young people, reported that 541 young people were contacted of whom 104 practise their religion. Most young people accept the Miraculous Medal, a small copy of the Gospels and an invitation to attend the World Youth Day to be celebrated by the Holy Father in Madrid in August. Another novel work is the contacting of workers in market gardens and later visiting them in their homes. Padre Carlos, Senatus Spiritual Director, gave an inspiring allocutio on the charisma of Frank Duff. He also encourages legionaries to keep in close contact with their bishops to keep them informed of the Legion apostolate in their dioceses. Salamanca Comitium is contacting the youth in preparation for the Pope's visit. Legionaries in Avila make a special effort to help newly arrived immigrants, mostly from South America. Zamora Comitium has just started retreats for non-Catholics.

Barcelona Senatus: As well as visiting the sick in their homes, legionaries accompany them to the doctor or hospital if they so wish. The same praesidium has 38 very faithful auxiliaries. The Senatus is progressing the setting up of praesidia in two different parishes.

Bilbao Senatus: A praesidium reported that they carry out an apostolate to the immigrants. Some of them have no work and very little money. They are very grateful for the concern and help of the legionaries.

ITALY
Milan Regia had a big attendance at the Edel Quinn Anniversary Mass held in the Genoa Cemetery Chapel, which Edel visited on her journey to Africa in 1936. Padova Comitium: Lana Curia had great success with a book barrow on the streets during the summer.

CYPRUS
Two Maltese legionaries visited the Legion in Cyprus in November and were given a very warm welcome. This was the first ever visit to them on behalf of Concilium. They had meetings with the officers and members of the four praesidia and gave them advise and encouragement. The legionaries promote the Rosary and visit homes with the statue of Our Lady. They pray with and offer comfort and consolation to the residents of rest homes for the elderly. A jail in Nicosia is visited. Lapsed Catholics met on crowd contact are encouraged to return to the sacraments. It is hoped to start a new Praesidium in the Kerynia District.

MALTA
Malta Regia: During 2010 Peregrinatio Pro Christo projects were undertaken to Rome, Padova, Tunisia, and Birmingham. Works reported include contact with tourists, consecration of homes to the Sacred Heart, visits to Primary Schools with the statue of Our Lady, teaching catechism, home visitation, and after-care of auxiliaries. During the summer months between 10 and 17 children attended a weekly discussion on the True Devotion followed by games and attendance at Mass in a nearby Church. One praesidium holds a weekly meeting for 12-year olds who were recently confirmed. The junior Curiae activities included a twilight retreat with an attendance of 33 juniors and 24 at a Bar BQ. Three Columban drives in two parishes yielded the names of 12 prospective members.

Countries under the Caretaker-ship of Malta
TURKEY
The Archbishop in Istanbul asked Fr. Anton Bulai, Spiritual Director of Istanbul Curia, to speak at the monthly meeting of priests on his visit to the Concilium and of the value of having a Praesidium in the parish.

GREECE
The Malta correspondent, Monsignor Borg and another legionary met the Archbishop of Athens who supports the Legion. The Cathedral Parish praesidium was visited. Its Spiritual Director is the Vicar General. They also met 2 legionaries from Thessalonica who reported on the 2 praesidia there. Permission was sought to set up a praesidium among the Albanian community in Athens.

ALBANIA
Shkoder Comitium was asked to send reports in English.

United States of America and Canada

UNITED STATES
St. Louis Senatus: New members have been recruited and new praesidia set up. Three praesidia are in prisons and one held a weekend retreat. Returns to the Sacraments, Baptisms and reception into the Church reported.

Houston Senatus: Home and prison visitation featured in reports. A new praesidium was set up. The Spanish Comitium reported work among street people and had 264 enthronements to the Sacred Heart in 3 months. The Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean Curiae work among their own people, many of their praesidia average 14 members. They are a great support to their communities, organising many church-related events. Retreats, prayer groups, and in the case of the Chinese, on Fridays during Lent, the Way of the Cross are organised. An "E" day was held resulting in 548 doors being knocked upon, 199 contacts were made including 53 Catholics and 108 non-Catholics.

Chicago Senatus: Contact work was done at petrol stations, railways and prison visitation. A Korean Comitium reported 12 conversion, 3 Baptisms and 2 Marriage validations. New praesidia have been started and 4 members were each assigned to extend in a parish. The theme for the May Gathering this year is "The Charism of Frank Duff". A Comitium held a Congress; a praesidium which supervises two junior groups visit a correctional centre in downtown Chicago; another group do home to home visitation and visits handicapped people in their area.

Philadelphia Senatus: A praesidium, which gave its first annual report has 14 members and is made up of mostly young adults. They organised the 33-day preparation for undertaking True Devotion to Mary at which 20 parishioners participated. Norristown Comitium organised a 3-day retreat for homeless men that attend their Brother House facility, which they run twice a week. Work is done in prisons and hospitals. A Marian day had 200 legionaries attending. Children are prepared to receive the Sacraments. One person returned to the Sacraments six months before dying. Contact at book-barrows resulted in returns to the Sacraments. A seminary praesidium has 17 members, 4 Praetorians, 22 Auxiliaries and 8 Adjutorians and works in parishes, schools and institutions. The juniors in one Curia help with weekly Spanish speaking students in English Catholic Christian Doctrine classes and gained 3 new members.

New York Senatus: A new Spiritual Director has been appointed. Many returns to the Sacraments are reported. Reports tell of a number of babies saved from abortion and of Marriages validated, enthronement to the Sacred Heart, home and hospital visitation. A Rosary group was formed in an office.

San Francisco Senatus: Works undertaken include RCIA and Patricians. An atheist was taught the Rosary in Chinese. A Mass with the Sacrament of Marriage was organised for 10 couples. Idaho Comitium was interviewed on Catholic Radio. Mission Excelsior Curia drew up a team of legionaries whose work assignment was to form new praesidia. They now have 6 praesidia in formation.

Miami Regia: There is interest in the Legion in Birmingham and Alabama.

CANADA
Montreal Senatus has 1 Comitium, 10 Curiae and 12 attached praesidia. Reports were received on Baptisms and visiting the sick.
Toronto Regia: Montreal Senatus was visited on behalf of Concilium. True Devotion is promoted. One praesidium is aiming for one million Rosaries by 2010. A Hindu woman and prisoner converted to Catholicism. Reaching the less well off via winter tables and street patrols resulted in 35 conversions. The Rosary is taught in schools. North Toronto Curia includes Portuguese, Vietnamese and Cantonese praesidia. Winnipeg has a new praesidium.
Vancouver Comitium: A convert is now an active member. In one praesidium the members recruited 1,500 auxiliaries. Prisons are visited, Marriages regularised and Baptisms organised. Another praesidium organised Divine Mercy Sunday and there was an attendance of 30 people. A Hungarian praesidium does contact on buses.
Ontario Senatus: Auxiliary members are very faithful at attending Legion functions. The sick are visited.

WEST INDIES
Santiago de los Caballeros Senatus: The Comitium Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia with 3 Curiae, 18 senior and 2 junior praesidia has 447 members. Unmarried couples were prepared for Marriage; visitation is undertaken in homes and prisons also to the sick in hospital and at home. Eleven unmarried couples were prepared for marriage and married. A woman, lapsed from the Church and separated from the father of her children, was reconciled, received all the sacraments, and joined the Legion. A very sick man was received back into the church before death. Two other Comitia are involved in similar works. A number of lapsed were instructed, returned to the sacraments, and are now legionaries. Children are prepared for First Holy Communion and adults for Confirmation. Plans are being formed to visit areas where there is no Legion. Masses for the Causes of Venerable Edel Quinn and the Servant of God, Frank Duff were held.

TRINIDAD
Trinidad Regia: One Curia reported 28 Praetorian members.

HAITI
Senatus Notre Dame de l'Assomption: The Senatus has now returned to its headquarters following the earthquake. Works include visitation of homes, hospitals, prisons and markets. Patrician meetings are held and they accompany the priest to visit the sick. Many have returned to the Church.

PUERTO RICO
Senatus of Puerto Rico: This council has 7 Comitia, 6 Curiae and 7 attached praesidia. Juniors work with seniors on home visitation, Rosaries are taken to the parents of children who are receiving catequesis; they also assist with legal and government affairs and help older people with their bills.

Election of Concilium Assistant Secretary

Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Secretary of the Concilium, as Catherine Murphy had completed her second term. Alice Creaton was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, she was duly elected Assistant Secretary of the Concilium. Tommy McCabe, President of Concilium, thanked Catherine Murphy for her 6 years of service as a Concilium officer and wished Alice Creaton every grace and blessing on her election.

Parish Visitation Project

The Concilium heard a report on a home visitation project in St. Canice's Parish, Finglas, Dublin, during the period 9 - 16 April 2011. Following an appeal from the parish priest, 145 legionaries from all over the Archdiocese of Dublin, devoted some days or some hours to visiting every home in several areas of this large parish. The main object was to draw people more closely into the life of the parish and they were invited to register with the parish. The legionaries distributed information on Mass times and times of Confession and Baptism. They also distributed cards with information on Church ceremonies during Holy Week and Easter. Information on organisations and groups and on various activities in the parish in which people might like to get involved, was provided also. Over 4,000 homes were visited and the legionaries were very impressed by the friendly reception they received. The project had the full support of the Parish Pastoral Council and parishioners gave unselfishly of their time to provide catering and transport for the legionaries. Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, concelebrated the Mass for Passion Sunday in St. Canice's Church on Saturday evening 16 April, and thanked the legionaries and the parishioners for their work during the project, which finished that day. The project was backed by much prayer and we thank Jesus and Mary for their care throughout this memorable evangelisation project.

Visit by Officers of Dromore Comitium, Ireland

The Officers of the Dromore Comitium, Ireland, Mary Cookson, President; Breege O'Rourke, Vice President; Mary Medlicott, Secretary; Hubert McCavitt, Treasurer and from the North Dromore Curia Mary Watkins, President; Eileen McGinnitty, Secretary; Ann Fitzpatrick, Treasurer; Kay Hill, Assistant Treasurer visited the Concilium on Saturday 2nd April 2011. During the meeting with Concilium Officers the strengths of the Legion in the Diocese was reviewed and suggestions on the development of the Legion in their area were discussed. Tommy McCabe, President of Concilium thanked the officers for all the work they are doing for Our Lady and invited them to come to the Concilium meeting as often as possible and all provincial council officers.

I see his blood upon the rose,
And in the stars the glory of his eyes.
His body gleams amid eternal snows.
His tears fall from the skies.
I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but his voice - and carven by his powers.
Rocks are his written words.
All pathways by his feet are worn.
His strong heart stirs the ever beating sea.
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.
Joseph Mary Plunkett
(Inside back cover of the Handbook)

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, I

Back to News

Concilium Bulletin
March 2011

Africa

GHANA

Accra Senatus: 215 legionaries participated in a project visiting homes, shops, etc and also contacting people on the street. Following the project they all attended the monthly Frank Duff prayer session organised by the Senatus. Extension efforts continue and some praesidia have each established 2 new praesidia in recent months. Works include visitation of homes and hospitals, street contact and preparation of adults and children for the Sacraments. On 21st January, Priests recited the prayer for beatification of Alfie Lambe at the daily Masses. A number of praesidia attached to Cape Coast Comitium became inactive; this is being followed up by the Senatus. A Priest contacted by the Legionaries agreed to say a monthly Mass in one of the prisons.

CAPE VERDE
Catechetical work for young people of all ages focuses on preparation for the Sacraments from Baptism to the Eucharist. Also adults on the island of Ilha Brava are prepared for Confirmation and Confession. January minutes reported 120 members were recruited. Praesidia were instructed to work out a plan of apostolic action in conjunction with the Parish Priest. A new Curia of 5 praesidia was set up in a parish. Great numbers are reached by the Legion with one Comitium in Sao Domingos contacting over 17,000 people. Two Comitia report catechesis given to almost 2,500 children. The same Comiita have three thousand active members including 1,000 juniors. Several praesidia were re-founded.

LESOTHO
A Curia reported 31 lapsed revived and five were encouraged not to have abortions. Visitation by two legionaries will take place to Bloemfontein, South Africa.

ZIMBABWE
Hwange Comitium: it was reported that legionaries are involved in catechetical instruction.

ANGOLA
Benguela Senatus: A visit was made to Hanha, almost 150 miles from Benguela where there is a Comitium with 121 praesidia. They are short of handbooks, vexilla and statues. More than 2,000 legionaries took part in a morning's Eucharistic Adoration in Lobito, which was organised during the Year for Priests. A meeting of Spiritual Directors was held in June. A Comitium in the Diocese of Kwito-Bié was divided to form two new Comitia. The Bishop is delighted with the growth of the Legion in his Diocese, which now has five Comitia, 52 Curiae, 486 praesidia and 11, 519 active members. It was mentioned that legionaries in some areas walk from 15 to 55 kms to attend praesidium or council meetings. A national conference of young legionaries in Sumbe, 16-19 September 2010, had an attendance of 708. There were two themes, The Legion of Mary and Youth; and How to bring Mary to the World. The retired Bishop of Uige, Dom Francisco da Mata Mourisca, guided the discussion on one of the themes. The Bishop of Sumbe, Dom Benedito Roberto, was Chief Celebrant at Mass. Several Priests and Religious from various dioceses attended. Also present were Legion officers from various councils.
Luanda Regia: The Regia celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Regia in December.

MOZAMBIQUE
Maputo Regia: A letter has come by email with a plan of activities for this year. The President of the Regia spent a week at a Diocesan Synod where the Legion and how it works were spoken about in discussion. Some priests spoke of its continuity.

SOUTH AFRICA
Johannesburg Senatus: This Senatus has 18 attached praesidia and 4 attached Councils. Works include street contact and 1002 people were contacted. A new praesidium visits homes and homes of disabled children and counsels a group of teenagers who are abusing drugs.

Cape Town Senatus: The Senatus is organising the translation of the Frank Duff prayer into Afrikaan. The Senatus is planning to set up a Legion website. The Senatus organised a congress in February.

Marianhill Comitium: A praesidium in Durban Comitium with 20 members has 6 praetorians and 20 adjutorians. Matatiele Comitium reported setting up a new praesidium with 9 members under 25.



SOUTH AMERICA

COLUMBIA
Bogota Senatus: In the attached Regia of Bucaramanga, membership is increasing with the foundation of a new Comitium and various Curiae.
Medellin Senatus: Comitium Nuestra Senora del Carmen reports visitation of a mental hospital, Exploratio Dominicalis, catechesis in schools and colleges and street contact work. They have 492 praetorian members. Anunciacion Comitium report using the local press and radio to promote the faith. They visit abandoned elderly people and terminally ill patients suffering with AIDS, many of whom are many years away from the sacraments. Many co-habiting couples have been convinced to get married.

ECUADOR
Senatus of Quito: This is a very active council; a new Regia for Guayaquil is under consideration. They visit jails and a leper colony. Meals are prepared and served to 150 old people. A Legion house is being built in Cuenca.

URUGUAY
Senatus of Montevideo: The Spiritual Director said they should pray daily to the 3 Causes. They report that 'Back to Basics' was an excellent document. A praesidium of 11 prayed that their membership would not fall below 10 and gained 3 probationers. The Rosary is prayed in a block of 90 apartments while people with dementia are visited in a home.

VENEZUELA
Senatus of Caracas: 18 councils reported including 11 Curiae, 5 Comitia, 1 Regia and 1 praesidium. Eleven councils reported work plans and 7 reported on extension resulting in several new praesidia and Curiae. A youth rescued from witchcraft is now a legionary. In Portlamar theatrical events were organised with parents and children and catechesis is given to abandoned children. Two girls left a brothel due to Legion contacts. Jail visitation is done with the priest.

CHILE
Senatus of Santiago: The works of Comitium of Viña del Mar include helping in soup kitchens where many valuable spiritual contacts are made. One of the affiliated Curiae is "creating a Christian community where as yet there is no chapel or centre for prayer". Part of this work includes the gathering of small children teaching them their prayers and giving them the idea of being "little missionaries". The January allocutio at Senatus meeting was given on Afie Lambe calling him a "living handbook",

BOLIVIA
Senatus of La Paz: One directly attached praesidium reports many drug and alcoholic addicts recovering and gaining employment with the Legions help. Another praesidium of 12 active members is starting a junior presidium. Many reports tell of complete families being brought back from the sects. The Concilium letters on the Carisma of Frank Duff has been received with great joy. Prayers are requested for Bolivia which is going through a time of great poverty; many survive on one full meal a day.

PERU
Senatus of Lima: Six adult and 3 junior praesidia were set up recently including a praesidium in a jail where legionaries have been visiting for some time. Almost all the reports indicate junior praesidia and in some cases junior curiae. Two councils mention Patrician groups and one Curia has 32 Pioneers. A praesidium leads prayers in the local funeral parlour. Most work is home and hospital visitation and street contact. One praesidium has been developing contact in the Market area.

PARAGUAY
Senatus of Asunción: A praesidium reports visiting a Leper Hospital. Legionaries also clean houses and do shopping for the housebound. Another praesidium leave an image of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in households of divided families to try to unite them. Legionaries take part in the recitation of the Rosary on local radio station. One Comitium report 4,668 members in 17 senior Curiae, 8 junior Curiae and 26 senior praesidia.

EUROPE

AUSTRIA
The Senatus promoted a consecration to Jesus through Mary which over 33,000 people undertook. Cardinal Schoenborn attended the December Senatus meeting and has agreed to celebrate a Mass in commemoration of Frank Duff. An apostolate is carried out to the 40,000 Croatians in Vienna. A Jehovah Witness came back to the Catholic Faith through the work of the Korean Curia. Eighteen attended a Spiritual Directors day organised by Comitium Hollabrunn. In Comitium Ybbs two legionaries have left to study for the Priesthood.

SLOVAKIA
A second Comitium is being considered on the advice of Comitium Zseliz.

MOLDOVIA
Three juniors transferred to the senior ranks in Curia Chisianau.

UKRAINE
Elisabeth Kriss and Leo Fueher did extension with Ukranian legionaries in the Krimean Peninsula with the approval of the Bishop of Odessa.

CROATIA
Presentation of the Legion is ongoing in parishes resulting in the formation of new praesidia. A praesidium of 14 members in Samobor set up a new praesidium in a neighbouring parish. Three contacts returned to the Sacraments after long periods. Another praesidium reported the return of ten people to confession and Holy Communion following the visit of the legionaries. The attached councils reported good efforts at extension. Sancta Maria and Nives Curia in Petrinja set up three new praesidia. The legionaries in this Curia run a bookstall in a park with very good contacts. New praesidia were reported by Zagreb South and Zagreb West Curiae. All reports recorded returns to the sacraments, Marriage validations and anointing of the sick.

SLOVENIA
Ljubljana Curia has 6 praesidia with a membership of 29. There are 744 auxiliary and 28 Adjutorian members. One person returned to the sacraments after a long period. The Regia had a discussion on various ways to extend the Legion in Slovenia.

BOSNIA HERZGOVINA
Sarajevo Curia has 5 praesidia with a membership of 41. There is also a junior praesidium of 5 members. The apostolate includes home, hospital and nursing home visitation. Four people received the Sacrament of the sick.

HUNGARY
Budapest Regia has 25 praesidia, 12 Curiae and 6 Comitia affiliated. The November meeting commemorated the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Regia. Three new praesidia were set up. Reports recorded 91 people helped to receive the Sacrament of the sick and 14 people returned to the faith. Szatmar Comitium reported on the visitation of orphanages and prison and in Debrecen Comitium, one person returned to the Sacraments after 20 years.

LITHUANIA
Telsiai Comitium has 10 praesidia and 2 Curiae affiliated. Extension has been hampered due to deep snow and severe weather. Home visitation, street apostolate, and teaching catechism are among the works udertaken. Some visible results were: a man who went to confession after 40 years died a month later. A couple in an irregular situation are being prepared for marriage, 2 children were prepared for First Holy Communion, a return to Confession after 20 years. The Priest was brought to 119 people in hospital for Confession. Kaunas Comitium set up a new praesidium of 8 members and permission has been given in another parish for extension. A praesidium of 7 members reported a contact who went to Confession and Holy Communion after 50 years. A congress held in December 2010 has 77 present with good participation by all present.

LATVIA
Efforts have been made to re-establish a praesidium in a Catholic school in Riga, which closed down some years ago. The apostolate of a praesidium of 9 members in Riga includes home visitation, street contact at bus and train stations where a lot of young people congregate.

POLAND
Lublin Regia: Extension efforts are ongoing. Czechow Curia reports a gain of 8 new members. In Korzelow 15 new members were recruited and in Ostrowiec and Lublin new praesidia. Curia Swidnik who do wide visitation report 20 persons brought to the sacrament of Confession and a couple for marriage. Curia Leczna report that after two years apostolate to Jehovah Witnesses, one of these returned to the sacraments after several years. Legionaries in Comitium Radzynie prepared 17 persons and 2 deaf families for the Sacrament of Confession.

Warsaw Comitium: Some of the earliest praesidia have been celebrating 20 years of continuous work in the Legion. Every month a parish is nominated for recruiting drive. Zoliborz Curia increased its praesidia from 9 to 10. A symposium was held in memory of Anatol Kaszcuk, the Legion's first Envoy, who died some years ago.

ROMANIA
The Curia in Bucharest has 12 praesidia.

ASIA

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Mount Hagen Regia: Visitation of patients with AIDS/HIV is a priority, as is an apostolate to people with drug addition. Legionaries travel to tribal fighting zones inviting people to pray for peace.

Madang Regia: The new Spiritual Director is keen to maintain standards of the late Fr. Golly and has assumed his role with enthusiasm. Forty-two non-Catholics were encouraged to attend Sunday Mass. Fruitful contacts with those practicing witchcraft were reported. Many returns to the sacraments, 53 prepared for Baptism, and the juniors encourage their peers to visit the Blessed Sacrament during school recess. A Curia reported instructing a village of non-Christians on Catholic teaching on the value of Mass and the Sacraments.

NEW ZEALAND
Auckland Senatus: All 22 attached praesidia have a Spiritual Director. Two Exploratio Dominicalis projects were undertaken. Six hundred attended a Rosary procession in October led by Bishop Dunn. Some items from reports tell of work undertaken - enthronement of the Sacred Heart, preparing Sunday liturgy for children, visits to the bereaved and promoting first Friday adoration. Quarterly reports received indicate that Christchurch has 8 praesidia; Hamilton 5 praesidia; the Korean Comitium 36 praesidia and the junior Curia has 6 praesidia - they are preparing for WYD.

AUSTRALIA
Melbourne Senatus: Ten new praesidia were set up in 2010. Reports were received from 6 of the directly attached praesidia, 5 Curiae and 9 councils in the Pacific Islands. Namosi Comitium, Fiji has 3 Curia, in addition to 8 directly attached senior and 7 junior praesidia. Noumea Comitium, New Caledonia has 8 attached Curiae. Councils in Vanuatu were visited in 2010 by the Senatus correspondent. A ten-day PPC in Chelsea was very successful with many expressing interest in having babies and children baptised and others showing interest in learning more about the Catholic Faith. Fifteen have started on the RCIA course. The Parish Priest stated many others had come into the Church as a result of a previous PPC project.

Sydney Senatus: Patricians, Book-barrow apostolate, Exloratio Dominicalis, crowd contact in Victoria Park, teaching Catechism in the State primary school, enrolling 20 children in the Brown Scapular, as well as hospital and home visitation were reported for this period. Korean Comitium has 18 praesidia, of the 21 who joined the catechism class, 9 were baptised and 2 confirmed. 211 lapsed returned to the Faith.

Brisbane Comitium: The works reported by 3 praesidia included home and hospital visitation, assisting patients to Mass, praying the Rosary before funerals, teaching catechism in school and running the piety stall.

PHILIPPINES
Western Visayas Regia: One Comitium, 6 Curiae and 5 praesidia had full attendance at their meetings. On visitation many people were helped to return to God. Eight inmates and 25 families were encouraged to say the Rosary daily. A Protestant couple and a Baptist mother and daughter were instructed and received into the Church. A legionary entered the seminary. Many Exploratio Dominicalis projects were carried out.

Bicolandia Senatus: Legionaries assisted in helping 5 children to be Baptised and 10 Confirmed. Catechism is taught in a jail and inmates encouraged to pray the Rosary. A Born again Christian was brought into the Catholic Church through home visitation. One Curia and a praesidium, which were dormant for a long time were revived with the support of the Spiritual Director.

Mindanao Senatus: Several reports indicated conversions of Muslims in the Butuan area. A new praesidium was formed in the Seminary and family junior praesidia being formed.

Cebu Senatus: Attendance of Council officers is often 100%. Reports confirm visitation to councils is undertaken. Two new praesidia were set up in a prison with 48 female and 58 male members. Juniors undertake crowd contact among children at an Internet cafe. Returns to the Faith and marriage validations were reported. Through the intercession of Venerable Edel Quinn a 3 year old was cured and did not need an operation.

Senatus of Northern Philippines: Imus Comitium visited over 1,000 families resulting in 52 children being Baptised, 36 Confirmed, 6 Marriage validation and 2 Protestants, 1 Mormon and Agilpayan converted. Through regular jail apostolate a new praesidium has started. Paranaque Comitium reported 350 students were involved in book-barrow work and 2 special praesidia undertake bar apostolate. In Caloocan West Comitium Bishop Ditan exhorted legionaries to encourage couples to receive the sacrament of Matrimony. Through crowd and street apostolate, 30 children and 90 adults were encouraged to attend Sunday Mass.


Legionaries from Turkey and Malta visit the Concilium

Rev. Fr. Anton Bulai, Spiritual Director of Our Lady of Ephesus Curia, Istanbul, Monsignor Ruzar Borg, Spiritual Director Gozo Comitium, Malta, Joseph Micallef, Treasurer of Malta Regia, Felicia Saliba, Correspondent with Istanbul Curia, and Josephine Formosa, Treasurer of Gozo Comitium and former correspondent/visitor to Turkey were welcomed to the March Concilium meeting.

On the Saturday prior to the Concilium a meeting was held with Concilium officers. There are five praesidia in Istanbul with an average membership of 24. Legionaries do contact work in and around the Church. As there are people of many languages residing in Istanbul, the legionaries were encouragement to set up the Legion among these different language groups.

In Albania there are five Dioceses and an Apostolic Vicarage; the Legion is present in four of the Dioceses. There are three Curiae and a Comitium in Shkoder. This year is the 20th anniversary of the Legion in Albania.
Malta will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Legion this year.

Tommy McCabe, President of Concilium, thanked the visitors for coming to the Dublin and encouraged them to continue their untiring work for Our Lady and the Legion of Mary.


Earthquake Disaster in Japan
The Concilium has sent letters of condolence and assurance of prayers to Most Reverend Leo Jun Ikenaga,S.J., Archbishop of Osaka, who is also President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Japan, and to the President of the Osaka Senatus of the Legion of Mary expressing our sympathy on the earthquake and tsunamis, which have afflicted Japan recently. We have expressed our sadness, particularly, at the loss of life. The Concilium asked legionaries to remember in their prayers the Japanese people as well as those affected by the earthquake in New Zealand and in war torn countries currently in the world news.

Preparations for the International Eucharistic Congress
10th to 17th June 2012

At the March Concilium it was recommended that councils particularly in Dublin and Irish Provincial councils would undertake the following:
1. Ask legionaries to say daily, if possible, the prayer of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) and to promote it on Legion work by distributing the IEC prayer card. Orders for these cards can be placed directly with IEC Office: Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
2. Encourage people in every parish to attend adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Each praesidium to have a list of the Churches where adoration is held in their Council area.
3. Arrange a meeting between the Parish Priest and the praesidium officers to discuss what he and the Parish council would like done in the parish as preparation for the Eucharistic Congress and how the praesidium might be of assistance to him in achieving this.
4. Hold Patrician meetings on the Eucharist. Seek to have inspiring titles for each meeting that would attract people to come to such a discussion e.g. "Mary and the Eucharist".
5. Organise at Curia level, if possible, a Congress on the Eucharist over the next year.
6. Use the Legion of Mary Houses in some appropriate fashion to promote the Eucharistic Congress e.g. hold an exhibition on the Eucharist.
7. Put "Preparing for IEC" on every Council agenda each month, from now until the event in June 1012.


Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.




Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND


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Earthquake Disaster in Japan

The Concilium has sent letters of condolence and assurance of prayers to Most Reverend Leo Jun Ikenaga,S.J., Archbishop of Osaka, who is also President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Japan, and to the President of the Osaka Senatus of the Legion of Mary expressing our sympathy on the earthquake and tsunamis, which have afflicted Japan recently. We have expressed our sadness, particularly, at the loss of life. The Concilium asked legionaries to remember in their prayers the Japanese people as well as those affected by the earthquake in New Zealand and in war torn countries currently in the world news.

Meeting of Dublin Legionaries

About 350 legionaries from the Archdiocese of Dublin attended a special meeting on 5th March 2011 during which they were inspired and encouraged by an address from Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, who showed his great appreciation of the charism of the founder of the Legion, the Servant of God Frank Duff. The legionaries were also enthused by talks given by Rev. Fr. Bede McGregor, O.P., Concilium Spiritual Director, and by Rev. Fr. Pádraig Ó Cochláin, P.P., who is hosting a weeklong home visitation project in his parish of Finglas in Dublin in April this year. The meeting was an opportunity also for the legionaries to share their ideas and over one hundred suggestion sheets were submitted. The meeting closed with concelebrated Mass.

Peregrinatio Pro Christo

The first Peregrinatio Pro Christo in 2011, organised by the Dublin Committee, took place 12th – 19th March when a team of ten legionaries went to Birmingham, England. A team of 12 will work in Oxford during Holy Week and another team of 12 will go to Kent for Easter Week. Many projects are planned for the summer. Prayers are requested for the legionaries taking part in these projects and for blessings on their apostolate.

Visitors from Malta and Turkey

The Concilium gave a warm welcome to Monsignor Ruzar Borg, Spiritual Director of the Gozo Comitium attached to Malta Regia, and to Rev. Fr. Anton Bulai, OFM.Conv., Spiritual Director of a Curia in Istanbul, Turkey, and also to Bro. Joseph Micallef Treasurer of Malta Regia and Sr. Felicia Saliba and Sr. Josephine Formosa of Gozo Comitium. We were happy to learn about the progress of the Legion in Turkey and in Albania, with which the Malta Regia is in contact though visits and correspondence.


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The Mystical Body of Christ
in the Spirituality of the Legion of Mary

Concilium Allocutio March 2011

By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.
Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

The prayer for the beatification of the Servant of God Frank Duff begins as follows: 'God Our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.' There can be no doubt about the truth of the assessment of Frank Duff in this prayer. He loved the Church with his whole being and lived his life in and for her. His vision of the Church was pivotal for him and the Legion of Mary which he founded. For him the Church is a Person. It is the Risen Lord living and acting in his Body the Church. It is in and through and with the Church that he and we legionaries find Jesus. This is truly one of the deepest insights of his life and it is the central truth in the doctrinal and practical life of the Legion. Inseparably connected to this insight is his total conviction concerning the place of Mary in this mystery of the Body of Christ.

Today we will focus on the reality of the Mystical Body of Christ and next month on Our Lady and her role in this mystery.

There are many different images of the Church in both the old and new testaments, in the time of prophecy and in the time of fulfilment. But the image that meant most to Frank Duff and the Legion is the image of the Body of Christ. I have not found in any of his writings or spoken words concepts like the institutional church or the charismatic church so popular in much post-Conciliar discussion. He does accept the Church as a visible society which was a common understanding of the Church in the pre-Conciliar era but he goes well beyond it. He says: 'it would be inadequate to regard the Church as merely a visible society, gifted with infallibility. It is that. It is visible. It is a visible society with its rulers, its laws, its membership and is gifted with that tremendous prerogative. But it is almost infinitely more.' What is this unimaginable more which is the Church? It is the real presence of the Risen Lord living among us and continuing his redemptive mission in all its rich facets in and through us his members. That is the tremendous truth at the heart of our Faith. One cannot separate Christ from His Body, the Church.

When our Lord said that he would be with us always until the end of the world he kept that promise in several ways. He is profoundly with us by his real presence in the Eucharist and the other sacraments; he is present in the sacrament of Sacred Scripture and especially in his Church. He abides in us and we abide in Him. We live the same life, He is the Vine and we are the branches or in the image which Frank Duff particularly loves in common with St. Paul, we are one Body, Christ is the Head and we are his members. Christ puts everything he is and possesses at our disposal and we are invited to make our own contribution to the life of His Body. And our contribution is indispensable in God's divine arrangement of things for the continuing implementation of the redemptive mission of Christ.

The doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ has so many profound consequences and applications. Let us consider just one here, namely, the relationship of the Mystical Body to the nature of the apostolate which is so central to Legion spirituality and life. Let us explain it in the words of our Founder: 'Now I have said that apostleship depends on this doctrine of the Mystical Body. With that idea taken away, what is apostleship? you and I going out to other people in our own feebleness, trying to tell them something about the Lord and His way. Not at all! It is the Lord going out in us, which is a different thing altogether. The Head depends on its members. If they do not lend themselves to Him, His purposes are frustrated and, on the other hand, without Him, we are nothing and we can do nothing. With Him we can literally do all things. Life becomes an adventure comparable to Christ's own life on earth. If Our Lord is carrying on His life in the Mystical Body, His full life, just as He lived it on earth, though the form seems different, then we should find in that body the exhibition of all His special features. His apostolate is one of them.' The apostolate of the Legion in all its extraordinary variety is nothing else but the apostolate of the Risen Lord working itself out in and through us His members.

Dear Legionaries, we have lost all right to any form of pessimism or to put it more positively, we are called to habitual hope and joy, Why? Because the Risen Christ is always living in us and with us in His Body the Church. The powers of evil and our own human weakness may seem to have smashed us to smithereens but that is only an appearance because Christ is really present in and with us and He has the last word. With Our Lord we can do all things. With him nothing is impossible.

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Concilium Bulletin February 2011
AFRICA

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPBULIC
In the Senatus of Bangui there are many junior praesidia, Curiae and Comitia. The printing of the Handbook in Songo is on the agenda and the translation having been completed some time ago.

CONGO
The Senatus of Kinshasa minutes reveal solid work being undertaken which includes visits to families, hospitals and prisons. Attention is given to street children and drug addicts. Visitation is carried out to auxiliaries of which there are a substantial number of Adjutorian members. On an invitation from Brazzaville Regia, which governs the Legion in the Republic of Congo, a delegation from Kinshasa led by the Senatus Spiritual Director, met the Brazzaville Officers. These two councils have been encouraged to work together at the building up of the Legion on both sides of the River Congo.

Senatus of Butembo in North Kivu received reports from five Comitia in the course of one meeting, each Comitium representing one parish, each parish having from five to ten Curiae and from 200 to 1,100 actives members. Auxiliary numbers are small by comparison. A Peregrinatio Pro Christo report mentioned 2 conversions, 61 marriages regularised, reconciliation of 38 separated couples and recruitment of 13 young pygmies into the active ranks of the Legion. The Senatus have fostered development by giving councils wider responsibilities.

BURUNDI
The Senatus of Gitega held a Congress, which has a good attendance.

RWANDA
In the Senatus of Kigale, two Comitia reported a membership of 4,860 active and 4,000 auxiliary members.

MAURITIUS
Mauritius Regia celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Legion in that country. A booklet giving a composite overview of the present state of the Legion there and in neighbouring Rodrigues, as well as its history, resulting in a renewed interest in Edel Quinn, its founder, who spent nearly a year there in 1940. Included in the booklet were glowing tributes paid by the Archbishop Maurice Piat and many names associated with the Legion. A great variety of apostolic work is carried out and includes visitation to the sick and elderly, drug addicts, the marginalised and children in shelters. The spiritual formation is a priority of legionaries, both adult and junior and the care of the youth through retreats and other spiritual exercises. The Regia consists of 2 Comitia, 10 senior Curiae, one junior Curia, 87 praesidia, which includes one junior praesidium, 700 active members and 600 auxiliaries.

REUNION
The works in this council includes home and hospital visitation, Rosary in mortuaries and bringing Communion to the sick. The Junior Curia promote family prayer, visit the sick and elderly, take part in a choir, apostolate in school and the Miraculous Medal is distributed. Through prayer teenagers who have left home are often helped by legionaries and they return to their parents.

ASIA

HONG KONG
The attendance at the Hong Kong Comitium was 100% for officers and 85% for members during the months of August to December. There apostolate relates to evangelisation and many baptisms and receptions into the Church at Easter are noted.

SINGAPORE
The council published Cardinal Brady's homily at Knock in their November Senatus Bulletin. The Golden Jubilee of the Senatus was celebrated with a 2-day seminar. On the 8th December Kota Kinabalu Comitium formed a new Curia, the Toboh Curia. Kenningau Curia will set up Tenom Curia on 2nd May and on the 8th October 2011 Kenningau will be raised to Comitium. Two Patrician meetings took place in the University and were well attended. Prayers at funerals featured. Queen of Carmel Curia recorded an attendance of 94%.

OSAKA, JAPAN
The Senatus reported that a praesidium at Imachi Church holds a catechism class, 5 catechumens were baptised and three new members are under instruction. Kyoto Comitium reports on 'Light of Mind', a Catholic publication, being distributed over a period of 10 years, as a result there is a growing dialogue between church and residents. Mention is made of visits to elderly and on occasions with a priest, also doing shopping and cooking meals, or supplying a cup of tea to the lonely. In Kobe Curia a praesidium participates in the Japanese ceremony of the blessing of children, sick are visited often bringing Holy Communion, which is appreciated. Fr. Ueda, former Curia President, was ordained to the Priesthood.

KUALA LUMPUR
Quarterly reports at the Regia meeting show good active, auxiliary and praetorian membership. Works undertaken include visits to hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, Little Sisters of the Poor, assisting in Alzheimer Day Care, mending vestments, also visits to aged, lonely, sick, the lapsed and newly baptised. Also works with the book barrow, visitation to prisons and RCIA on a weekly basis. Queen of Apostles Curia carried out an Exploratio Dominicalis project to the indigenous people in a settlement in Bidor, 11 groups visited 11 families speaking the Malay language.

TAIWAN
Taiwan Senatus reported that after a special campaign of prayer, closing celebrations for 60 years of the Legion of Mary is taking place. Expansion of the Legion is very much in the forefront and 21 new praesidia including two for Aboriginals and two new Curiae have been established in the past year and a half. Recruitment of active and auxiliaries is encouraged.

INDONESIA
Malang Senatus: Surabaya Comitium is giving a lot of attention to junior praesidia. Visitation of councils is ongoing. Three new praesidia have been set up in Indonesian Papua. The Senatus have urged setting up a junior praesidium in every parish, also preparing legionaries for officerships through a meeting held once a month. Patricians are mentioned. Legionaries help families who are contemplating divorce, also Catholics who are lapsed from Mass.

KOREA
Seoul Senatus: Three Regiae which were established in Seoul Archdiocese in 2008 have a total of 28 Comitia, 368 Curiae, including 2 junior Curiae, 5,335 senior praesidia, 88 junior praesidia, 51,217 senior active, 858 juniors and 80,495 auxiliary members. 22,470 people were enrolled in Catechism classes, 16,870 Baptisms were recorded.

Gwangju Senatus: The attached Jeon-ju Regia has 14,314 active members and 4,047 auxiliaries. Over a three-year period all the members of one praesidium have never missed a single meeting. The Je-ju Regia has 3,474 active members and 4,619 auxiliaries. A praesidium for the visually impaired was divided and carries out a variety of activities.

Daegu Senatus: A Comitium in Taejon have 100% attendance. A praesidium in Gyongbuk University was commended for their passion towards evangelisation on the campus. The Senatus have been asked to provide 300 voluntary workers for the celebrations of the centenary of Daegu Archdiocese, the attached Comitium have been asked to seek a specified number of volunteers. Reports from most councils give numbers of catechumens recruited and baptisms as well as returns to the sacraments. Councils also show good numbers of new legionaries recruited. The attached Andong Regia has approximately 4,000 active members.

ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL

ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Senatus: Many of the suggestions made on the Concilium visit to Argentina in July last year have been put into practice. New Presidents for the correspondents' and extension groups have been named. Young legionaries have been encouraged go on Peregrinatio Pro Christo. Mass was concelebrated by five Spiritual Directors at the grave of the Servant of God, Alfie Lambe. This year saw even larger numbers in attendance than in previous years.

Cordoba Senatus: The Senatus organised a meeting to explain "True Devotion to the Nation", which was attended by legionaries and others.

Salta Senatus: One work is taking part in summer camps for drug addicts where prayer is the underlying factor. Auxiliary members are being encouraged to become active members. Curiae are being divided and new Curiae set up.

Corrientes Regia: A Curia with 4 praesidia was set up in a new diocese and it is hoped to extend into other parishes. On visits to nursing homes, the legionaries do works of service for the residents.
Rosario Regia: The 50th anniversary of the Legion in Rosario was celebrated last year. Works being done include visitation with the statue of Our Lady, visits to the sick and to prisoners, street contact and teaching catechism to children and adults.


BRAZIL
Belo Horizonte Senatus: Works include enthronement of the Bible in homes and shops, reading of the Gospel in prisons, providing accommodation for old people for a weekend in homes of legionaries and commentaries on the Handbook on Radio. Twenty-seven legionaries took part in a Peregrinatio Pro Christo.

Fortaleza Senatus: A praesidium attached to the Senatus made 378 visits to families and once a week they gather young people and children together to teach them the Rosary. The Joáo Pessoa Regia contacted 9,500 people on home visitation during a period of three months. They had 76 enthronements of the Sacred Heart in homes.

Ponta Grossa Senatus: A meeting for council officers from the Senatus area, which covers the States of Paraná and Santa Catarina, was held in the city of Sáo Pedro, Pato Branco, from 8 to 10 October 2010. Bishop Edson, the liaison Bishop with the Hierarchy, and four priests took part. Following the conference, Mass was celebrated in the Cathedral to mark the 50th anniversary of the Legion in Pato Branco.

Recife Senatus: Two new praesidia were set up. Forty-two legionaries took part in a Peregrinatio Pro Christo. Positive contacts were made with members of the sects, some of whom have their children baptised in the Catholic Church. Details have been requested regarding two reported cures through the intercession of the Servant of God, Frank Duff. In one case the person suffered six gunshot wounds.

Rio de Janeiro Senatus: The Auxiliary Bishop of Niteroi and Bishop Edson, the representative of the Brazilian Hierarchy, and many priests along with all officers of 15 attached Comitia were present at the inaugural meeting of the new Regia of Niteroi. The Regia has since set up a new Comitium with seven Curiae. A new Regia was set up also in Sáo Joáo de Meriti with the attendance of the Bishop and officers of attached praesidia and councils.

Belem Regia, through a vigorous extension project, set up the Legion in six dioceses. Steps are being taken to set up a Regia in the Diocese of Castanhal, which has four Comitia.

Salvador Senatus: The Auxiliary Bishop, Dom Gregorio, eight priests and one religious sister attended a meeting of Spiritual Directors. The Bishop was convinced that the Legion can re-found itself, return to its original charism, return to what is its true self and be restored by the newness of the Gospel. Most reports show growth with four new Comitia and many Curiae set up in 2010. In an area of extreme violence, which has a Curia of 145 active members, legionaries console parents whose children died through violence. Youths are counselled about the evils of drug taking. Many of the legionaries are young mothers.

Sao Luis Senatus: Reports show recitation of the Rosary in almost 2,000 homes and over 9,00 visits to homes. Some people were taught how to recite the Rosary. A DVD has been made of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. Several new Comitia were set up in 2010. Legionaries provide accommodation for those from rural areas receiving medical treatment in the capital.

Sao Paulo Senatus: His Eminence Cardinal Dom Odilo P. Scherer, Archbishop of Sao Paulo, was Principal Celebrant and Homilist at a Mass in the Cathedral on 7th November 2010 to mark the anniversary of the death of the Servant of God, Frank Duff. Two Curiae, one in Osasco and the other in Itapevi, have been raised to Comitium. The new Regia in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, was inaugurated on 30 October 2010.

Brasilia Regia: Two thousand people were contacted on four Exploratio Dominicalis projects. On visitation, parents are encouraged to have their children baptised and to send them to catechism classes. Much time, however, on visitation is given over to prayer.

International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 2012

Rev. Fr. Kevin Doran addressed the Concilium on the forthcoming International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin 10 - 17 June 2012. He said the Congress is an international gathering of people which aims to promote an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church, to help improve our understanding and celebration of the liturgy and to draw attention to the social dimension of the Eucharist. We are trying to focus on the sense of belonging to the Body of Christ and to the sense of mission. The theme of the Congress, which is taken from the Document Lumen Gentium of the Second Vatican Council, is: The Eucharist - Communion with Christ and with each other. Each day will have a specific theme too. Fr. Doran stressed the need for preparation for the Congress. The Concilium website now has a link on its homepage to the Congress website IEC 2012.

Prayer of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress

Lord Jesus,
You were sent by the Father
to gather together those who are scattered
You came among us, doing good and bringing healing,
announcing the Word of salvation
and giving the Bread which lasts forever.
Be our compassion on life's pilgrim way.

May your Holy Spirit inflame our hearts,
enliven our hope and open our minds,
so that together with our sisters and brothers in faith
we may recognise you in the Scriptures
and in the breaking of bread.
May your Holy Spirit transform us into one body
and lead us to walk humbly on the earth,
in justice and love, as witnesses of your resurrection.

In communion with Mary,
whom you gave to us as our Mother
at the foot of the cross,
through you
may all praise, honour and blessing be to
the Father
in the Holy Spirit and in the Church,
Now and forever. Amen


Tribute to Gerard Dekker, R.I.P.

At the Concilium meeting, Eddy Evers, Concilium correspondent with the Legion in Holland, gave the following tribute to Gerard Dekker.

If anyone took Northern Ireland to heart, it was Gerard Dekker. For many years organiser of the Peregrinatio Pro Christo projects to Belfast, Newcastle, Derry and many other places, his aim was always to reach out to as many non-Catholics as possible. Having met his future wife Ailin Flattery on one of Frank Duff's trips to Mount Melleray, it was probably the only time he had to refuse Frank Duff, when asked if he would stay in Ireland.

He brought Ailin to Amsterdam, where, together with Roisin and Theo Denkers, another Irish-Dutch couple, they formed the backbone of the Legion for over half a century. Having seen the hostels in Dublin, his dream was to open a hostel for homeless men in Amsterdam. While his dream was not fully realised, the Legion succeeded in getting a room in the red light district where his praesidium would invite and provide refreshments to the down and outs. He also worked tirelessly in the red light district and the Vondelpark (homosexual) apostolate.

Whenever somebody was invited to their home for evening dinner, Ailin without blinking an eyelid, would put another plate on the table and quite often, another guest would be one of the homeless community. Invariably, after dinner everybody was asked to kneel down and the Rosary was recited.

Having been Curia President and later when the Senatus moved to Amsterdam, also Senatus President, Gerard's talents were certainly used in many capacities. When he was on a Peregrinatio Pro Christo in Belfast, his wife Ailin was killed in a traffic accident in Amsterdam. Despite this tragedy and also the loss of his youngest son, Chris (a Cistercian Monk), Gerard continued to work tirelessly for Our Lady, although his broken heart never mended.

These few words can in no way do justice to this true man of faith, for me his passing means the loss of a good friend, for the Legion the loss of a great soldier and Ireland the loss of an Orangeman.

May he rest in peace.

Raising of Councils to a Higher Status

Proposed new Regia in Dare es Salaam, Tanzania
A formal proposal was made at the February Concilium meeting to raise Dar Salaam Comitium to Regia status to govern the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam and the Suffragan Dioceses of Dodoma, Mahenge, Morogoro, Zanzibar, Tanga. There is a Curia each of the aforementioned Dioceses except Tanga where there is a Comitium. The active membership of these Suffragan Dioceses currently stands at approximately 4,000 members. The Regia will have 11 praesidia, 15 Curiae and one Comitium directly attached. The proposal was accepted and seconded; this is subject to ecclesiastical approval.

Proposed new Regia in Guarapuava, Parana, Brazil

The Concilium approved that the Fidelis Comitium in Guarapuava Diocese, Parana, Brazil, presently attached to the Ponta Gross Senatus, be raised to Regia to govern the Legion in the Diocese of Guarapuava (which is a Suffragan Diocese of curitiba Archdiocese) and in the Archdiocese of Maringa and its three Suffragan Dioceses: Campo Mourao, Paravai and Umuarama; and in the Archdiocese of Cascavel and its three Suffragan Dioceses: Foz do Iguacu, Palmas-Francisco Beltrao and Toledo. The new Regia will cover a large area in the western part of the State of Parana.

Comitium Fidelis has 9 praesidia and 14 Curiae directly attached. The following will be affiliated to the new Regia: two Comitia in the Diocese of Guarapuava; one Comitium in the Diocese of Umuarama and one praesidium in each of the Dioceses of Campo Mourao and Paranavai and the Archdiocese of Maringa; one Comitium in the Archdiocese of Cascavel; two Comitia in the Diocese of Palmas-Francisco Beltrao; one Curia in the Diocese of Toledo and one praesidium in the Diocese of Foz do Iguacu. This is subject to ecclesiastical sanction. The new Regia will be affiliated to the Ponta Grossa Senatus.

The congratulations of the Concilium were extended to all concerned.

Church Unity

The Legion of Mary's Afternoon of Prayer for Christian Unity was held in University Church, St. Stephen's Green, Dublin on Saturday, the 22nd January 2011. It consisted of a Holy Hour conducted by Rev. Fr. John Harris OP followed by a concelebrated Mass at which the chief celebrant and homilist was Rev. Fr. Ciaran O'Carroll. The Church was filled to capacity and thanks were expressed to members of Assumpta Curia, Dublin and all those who helped to organise this successful event.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND


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Concilium News for February 2011

New Regia for Tanzania

The Concilium approved the raising of Dar es Salaam Comitium, Tanzania, to Regia to govern the Legion in the Dar es Salaam Archdiocese and its Suffragan Dioceses: Dodoma, Mahenge, Morogoro, Tanga, and Zanzibar.The new Regia is subject to ecclesiastical sanction and will be affiliated directly to the Concilium.

New Regia for Brazil

The Concilium approved the raising of Fidelis Comitium, in the Diocese of Guarapuava, a Suffragan Diocese of Curitiba Archdiocese, in the State of Paraná, Brazil, to Regia, to govern the Legion in the Diocese of Guarapuava and in the Maringa Archdiocese and its Suffragan Dioceses: Campo Mourão, Paranavaí and Umuarama; and in the Cascavel Archdiocese and its Suffragan Dioceses: Foz do Iguaçu, Palmas-Francisco Beltrão and Toledo. The new Regia will be affiliated to the Ponta Grossa Senatus.


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Legion News for February 2011
International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 2012
Rev. Fr. Kevin Doran addressed the Concilium on the forthcoming International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin 10 - 17 June 2012. He said the Congress is an international gathering of people which aims to promote an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church, to help improve our understanding and celebration of the liturgy and to draw attention to the social dimension of the Eucharist. We are trying to focus on the sense of belonging to the Body of Christ and to the sense of mission. The theme of the Congress, which is taken from the Document Lumen Gentium of the Second Vatican Council, is: The Eucharist – Communion with Christ and with each other. Each day will have a specific theme too. Fr. Doran stressed the need for preparation for the Congress. The Concilium website now has a link on its homepage to the Congress website IEC 2012.


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Concilium Allocutio February 2011

By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.

Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

The Secret of Frank Duff in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Last month we spoke about the important changes that took place in the life of Frank Duff when he joined the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in 1913 at the age of twenty-four. He says that he always felt it was a privilege to visit the families who were forced to live in the degrading slums of Dublin of that time. Despite his own social background and education and work as a gifted civil servant he felt no sense of superiority. In fact he saw himself as an honoured guest and the friendships he made on these continuous visits lasted a lifetime. He maintained this presence in the life of the poor of Dublin through his daily presence and commitment to the Morning Star Hostel for men who were crushed by poverty and many other social ills and in the Regina Coeli Hostel for Women and their families who would probably not have survived very well outside the Hostel. He records that this habitual home visitation was blessed by many graces of return to the faith and reception of the sacraments. And all that our Founder learnt from this immense apostolic experience he translated into the handbook of the Legion of Mary and it became a source of the spirit of the Legion.

But the question arises: what was the secret or deepest motive of Frank Duff in his work for the St. Vincent de Paul and the early years of the Legion of Mary? In answer let me quote his own words: ‘When I joined the Vincent de Paul Society, a phrase began to come into my philosophy which was important because it was one of the key ideas of the work of that Society, and that is, we went to the unfortunate and we relieved their necessities, and the text to which I refer was the one from the 25th Chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew: “I was hungry and you gave Me to eat, thirsty and you gave Me to drink, in prison and you visited Me” and so forth. And I found that a very appealing ideal, and one that was terribly helpful in one’s work, especially when applied to less pleasant situations.’

‘For instance, people who were suffering from diseases of some kind that were difficult to go near; very, very dirty surroundings, and that sort of circumstance. And that text had a great value in such conditions. You would think over it and thus you were encouraged to go forward, the idea being that Our Lord was so passionately fond of all these afflicted ones that He is prepared to take as if done to Himself what is done to them. And of course that idea was aided by the fact that it was only the unfortunate classes that were specified, and therefore it seemed to one to be a case of His mercy; He loved them because they were in such need and He would take as done to Himself what we did unto them. And that was the only significance that I imparted to that text, and later then when I began to have a look at the Mystical Body it would only represent a widening of that idea namely that the Mystical Body was not restricted to the suffering classes but was much wider; it embraced all the people of the Church.’

Our Founder frequently points out the significant fact: ‘the doctrine of the Mystical Body was explained to Legionaries on the very first night of their life as Legionaries, and it was always the idea of the Legion. They always worked on that doctrine; tending the Body of Christ with his Mother. But the stating of that doctrine with some degree of minuteness was not attempted until one of the revisions of the Handbook.’ So the very first allocutio given at the very first meeting of the Legion on the evening of the September 7th 1921 was on the Mystical Body of Christ. So clearly, the fundamental dimension of the charism of Frank Duff and the Legion of Mary is to live as fully as possible the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ in union with Mary the Mother of Christ and all his members.

However, we must note most carefully, that in 1934 while reading the book on the Mystical Body of Christ by Ernest Mura and more specifically the preface by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange he felt he understood this doctrine properly for the first time. He said with regard to this book: ‘A worthy book. Well, I took it up in any case on this particular day, and sometimes it happens that we skip a Preface, and in this case the Preface was the grandest part, and that is not taking in any way from the magnificent contents of the book which had its own merit of a special kind, as I will in due course try to point out. But I started off on Garrigou Lagrange. It was a fairly lengthy Preface – as I recall it now it would have been 10 pages, and as I went I began to get my electric quivers! And at some point along the line of reading I said to myself: Heavens, the thing is a reality, it is not a quasi or an “as if” or a sentiment or mystical in the common but completely incorrect sense of the word. It is a reality. He is telling us that the Mystical Body is an absolute reality; as real as substance itself; more real.

I was really quite – I would go so far as to say that I was overwhelmed by this.’

In the coming months we will have to dwell on the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ because it is one of the most decisive elements in the charism of our Founder and of the Legion itself. We must treat each other not as if Christ were present in us but because he really and truly is present in us. What we do to the least of the brethren we do in fact do to Jesus. There is no separation between Christ and the Church, he really lives and acts in the Church, that is through you and me.



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Concilium News for January 2011

Meeting of Dublin Legionaries
The Concilium decided to convene a meeting in early March this year to which all active members of the Legion of Mary in the Archdiocese of Dublin will be invited. The aim is to inspire the members to renew their commitment in a spirit of faith and in union with Mary to the development of the Legion in Dublin, where the Legion was born and which has a very special role in the administration of the worldwide Legion. The meeting is an opportunity for the members to share their ideas and enthusiasm. Dublin presents many challenges such as the need to extend the Legion into parishes where it does not exist as yet and to increase its membership in existing praesidia. There are many urgent apostolic needs which require attention and a courageous spirit. Obviously, recruiting more members has to be a priority. With the International Eucharistic Congress due to take place in Dublin in June 2012, this is an opportunity for the legionaries in Dublin to consider how the Legion, in union with Mary the Mother of God, can become a more effective instrument in the mission of the Church to bring all people to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Church Unity Octave

A Holy Hour, commencing at 2 p.m., followed by Concelebrated Mass to pray for Christian Unity have been arranged by the Legion for the 22 January during the Octave which covers the period 18 - 25 January. These will be held this year in the University Church, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, which was founded by Blessed John Henry Newman, who was beatified in Birmingham, England, in September 2010, by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.

Visitors from Brazil

Verlaine Alves, Secretary of the São Paulo Senatus, Brazil, and Mariana de Moraes, a legionary in São Paulo, whose father, Nelson, is President of the São Paulo Senatus, were welcomed to the meeting. They both expressed their joy at being present. We heard something about the work of young legionaries in Brazil for other young people, which included organising Retreats and Vigils of Prayer.




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Concilium Allocutio January 2011

By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.

Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary


Frank Duff and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul


When God calls a person to a particular task in life, He also gives them the gifts of nature and grace to fulfil that task. In his providence God gives the person the kind of formation required for his mission in life. The principle is abundantly clear in the life of Frank Duff. In October 1913 at the age of 24, Frank Duff joined the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. This action marked a profound change in his interior life and external activity. At that time according to his own words: 'I was completely wrapped up in amusement, particularly, sport. I tried my hand at everything - swimming, running, cycling and tennis. These things I worked at giving most of my spare time to them.' Several colleagues in the Civil Service invited him to join the Society and he says: 'the idea of going into the Vincent de Paul Society, of taking up religious work did not appeal to me at all. I was just the ordinary type of absolutely worldly young fellow. Then I made the acquaintance of course at the time of a number of members of the Vincent de Paul Society, and I liked them but was not drawn'.

However, a colleague in his own department in the Civil Service, a man called Jack O Callaghan succeeded in bringing him into the Society. And Frank Duff comments: 'he succeeded where others had not succeeded, and that was because I liked him so much. In other words, the motives were not 100% pure - but the normal natural motives that God uses.' He was to later assert in the Handbook that the first task of the legionary was to establish friendship with others because this was the context of the greatest influence. The Legion apostolate was a ministry of friendship.

From his very first meeting as a member of the Society he was completely won over and began to take the spiritual life with the utmost seriousness. At first it meant giving two nights a week, one to the meeting and then another to the work assigned to him. But in a very short time he was giving seven nights a week to the apostolate. He became totally immersed in the lives of the poorest of the poor. It is hard for us today to get any idea of the extreme poverty of those days. Frank Duff says: 'Nobody could realise how bad the poverty was. For instance, in the published statistics it was stated that 90,000 of the people of Dublin lived at that time in single rooms in tenements. That will give you some idea of the dire conditions of life among the greater part of the population of the city.' Most families lived in a single room and our Founder says he often met 13 to 14 people living in one room. With the appalling poverty came problems of depression, illness of many kinds, drunkenness, and often incidents of crime and sometimes violence. Spread over many years before the foundation of the Legion and for several years afterwards Frank Duff visited thousands of these poverty stricken homes on a regular basis. It proved to be a most profound and lasting education for our Founder and he passed it onto the Legion and enshrined it in many of the great principles contained in the Handbook. The beginnings of the Legion are rooted in the truly immense experience of our Founder. For example, if Frank Duff declares home visitation to be a primary work of the Legion, it is because he knows from vast personal experience the apostolic fruitfulness to be gained from it. It was also from sheer dint of experience that he learned the limitations of giving material relief and trying to meet the spiritual needs of the poor and destitute at the same time. The lessons he learned from his habitual presence to the poor are endless and we will have to come back to many of them in later allocutios this year.

But the new life of Frank Duff was not simply an intense increase of unbelievable activity. Alongside and within his apostolic activity there was an extraordinary development of his spiritual life. During the Lent immediately after he joined the Society he began to go to daily Mass and receive Holy Communion and continued this practice for the rest of his life. He began to say the daily Rosary and the Seven Dolours Rosary too. During his lunch break from work he made a Holy Hour in the Convent of Marie Repatrice and then again after work he slipped into a Church and made another holy hour before beginning his apostolic work. He began to say the Little Office of Our Lady and then progressed to the praying of the whole Divine Office in Latin and he never neglected this even for a single day for the rest of his life. In total he was giving 4 to 5 hours to prayer every day. He also gave significant time to spiritual reading, especially the lives of the Saints. He began to make frequent Retreats. Every year he started to go to Lough Derg. The quality of his Christian life can only he described as heroic. Extraordinary commitment to prayer and an equally extraordinary commitment to active apostolic work are the hallmarks of the charism of Frank Duff but both of them were expressed in a delightfully human and unostentatious way with great humour and unfailing courtesy and self effacement. He became a man of extraordinary pastoral charity. The salvation of souls became the absolutely primary interest and goal of his life. We will have to spend much more time unpacking the impact of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul on our Founder in the months ahead.


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Concilium Bulletin January 2011

Africa

BENIN REPUBLIC

In the course of one year Our Lady of Mount Carmel praesidium met 1,333 persons in home to home visits, recruited 9 active and two auxiliary members, gained 16 catechumens, secured 18 baptisms, 21 returns to Sunday Mass and 13 to the Sacraments, reconciled 8 marriages in difficulty, had 2 regularised and officered a junior praesidium. Our Lady of the Lagoon praesidium had similar results making contact in addition with 74 Muslims. The average membership in the praesidia attached to Our Lady of Peace Curia is 20.

BURKINA FASO

Ouagadougou Comitium meets monthly. Fr. Narcisse Kiswensida shows a deep commitment to the Legion and its founder's charism, speaking on Newman and Frank Duff, organising formation sessions for legionaries and information sessions for Spiritual Directors at Diocesan and National level. Visits to persons of all denominations including Protestants and Muslims continue with tender loving care for mothers at the Maternity Hospital especially those with little or no back-up.

CAMEROUN

In October the Senatus of Douala held its 100th meeting. In Muyuka Comitium there are praesidia with over 100 members. Steps are to be undertaken to regularise this situation following a visit from the Senatus. Yaounde Regia is doing very well with their extension. Bamenda Comitium is in the process of creating a second Comitium in the Diocese and Bafoussam is setting up another Comitium in Mbouda. In Nkongsamba 3 new praesidia have been set up. In Douala a cancer patient returned to the Church after 3 years of visitation and before she died she brought the rest of her family back into the Church as well.

SENEGAL

The Regia of Lome, Togo, carried out a visitation to the Legion in Senegal in October.

TOGO

On September 7th/8th a vigil was held to celebrate the 89th anniversary of the start of the Legion. Most councils report promotion of the Cause of Frank Duff with novenas finishing on 7th November when Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop Amuzu-Dzakpah. A conference with debate took place on November 13th which had as its theme: "Priests and lay-people, the vision of Frank Duff". Reports mentioned Congresses, Patrician meetings, Exploratio Dominicalis projects as well as a lot of conversions from traditional religions. Most councils mention enclosed retreats and a Curia in Lome heard the report of a praesidium in the prison. Three new Comitia have been set up, one each at Tsevié and Kara and one in the Diocese of Sokodé and there is a new Curia in Kpomé. A report was given on the Peregrinatio Pro Christo to Ghana in 2010 and efforts are being made to prepare for another in 2011. On Sunday 27th February next a Mass will be said to celebrate the closure of festivities marking 60 years of the Legion of Mary in Togo.

REPUBLIC OF GUINÉE

In Conakry Comitium all four officers were re-elected for a second term in office. A Curia under the Comitium is planning a national Congress for all legionaries in Guinée and the Comitium is in regular contact with this Curia.

Mexico and Central America

MEXICO CITY SENATUS

The Senatus is planning a trip to Dublin to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the Legion.

MERIDA SENATUS

Two praesidia, 3 Curiae and 3 Comitia reported and there are plans to set up a new Comitium in Campeche Diocese and a number of praesidia have been set up in different councils. The Senatus Curia (praesidia directly affiliated) had a Congress. A Comitium with 18 praesidia and 2 Curiae visited 11,000 homes.

GUADALAJARA REGIA
Reports indicate baptisms, First Communions and Confirmations resulted from Legion work. A praesidium with 20 members, 10 of whom are praetorians, do home to home visitation and leave the Virgin Statue in the homes for a week to encourage devotion to Our Lady. A number of legionaries are catechists.

LEON REGIA

During this period 6 Curiae, 2 Comitia and 3 praesidia reported. A Curia which is 49 years in existence reported planting trees in areas where there is a concentration of elderly to beautify the surroundings. Legionaries accompany bereaved families in their customary week of prayer after the death of a loved one. A new praesidium was set up in the jail bringing the number of praesidia to three. This year they held their own Acies in the jail.

ACAPULCO REGIA

Seven praesidia and 2 Curiae reported. The praesidium in the prison successfully convinced some Catholics who had changed to the sects to return to the practice of their faith. An attached Curia reported 18 persons returned to the practice of the faith and 5 of those received the sacrament of marriage.

HERMOSILLO REGIA

During this period there were 5 reports given at the meeting. A young priest only one year ordained has been appointed Spiritual Director and is giving great encouragement to the legionaries. A praesidium in the women's prison is very active and committed; they start the meeting on time even if the outside legionaries have not arrived. Their works include helping sick prisoners, a Bible circle and daily Rosary at 6.00 pm.

DURANGO REGIA

There were 6 reports presented during this period. A large praesidium of 22 members has 20 praetorians. It was suggested that they consider dividing. They reported 30 Sacred Heart enthronements. The Comitium of Mazathian with 5 Curiae and 14 praesidia have 471 active and 1200 auxiliaries. Two legionaries went on extension to a town about 27 km away.

MONTERREY REGIA

Eight reports were presented since last reporting. Two new praesidia were set up, one on a ranch. The Angelus is promoted on home visitation and 3,000 Rosary bracelets were distributed. A praesidium of young adults is being set up. 200 attended a Marian Youth Conference resulting in one vocation to the priesthood. Among events for the 90th anniversary are clubs for children, consecration of homes to the Sacred Heart, the Pioneer Movement and a trip to Dublin.

CENTRAL AMERICA

COSTA RICA

Senatus of San Jose: During the months of May and October the legionaries organise and participate in a Rosary procession carrying a statue of Our Lady, the Vexillum and the Legion banner through the streets. A Bible circle appropriate for children is organised to help prepare them for the sacraments.

Honduras Senatus: The Senatus is working well but have difficulties resulting from natural disasters. A new praesidium with 19 members is very active visiting homes and making efforts in particular to contact young people.

ASIA

This report covers 13 countries in Asia and 8 in the Middle East and encompasses 6 Senatus, 6 Regiae, 16 Comitia, 7 Curiae and 4 Praesidia directly affiliated to the Concilium.

MYANMAR

A workshop was organised for legionaries willing to do extension. Several visits were made to Pathein Comitium covering a large area in the south and strongpoint of the Legion. The Bishop has given go ahead for more Curiae and Comitia to be established. The aim is to work towards a Regia.

PAKISTAN They have approximately 350 seniors and 50 juniors in the Karachi diocese.

THAILAND A Comitium working in the north brought together officers of 21 Curiae to spiritually refresh the legionaries and help to develop and expand the Legion in remote areas which they evangelise.

VIETNAM 82 attended the August Senatus meeting. A Comitium mission territory in the basin of the Mekong river has 327 members working in 3 Curiae. The Bishop is very supportive. The lapsed are brought back, families are reconciled and children are prepared for the Sacraments.

ARMENIA There is one praesidium in Yerevan which has 8 members, 14 auxiliaries and 6 Adjutorians. Among works done is helping with abandoned children. Mother Teresa sisters asked the legionaries to provide Christian formation for paid staff. The Armenian handbook is available only in typed format.

GEORGIA - contact with Legion has been a challenge. The praesidium in Ude with 5 members continues to do good work.

SRI LANKA - Homes hospitals and an apostolate at funerals feature in reports. Three camps were visited and children of prisoners were looked after.

INDIA

Pondicherry Senatus has 17 praesidia. 27 Curiae, 4 Comitia attached having 10,566 senior, 489 junior and 3,225 auxiliary members. Extension continues, contact with lepers, drug addicts, those contemplating suicide, orphans and the handicapped is done.

Kottar - It has 10 praesidia and 28 Curiae attached. They have been asked to set up more Comitia. Training days are held periodically to help with better administration.

Vishakhapatnam - Nearby Curiae attend but attendance of praesidia officers needs improvement. Christians and non-Christians welcome Legion visits to hospitals.

Tuticorin - permission has been given for the formation of a second Comitium in the diocese with 9 Curiae. 72 took part in a mini-PPC project. 300 went on the annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.

Tiruchy - send an annual report and have been asked to send monthly minutes. Much good work is done by the legionaries making peace among families and having homes enthroned to the Sacred Heart.

Madurai - sent a positive response to being raised to Regia and are planning to send regular monthly minutes.

Palaymakottai - They have 20 praesidia and at least 5 Curiae. Youth Curia has 8 praesidia with 100 members. Students are taught catechism. A 10 day Bible Study venture had 85 boys and girls in attendance.

Port Blair Comitium (situated on Andaman & Nicobar islands) - a synoptic report for 2009 was received and they have been asked to send monthly minutes.

Kolkata - after a silence of several months communication has been restored with the receipt of 6 months minutes.

Kerala Senatus - minutes to November. Communication has been restored. People of all religions contacted, a number of conversions recorded, marriages blessed,.

Ernakulam Comitium is very active with extension. Six new praesidia started, also responsible for 74 returns to the sacraments.

Neyyattinkara Comitium organised a seminar and Marian camp for youth which resulted in the setting up of a praesidium for young men and another for young women.

Tribute to Phyllis McGuinness, R.I.P.

Phyllis Dowdall joined the Legion in Holy Family Parish Aughrim Street, Dublin when she was just eleven years of age. She continued her membership through school years at Stanhope Street and Loreto on the Green. Graduating to Senior ranks, she worked hard for the Junior movement giving special attention to the girls' praesidia in Dominican Convent school, Eccles Street, Dublin. Elected Vice-President of Veneranda Curia, she had the role of welcoming an ex-UCD legionary Dr Michael McGuinness as incoming Curia President on Frank Duff's recommendation.

She was one of two legionaries appointed to assist the Hierarchy's mission to the Irish emigrants in Britain entrusted to the Columban Fathers. Michael meanwhile took up a medical post in London but returned to marry Phyllis and both went back to become a force for good in London. Phyllis worked at the Columbans' headquarters in Ovingtom Square making vigorous use of the Legion and developing the Columban Recruiting method. Michael was elected President of the London Senatus while Phyllis was elected Secretary. Both became very involved in the legionary apostolate in London, which included street rescue work in Soho resulting in the first Retreat for street girls in London.

In 1969 they returned to Dublin. After their return to Dublin, they had the honour of having Frank Duff, to whom they were always close, convalesce in their home.
As Assistant Secretary of Concilium, she was in charge of the Cause of Frank Duff and mobilised a team of helpers to sort letters and papers and look after Frank's house. In her final year she was elected to the Presidency of Porta Coeli Curia and showed that she had lost none of her enthusiasm or commitment.

She died on 18th November 2010. The Concilium has extended its deep sympathy to Michael and their daughter Susan. May she rest in peace.

Visitors from Brazil

Verlaine Alves, Secretary of the São Paulo Senatus, Brazil, and Mariana de Moraes, a legionary in São Paulo, whose father, Nelson, is President of the São Paulo Senatus, were welcomed to the Concilium meeting. They both expressed their joy at being present. We heard something about the work of young legionaries in Brazil for other young people, which included organising Retreats and Vigils of Prayer.

Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff

Letter from Fr. Bede McGregor, OP

Spiritual Director of Concilium Legionis Mariae

Dear Legionaries,

As Postulator, I am writing to legionaries all over the world concerning the Cause for Beatification of our founder, the Servant of God, Frank Duff. First of all, I wish to thank you for all you have already done to help the Cause and for what you continue to do.

The Cause was formally introduced by Cardinal Desmond Connell in 1996 and consists of several parts. The first part was the huge task of collecting all the writings of Frank Duff: his books, articles and letters (so far totalling about 33,000), his tapes, books written about him and indeed any material that might prove significant in an evaluation of his life and holiness. This part of the Cause process has been completed.

The second part concerned the Tribunal, which consisted of examining witnesses under oath about the life and virtues and any possible faults in our founder. The Tribunal conducted by the representative of Cardinal Connell, the Promoter of Justice, and two secretaries. This took place over several months and has largely been completed.

The third part concerned the theological assessment of the published works of our founder and this has been done by two distinguished theologians. The fourth part concerns the work of the Historical Commission. This has still to be done and submitted to the Episcopal Delegate. We need your prayers to help bring this pivotal part of the process to a successful conclusion as soon as possible.

Alongside all the above work we continue to keep a record of all the favours, big and small, which have been granted through the intercession of our founder.

Once all the above steps have been concluded all the material is submitted to the Archbishop of Dublin. If he judges everything to be in order, he would then forward the relevant papers to Rome for the next phase of the Process.

Integral to all of this is the promotion of the Cause by legionaries throughout the world. This consists of making Frank Duff better known both inside and outside of the Legion. In addition, we need to continue to pray to our founder for favours and especially for miracles. The central point of my letter to you, dear legionaries, is to encourage you to keep on praying for the Cause. Thank you to the many legionaries who have already translated the prayer leaflet into your own languages and dialects. Please continue to distribute these to legionaries and to the general public in the belief that our founder is looking after our needs. One of the first questions, which will be asked in Rome, is: is there any demand for his beatification? Who desires it? Surely at least our estimated membership of 10,000,000 (between active and auxiliary members), would deeply long for it? It is up to all of us to show in practice our desire to have our founder beatified.

Cardinal John Henry Newman, a seminal influence on Frank Duff and very frequently quoted in the Handbook, was beatified recently. His beatification ceremony had a huge impact on those who were present and continues to have an impact on the whole Church. This should spur us on to work hard at making Frank Duff better known. If every country, where the Legion is present, worked to promote his Cause, he would be a source of great blessings and encouragement to many people. His spirit and the spirit of Mary would be a tremendous gift to any individual or group or local Church and indeed to a nation.

It is important to always remember that we are not simply concerned with showing that Frank Duff was a truly great man but we pray that if it be God's will he should be declared to be a saint. We seek to bring to light for the benefit of the Legion of Mary but principally for the whole Church his heroic practise of the theological and moral virtues, the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit in his life and the inspiration and example of the dynamism and fire of his interior life. We need to know not just the external chronology of his life and his many achievements but much more the story of his very soul. His life illustrates the call to holiness of all the lay faithful of the Church and the limitless call and possibilities of the lay apostolate.

The promotional side is one of the most important aspects of the Cause. This belongs in a special way to every individual legionary. It is a very real way in which you can participate in the process of the Cause. Once again, thank you for the contribution you are making.

Let us pray to Mary, who is the Mother and real Foundress of the Legion, to help us in all our endeavours for the Cause.

Yours gratefully in Corde Mariae,

Bede McGregor O.P.
Postulator for the Cause

Please report all favours received through the intercession of Frank Duff to:

Concilium Legionis Mariae,
Morning Star Avenue,
Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, Ireland.

Please copy this letter and circulate to all praesidia.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.

In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.

We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …

We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND


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Letter from Fr Bede McGregor O.P., the Postulator for the Cause of the Servant of God Frank Duff, to all Legionaries in the world concerning the need to promote the Cause of our Founder."

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Concilium Legionis Mariae’s Theme for 2011
“The Charism of Frank Duff and the Legion of Mary”

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Concilium Allocutio December 2010
By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.
Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

Christmas

First of all let me wish you all and indeed legionaries on all five continents the grace and joy of Christmas in superabundance. Our Founder loved the Christmas season because it puts us in profound and intimate contact with the very heart of God. He writes: 'The time of Christmas and the Epiphany is one of unmixed happiness. It is one of the few seasons of the Church year, which have that purely blissful note. The sorrowful sequel to the events of this time is still far ahead; we are able to put the thought of it out of our mind and to immerse ourselves in the sheer joy of this period. It is a grace, I think, to be able to feel that joy, because it is an indication that, whatever our defects may be, we are attuned to the church and its life.'

He continues: 'The very thought of the coming of Our Lord should have the effect of stirring us to our depths. Of all the events it is really the central one - that divine coming among us promised from the very beginning.' In those two brief quotations we have a crystal clear indication of one of the major characteristics of the interior life of Frank Duff. He considered it a great grace to be in tune with the liturgical year of the Church. The Liturgy was a school that puts one in living contact with the reality of the mysteries of Christ and the graces offered in each one of his mysteries. So it is not surprising that he has written about all the major feasts and seasons of the life of the Church.

Christmas was very special to him. Perhaps one of the reasons for this attraction to Christmas was because it shows so tenderly how the destinies of Jesus and his Mother are eternally entwined. He contemplated in the crib the absolutely central role that Mary has in bringing Christ into our world. While Jesus is the most important figure in the Crib and in our lives it was impossible for Frank to sideline Mary. It is she who makes it possible for Jesus to come among us as one of us. It is the charism of the Legion to be rooted in this doctrinal truth expressed so humanly, so vividly at the scene of the Nativity.

Reading once again the transcripts of various talks Frank gave on Christmas, I am struck by the awe he felt and expressed concerning the infinite humility of God. Humility was a virtue he so admired in Mary and desired to see in the Legionaries of Mary but he saw its ultimate source in the humility of God, in the face of the baby who was God. He gently felt our modern cribs were a sentimental and sanitised version of the real thing. He writes: 'It was not the picturesque haven shown by the cribs with fragrant straw and nice cradle like manger. The reality was very different. It is described by St. Jerome as being little better than a hole in the ground, and he should know because he lived in it for thirty years when he was translating the bible into Latin. The place was the refuge of animals. We can imagine the rest.' The babe in swaddling clothes is the radical sign of God's identification with the poorest of the poor, with the most vulnerable of children but also the convincing sign that no one whatsoever is excluded from access to intimacy with God.

Closely connected with God's identification with the helpless in the many different ways we can all feel helpless there is a passage in one of his talks on Christmas that Frank sees as particularly important for legionaries. It goes as follows: 'We are told that the Lord came to those who were least. Into that category entered the shepherds of Judea. These were a despised and rejected caste. The Courts of Justice were forbidden to receive their testimony and they were placed almost on the same level as the heathen. Yet, out of all mankind, it is to those that the Babe stretches out His arms first, and it is they of all mankind who yield the first tribute of honour to Him who has been the expectation of all the nations. This is a fortifying thought to us legionaries whose attention turns so instinctively towards the lesser elements in the population.' It is certainly a part of the charism of our founder and the Legion that we must be determined that those men, women and children who are economically, socially and culturally poor should not be deprived of the treasures of our Catholic faith and life. Others are called to the tremendous and Gospel task of meeting the material needs of the poor but the Legion is called specifically to meet the spiritual needs of others and help as many people as possible into heaven. We do not duplicate the work of that outstanding movement, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and similar bodies. We are in the business of direct evangelisation especially but not exclusively in the Parish.

The next Synod of the Catholic Church will be on the New Evangelisation and our contribution will best come about by our enthusiasm and fidelity to our own specific charism. The Nativity scene is a vivid teaching on our charism. There we see Jesus who has come into our world through Mary. That is God's plan for the evangelisation of the world and we must be in tune with it. With Mary, through Mary and in Mary we seek to facilitate a meeting with Our Lord for everyone we come into personal contact with; Jesus is the greatest treasure Mary has and he is our greatest treasure too and with her help we seek to share this treasure with as many people as possible.

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Concilium News December 2010

New Regia for Romania

The Concilium approved the raising of Satu Mare Comitium, Romania, which is presently attached to Budapest Regia, Hungary, to Regia, to govern the Hungarian-speaking councils in the Dioceses of Satu Mare and Oradea Mare and for extension of the Legion in the Diocese of Timisoara. The new Regia will be affiliated directly to the Concilium.




New Regia for Brazil

The Concilium approved the raising of Maria Mãe da Igreja Comitium in the Diocese of Imperatriz, a suffragan diocese of São Luís Archdiocese, in the State of Maranhão, Brazil, to Regia, to govern the Legion in the Dioceses of Imperatriz, Grajaú and Balsas. The new Regia will be affiliated to the São Luís Senatus.




70th Anniversary of the Legion of Mary in France

The 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Legion of Mary in France was celebrated in Nevers, where the first praesidium in France was established in 1940 by the late Veronica O'Brien. Three Bishops and about 200 legionaries from France and several other countries took part in the celebrations on the weekend of 20/21 November 2010. Michael McManus, Anne and Aodán O Briain, and Enda Dunleavy represented the Concilium. It was fitting that the Legion whose meetings take place around a statue of the Immaculate Conception, should start in Nevers where St. Bernadette, to whom Our Lady appeared in Lourdes and announced: "I am The Immaculate Conception", entered the Convent of St. Gilldard, the Mother House of the Sisters of Nevers, and where her incorrupt body lies.




Meeting in Rome in preparation for Proposed Congress of African Laity in 2012

At the invitation of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Concilium was represented at a meeting in Rome on 4 December 2010 to discuss a proposed Congress of African Laity to be held in Africa in early 2012. Janet Lowthe and Enda Dunleavy, represented the Concilium. Representatives from various lay associations and ecclesial movements attended and made submissions. A concise statement of the strength of the Legion in Africa and its multi-faceted apostolate was made on behalf of the Concilium and a booklet with more details was given to the Pontifical Council.




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Concilium Bulletin
December 2010

AFRICA

MALAWI:
Blantyre Senatus: The Senatus was launched on 12th June at which the Bishop of Mangochi Diocese, an Auxiliary Bishop of Blantyre, the Spiritual Director and several other priests concelebrated the Mass. The first of 4 new Regia was due to be raised in July. In Blantyre Archdiocese there are 10 Comitia, 17 Curiae and 14 Praesidia attached to the Senatus. Membership is over 10,000.

Uganda Senatus: Translation and printing of Legion literature into the many languages there is ongoing. So it was most encouraging to receive a letter from the Senatus President enclosing copies of the Runyankole/Rukiga Handbook as this had suffered a number of delays and it means that many Legionaries in Western Uganda have the handbook in their own language.

Senatus of Kenya: In 3 months one Comitium contacted 599 lapsed legionaries and 67 are active again and 44 others joined. 235 lapsed Catholics returned to the practice of their faith and 15 couples had their marriages regularised. Care of juniors featured in many reports. A praesidium helped revive another and cares for Venerable Edel's grave.

NIGERIA
Ibadan Senatus: Benin City Regia reported 304 conversions including 24 Muslims, 125 marriages regularised, 127 lapsed returned and 12 senior and 2 junior curiae formed. Lagos Regia: A Comitium reported that 59 left a brothel as a result of Legion visitation and they had 365 conversions including 65 Muslims, 389 lapsed returned and many Exploratio Dominicalis projects were done. Five new praesidia were formed at a police barracks and many Masses were offered to commemorate Frank Duff. Abuja Regia: A Curia treasurer had 100% attendance for 2 years at praesidium, Curia and Comitium meetings. One Comitium reported 464 conversions while another reported 9559 including 917 Muslims out of 11,795 contacts. When queried the Spiritual Director and President said they believed these figures to be correct. Kaduna Regia: Two Comitia with a combined total of 2365 active seniors and 1059 juniors reported on much home and hospital visitation and also visits to prisons, orphanages and hotels resulting in many receiving the Sacraments and lapsed returning and there were 5 conversions. Two Exploratio projects were held and many were recruited.

Enugu Senatus: Reports indicate many prepared for the sacraments, consecration of homes to The Sacred Heart, contact with families of newborn babies, Block Rosary Centres established, extension, family disputes reconciled and marriages blessed and also wonderful achievements and follow up on Exploratio Dominicalis projects. A Comitium in Onitsha Regia reported 38 converts, 278 marriages blessed, many prepared for the Sacraments, and 10 senior, 13 junior and 4 intermediate Praesidia set up. Jos Regia: A curia in a Major Seminary has 12 praesidia. The Hausa Comitium recruited 2,290 members and an average of 640 attend the various Patrician meetings each month. All the praesidia and councils reporting to Ikot Ekpene Regia show many candidates being prepared for the Sacraments, marriages blessed, conversion and returns to the Sacraments. Extension efforts have been very fruitful.

ZAMBIA
Lusaka Regia: Works include visits to the sick, lapsed Catholics, prisoners, and there are good reports of returns to the Church and marriage regularisations. Council Officers met the new Pastoral co-ordinator to explain the Legion's 3-year term of office. Kasama Regia: While praesidia and council visitation is done by councils to their neighbours, some distant ones have yet to be visited.

TANZANIA
Dar-Es-Salaam Comitium: There was encouraging news in the minutes that overdue elections have been successfully held. Mtwara Comitium: A Curia with 226 members in 10 praesidia gave a 3-year report and works included leading prayers in small Christian Communities and Church devotions. One praesidium was revived. They contacted youth not attending school and some took instruction for the Sacraments. Nineteen people were converted, 48 lapsed returned and 31 couples were married including 7 non-Catholics who were baptised. Njombe Comitium: This Comitium has 6 Curia and 9 praesidia attached. Songea Comitium has 11 Curia and 12 directly attached praesidia with an active membership of 1500. Mbinga Diocese has 4 Comitia with a combined total of almost 3,000 members. Hai Moshi and Rombo Comitia report on home and hospital visitation with many returns to the Sacraments and marriages blessed. Secondary schools are visited to establish praesidia. A new Curia has been formed.

THE GAMBIA:
Banjul Curia is making great efforts to set up more praesidia.

EUROPE

PORTUGAL
A Comitium in the Azores with 15 praesidia and 7 attached Curiae recently started a new junior praesidium. A praesidium of 11 in a deprived area of Lisbon has only 2 literate members. They do excellent work among the sick and bereaved. Setubal Curia reported on prison visitation. Sixty-three prisoners were prepared for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and one baptised. There was a participation of 71 prisoners in the Way of the Cross.

SPAIN
Madrid Senatus is preparing for the World Youth Day 2011. Excellent work continues such as the contact in bars with young Spaniards. Most are attentive and listen with respect and admire the work the legionaries are doing. On home visitation a special effort is made to encourage parents to teach their children to pray. November reports state that some auxiliaries have become active members, a married couple have joined a praesidium and many former active members have returned to full membership. A new praesidium has been set up in the parish of the Dominicans in Madrid.
Barcelona Senatus: A praesidium has worked with street girls for over 40 years. Many are now old and sick and are visited in hospital or in their homes. The daughter of one of them, now a young adult, was prepared for First Holy Communion. A special Mass was arranged for Patty Kavanagh R.I.P. who was their correspondent for many years.

ITALY
Rome Senatus: The Paterno Comitium with 4 attached Curiae has a total of 51 praesidia and 500 members. Extension efforts continue in Rome, in the Basilicata and elsewhere. A Roman Parish Priest has asked his praesidium to knock on every door. Prayers are asked for the Spiritual Director, Mgr. La Rosa, who has been in hospital recently. Milan Regia: Good contacts are made in Bars, Gardens and Markets. Filipino legionaries are making contact with young Polish people. Lifelong commitment to the rehabilitation of an alcoholic was rewarded by a deathbed reconciliation and conversion. Radio Mater broadcast a talk on Frank Duff and Cardinal Newman and also on Fr. Bradshaw's biography of Frank Duff. Padova Comitium: A praesidium gained two new members as a result of praying to Frank Duff. The Rosary is recited in Italian and German in a hospital at the request of the chaplain. Two priests and 12 legionaries participated in a PPC project of the Maltese legionaries to San Bellino Parish. They called on 850 homes. Housebound invalids received the sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. 180 families were invited to Mass, Confession and family prayer.

CYPRUS
Three praesidia in Nicosia and one in Limassol help with Sunday liturgy, make good contacts with lapsed Catholics on crowd contact and make Pilgrim Statue visits to homes for the elderly.

MALTA
A Frank Duff exhibition was held during a parish festival with many good contacts made. A 5-day apostolate gained 5 new members. Reports include Exploratio Dominicalis, Patrician Meetings, consecration of homes to the Sacred Heart, contact with tourists and bus drivers and talks on Our Lady in a primary school. A Muslim was received into the Church before death and two abortions prevented. Half day retreats for auxiliaries were held, two of which had attendances of 15 and 20. A Marian Song festival in Gozo had an attendance of 28.

GREECE
Literature on the Legion and the True Devotion was forwarded to the Spiritual Director of the praesidium in Rhodes. News was received of a new praesidium of Filipino members in Athens.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

St Louis Senatus: Two new praesidia have been set up. Works reported on include jail visitation, working with alcoholics, promoting the family Rosary and Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in homes resulting in people returning to the Church.
Boston Senatus: Legionaries in most councils visit homes, hospitals and nursing homes. A correction centre teaches the inmates to read and write and one is taking instruction in the faith.
Houston Senatus: A new Regia was set up in New Orleans, which governs all of Louisiana. The Bishop of Tyler, asked for contact work at the East Texas State Fair. The Chinese Curia organised the annual Asian Mass, which was well supported by their community. A new Curia of 3 years has set up its thirteenth praesidium. The Vietnamese Curia reports membership of 18 and 15 in two of their praesidia. Another praesidium recruited 28 new auxiliaries. The Hispanic Comitium has Sunday morning mission to street people and provide refreshments and counselling.
Philadelphia Senatus: A second praesidium has been set up in St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and members visits the sick and homeless. 200 attended a Marian Day. Camden Comitium report 16 returns to the faith, one after 42 years, and do book barrow apostolate. Seven prisons are visited regularly. Pittsburgh Regia has a prison praesidium and also visits other prisons in their area. A Bishop took part in a first time Blessed Sacrament procession. Delaware County Korean Curia had 2 converts, 6 returns and 3 adult baptisms. The Senatus annual retreat had 221 participants.
San Francisco Senatus: Crowd contact apostolate is done at the local Zoo and in downtown San Francisco. Oregon Comitium has 4 senior and one junior praesidia attached. Seattle Comitium with 10 Curiae and 15 praesidia set up a new Spanish Curia with 3 praesidia. San Jose Comitium are emphasising the audit of the treasurer's books. Sidewalk counselling is undertaken in Anchorage Comitium. In north Utah Curia the Catholic Church is growing in Salt Lake City.
New York Senatus: The 75th anniversary of the founding of the Legion was held in the Cathedral with 3,000 legionaries attending.
Los Angeles Senatus: A new Curia has been set up in a Filipino parish.
Cincinnati Senatus: An extension worker has been appointed. A Comitium is giving each parish in the Diocese a copy of "The Priest and the Legion". Lapsed Catholics were met during home visitation. Arlington Regia appointed an extension worker who set up 2 praesidia in North Virginia. A Curia in Raleigh reported a conversion and had an abortion prevented. Baltimore Comitium reported 5 returns to the Sacraments, 2 conversions and one marriage validated. Fairfax Curia has been raised to a Comitium.

CANADA
Montreal Senatus was visited by Toronto Regia in September.
Ontario Senatus are involved in market ministry. Twenty-eight handicapped people were brought on a pilgrimage. A single mother had her 5 children baptised.
Toronto Regia: A workshop titled "Back to Basics" had 75 legionaries present. Extension is ongoing in many councils. Works include visiting a Seaman's Mission, reciting the Rosary at wakes and funerals. Vancouver Comitium: 100 attended a Marian event, 2 adults were baptised before death. A legionary has entered a Seminary. There are 15 active members in a Chinese praesidium. Edmonton Comitium: A Legion booth was set up at a Family Life Conference. One of the Curia has set up a website. Distant councils are visited.

WEST INDIES
Santiago de los Caballeros Senatus: A retreat for those in irregular marriages was held and resulted in 22 couples being prepared for and receiving the sacrament of matrimony. These were then immediately incorporated into catholic activities such as the Legion and in catechises. Works include homes, hospital and prison visitation, visiting the bereaved and catechetical instruction of children, adolescents and adults. During October all praesidia recite the rosary in the homes and streets of their communities. In Comitium Madre del Divino Nino there are 15 Patrician groups. Two youths of an evangelical Protestant family were instructed and received into the Church.
Senatus of Haiti: The 2 attached Comitia have 2,000 members. Works include home and prison visitation, teaching catechism and run literacy and mission courses, which result in many receiving the sacraments.
Porto Rico Senatus promote True Devotion to the Nation, first Friday Night Adoration and help the sick in legal affairs. The Miami Regia visited Trinidad Regia in May.

Concilium Legionis Mariae's Theme for 2011

At the December Concilium Meeting it was agreed that the theme for 2011 would be: 'The Charism of Frank Duff and the Legion of Mary'. The following is the text giving details of the theme:

"The Charism of Frank Duff and the Legion of Mary"

In 2011, we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Legion of Mary and it is a year of grace for all legionaries. To focus our attention and efforts during this year, the Concilium Legionis Mariae has proposed the theme: "The Charism of Frank Duff and the Legion of Mary"

Charism in the Catholic sense means the spiritual graces and qualifications granted to every Christian to perform his or her task in the Church. The Founder of the Legion of Mary, the Servant of God Frank Duff, was granted a charism i.e. a gift from the Holy Spirit of extraordinary graces for the good of others. He put this gift to great use by founding and guiding the Legion of Mary. It is best described in the words of Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin:

"Frank Duff died thirty years ago. This quiet, personally unassuming man, in quiet simple external circumstances in Dublin, on 7th September 1921, established a movement of prayer, Christian care and Marian spirituality. The Legion of Mary is a movement which has spread worldwide and has enriched the Church in many parts of the world, especially at moments in which the Church was experiencing difficulty and persecution. We have come to thank God for the charism of Frank Duff; a charism recognised in a special way by the Second Vatican Council, which he attended. We thank God for the spiritual enrichment that that charism has brought the members of the Legion of Mary. We thank God for the Christian care and spiritual formation that millions have encountered through their contact with the Legion of Mary. We remember especially the tenacity of this outwardly retiring man: tenacity in reaching out unashamedly to bring the message of Jesus to people in the varied circumstances of their lives, a tenacity driven not by human ambition but through a devotion to Mary who in every aspect of her life opened her heart to understand and to do the will of God." (Introduction to 30th Anniversary Mass in Commemoration of The Servant of God Frank Duff in the Pro Cathedral Dublin on 20 November 2010).

In 2011, the Concilium urges all legionaries to focus on this theme by:
1. Promoting with greater vigour the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff.
2. Asking every legionary to always have on their person, Frank Duff Beatification Prayer leaflets to give to people they meet in the course of their daily lives. In praying for him, he, in turn, can intercede for them. This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website http://www.legionofmary.ie
3. Recommending to Legion Councils to organise an Anniversary Mass in commemoration of Frank Duff to be celebrated, if possible, by the Bishop in their Diocese, to which all local Catholics would be invited.
4. Praying to our Founder for new active and auxiliary members to join the Legion and unite with Our Lady in the Church's evangelising work.
5. Marking the 90th Anniversary of the Legion of Mary through an appropriate event or undertaking e.g. could every praesidium start a new praesidium?
6. Putting this theme on the Agenda of Council and praesidium meetings and seeking regular feedback on how it and the above are progressing.
7. Studying the Legion Handbook, daily if possible, to absorb the Charism of Frank Duff and the Legion of Mary.

NOTE: Councils are asked to please circulate this text to all praesidia.


70th Anniversary Celebrations of the Legion of Mary in France

On behalf of the Concilium, Michael McManus, Anne and Aodan O'Briein and Enda Dunleavy attended the 70th Anniversary celebrations to mark the founding of the Legion of Mary in France at Nevers in 1940.

St. Bernadette entered the convent of St. Gilldard, the Mother House of the Sister of Nevers in 1864 at the age of 20. The building had been constructed only a few years previously, and it was to remain her home for the rest of her short life, 15 years, until her death in 1879 aged 35.

Written high up in large letters on the convent exterior is their motto "Deus Caritas Est" - God is love. You will remember Pope Benedict's first encyclical has this title. What you may not know is that he was elected pope on the 16th April and that is also the feast of St. Bernadette. The building is now called "Espace Bernadette" no longer a convent as such. It is a conference centre with excellent facilities, and was an ideal setting for the 200+ delegates at the weekend celebrations.

Could any more appropriate place be found in France to start the Legion of Mary. The statue of the Immaculate Conception graces our altar: At the heart of our mission statement "The Vexilium" is the medal of the Immaculate Conception, and all legionaries are urged to be living miraculous medals. And in Nevers we have the incorrupt body of the one who saw "The Immaculate Conception". She is asleep waiting to open those eyes again to everlasting life.

While France is blessed to have the Rue de Bac, Lourdes and Nevers, all gifts of Our Lady, we as legionaries are privileged to share fully by association, in the graces flowing from this trinity of sources. It was a great blessing for us to be present at this moment in Nevers to celebrate their 70th birthday with our legionary brothers and sisters. We thank the Concilium for asking us to be their representatives on such a joyful occasion.

VISIT TO CONCILIUM BY THE OFFICERS OF DERRY COMITIUM
AND ATTACHED COUNCILS

On the 13th November 2010 the officers of Derry Comitium, Ireland and attached Curiae came to Concilium for discussions with the Concilium Officers:
Derry Comitium: Gerard Gallagher President, Martin Doherty Vice-President, Ann Marie Hassan Secretary, Kathleen Boyle Treasurer; Mater Dei Curia: Margaret Harte President and Kathleen Kelly Vice-President; Inishown Curia: Rose Duffy Treasurer and Rosemarie Moore a member; Queen of Peace Curia: Terry Harkin Treasurer.

The Government of the Legion, the holding of regular monthly officers' meetings, the visitation of attached praesidia, the holding of a Congress and True Devotion to Mary were some of the items talked about at the meeting.

Tommy McCabe, President of the Concilium, thanked the officers for coming to Dublin and encouraged them to keep up the good works they are engaged in for Our Blessed Lady.

Tribute to Sam Hughes, R.I.P.
Former President of Concilium

Sam Hughes was born in 1914 and joined the Legion of Mary probably in the late 1930's so that he had over 70 years legionary service. He threw himself into the legionary apostolate and in the course of his long life served in many officerships and initiated several legionary apostolic ventures. He was the first President of Porta Coeli Curia and organised the Legion's participation in the placing and blessing of the statue of Our Lady of Dublin Port at the Bull Wall. He took on the Presidency of the Morning Star Hostel for six years and introduced better living conditions for the indoor Brothers.

He organised the Legion's Golden Jubilee Celebrations and the first Legion Youth Pilgrimage to Holy Cross Abbey. One of his great exploits was the organisation of the Peregrinatio Pro Christo to Trinidad, which led to the Legion there reaching new heights and taking on the administration of the Legion in much of the Caribbean and in the Guianas. His brother, a Dominican priest, had died in Trinidad and it was a poignant experience for Sam to see where his brother had laboured to build up the Church.

Sam's work was greatly valued by the Servant of God Frank Duff, who included him among his cycling companions. Sam served as a Concilium officer for some years before being elected President of the Concilium in 1981. During his six years in that office he also served for some of the time as Editor of the Maria Legionis. In his concern for the faith of young people he initiated the Maria et Patria movement. Later, he was elected President of Immaculata Curia. As well as being an active promoter of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart, he set up a Eucharistic League in his own parish of Crumlin. Sam was a dedicated Concilium correspondent for a great many years, dealing with Legion councils both in Ireland and in other countries, one of these being Korea, where the Legion made great progress. Shortly after Sam joined the Legion he recruited the late John Gavin, who was later to serve as President of the Concilium and in other Concilium officerships.

Sam worked in Urney's Chocolate Manufacturers and was devoted to his sister, Kathleen, with whom he lived in the family home in Crumlin. Kathleen predeceased him and in recent years Sam moved to a nursing home in Bray. Unfortunately, his hearing deteriorated greatly in his later years. He died on 9 November, 2010. Sam's contribution to the Legion of Mary was quite extraordinary. His great devotion to Jesus and Mary and to the Church was shown by his faithful practice of the Christian life and his total dedication to the legionary apostolate. May his generous and loyal soul rest in peace.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND

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Frank Duff Anniversary Mass
Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, was Chief Celebrant and Homilist at the Mass in St. Mary's Pro Cathedral, Dublin, on Saturday, 20th November, 2010, to mark the 30th anniversary of the death on 7th November, 1980, of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, Founder of the Legion of Mary. Forty five priests concelebrated the Mass, which had an attendance of approx 800. Among the attendance was the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Gerry Breen.
Archbishop Martin said: "Frank Duff died thirty years ago. This quiet, personally unassuming man, in quiet simple external circumstances in Dublin on 7th September 1921 established a movement of prayer, Christian care and Marian spirituality. The Legion of Mary is a movement which has spread worldwide and has enriched the Church in many parts of the world, especially at moments in which the Church was experiencing difficulty and persecution."
It was a wonderful occasion for legionaries in Dublin to gather together with their Archbishop and so many priests and other members of the faithful to remember their Founder in the principal Church of the Archdiocese of Dublin, in the city of Dublin, where Frank Duff was born and spent his life and where he died.

Peregrinatio Pro Christo
The annual Peregrinatio Pro Christo Conference, was held on Saturday, 30th October, 2010, at St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin. An attendance of nine priests and approx 300 legionaries from Ireland and abroad heard reports of projects carried out in 2010 in various countries. It was inspiring to hear of the response of people to the Good News of the Gospel, both of people who were not Catholics and of Catholics who had become somewhat distanced from the Church. Tommy McCabe, President of the Concilium gave a wide ranging talk on Legion spirit and practice, focusing on getting back to basics and the study of the handbook. The Mass of Our Lady Queen of Apostles was concelebrated at the Conference at which there was a very encouraging homily from the Spiritual Director of the Concilium, Rev. Fr. Bede McGregor, O.P.

Theme for the Year 2011
In 2011 we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Legion of Mary. To focus our attention and efforts during the coming year the Concilium is presenting a theme for the Year 2011:

"The Charism of Frank Duff and the Legion of Mary"

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Concilium Allocutio November 2010

By Fr. Liam O'Cuiv

Spiritual Director of Veneranda Curia

Deputising for Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.


The Kingship of Jesus is Our Hope


As today is the feast of Jesus Christ Universal King, I thought it would be appropriate to say a few words about the Kingdom of God.




The announcement of the Kingdom of God was the actual core of Jesus' words and works: the announcement that the Kingdom of God is at hand. This is an announcement that something new takes place. To quote Pope Benedict in his chapter on The Gospel of the Kingdom of God in his book, Jesus of Nazareth, "The new and totally specific thing about his message is that he is telling us: God is acting now - this is the hour when God is showing himself in history as its Lord, as the living God, in a way that goes beyond anything seen before."




Some people prefer to speak of the Reign of God, God's reigning in us. Even Pope Benedict says that "Kingdom of God" is not an adequate translation. He says it would be better to speak of God's being Lord, of his lordship, because Jesus when he speaks of the Kingdom of God is quite simply proclaiming God who is able to act concretely in the world and in history and is even now so acting.




The reason that now is the fullness of time (Mark 1:15) is that it is in Jesus Christ that God draws near to us. In Jesus God is now the one who acts and who rules as Lord, ruling in a divine way without worldly power.




In announcing the Kingdom Jesus adds, "repent and believe the good news". Could it not be said that where faith is lacking there is no expectancy of God's acting, there is no openness to God. If we find ourselves without hope, saying, "what's the use?" we need to repent we are in need of a radical conversion.




When he proposed the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, Pope John Paul II singled out the significant moment of Christ's proclamation of the Kingdom of God with his call to conversion as the third of the Mysteries for our contemplation. In a world marked by sinful division between rich and poor, the message of Jesus is that all are called to enter the Kingdom of God, which makes blessed especially to the poor and lowly, those who have accepted it with humble hearts.




In Mary, the mother of Jesus, we have such a one of a lowly and humble heart whose faith is unadulterated by any doubt and who is more blessed because of her belief in God than because she conceives the flesh of Christ. (Cf. CCC 506). Jesus would say of his mother, "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it" (Lk 11:28). Even at the moment of being told that she would become the mother of Jesus, the Son of the Most High, her faith is unquestioning, and throughout her life she is the one who treasured all things in her heart.




As Legionaries, are we not similarly called to prepare our hearts for God's acting in a new and decisive way in our lives and in the hearts of those around us? The history of the Legion of Mary from its foundation has been one of God's working in a most remarkable way through the most simple of instruments. Is not the imitation of Mary's humility both the root and the instrument of Legionary action? How can we listen to Jesus' announcement and fail to respond to the call to active apostleship and an intensity of effort?




When Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King, in line with the theology of his time he stated that the Catholic Church is the Kingdom of Christ on earth. Today we speak of the Church as the seed and the beginning of the Kingdom, the fulfilment of which we await at the end of time. We await even greater things! As members of the Body of Christ, the Church, we must continue to announce unashamedly the Reign or Lordship of Christ until he comes in glory. The Handbook reminds us that there need never be discouragement; that the mark of the Cross is a sign of hope; and even that failure is only a postponed success.

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Concilium Bulletin November 2010

Asia
PHILIPPINES
Mindanao Senatus:
A new Comitium has been formed due to continued expansion. A university praesidium encouraged 2 students to desist from having an abortion, now both happily await the birth of their babies. An entire Protestant family were instructed by legionaries and received into the Church.

Bicolandia Senatus:
One Curia has 14 praesidia each of which has a Spiritual Director. Visitation to jails, hospitals and homes is undertaken, as well as teaching catechism, preparing those interested in Baptism, Confirmation and Marriage validations.

Senatus of Northern Philippines:
Urdaneta Comitium has the Legion in 7 parishes. Eighteen juniors transferred to seniors in Pasig Comitium and 17 in Makati. A former junior was ordained a priest. San Pedra Comitium has 8 Patrician groups and 2 new senior praesidia started. A born again family converted to the Catholic faith and attends Mass every Sunday. Manila jail has 2 praesidia and they had their first Acies. A Patrician meeting and Eucharistic Holy Hours are conducted. The three Causes are given particular attention.

Western Visayas Regia:
Quarterly reports were taken from 11 Comitia, 1 junior and 17 senior Curiae. Exploratio Dominicalis projects are regularly reported on. Praesidia, Curiae and Comitia reports show an outreach to everyone, lapsed returned to the Sacraments, conversion of Protestants feature regularly. Many who had gone over to the sects are being won back to the Church. Arrangements for Confession for 10 prisoners were made.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Rabul Regia:
Reports received indicate that works of conversion figure prominently.
Mount Hagan Regia:
5,735 legionaries do heroic work in difficult situations.
Madang Regia:
Rev. Fr. Golly SVD Spiritual Director for many years passed away in May R.I.P. He translated and printed two editions of the Handbook into Pidgin, also the Tessera and Causes leaflets. He will be greatly missed. Reports featured combating witchcraft, conversion from sects, also an apostolate to drug and alcohol addiction sufferers. Juniors are doing excellent work with senior members.

NEW ZEALAND
Auckland Senatus:
A Patrician meeting has an average attendance of 16. Nine active and 15 auxiliary members were recruited after an extension project. Twenty-four legionaries took part in an Exploratio Dominicalis project. Aftercare of auxiliaries is well catered for. South Auckland Curia with 9 praesidia set up a new junior Curia with 6 praesidia.

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Senatus:
Cardinal George Pell concelebrated Mass with 7 Priests on 7th November for the Servant of God Frank Duff. The Cathedral was packed. A Peregrinatio Pro Christo project with 19 legionaries visited over 3,000 homes and met 63 interested non-Catholics. A school principal brought 300 students to the Church where the Miraculous Medal was explained and all received a gift of the medal. The Parish Priest was delighted. The Korean Curia continues to evangelise and has been successful in bringing many into the Church. A book-barrow is conducted in a shopping center every Saturday.

Melbourne Senatus:
Adelaide Comitium governs 2 Curiae and 14 praesidia. Perth Comitium has 5 Curiae and 18 praesidia. Flemington Comitium has 16 Vietnamese praesidia, as well as 3 Curiae. They organize 3 sessions of study of the True Devotion to Mary after which 161 legionaries made the consecration. Hobart Curia in Tasmania has 6 praesidia, which visits the sick, promotes Rosary processions and visits the Seamen's mission. The Senatus is visiting some of the Pacific Islands, which contain 14 councils.

South America
COLUMBIA
Bogotá Senatus:
1200 legionaries attended a Catholic Exhibition where there was a Legion stand and book barrow. The University praesidium is 26 years old and has formed 3 new praesidia recently; they do street contact. The Regia of Tunja has 28 extension workers.

Medellin Senatus:
Apart from the usual Legion works, legionaries teach reading and writing to groups of between 60 and 80 adults. Contacts are made in Parque de Bolivar. Evangelisation is done using local broadcasting media. A couple co-habiting decided to marry after advice from the Legion. As preparation for a Peregrinatio Pro Christo project, the Catechism of the Catholic Church was studied. As a result of evangelising in schools and colleges, there were 20 baptisms and 4 confirmations of youths, and the setting up of a senior praesidium.

ECUADOR
Senatus of Quito:
In July a young boy was brought back from the sects and is now an 'excellent catechist'. Soldiers are receiving catechesis. An apostolate is done to the native Indians in Riobamba. The 5 children of Evangelical parents were baptised. The Comitium in Portoviejo have 10 correspondents and some travel overnight to their meeting. English classes are given to catequists children. Old people are helped with personal hygiene. A report of a cure of cerebral haemorrhage through Venerable Edel Quinn was received; the correspondent has asked for more details.

URUGUAY
Senatus of Montevideo:
An elderly lady abandoned by her family, was cared for until death. Access to apartments with electronic gates is a problem. On 13 May a praesidium held a procession through the streets with torches and bagpipes.

VENEZUELA
Senatus of Caracas:
His Eminence, Cardinal Savino, a legionary in his youth, celebrated a Mass for the foundation of the Legion's 89th anniversary. Many successful initiatives included Peregrinatio Pro Christo, Youth work, Columban Drive and Exploratio Dominicalis projects. Four native Indians were rehabilitated from drug taking, a talk on witchcraft was held in San Juan and a woman was brought back from the Jehovah Witnesses. Juniors hold Patrician meetings. A praesidium was suspended for not obeying the Standing Instructions. In Los Teques Comitium, a priest was brought to a school and heard confessions for 4 hours.

CHILE
Senatus of Santiago:
Street contact work is carried out by many praesidia. The Week of the Family was organised by the Archdioceses and all legionaries spoke of the importance of this event while doing their apostolate. Legionaries often take a small area for frequent visits to the families. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was started for legionaries but is now being extended to everyone as a means of personal sanctification.

BOLIVIA
Senatus of La Paz:
Some legionaries are illiterate but do fine Legion work as well as teach catechism. Housebound legionaries teach catechism in their own homes. Many conversions are reported which include a young North American drug addict and dealer. He was taught the Rosary and returned to his country totally rehabilitated. Some active legionaries work in the street markets and when their work is done for the day they contact the others who work in the market and say the Rosary.

PERU
Senatus of Lima:
Five Comitia, 3 Curiae and 3 praesidia reported. All reporting councils indicate extension; 8 praesidia were set up and there are a number in formation. Juniors figure prominently; one Curia has a very active junior Curia attached and others report junior praesidia. Jail visitation and work with drug addicts is carried out.

CUBA
Havana Comitium:
The Comitium reported that a praesidium in Matanza some 3 hours from Havana is active, they do home visitation, visit the jail and visit the families of prisoners.

Africa
GHANA
Senatus of Ghana:
The Archbishop of Accra, His Grace Charles Palmer-Buckle attended a recent Senatus meeting. He promised to assign some priests in the Archdiocese to assist the Legion as Spiritual Directors. Archbishop Emeritus Andoh also visited a Senatus meeting. He joined the Legion in the seminary and takes a great interest in the Legion and promotes the Cause of Frank Duff. He maintained that the Legion should be in every parish and encouraged the legionaries to extend. The praesidia and the work in the prisons continue to grow, with some of the warders recently joining the Praesidia and children born to prisoners being baptised. A copy of the "Meet the Legion" DVD was shown on the Catholic Digest Programme. The Senatus is currently working on a website. The attached Kumasi Regia organised a youth week /project in the Ashanti Region with 125 young legionaries participating in the organising of religious and social programmes. Seventy-three new members were recruited and three new praesidia started in 3 outstations. New praesidia were formed in the Major Seminary and Osei Senior High School and 9 other areas as a result of Curiae being tasked to establish new praesidia.

ANGOLA
Luanda Regia: The Regia organised a talk on Frank Duff on 7th June and had a very successful meeting with youth on 25th May.

ZIMBABWE
Hwange Comitium: 450 legionaries were present at a Congress from 20-22 August. Many legionaries came from Kadoma. Harare Curia: Fr. Eugene is the newly appointed Spiritual Director and is keen to build up the legion.

CAPE VERDE
Council reports were being presented annually and attention was drawn to the need to present reports every few months.

GUINE BISSAU
Guine Bissau Regia:
Reported that there were 103 Exploratio Dominicalis projects during the year. The Regia keeps regular contacts through correspondents with the Legion councils as they are scattered over five islands.

SOUTH AFRICA
Johannesburg Senatus:
The Senatus has 19 attached praesidia and 4 attached councils. Works undertaken include home and hospital visitation, teaching catechism and literacy classed to adults. The legionaries are in touch with young people who have drink and drug problems.

Cape Town Senatus:
The Senatus organised a Conference for legionaries on 'Back to Basics' and it went very well. The discussion was very good and legionaries learned a lot about the Legion. It has been suggested by the correspondent that as a result each attached Curia should organise a Congress.
Marionhill Comitium: In the May 2010 minutes Legionaries reported on "the wonders Our Lady did for them when they walked through a war-torn region to where they were going to introduce the Legion at that mission. Ever since, the unrest stopped and people went back to their homes and started re-building their homes as many were burnt down."
Durban Comitium: A praesidium of ten visits an AIDS hospital.
Matatiele Comitium runs a patrician meeting.

EGYPT
Egypt Senatus:
The Senatus has a new website and they are constantly visiting their councils. Elections have taken place in many of the attached councils. The Sudanese praesidium divided into three new praesidia.

PEREGRINATIO PRO CHRISTO

On Saturday 30th October the Peregrinatio Pro Christo Conference was held in All Hallows College, Dublin. There was an attendance of 300 plus and we had the added joy of having 9 Priests present, it was certainly a day of rejoicing and celebrating. Hearing the reports from a few of the many projects undertaken during 2010 they gave a feeling of been in the presence of the Good Shepherd who was waiting with open arms to receive back many of His lost sheep; others who were hearing the Good News for the first time and were taking steps to gain more knowledge, and of course spreading the news of the love and concern of their Heavenly Mother for all mankind.

Finally, Tommy McCabe's closing address was an aide-memoire for all of us to get back to basics and gain a greater knowledge of the Handbook. The contents of which are so valuable and relevant for today's moral and social issues and focusing on keeping the "Fire of Faith" alive.

A campaign of prayer for the success of projects in 2011 - not to be forgotten! Deep gratitude was expressed for all those who promote Peregrinatio Pro Christo.

Commemoration of The Servant of God Frank Duff
Founder of the Legion of Mary

On Saturday 20th November 2010, the Legion of Mary celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the death of the Servant of God Frank Duff at the Pro Cathedral, Dublin, to a packed congregation of approximately 800.

Most Reverend Dr. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, concelebrated the Mass with 45 priests. It was a wonderful tribute to our founder. In his homily Archbishop Martin encouraged all legionaries to keep on spreading of the Gospel message. He himself is encouraged by the commitment of legionaries.

The Legion greatly appreciates the support of Archbishop Martin. Thanks were expressed to Fr. Damian O'Reilly, Administrator and staff of the Pro Cathedral and to the many people who made this event a wonderful, prayerful and reverential occasion. Thanks were also expressed to Fr. Bede McGregor, the Spiritual Director of Concilium, to all the Priests for their presence and to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councilor Gerry Breen for his attendance.

The following is the homily given at the Mass by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin:
Introduction
Frank Duff died thirty years ago. This quiet, personally unassuming man, in quiet simple external circumstances in Dublin, on 7th September 1921 established a movement of prayer, Christian care and Marian spirituality. The Legion of Mary is a movement which has spread worldwide and has enriched the Church in many parts of the world, especially at moments in which the Church was experiencing difficulty and persecution.

We have come to thank God for the charism of Frank Duff: a charism recognised in a special way by the Second Vatican Council, which he attended. We thank God for the spiritual enrichment that that charism has brought the Members of the Legion of Mary. We thank God for the Christian care and spiritual formation that millions have encountered through their contact with the Legion of Mary.

We remember especially the tenacity of this outwardly retiring man: tenacity in reaching out unashamedly to bring the message of Jesus to people in the varied circumstances of their lives, a tenacity driven not by human ambition but through a devotion to Mary who in every aspect of her life opened her heart to understand and to do the will of God.

COMMEMORATION OF FRANK DUFF

The Church in Ireland is on a path of renewal. Renewal is an essential dimension of the Church's life at any moment in history. The need for renewal of the Church in Ireland is however particularly urgent at this moment.

The scandals that have been revealed about aspects of the Church's life have opened our eyes not just to the particular horrors of the abuse of children and of an inadequate response to them. They have opened our eyes to a much deeper crisis within the Church in Ireland.

Society in Ireland has changed. Religious culture in Ireland has changed. Religious practice has dropped at times in staggering proportions. There is disillusionment among many believers. Many have opted for or drifted into a more secularised vision of their life. Many have become indifferent and live as if God did not exist.

The significant role of the Church in serving Irish society, a role assumed in good faith and in a spirit of service, which was undertaken with great dedication, is now being re-examined. What emerged are not just examples of evident failure and inadequacy alongside vision and commitment, but of a certain sense arrogance and power seeking, which has alienated many from the very message that such a presence in society was supposed to represent.

We face real crisis of vocations to the priesthood. Last Saturday here in Dublin's Pro-Cathedral I remembered at Mass 20 priests who had ministered in the Archdiocese and who had died in the previous twelve months. A further dozen or so priests retired from active ministry in the same period. And yet in the past year I ordained just one new priest for the diocese. But the crisis of the Church is still a deeper one. It is not about the role of the Church in society. It is not about numbers. It is about the very nature of faith in Jesus Christ. It is about our understanding of the message of Jesus Christ. It is about faith in the God revealed in Jesus Christ and about the fundamental question: who is Jesus Christ?

We do not create our own identity for Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to bring a message of love. But it was not a message just of being nice to each other. We have to ask: what is it that makes a Christian different in his or her interaction with others? What is it that should mark the Church of Jesus Christ as a people driven by the message of salvation revealed through the death and resurrection of Jesus?

The Church will never be reformed from outside. Historically it must be recognised that the recent shattering revelations about abuse would probably never have come to full light without outside intervention. Renewal and reform of the Church, however, will only come from within the Church, that is from within a community of men and women who listen to the word of God, who come together to pray, who celebrate the Eucharist and are called to share in the very life of Christ himself. The Church is communion. That is not the same as saying the Church is a community, or an association or an institution. The Church is formed by the Word of God and is lived by men and women who allow that word of God to transform them.

The Church is communion. The theme of the forthcoming International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin in 2012 is: Communion with Christ and with one another. It is however the communion of Christ, which determines the shape of communion we form with each other. It is not a network of social interaction which determines what our communion with Jesus Christ is or ultimately who Jesus Christ is. The Church is formed through our communion with Christ.

The Gospel we have heard is a complex one. It is an interesting insight into the friendship of Jesus with this family and their practical service to help him in his mission. Jesus on his mission was not just surrounded by the twelve Apostles. There were many who accompanied him on his missionary journeys; there were men and women who served him in different ways yet who together imbibed his teaching and his witness.

Lazarus and his sisters were close to Jesus in friendship. Friendship with Jesus for us means friendship in his service through understanding his word. Each of us can join with him in his mission and living out his mission in the great and small tasks of life. Frank Duff could never have been described in terms of what today would be called "a celebrity". He shunned publicity. He shunned superficiality. Yet his work has spread to so many parts of the world and has affected so many lives through the fruits of constant bonds of friendship with the Lord.

Renewal of the Church is not about media strategies or structural reform. In the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus clearly indicates in the figure of Mary that what is vital - and what can never be substituted by any other merits - is the willingness to know Jesus and to enter into true friendship with him. That means allowing his word to capture our hearts; it means having the same mind that was within Christ Jesus himself. It is about knowing the Father through encountering Jesus.

Renewal in the Church in Ireland will be a painful renewal. Jesus message was not that anything goes. There is something radical about the commitment, which Jesus requires of us. "Let the dead bury their dead", is not a message of compromise.

There are many indications that the Church in Ireland would seem to have lost its way. Let me be very clear: sadly many people, of various ages, no longer really know Jesus Christ. That is not to say that they are not good people, caring people. It is not to say that the Church is only for a holy elite: the Church is a Church of sinners; each of us has to repent day after day; each of us compromises and each of us lets Jesus down and betrays Jesus.

The Church is the Church of Jesus Christ. It is not a vague moralising agency in society. It is not there to provide some sort of spiritual comfort zone for all comers. The Eucharist and the sacraments are celebrations of faith in Jesus Christ within a Christian community. Allowing the sacramental life of the Church become some sort of vague social celebrations is allowing the true identity of the Church to become distorted.

I am not saying the active members of the Church community have been authentic followers of Jesus Christ. The Church has indeed been betrayed by its own active members. In the face of such failure the Church has at times given the impression of wishing to be all-embracing and all-forgiving in a simplistic manner.

Where do we go on the path of renewal? Can we be happy to celebrate first communion services which put people into debt for thousands of Euro for empty external expenses, while neither the children nor their parents have been led to a true understanding of the Eucharist and the Eucharistic community which is the Church? Can we be satisfied when confirmation is looked on by many as a graduation out of Church life? In not addressing such issues we are not just deceiving ourselves but we are damaging the integrity of the message of Jesus.

The Church is not a holy elite. It is made up today as always by the humble of heart. Many people with little education have a deeper insight into the message of Jesus Christ than learned theologians or bishops. But in today's society where the message of Jesus is less and less accessible, the Church must become a place where formation in the Word of God resounds in a way that it has not done so in the Irish Church for generations.

I would like to thank the Legion of Mary in the Archdiocese of Dublin for their generous participation in our diocesan project this year of making the word of God in the Gospel of Saint Luke available to families. I would like to thank the Legion of Mary nationwide for their renewed reflection on the Word of God and its application to daily life. I would like to thank you for your commitment to prayer and to the Eucharist where Jesus is present in our hearts.

I am very happy to see such a large representation of priests present at our ceremony today. I would like to thank the priests who act as spiritual directors to the Legion of Mary and who provide formation for the spiritual life of the members, helping them day by day to rediscover and to recommit themselves top the charism of the movement. The Legion of Mary is fundamentally a lay movement but the place of the priestly ministry is aloe essential to it. I particularly wish to thank those priests who have so many demands on their time and yet who are so dedicate to the work with the Legion of Mary.

Frank Duff founded the Legion of Mary in 1921 at a critical moment in Irish history. It was a time of political uncertainty, which eventually would explode into civil war. It was a time in which this city was marked by very harsh poverty and also of widespread moral impoverishment. Frank Duff was a man who in the face of a major social challenge did something. He did not write a Letter to the Editor. He gathered likeminded men and women around him into a movement of spiritual renewal, prayer and Christian service. He was not discouraged either by the size of the challenge or by the paucity of his means. He was a man of the Church - misunderstood by many in the Church, including Archbishops of Dublin. Like Mary, his model, he never flinched. Frank Duff pondered the Word of God day by day and through him then the Lord worked great things.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.

In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.

We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …

We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND

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30th Anniversary Mass in Commemoration of
THE SERVANT OF GOD FRANK DUFF
Founder of The Legion of Mary

Homily Notes of
Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland

Pro-Cathedral, Dublin, 20th November 2010

Introduction

Frank Duff died thirty years ago. This quiet, personally unassuming man, in quiet simple external circumstances in Dublin, on 7th September 1921 established a movement of prayer, Christian care and Marian spirituality. The Legion of Mary is a movement which has spread worldwide and has enriched the Church in many parts of the world, especially at moments in which the Church was experiencing difficulty and persecution.

We have come to thank God for the charism of Frank Duff: a charism recognised in a special way by the Second Vatican Council, which he attended. We thank God for the spiritual enrichment that that charism has brought the Members of the Legion of Mary. We thank God for the Christian care and spiritual formation that millions have encountered through their contact with the Legion of Mary.

We remember especially the tenacity of this outwardly retiring man: tenacity in reaching out unashamedly to bring the message of Jesus to people in the varied circumstances of their lives, a tenacity driven not by human ambition but through a devotion to Mary who in every aspect of her life opened her heart to understand and to do the will of God.

COMMEMORATION OF FRANK DUFF
Homily

The Church in Ireland is on a path of renewal. Renewal is an essential dimension of the Church’s life at any moment in history. The need for renewal of the Church in Ireland is however particularly urgent at this moment.

The scandals that have been revealed about aspects of the Church’s life have opened our eyes not just to the particular horrors of the abuse of children and of an inadequate response to them. They have opened our eyes to a much deeper crisis within the Church in Ireland.

Society in Ireland has changed. Religious culture in Ireland has changed. Religious practice has dropped at times in staggering proportions. There is disillusionment among many believers. Many have opted for or drifted into a more secularised vision of their life. Many have become indifferent and live as if God did not exist.

The significant role of the Church in serving Irish society, a role assumed in good faith and in a spirit of service, which was undertaken with great dedication, is now being re-examined. What emerged are not just examples of evident failure and inadequacy alongside vision and commitment, but of a certain sense arrogance and power seeking, which has alienated many from the very message that such a presence in society was supposed to represent.

We face real crisis of vocations to the priesthood. Last Saturday here in Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral I remembered at Mass 20 priests who had ministered in the Archdiocese and who had died in the previous twelve months. A further dozen or so priests retired from active ministry in the same period. And yet in the past year I ordained just one new priest for the diocese. But the crisis of the Church is still a deeper one. It is not about the role of the Church in society. It is not about numbers. It is about the very nature of faith in Jesus Christ. It is about our understanding of the message of Jesus Christ. It is about faith in the God revealed in Jesus Christ and about the fundamental question: who is Jesus Christ?

We do not create our own identity for Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to bring a message of love. But it was not a message just of being nice to each other. We have to ask: what is it that makes a Christian different in his or her interaction with others? What is it that should mark the Church of Jesus Christ as a people driven by the message of salvation revealed through the death and resurrection of Jesus?

The Church will never be reformed from outside. Historically it must be recognised that the recent shattering revelations about abuse would probably never have come to full light without outside intervention. Renewal and reform of the Church, however, will only come from within the Church, that is from within a community of men and women who listen to the word of God, who come together to pray, who celebrate the Eucharist and are called to share in the very life of Christ himself. The Church is communion. That is not the same as saying the Church is a community, or an association or an institution. The Church is formed by the Word of God and is lived by men and women who allow that word of God to transform them.

The Church is communion. The theme of the forthcoming International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin in 2012 is: Communion with Christ and with one another. It is however the communion of Christ, which determines the shape of communion we form with each other. It is not a network of social interaction which determines what our communion with Jesus Christ is or ultimately who Jesus Christ is. The Church is formed through our communion with Christ.

The Gospel we have heard is a complex one (Lk:10:38-42). It is an interesting insight into the friendship of Jesus with this family and their practical service to help him in his mission. Jesus on his mission was not just surrounded by the twelve Apostles. There were many who accompanied him on his missionary journeys; there were men and women who served him in different ways yet who together imbibed his teaching and his witness.

Lazarus and his Sisters were close to Jesus in friendship. Friendship with Jesus for us means friendship in his service through understanding his word. Each of us can join with him in his mission and living out his mission in the great and small tasks of life. Frank Duff could never have been described in terms of what today would be called “a celebrity”. He shunned publicity. He shunned superficiality. Yet his work has spread to so many parts of the world and has affected so many lives through the fruits of constant bonds of friendship with the Lord.

Renewal of the Church is not about media strategies or structural reform. In the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus clearly indicates in the figure of Mary that what is vital – and what can never be substituted by any other merits – is the willingness to know Jesus and to enter into true friendship with him. That means allowing his word to capture our hearts; it means having the same mind that was within Christ Jesus himself. It is about knowing the Father through encountering Jesus.

Renewal in the Church in Ireland will be a painful renewal. Jesus message was not that anything goes. There is something radical about the commitment, which Jesus requires of us. “Let the dead bury their dead”, is not a message of compromise.

There are many indications that the Church in Ireland would seem to have lost its way. Let me be very clear: sadly many people, of various ages, no longer really know Jesus Christ. That is not to say that they are not good people, caring people. It is not to say that the Church is only for a holy elite: the Church is a Church of sinners; each of us has to repent day after day; each of us compromises and each of us lets Jesus down and betrays Jesus.

The Church is the Church of Jesus Christ. It is not a vague moralising agency in society. It is not there to provide some sort of spiritual comfort zone for all comers. The Eucharist and the sacraments are celebrations of faith in Jesus Christ within a Christian community. Allowing the sacramental life of the Church become some sort of vague social celebrations is allowing the true identity of the Church to become distorted.

I am not saying the active members of the Church community have been authentic followers of Jesus Christ. The Church has indeed been betrayed by its own active members. In the face of such failure the Church has at times given the impression of wishing to be all-embracing and all-forgiving in a simplistic manner.

Where do we go on the path of renewal? Can we be happy to celebrate first communion services which put people into debt for thousands of Euro for empty external expenses, while neither the children nor their parents have been led to a true understanding of the Eucharist and the Eucharistic community which is the Church? Can we be satisfied when confirmation is looked on by many as a graduation out of Church life? In not addressing such issues we are not just deceiving ourselves but we are damaging the integrity of the message of Jesus.

The Church is not a holy elite. It is made up today as always by the humble of heart. Many people with little education have a deeper insight into the message of Jesus Christ than learned theologians or bishops. But in today’s society where the message of Jesus is less and less accessible, the Church must become a place where formation in the Word of God resounds in a way that it has not done so in the Irish Church for generations.

I would like to thank the Legion of Mary in the Archdiocese of Dublin for their generous participation in our diocesan project this year of making the word of God in the Gospel of Saint Luke available to families. I would like to thank the Legion of Mary nationwide for their renewed reflection on the Word of God and its application to daily life. I would like to thank you for your commitment to prayer and to the Eucharist where Jesus is present in our hearts.

I am very happy to see such a large representation of priests present at our ceremony today. I would like to thank the priests who act as spiritual directors to the Legion of Mary and who provide formation for the spiritual life of the members, helping them day by day to rediscover and to recommit themselves top the charism of the movement. The Legion of Mary is fundamentally a lay movement but the place of the priestly ministry is aloe essential to it. I particularly wish to thank those priests who have so many demands on their time and yet who are so dedicate to the work with the Legion of Mary.

Frank Duff founded the Legion of Mary in 1921 at a critical moment in Irish history. It was a time of political uncertainty, which eventually would explode into civil war. It was a time in which this city was marked by very harsh poverty and also of widespread moral impoverishment. Frank Duff was a man who in the face of a major social challenge did something. He did not write a Letter to the Editor. He gathered likeminded men and women around him into a movement of spiritual renewal, prayer and Christian service. He was not discouraged either by the size of the challenge or by the paucity of his means. He was a man of the Church – misunderstood by many in the Church, including Archbishops of Dublin. Like Mary, his model, he never flinched. Frank Duff pondered the Word of God day by day and through him then the Lord worked great things.



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Election of Concilium Assistant Secretary

Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Secretary of the Concilium, as Miriam Phelan had completed her first term. Miriam Phelan was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, she was duly elected Assistant Secretary of the Concilium for a second term.

Election of Concilium Assistant Treasurer

Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Treasurer of the Concilium, as Raymond Mulrooney had completed his second term. Liam Hayden was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, he was duly elected Assistant Treasurer of the Concilium.

Cause of the Servant of God, Alfie Lambe - Visit to Argentina

Rev. Fr. Oliver Skelly, P.P. Coole, Diocese of Meath, Vice Postulator of the Cause; Noel Lynch, former Legion Envoy to Argentina; and Seamus Rickard, Navan Comitium, reported on their visit to Argentina 13-29 July 2010. They had a meeting shortly after their arrival with Irene Sauer, Vice Postulator for the Cause in Argentina, at which the history of the Cause both in Argentina and Ireland was related. The following day they met with Monsignor Sturba, Judge for the Buenos Aires Tribunal. The Theological Commission in Buenos Aires has completed its work on the Cause. The Historical Commission continues its work in Rome. More evidence from other countries in South America needs to be gathered. The Cause needs to be more widely promulgated; the Prayer needs to be recited not only by legionaries, but also by Catholics in general, including diocesan and religious clergy, members of the contemplative orders and by laity throughout the world. Later that day the visitors visited Alfie's tomb in La Recolletta Cemetery. The visitors had planned to attend a weekend conference in Salta on the subject of Alfie's Cause, however, due to snow all flights were cancelled and they had to take part in the conference by telephone. Three hundred legionaries had gathered in Salta for the conference. Fr. Skelly met also in Buenos Aires with Sister Isabel Fernandez, Notary to the Buenos Aires Tribunal, who also suggested that the Cause be promulgated more widely. The visitors attended the Belgrano Comitium meeting. The enthusiasm was infectious. At a meeting of sixteen Spiritual Directors at Legion headquarters in Adrogue, one of the priests spoke at length about his experiences with Alfie in the Legion and of Alfie's deep spirituality, his humility, his kindness and his consideration for others. The visitors also paid a visit to the Papal Nuncio to Argentina, His Excellency, Archbishop Adriano Bernardini. They also met with some of the young legionaries and their Spiritual Director, who organise a procession to Alfie's tomb each year. Bernardo de Nardo, former Legion Envoy to Asia, accompanied the visitors for a week of their visit. The visitors also met Lina Vaccaro, a former Legion Envoy to Brazil and the parents of some former Extension Workers. The visitors were very grateful for the warm welcome and hospitality they received in Argentina.

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Concilium Allocutio October 2010

By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.

Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

The Gift of the Rosary

As all legionaries probably know, some years before the foundation of the Legion of Mary, Frank Duff wrote a pamphlet entitled 'Can we be Saints?' He argued with great conviction that God calls everyone without exception to be saints and He provides all the necessary means to that end. Apart from one letter where he gives permission to translate the pamphlet into Polish he never refers to this little work again. The reason for this is probably because the central theme of the pamphlet has become the central theme of the handbook and the aim of every legionary. The Legion is a call and a practical way of becoming a saint. The primary objective of the legion is the holiness of its members. But there is one profound difference between the pamphlet and the Handbook. When he wrote 'Can we be Saints?' he had not yet undergone the deep religious experience mediated by St. Louis Marie de Montfort and his 'True Devotion to Mary' nor had he read the book 'The Knowledge of Mary' by De Concilio which enabled him to grasp the work of De Montfort.

The overwhelming experience of the True Devotion to Mary radically changed his life. He was given a profound insight into the place of Mary in God's plan for the salvation of the world. She was essential to this plan because that was the way God willed it. No matter which mystery of Our Lord that we reflect on we find that Mary has an indispensable role to play in it. So, if we begin with God taking His place in the womb of Mary we are faced with a staggering truth: Jesus living in Mary, making Himself totally dependent on her for his human reality. It is not just a biological maternity but a bond of the most unimaginable intimacy between the Mother and her divine Child. Being baptised into the life of Christ we are invited to share in his relationship to His Mother and her relationship with Him. Then on Calvary at the end of his life the Gospel of John makes some tremendous statements. We read: "By the Cross of Jesus stood his Mother". Mary is inextricably involved in the passion and death of Jesus, her Son. Then we hear the cry of Our Lord in the most dramatic moment of his life: "Behold your Mother". During the course of his life Our Lord taught us to say Our Father and on the Cross He teaches us to say Our Mother. Frank Duff spent a long life trying to unpack the full meaning of Mary's motherhood of Jesus and his mystical Body, the Church. He knew with absolute certainty that one could never be a saint without the help of Mary or without an all pervading relationship with her.

It is only in the context of all the mysteries of the life of Christ that we can fathom the riches of the Rosary as Mary's great gift to the Church. Pope Paul the sixth said the Rosary was a compendium of the whole Gospel. Others have said the Rosary is the Gospel on its knees. It certainly immerses us in the whole history of salvation. It opens us to the special grace of each of the mysteries of the life of Christ. It plunges us into the mystery of Jesus. Most mothers remember all the significant events and words of their children but Mary never forgot anything Jesus said or did. She kept pondering on everything in her heart. She was the loving keeper of the whole Gospel in her heart so that it could never be eradicated. In the Rosary Mary shares with us her memories of Jesus. John Paul II was fond of saying: 'In the Rosary we contemplate Jesus and his mysteries with the eyes and heart of Mary.' We can learn a great deal about true devotion to Mary from books, lectures and workshops but when we pray the Rosary we actually live the heart of this devotion which is to go to Jesus through Mary. The basic reason why Our Lady incessantly asks us to pray the Rosary is simply because it puts us mind and heart in contact with Jesus. This meeting between Jesus and ourselves in prayer is an infallible way of bringing joy to the maternal heart of Mary.

It is probably self evident that the Rosary is crucial to the Legion. The Handbook says: 'what breathing is to the human body, the Rosary is to the Legion meetings'. This is even truer of the individual Legionary. The Rosary is an essential part of the interior life of every Legionary because it puts Jesus at the centre of our lives.

Shortly before he died Frank Duff, our Founder, attended Mass celebrated with the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II and afterwards they had breakfast together and an extended meeting. The meeting gave immense joy to Frank because he met a twin soul so to speak. The Pope's motto 'Totus Tuus' emphasised how important De Montfort's True Devotion to Mary was to his spiritual life and could also sum up the life of Brother Duff and the Legion. Also, what the Pope wrote about the Rosary could have been written by our Founder when he wrote: 'The Rosary is my favourite prayer. A marvellous prayer! Marvellous in its simplicity and in its depth ... The Rosary itself is a contemplative prayer and is also a powerful form of intercession: indeed whoever recites it is united with Mary in the various situations of life and history.'


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Concilium Bulletin October 2010

ASIA
Singapore Senatus: Average attendance at the Senatus meeting is Curiae 53% and Praesidia 61%. In Sibu English Curia the head teacher of a Catholic school invited the Legion to address teachers and pupils, 3 junior praesidia were formed as a result. A Legion seminar was planned for September in the Senatus.

Hong Kong
Hong Kong Comitium: The average attendance at the meeting is officers 94% and members 87%. High attendances are a feature at all levels in this council, at praesidia level 70% would be looked on as low. Curia Fidelis in their report indicated that their attendances are going downwards at 87%. Most praesidia have auxiliary rolls with numbers of Adjutorians and a good number of Praetorians also feature. Good attention is given to juniors.

Indonesia
Malang Senatus: From June to September the attendance showed 80 to 100% for officers and 53 to 65% for the members. Works mentioned included instruction of Catechumens, visitation of mentally handicapped children and Catholic families. In May a visit was made to Indonesian Papua. Two praesidia have since been set up, one in Doyo Prison, Fr. John Kebu OFM is Spiritual Director, a prison warder lapsed from the practice of the faith was converted. The President and Spiritual Director of the Senatus visited Lembata Island, a journey of 2 days by air and sea for the setting up of Lewoleba Comitium, with 6 Curiae and 6 praesidia. The Senatus held a 3-day conference at which there was an attendance of 163, including 25 Spiritual Directors, with officers from the Senatus and its 3 Regiae.

Jakarta Senatus: A Curia in Pangal Pinang, an island off Sumatra, had 20 praesidia now has 7. The Regia officers made a 3-day visitation, the priest was met and efforts made to promote the Legion. Another Curia in Pangal Pinang Diocese has shown rapid growth from 16 praesidia in 2008 to 43 in 2010. Medan Regia oversees 2 Comitia, 2 Curiae, 15 senior and one junior praesidia in the Archdiocese of Medan and Palembang, there are 47 parishes with much needed extension. The Regia broadcasts the Rosary live on Radio Maria Indonesia. Curia Campus Jakarta has 14 praesidia with 133 active and 196 auxiliaries working in 5 Universities.

Korea
Seoul Senatus: The President and Secretary of Concilium along with other Legion delegates from across Asia attended a Congress on Evangelisation in Asia organised by the Pontifical Council for the Laity with the theme "Jesus Christ in Asia Today", which took place from 1 to 5 September 2010. Sr. Agnes Han, President of Seoul Senatus, gave a presentation on the Legion of Mary in Asia. Rev. Fr. Pio Min, Spiritual Director of the Senatus, was commended for his assistance in the organisation of the Congress. The President and Secretary of Concilium had meetings with the Officers of all three Senatus of Korea, Seoul, Gwangu and Daegu. The attendance of officers at Senatus meetings over a three-month period went from 61% to 100%. Two praesidia of taxi drivers, set up in April 2009 have a total of 16 active and 17 auxiliaries, Wonju Regia has 4,299 active members, including 71 juniors and 3,401 auxiliaries. Chuncheon Regia has 4,285 members including 125 juniors and 3,762 auxiliaries. The two Regiae recorded a total of 1,828 baptisms.

Gwangju Senatus: A Comitium, which is based in a rural area, has 6 senior praesidia and one junior Curia. Legionaries invited 439 people to the Church; a training coarse for junior praesidia officers took place in July. Separate training courses took place for officers of Curiae and Comitia.

Daegu Senatus: A training session for legionaries in Gumi city had an attendance of 320. There is a Curia in Daegu Catholic University and two praesidia in Gyongbuk National University. Waegwan Comitium, which is in a rural area, has a total of 8 junior praesidia with 10-12 members each, emphasis is placed on the importance of the junior praesidia and they have no difficulty getting senior officers. A Comitium in Podang was commended for taking care of a military Church in Marine Recruit Training Command; they take care of the trainees of the dogma class until they receive baptism. Another Comitium works for the conversion of prisoners. The Andong Regia has 7 Comitia with a total of 34 Curiae and 362 senior and 8 junior praesidia.

Kuala Lumpur Regia: Good works are carried out in the Curia, there is need for a reminder of working in pairs. There are three events, Formation Day in February, Legion Day in May promotes awareness of the Legion of Mary and its apostolate in parishes and the Marian Congress in May had the theme Mary, Model Disciple for Mission. Participants numbered 1,500.

Taiwan
Taiwan Senatus: Leaflets for the three Causes have been translated and printed in the languages under the Senatus; legionaries are urged to promote the prayers and distribute them. They are still continuing with their campaign of prayer this year celebrating 150 years of Christianity and 60 years since the start of the Legion in Taiwan. An article from Maria Legionis on Kazakhstan was translated into Mandarin and subsequently a legionary in Taiwan met some legionaries from Kazakhstan and was amazed and impressed at how much the Legion has developed there. A legionary representative attended the congress on Evangelisation in Asia and was delighted to meet so many legionaries.

EUROPE

Austria
Senatus of Austria: The new Korean Curia with 4 attached praesidia in Vienna gave its first report. A Moslem family converted to Catholicism in Comitium Burgerland. Curia Wien Northeast gave their first four-monthly report. An apostolate to street girls is carried out twice a year. Comitium Unter Dem Wienerwald has 5 senior Curiae attached and an airport apostolate is carried out. In Comitium Hollabrunn Bishop Tournovszky celebrated a commemorative Mass for Frank Duff. Comitium Zwettl held an afternoon meeting for Spiritual Directors to which 4 came. Comitium Ybbs visited their Bishop and updated him on their activities for the Church.
Slovakia: Comitium Zselis, which is Hungarian speaking is seeking to set up a Slovakian speaking Curia. A Muslim was visited in prison by one of its attached Curia.
Ukraine: A Summer School was held at which 50 attended. Sr. Elizabeth Kriss along with two legionaries from the Senatus were present.

Belarus
On 31st May Archbishop Kondrasevich and 7 priests concelebrated Holy Mass commemorating the Servant of God Frank Duff. Among works listed by praesidia reporting were preparation of persons for the sacraments, caring a former street girl now a single mother and contacting youth in streets, parks and railway stations. 96 legionaries and 3 priests participated in the Recollections in Baranovichi. The August Comitium meeting was held to coincide with the Annual Recollections and 9 senior Curiae were represented. Vitebsk Curia is weak and Bishop Vladislav has asked for help to strengthen the Legion. A legionary from Lida Curia has entered the seminary. As suggested by Concilium, extension efforts are being made in Grodno Diocese. Presentation of the Legion has been made in 3 parishes and names taken for follow up.

Croatia
Zagreb Regia: Extension is ongoing producing many new praesidia in the attached councils. Reports indicate conversions, regularisation of marriages and many returns to the sacrament, one after 60 years. Osijek Comitium has 9 praesidia, 2 senior and 2 junior Praesidia and 5 Nazareth groups. In Sisak Curia junior legionaries lead the Rosary in a secondary students hostel. The Bishop of Sisak especially supported the work for youth and promised to appoint Spiritual Directors. Zadar East Curia carry out an apostolate to school staff with the permission of the Principal.
Bosnia & Herzgovina: The officers of Sarajevo Curia were warmly welcomed to June meeting of the Regia. The Curia has 5 praesidia with 42 members. A presentation on the Legion was given at a study day for representative of lay Catholic organisations.
Slovenia: Ljubljana Curia has 6 praesidia, 772 auxiliaries and 28 Adjutorians. Works include street apostolate, visitation of retirement homes and aftercare of auxiliaries. A former Curia Officer has entered the religious life.

Hungary
Budapest Regia: There are 25 praesidia, 12 Curiae and 6 Comitia attached. Two of the Comitia are based in Romania, 2 Curiae in Slovakia and one Curia in Ukraine - all comprise of Hungarian speaking legionaries. Three new praesidia we set up since the last report and works include visitation of homes, hospitals, prisons, street apostolate, preparing people for the Sacraments. A homeless person visited asked for a Priest and received the Sacraments prior to his death after a lapse of 30 years.

Latvia Comitium has happily gained a new Spiritual Director, Fr. Ilmars Tolstovs. A praesidium of 6 in Riga promotes a weekly Holy Hour with an attendance of 30-40 people. A recruiting drive in Bolderaja resulted in the starting of a praesidium with 4 members. A weekend recruiting drive in Kuddiga helped a weak praesidium increase its membership from 3 to 9.

Lithuania
Kaunas Comitium: Plans are underway for a Congress on 28 November. A praesidium in Kaunas gained 4 new members from a recruiting drive. Another praesidium reported 11 people returning to the Church. Suggestions to try and recruit more young people were to visit places where they congregate such as pubs, café, bars and the vicinity of cinemas. Telsai Comitium has 11 praesidia and 2 Curiae affiliated. A praesidium of 13 members engaged in home and hospital visitation prepared 54 patients for reception of the Sacraments. Legionaries in Queen of the Family Curia visited 500 families; from this apostolate 2 adults were prepared for First Holy Communion and 3 marriages regularised.

Poland
Lublin Regia: One Curia reports the founding of 2 new praesidia in St. Jadwiga's Parish in Lublin. Extension efforts are being made in the Dioceses of Kielcach and Wroclaw. A new Curia is in formation in Mieliec. Warsaw Comitium publishes 5,000 copies of the Polish journal quarterly. It is sent to all the Bishops and to the national and university libraries. A third praesidium has been formed in Gdynia. About 8,000 legionaries gathered in Czestochowska on 11 September for the 15th National Pilgrimage of the Legion of Mary. Two Bishops concelebrated Holy Mass with 60 priests attending.

Romania
Bucharest Curia: There are 13 praesidia affiliated. The formation of another Curia in Iasi or Craiova (Northern Romania) is planned. This would be a great help to praesidia officers in that region who because of distance cannot attend Curia.

AFRICA

Central African Republic
Bangui Senatus: This Senatus governs two upcountry Regiae and two more which are due for covering sanction. Reports from the attached councils show impressive result in marital problems resolved, drug abusers reformed, abortions avoided through counselling and suicides prevented. The Senatus also set itself to ensure that junior legionaries pass into senior praesidia rather that club together and the Senatus is satisfied with the progress. Formation sessions on the Legion promise are held regularly.

Democratic Republic of Congo
Butembo Senatus: This Senatus has 44 Comitia to govern over 45,000 legionaries including 10,000 juniors hope to set up higher councils.

Burundi Senatus: A Congress was held recently.

Rwanda
Rwanda Senatus has carried out visitation of its councils. A 16-member praesidium with a Spiritual Director and a junior praesidium, visits the sick at home, bereaved families and auxiliaries. They help with tilling land for incapacitated persons, clean the parish centre and also prepare elderly persons for baptism.

Mauritius
Mauritius Regia: Good planning in this council shows many activities organised e.g. pilgrimages, retreats, outings, works of service and junior Legion attached. They celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Legion in September 2010 with Mass and tributes from the Archbishop and the publishing of books on the history of the Legion in Mauritius and a Life of Edel Quinn.

Reunion
St. Denis Comitium: The main works of this council are street contact, home and hospital visitation, visiting bereaved, saying the Rosary in mortuaries and catechetics. Legionaries accompany the priest to the sick and bring Holy Communion after receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. After many discussions, a Muslim woman became a Catholic. Junior legionaries are accompanied by 2 adults and visit families with children and promote the Rosary in the homes. An annual get together of 2,000 legionaries included Mass.

Madagascar
Stella Maris Curia held its 101st meeting in April. The works reported on include home and hospital visitation. Recruiting work resulted in a new praesidium of 5 members.

ARGENTINA AND BRAZIL

Argentina
Buenos Aire Senatus: The group that organise the Walking Pilgrimage to Alfie Lambe's tomb are also preparing an Alfie Bulletin, thanks to suggestions from Seamus Rickard on his visit to them. Many first time extension workers will take part in the summer extension programme. Recruiting is mentioned in all reports. During the year one praesidium invited 1,000 people and 12 came to the meeting.
Cordoba Senatus: The Legion is established in all but one Diocese in its area.
Salta Senatus: Legionaries are praying to Alfie Lambe for a legionary who has lung cancer and was recently elected president of a junior Curia. Legionaries make contact with pilgrims and tourists during a Novena and procession in September to mark the Feast of El Senor y la Virgen del Milagro. Young legionaries help with Senatus meetings, preparing the room and greeting those who come long distances.
Rosario Regia: A Curia with 12 praesidia does statue visitation and has 17 prayer groups. Many of these meet in private houses and there are many returns to prayer and the sacraments. One Comitium also reported many received the sacraments as a result of statue visitation. Legionaries in another Comitium visit a maternity home for single mothers and ensure the babies are baptised.

Brazil
Belo Horizonte Senatus: Various strategies are used to visit apartments such as getting to know at least one of the residents; signed approval from the parish priest to be given to the manager; and making friends with the caretakers. Several former Catholics returned to the Church from the sects. The prison praesidium brought 45 to the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Fortaleza Senatus: Visits to homes and hospitals and teaching catechism feature in many reports. A Curia in Sobral prepared 180 children for First Holy Communion and 40 for Confirmation. They also taught catechism in a care home for people with HIV. The Senatus was happy with the Concilium visit.
Ponta Grossa Senatus: Reports show good results from home visitation and other contacts including reconciliation of married couples, the conversion of an evangelical couple, and the conversion of a man who did not believe in God and is now attending Mass and is an auxiliary member of the Legion. Hospital and prison visitation and teaching catechism also feature in reports.
Recife Senatus: Two of the Senatus officers spent a day along with the presidents of other Church movements in consultation with the Archbishop, His Excellency, Dom Fernando Saburido. All the parishes in the archdiocese without the Legion have been allocated to particular praesidia or councils for extension. Praesidia have been set up in the capital and the interior. Results from Legion apostolate included the cure of five young drug addicts, reconciliations within families, conversions and the returns to the faith.
Rio de Janeiro Senatus: True Devotion to the Nation work involves teaching manual skills to the destitute. Also in the city of Rio celebration of the Word takes place in a women's prison. Great efforts are made at recruiting. Three Rio legionaries spent two weeks on a visit to Amazonia. The Bishop of Tefe in western Amazonia invited the Senatus to re-establish the Legion in his Diocese.
Salvador Senatus: In one area of the city two new Curiae were set up, one senior and one junior and four new praesidia, two senior and two junior, are in formation. A former prostitute celebrated her marriage and became an active legionary. The work of preparing an elderly person to receive First Holy Communion so impressed her Protestant grandchild that the latter became a Catholic. A praesidium adopted two children suffering from incurable disease. They also apply injections and make home cures on visitation. Other work includes the preparation of social welfare documents and arranging appointments for the sick.
Sao Luis Senatus: A wide-ranging apostolate reaches out to State schools, Pubs and Bus stations and people contacted include lepers and street children. Following the Concilium visitors' suggestion to consider setting up a new Regia, the Senatus approached the Bishops of several Dioceses and received an enthusiastic response.
Sao Paulo Senatus: The new Regia in Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, was inaugurated on 31 July. It was a very happy occasion. The inauguration of the new Regia in Campo Goande, Mato Gorsso do Sul, is scheduled for 30 October. The Legion was represented at the National Eucharistic Congress in Brasilia in May. A Legionary Congress was held in May for the praesidia directly attached to the Senatus of Sao Paulo. There were very favourable comments made on it. Reports show an extensive apostolate being carried out, for example, a Comitium in Aracatuba made 1,060 visits and re-visits to people of different religions, 1,388 visits to the elderly, 1909 visits to homes with Holy Communion and 154 visits to hospitals making contact with 1,422 patients. The Senatus was very happy with the visit of the Concilium representatives in June.
Brazilia Regia: In Luziania, a Patricians group has been formed. Home visitation is the main work of the Comitium there was 5,000 home visited. They also teach catechism to youths and adults.


Annual Legion Pilgrimage to Our Lady's Shrine, Knock, Ireland

The Annual Legion pilgrimage to Our Lady's Shrine, Knock took place on Sunday 26 September 2010. It was a day filled with spirituality and there was an estimated attendance of 8,000 legionaries and friends who filled the Basilica to capacity. Cardinal Sean Brady was the chief celebrant of the Mass and also gave the homily. Sincere thanks were extended to Catherine Murphy, Concilium Officer, and the officers of Kilalla Curia for their involvement in the organising of this event.

Visit of Officers from Kerry & Cork Comitia and Ross Curia

The Officers of Kerry Comitium Mary B O'Sullivan President, Breda Hallisey Vice President, Sheila Daly Secretary and Breda Daly Treasurer; Cork Comitium Joseph Conway President, Dolores Harrington Secretary; and from Ross Curia the President Martin O'Mahony came to Dublin for discussions with the Concilium Officers and attended the Concilium meeting on Sunday 17 October 2010.

In the discussions extension was to the forefront and the legionaries would make every effort to establish new praesidia in parishes where the Legion does not exist. Joseph Conway in his address to Concilium said it was a great privilege to be a member of the Legion of Mary and they were truly blessed to be present at the Concilium.

Tommy McCabe, President of Concilium, thanked the Officers for coming to Dublin and wished them many graces and blessings in their work for the Legion of Mary.


Election of Concilium Assistant Secretary
Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Secretary of the Concilium, as Miriam Phelan had completed her first term. Miriam Phelan was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, she was duly elected Assistant Secretary of the Concilium for a second term.
Election of Concilium Assistant Treasurer
Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Treasurer of the Concilium, as Raymond Mulrooney had completed his second term. Liam Hayden was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, he was duly elected Assistant Treasurer of the Concilium.

Cause of the Servant of God, Alfie Lambe - Visit to Argentina

Rev. Fr. Oliver Skelly, P.P. Coole, Diocese of Meath, Vice Postulator of the Cause; Noel Lynch, former Legion Envoy to Argentina; and Seamus Rickard, Navan Comitium, reported on their visit to Argentina 13-29 July 2010. They had a meeting shortly after their arrival with Irene Sauer, Vice Postulator for the Cause in Argentina, at which the history of the Cause both in Argentina and Ireland was related. The following day they met with Monsignor Sturba, Judge for the Buenos Aires Tribunal. The Theological Commission in Buenos Aires has completed its work on the Cause. The Historical Commission continues its work in Rome. More evidence from other countries in South America needs to be gathered. The Cause needs to be more widely promulgated; the Prayer needs to be recited not only by legionaries, but also by Catholics in general, including diocesan and religious clergy, members of the contemplative orders and by laity throughout the world. Later that day the visitors visited Alfie's tomb in La Recolletta Cemetery. The visitors had planned to attend a weekend conference in Salta on the subject of Alfie's Cause, however, due to snow all flights were cancelled and they had to take part in the conference by telephone. Three hundred legionaries had gathered in Salta for the conference. Fr. Skelly met also in Buenos Aires with Sister Isabel Fernandez, Notary to the Buenos Aires Tribunal, who also suggested that the Cause be promulgated more widely. The visitors attended the Belgrano Comitium meeting. The enthusiasm was infectious. At a meeting of sixteen Spiritual Directors at Legion headquarters in Adrogue, one of the priests spoke at length about his experiences with Alfie in the Legion and of Alfie's deep spirituality, his humility, his kindness and his consideration for others. The visitors also paid a visit to the Papal Nuncio to Argentina, His Excellency, Archbishop Adriano Bernardini. They also met with some of the young legionaries and their Spiritual Director, who organise a procession to Alfie's tomb each year. Bernardo de Nardo, former Legion Envoy to Asia, accompanied the visitors for a week of their visit. The visitors also met Lina Vaccaro, a former Legion Envoy to Brazil and the parents of some former Extension Workers. The visitors were very grateful for the warm welcome and hospitality they received in Argentina.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.



Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND

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HOMILY GIVEN BY

CARDINAL SEAN BRADY

SUNDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2010


I welcome you all here this afternoon to the National Pilgrimage of the Legion of Mary. It is good for us all to be here at this lovely shrine of Our Lady in Knock. For Knock is Our Lady’s very personal gift to the people of Ireland. Here she has given us a place of pilgrimage – a place of prayer and of peace, of repentance and of renewal and a place of encouragement and hope. Here she gives us a message to sustain us in our Christian faith and to nourish us on the journey of life. That message is clear –‘Do whatever He tells you’.

It is a great joy for me to be here with all of you. You, who love Mary so dearly and who know you are loved by Mary, our Mother. It is good to be here with you who appreciate so clearly the part Mary plays in our journey through life. Mary leads us to Jesus.

It is a delight for me to be here in Knock in the company of the Legion of Mary, that great and dedicated army of Mary’s faithful and loving servants - you who serve the Church – the Body of Christ – the son of Mary – in almost every country of the world.

• What a joy to be here with you – you whose object is the glory of God and not the glory of self.
• What a grace to stand on this holy ground with you who strive through holiness and prayer to promote active co-operation, in Mary’s and Christ’s work.
• Long may you continue to see, as your priority, the spiritual and social welfare of each individual.

I thank you for your participation in the life of the parish. It is something wonderful and much appreciated.

Today we are here to plead, through the intercession of Mary, for a special blessing on your visitation of families, and of the sick – especially of the lonely, the terminally ill and those in their last agony – both at home and in hospital. Long may your co-operation in every apostolic work and missionary undertaking, sponsored by the parish, continue to flourish and bear fruit and be blessed by the Lord. Long may the message of the Servants of God, Frank Duff, Edel Quinn and Alfie Lambe sustain you and implore you. May the day of their beatification soon draw near.

Many years ago I made the long journey to Korea. The occasion was the ordination to the priesthood, of one of the students of the Irish College in Rome. It was a wonderful experience - a great experience of the faith and devotion of the Korean people.

When I came to Seoul Airport to fly home, I met there the President of the Legion of Mary in Korea. She had come there to greet me and say farewell simply because of the fact that I was from Ireland – the land of the Servant of God, Frank Duff - the country which had given to her, and her country, the great gift of the Legion of Mary.

I thought it was powerful proof of the stature of the Servant of God, Frank Duff in all continents of the world. It was a wonderful tribute on her part to the work and worth of the Legion of Mary.
We are in Knock on a day when the Readings evoke so many of the same concerns as those raised by Pope Benedict in England and Scotland last week.

• What is true religion really all about?
• Is there anything more important than practical compassion of the poor?

The parable of Jesus – of the rich man and Lazarus – is surely a wake-up call. It challenges us all to examine our own lifestyle. The Readings are about those who ensconce themselves in luxury while totally neglecting the poor. Surely this is a practical denial of a God who hears the cry of the poor.

If we read Luke’s account of the blessings and woes we see that Lazarus - poor, hungry, weeping with sores, rejected, insulted, licked only by dogs and despised, is the personification of the Beatitudes – but the rich man- dressed in the best, living in the lap of luxury, popular and pampered personifies those for whom a terrible future is foretold. There is a vast abyss between them already here on this earth. There is also an abyss in the next world and guess which side God is on? In a sense, the treatment of the poor man Lazarus by the rich is still widespread in many ways but perhaps it may not be so blatantly paraded as in the parable

Of course it was the genius of Frank Duff that he saw clearly that the Church is the Body of Christ. He talked about it all the time but he did not just talk – he translated his words into action!

“Christ lives through us” he said. “The life of the Church is the Life of the Christ continued. We poor, weak creatures are only able to reproduce that life in parts. The face of the Church depends on us. Only through us can religion be shown forth as the dominant captivating thing it is. Religion is Christ, so each one must show some line or part or feature of Christ so that together, like a cinema projector, you may cast that radiant thing onto the screen of life”.

Clearly the mindset and attitude of Frank Duff and indeed of Edel Quinn and Alfie Lambe was totally different to that of the rich man in today’s Gospel. Today we are confronted by a question: It is not “Are you rich or are you poor?” as if one or the other would make us morally better. The question is not “How much do you own?” but “How much do you care?”

Like St Francis of Assisi and Padre Pio, Francis Duff cared. He cared a lot. He cared enough to want to do his utmost to share the compassion of Jesus Christ with all – but especially with the poor.

The late Cardinal Suenens of Belgium was a great admirer of the Servant of God, Frank Duff. He once imagined the interview which Frank would give from his place in Heaven to a journalist putting questions to him about renewal in the context of today.

He says: “I think he would be telling us that the struggle must go on. The struggle is to convince every Christian that he or she is required to be an apostle by virtue of Baptism

• That we must proclaim the Gospel in words and deeds everywhere and always.
• That the lay faithful must assume his or her personal responsibility.
Recently the diocese of Armagh adopted the following Aim. It goes like this:

‘As a diocese we aim to become the Body of Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit so that we can live like Jesus in our time and place, sharing his compassionate love with all’

Of course Frank Duff was saying the same thing 100 years ago. Frank Duff was ahead of his time. He opened the way for the Legion of Mary. He did so at a time when the role of the lay faithful still had to struggle for full recognition. Many would say that this is still the case – that lay people have still not been given their proper place in the Church.

I think it is time to reassess the life and message of the Servant of God, Frank Duff. I think his message has much to teach us in our present situation. His genius was to translate doctrine into action. “Christ – the Head depnds on His followers” he would say. “If they do not lend themselves to Him his purposes are frustrated”.

Frank Duff has been described as a pioneer of the new evangelisation. His methods of reflection, prayer and action in small groups, have been tried and found trustworthy.

Remember two of the great themes of the Second Vatican Council were:

1. The universal call to holiness – in other words, we are all called to be saints, and,
2. The universal call to mission and evangelisation – we are all called to proclaim the Gospel by our words and our deeds.

This twofold call, to every member of the Church, was central to the life and conviction of the servant of God, Frank Duff. His first published work, written while he was still in his twenties, was called Can we be Saints?. Of course his answer was a resounding ‘yes’. We are all called, without exception to be saints.

Several Popes have written to, and about, the Legion. Frank Duff’s favourite papal statement was that of Paul VI who said: “What I like most about the Legion is that it empowers the little people to become apostles”. I would say it empowers not just the little people – but all the people who care to try.

Of course, the apostle must first strive for holiness of life to be a saint. Pope Benedict, echoing Paul VI, repeatedly calls to young people: “Don’t be afraid to be saints”.

Speaking to young people at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham last Friday, Pope Benedict said the same. “It is not often that a Pope or indeed anyone else, has the opportunity to speak to the students of all the Catholic schools of England and Wales at the same time – and since I have the chance now” – the Pope continued: ‘there is something I very much want to say to you. I hope that among those of you listening to me today there are some of the future saints of the 21st century. What God wants most of all for each one of you is that you should become holy”. This applies not only to the young but to all of us, whatever our age or occupation may be. How Ireland needs saints today!! Mary has an indispensible role in helping us to be saints.

Last week I had the great joy of being present at the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. I know the seminal influence that Blessed John Henry Newman had on Frank Duff and the Legion of Mary. In his Angelus address, the Holy Father quotes a passage from Newman. It could readily be taken to sum up a great part of the Legion’s spirituality.

“Who can estimate the holiness and perfection of her, who was chosen to be the Mother of Christ? What must have been her gifts, who was chosen to be the only near earthly relative of the Son of God, the only one whom He was bound by nature to revere and look up to; the one appointed to train and educate Him, to instruct Him day by day, as He grew in wisdom and in stature?”

We remember here, especially today, how Mary evangelised little people of Knock and through them – the rest of us.

On one occasion, Pope Benedict, addressing the Cardinals residing in Rome, encouraged them to “keep an eye on eternity”. This is the deepest message of today’s Gospel. It is possible to live a life-style and acquire attitudes that are radically opposed to the Gospel and this will have eternal and irreparable consequences. The gap between Heaven and Hell cannot be crossed.

The Legion of Mary has no other reason for existing but to help people to reach their final destiny – to help people into Heaven - or to use the older phraseology: the salvation of souls. They are called to have Mary’s maternity of souls: to work in the spirit of Mary, in communion with her.

Knock is an ideal place in which to remember the Legion. The Legion is surely at home here. Let us thank Mary for the great graces of the past and ask her to intercede and be especially with us for the present and for the future. We remember the countless bands of Legionaries who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith, especially those Legionaries who have died since our pilgrimage last year. We pray for an increase of membership for the Legion. We ask that more and more people discover the joys of belonging to it.

There was another person beatified in Seville, Spain last weekend. Maria Isabel Romero Salvat was born in Madrid in Spain in 1926. She died in 1998 and was declared Blessed last Sunday – less than 12 years after her death. I wondered what was the secret of her amazingly fast promotion to being declared Blessed - I was told that she used to beg on the streets to feed the poor – especially the ex-prisoners – the elderly poor but especially the suffering and the dying. She made their food, she did their washing and she kept the toughest and most painful jobs for herself. What a wonderful inspiration for us all.

AMEN


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Election of Concilium Treasurer

Nominations were sought for the office of Treasurer of the Concilium, as Janet Lowthe had completed her second term. Mary Murphy was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, she was duly elected Treasurer of the Concilium. Mary Murphy is a former Legion Envoy to Kenya. On behalf of Concilium, Tommy McCabe, President, paid tribute to the outgoing Treasurer, Janet Lowthe, for her dedication during her six years in that office.

New Regia for Brazil

The Concilium established a new Regia, Nossa Senhora da Assunção, in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. The territory of the Regia comprises the Archdiocese of Campo Grande and its five Suffragan Dioceses: Corumbá, Coxim, Dourados, Jardim and Três Lagoas. The new Regia will be attached to São Paulo Senatus.

New Regia for The Philippines

The Concilium raised the Butuan Comitium, Mindanao, Philippines, to Regia. The territory of the Regia comprises the Dioceses of Butuan, Tandag and Surigao. The new Regia will be attached to Cagayan de Oro Senatus.

Congress on Evangelisation of Asia

Tommy McCabe, President, and Paddy Fay, Secretary, reported on their recent visit to Korea, where they attended the Congress of Asian Catholic Laity, which had as its theme: “Proclaiming Jesus Christ in Asia Today”. About four hundred delegates from over 20 countries and 35 lay associations, ecclesial movements and new communities, attended the Congress, which was organised by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Laity. It was held in Seoul from 1st - 5th September, 2010. Delegates from the Legion included the Presidents of Seoul Senatus, Korea; Manila Senatus, Philippines; and Mumbai Regia, India; a former president of Osaka Senatus, Japan; and an Assistant Secretary of Hong Kong Comitium.

His Eminence, Stanislaw Cardinal Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, in his opening address, stated that there are 4 billion people in Asia but only 120 million are Catholics, that is, three percent. He stated that while Catholics are a minority , they need to be a creative minority, full of vitality stimulated by the hope that comes from faith. The aim of the Congress was to stimulate the Christifideles Laici in Asia to actively engage in the evangelization of Asia.

A statue of Our Lady with the infant Jesus graced the platform throughout the five days. Our Lady Star of Evangelization was referred to by many speakers including Agnes H.W. Han, the President of Seoul Senatus, who gave an overview of the Legion presence in Asia and particularly in Korea, where there are 260,000 active members, 270,000 auxiliary members, 30,160 praesidia, 2,147 curiae, 217 comitia, 15 Regiae and 3 Senatus. She referred to the estimated membership of the Legion of Mary in Asia as being 516,000 active members, 110,000 junior members, and 706,000 auxiliary members.
His Eminence, Nicholas Cardinal Cheong, Archbishop of Seoul, in his homily at the concluding Eucharistic Celebration, stated that “the Evangelization of Asia is not mission impossible, we can do it”. What is needed is primarily the holiness of our lives, he said. He invoked the Korean Martyrs and said “Let us start again with Christ.”

In the week prior to the Congress, the Concilium visitors met with Legion Senatus officers in Seoul, Gwangju and Daegu. They met also with officers of the Regiae attached to the Senatus of Seoul and Gwangju and visited Andong to meet with the officers of the Regia there, which is attached to Daegu Senatus. They were very impressed by the great number of legionaries in Korea and by their wonderful contribution to the evangelisation of their country. During their stay in Korea, the Concilium visitors were received with great kindness and hospitality everywhere.




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By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.
Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary
On Facing the Impossible - Symbolic Action


In this year of going back to basics, I think I should offer a reflection on the principle of Symbolic Action. Sooner or later any legionary or any praesidium that is doing any serious apostolic work will run into difficulties and even apparently impossible situations. When things are at their worse is when the Legion is called to be at her best. So let us reflect for a little while on how the Legion faces the impossible.

Pope John Paul II frequently refers to Our Lady as the first evangeliser. It is easy to see why. It is Mary who brings Jesus into the world and into the lives of each one of us. Without her there would be no Jesus because that is the way that the Holy Trinity has designed the whole economy of salvation. It would be a most profound deprivation to be ignorant of Mary and the place that God has given her in the lives of each one of us. She is the Mother of the Good News and it is difficult to think of any effort at evangelisation without her. This is one of the most treasured convictions of the Legion. But we must also become more and more aware that Mary is the first one to be evangelised and allow ourselves like her and with her to be evangelised.

One of the great truths branded on the soul of Mary at the Annunciation of the Good News of the coming of God in human flesh was that nothing is impossible to God. This truth is an essential element in the mind and spirit of Mary. Therefore it must be essential to the Legion of Mary that we face every apparent or objectively real impossibility with the mind and heart of Mary. It is this spirit that lies behind the famous Legion formula of Symbolic Action. It is particularly true when it comes to the salvation of souls. Nothing is impossible to God when it comes to working for the salvation of even the most hardened sinner. We cannot stop and give up and say we have done enough when it comes to the eternal destination of a soul.

Before going into the question of dealing with seemingly impossible people or situations the Handbook makes a pivotal point: "It is a fundamental Legion principle that into every work should be thrown the best that we can give. Simple or difficult, it must be done in the spirit of Mary." This does not mean that we act with grim and anxiety laden effort but with a determination that arises from deep love for Mary and always in her company.

There are some works that only seem impossible but in reality are not so. They only require genuine effort and relentless perseverance. But sometimes we are faced with works which are really impossible, that is, they are beyond all purely human effort. In these cases we bring in the principle of symbolic action again and again and leave the rest to God. Nothing is impossible to Him. But we must play our part. The important thing about symbolic action is that it must be action and the best we can do in any situation. Of course we must pray too and without ceasing but we must also act, at least make some gesture or symbolic act. It would be a strange thing to pray to God for help and make no effort to do anything. With God and our effort absolutely nothing is impossible. The word impossible has no place in the Legion vocabulary. But we must try not to block God's grace by our lack of effort.

The Handbook puts it this way: "Both naturally and supernaturally the repudiation of impossibility is the key to the possible. That attitude alone can solve the problems. It can go further, for definitely it is a hearing of the Gospel cry that with God no work shall be impossible." It should follow that every praesidium should undertake some symbolic action. It is this type of action that demonstrates the faith and courage of the members and prevents the praesidium from lapsing into mediocrity or worse.

Let me end by quoting a few more very familiar snippets from the Handbook: "Every impossibility is divisible into thirty-nine steps, of which each step is possible … observe the stress is on action. No matter what may be the degree of difficulty, a step must be taken. Of course, the step should be as effective as it can be. But if an effective step is not in view, then we must take a less effective one. And if the latter not be available, then some active gesture (that is, not merely a prayer) must be made which, though of no apparent practical value, at least tends towards or has some relation to the objective. This final challenging gesture is what the Legion has been called 'Symbolic Action'. Recourse to it would explode the impossibility, which is of our imagining. And on the other hand, it enters in the spirit of faith into dramatic conflict with genuine impossibility."

In this context look once more at the symbolic action of Mary at Cana. The wine had run out at the wedding and only large jars of water were available. In this impossible situation Mary turns to the waiters and says those immortal words: "Do whatever he tells you". The impossible was obliterated.

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Reports
ASIA
Myanmar
News from Mandalay tells of 2 Curiae attached and the Comitium looks after the Legion in most of the 5 Suffragan Dioceses.

Sri Lanka
A new Curia was set up by the Senatus in the presence of the Archbishop. In an area devastated by the tsunami, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus are met and one family was received into the Church. The Rosary was promoted in 15 parishes during a week in May.

Pakistan
No recent news has been received from Pakistan, other than from the Rawalpindi area (via the USA) in which the legionaries ask for prayers.

Kazakhstan
The Archbishop attended the Karaganda Curia meeting. Legionaries continue to visit the elderly, sick and disabled who cannot attend Mass and recite the Rosary with them. A three-day retreat for the junior praesidium was arranged.

India
Mumbai Regia recently established 3 new Curiae; evangelisation in hospitals is proving to be fruitful. Praetorian membership is widely promoted; a monthly Edel Quinn hour is organised; visitation to non-Christians continues and forgotten people are visited in hostels.
Pondicherry Senatus submitted its audit for 2009 and is exemplary in how it was carried out.

Visakhapatnam Comitium: Quarterly reports are taken from praesidia and councils. Visitation to non-Christians, orphans and hospitals as well as instruction work is carried out. The Telugu Handbook has been re-printed.

Thoothukudi Comitium: There are 12 praesidia and 15 Curiae directly affiliated to this Comitium. AIDs patients, lepers, non-Christians and Catholics are visited.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands: The Comitium sent a composite report having 8 praesidia and 5 Curiae attached. They promote family prayer, visit homes and hospitals and assist at burial services. They also promote Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The 5 Curiae have between 6 and 15 praesidia attached.

Palayamakottai Comitium: 15 officers from 20 directly affiliated praesidia and 11 officers from 5 Curiae attended. The Youth Curia taught catechism to 40 students weekly, organised a bible study event for 10 days at which 85 boys and girls attended. A workshop on the Handbook was arranged.

Kottar Comitium with 28 Curiae attached has been asked to consider setting up more Comitia in the Diocese. They are looking to print the Tamil Handbook for their own requirements and have been asked to look into having Vexilla produced by local craftsmen.

Vietnam
In a remote mission territory made up of rivers and canals the legionaries have 9 senior praesidia with 116 members and 30 juniors. The Vinh Comitium has 21 senior Curiae and a junior Curia with 5,356 senior and 995 junior members.

Thailand
The Senatus President was impressed at the dedication of legionaries in a farming community who hold their meetings 5 a.m. Many people are encouraged back to practice of the faith. Prayer and Bible Study groups have been set up. Underprivileged children are taught regular school work at the weekends.

Mongolia
They report 16 Korean and Mongolian believers received the Sacrament of Confirmation in May.

Middle East

Lebanon
Studying the Handbook is emphasised for the Lebanese legionaries who are seeking Arabic and French Handbooks. 85% of legionaries attended a successful Congress.

Israel
Jerusalem Comitium with 7 praesidia and 4 Curiae started a new men's praesidium in Rafidia where a women's praesidium already exists. Efforts are being concentrated on starting the Legion in Catholic schools. The Handbook as a source of solving problems has been stressed.

EUROPE

Amsterdam
The printing of the Dutch Handbook is in its final stages and should be ready soon. This will greatly help the Legion in Holland, Belgium and the Surinames.

Brussels
A Triduum in Namur has an attendance of 1,000. An English-speaking African praesidium of 15 members organises a group of juniors called "Cadets de Marie", 20 children aged 3-12 years, are taught the mysteries of the Rosary, bible stories, etc.

Denmark
A praesidium in Copenhagen has 12 members with an apostolate to prisoners; legionaries took part in a successful pilgrimage to Asebakken in honour of Our Lady, which was led by Bishop Czeslaw Kozon and 25 priests.

England
Birmingham Senatus: A conference for priests had an attendance of 7 priests and 3 deacons. Two legionaries spent a week on extension in Tipton and Dudley. Juniors wrote "thank you" cards to all the priests in the Archdiocese following the Year of the Priest. An apostolate to the gay community and travelers, a project in the red light district, the return of two lapsed Catholics to the Sacraments, teaching Catechism to children and two people received into the Church at Easter - all featured in the report.
Leicester Curia awaits ecclesiastical approval for affiliation to Birmingham.

Liverpool Senatus: A successful Congress was held in June, and the PPC Conference had an attendance of 140 including 9 priests.
Junior and intermediate members in Manchester Comitium helped to restart a new RCIA programme with the support of Spiritual Director Fr. Pat Tansey. Our Lady Star of the Sea praesidium in Warrington is progressing well having got their CRB clearance, and in the Isle of Man legionaries assist at Baptism and Confirmation courses.

Middleborough Comitium mention visits to Stockton prison for Eucharistic Service.

Brentwood Comitium: A new junior praesidium with 7 members has been established and a new praesidium in Chelmsford now has two officers. Hopes are high for a new praesidium in Epping following a PPC project.
Southwark Comitium: A praesidium in Gillingham hosted an afternoon tea for ladies from three local churches and the local Mosque - 50 attended. The senior praesidium in Camberwell, with 23 members, visits new converts, runs a junior and intermediate praesidium, teaches catechism and organises a monthly Rosary procession in the parish grounds. In Sydenham several people have returned to Mass and the Sacraments following home visitation. A praesidium in the Southwark Cathedral parish, with 8 members, visits an alcohol and drugs detox clinic and prays the Rosary with many lapsed Catholics who had lived a life of homelessness.

Westminster Curia: On the Feast of the Assumption a new praesidium was inaugurated in Clapton. Among the works mentioned are crowd contact in Soho Square, visits to brothels, Patricians, home visitation with a Pilgrim Virgin and a public Rosary at Speakers Corner.

Brent and Harrow Curia: Mother of Christ praesidium, Wembley held a Nativity Play in a nursing home and Muslim staff members participated.

West Middlesex Curia: Three praesidia reported and works include home and hospital visitation. One lady, a lapsed Catholic, returned to the Sacraments.

Hammersmith Curia: Of the two praesidia reporting, one has 14 active and 42 auxiliaries, this praesidium show the Legion DVD to parishioners on a regular basis. The other has 4 members with 12 auxiliaries and visits 5 old peoples' homes and local hospitals.

Enfield and Harringey Curia: There were good reports received from Tottenham and Stroud Green.

France
Paris Regia is organising the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Legion in France, to be held in Nevers on 19th/21st November next. In June two new parish based praesidia were formally affiliated to the Regia.

Valence Regia: The former Spiritual Director, Bishop Planet of Cascassone, sent them a copy of his parish bulletin announcing a PPC project in Castlenaudray. The Vietnamese Curia in Lyon has 4 praesidia with an apostolate to the Vietnamese people in their homes, in hospital, etc. The Regia had a stand at a Missionary Day in July organised by the Bishop of Valance.

Dax Regia: This Regia comprises of 18 Dioceses with the Legion in only 4. One Curia is attached at Bordeaux and 8 praesidia are directly attached to the Regia which has responsibility of the Permanence in Lourdes.

Germany
Frankfurt Senatus has launched a new Legion Website for all of Germany. A commemorative ceremony was held marking the 100th birthday of Hilda Firtel, founder of the Legion in Germany. The Frankfurt Korean Curia has 12 praesidia attached and a new one started recently.
Cologne Regia has 2 Comitia, 5 Curiae and 9 praesidia attached. Three members assisted Munich in setting up a new praesidium in Haroldbach.

Comitium Freiburg report a new praesidium in Mosbach.

Munich Senatus is now a Regia attached to Frankfurt and Curia Deilingen reports extention efforts among the Brazilian community. Curia Amberg Welden has 11 praesidia, a Patrician meeting and a Nazareth group. A new praesidium started in Bad Goeggin. Bishop Dr. Gerhard Mueller celebrated Holy Mass at the Acies. Curia Teisendorf had 90 at a Curia retreat and Curia Ingolstadt distributed Miraculous Medals at a folk music festival.

Gibraltar

The Gibraltar Curia has 6 praesidia and together with the usual works of home and hospital visitation, they visit the prison and organise pilgrimages. Legionaries held an ecumenical outdoor Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, a procession for Corpus Christi and a Holy Hour every first Friday.

Norway
There are two praesidia in Norway, they held their first Acies together in March. The praesidium in Tonsberg had 6 members and 12 auxiliaries, and there are 8 members in Drammen with 12 auxiliaries. House to house Rosaries, teaching catechism, encouraging people to attend Mass regularly are among the works done.

Scotland
In Falkirk "Light a Candle Say a Prayer Day" on Wednesday of Holy Week when legionaries invited passers-by into the Church, was very successful. Our Lady Seat of Wisdom praesidium in the University of Glasgow has 10 members. Their recruiting efforts included a Cheese and Wine event for new students where the Legion DVD was shown, and did contact work at the bus station to mark Alfie Lamb's anniversary, attend the Wayside Club, have a Patrician group, do home visitation with a Pilgrim Virgin statue, and a Chinese student, introduced to the Spiritual Director Fr. John Keenan, later became a Catholic.

Sweden
The praesidium in Malmo has 11 members from South America, Asia and Africa, they visit the sick and housebound, prepare children for the Sacrament and is planning a praesidium in Linkoping.

Switzerland

Curia Zurich has over 250 at their Acies at which Bishop Vitues Hounder celebrated Mass. Curia Luzern report an apostolate to the Mormons.

Wales

Swansea Curia has 4 praesidia attached and is in the care of Birmingham Senatus. Extension efforts are undertaken and their works include crowd contact, book-barrow and street rescue.
Cardiff Comitium attached to Liverpool Senatus reported good newspaper coverage following the Stations of the Cross through the City Centre at Easter.

MEXICO

Mexico City Senatus
In the course of home-to-home visitation, many families agreed to have their homes consecrated to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. A number of catechist legionaries prepare children for the Sacraments. Legionaries gave a picture of Our Lady to a prisoner wrongfully imprisoned and prayed with him. To his surprise and in answer to prayer he was released.

Merida Senatus
Over the last few months 6 praesidia, 4 Curiae and 4 Comitia reported. The 2009 Senatus audit has been received. A Comitium with 52 Curiae has set us two more Comitia. The main works are street contact and home visitation. Many young people met are not baptized. Five families returned from the sects to the practice of the faith, three children were baptized and 2 joined the Legion. A new Curia was set up on the outskirts of Merida city.

Guadalajara Regia
Junior praesidia are recruiting new members and setting up praesidia. The Miraculous Medal and devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe is promoted on home visitation.

Leon Regia
A junior Curia set up a new praesidium. Young adults were prepared and received First Holy Communion. Legionaries lead the Rosary and prayers at wakes.

Acapulco Regia
Since their last report 9 praesidia, 3 Curiae including a junior Curia gave an account of their work, which includes for one praesidium that the dying receive a visit from the priest while another explains the value of the Sacrament of Confession. The prison praesidium successfully encouraged prisoners to return to the Catholic Faith from different sects.

Hermosillo Regia
The Officers met the Archbishop who agreed to appoint a new Spiritual Director; two new praesidia were set up. The new praesidium in the Women's prison has 22 members and the atmosphere in the prison has improved considerably since the legionaries started contact work.

Durango Regia
The attached Comitium of Soto Maynes visits mental patients and AIDS sufferers. The secretary to the prison praesidium visited the May meeting and spoke of the value of Legion membership while he was in prison. The prison praesidium gave its first report. The prison Acies had an attendance of about 50-60. The Bishop also visited them.

Monterrey Regia
Back to basics with 5 minutes daily study of the Handbook is undertaken. Novel works in Saltillo Comitium include films on famous priests - the Cure of Ars, Padre Pio, etc., young adults recruited for a new praesidium, a mission type project to rural areas.

CENTRAL AMERICA

Honduras Senatus
Several praesidia, senior and junior, were set up in all councils including a Comitium in the Regia of Aanta Ana. Home visitation resulted in large numbers returning to the practice of the faith from the different sects. Following visitation of a brothel four girls left the life.

Guatamala Camotan Regia
Legionaries and Regia Officers appreciated the visit by 2 legionaries from the Senatus of Merida on behalf of Concilium. The exchange of ideas and experiences were very helpful. Two senior and one junior Curiae have been set up recently. The junior movement in the Camotan area is very strong largely due to their very active Spiritual Director, Fr. Rogelio.

Nicaragua Regia of Managua
Legionaries accompany the priest to celebrate Mass in the homes of the sick and then make contact with the rest of the family. Auxiliaries are reminded of the value of their membership.

Panama Comitium
A Curia in the Diocese of Penonome set up 4 praesidia. Auxiliaries are encouraged to help with distribution of material relief. An Exploratio Dominicalis project was carried out in an area of very little religious practice. Legionaries emphasized the role of Our Lady in their visits. Regligious instruction is given in schools. 26 Baptisms, 48 First Holy Communions and 9 Marriages took place.

AFRICA

Benin
Cotonou Regia: The Regia governs 5 Comitia, 52 Curiae with a total of 559 praesidia and the Legion is in all six Dioceses, 5 of which have Comitia. Reports deal with excellent accounts of home and hospital visitation and an active apostolate to youth. Great efforts are made to recruit children into junior praesidia.

Burkina Faso
Ouagadougon legionaries were informed of a campaign by Protestant Evangelists to gather children weekly for food, to offer them sponsorship and material help. Fr. Kiswandono in his Allocutio spoke of Frank Duff and his struggle against proselytism. Junior legionaries enrolled three blind people for catechetical instruction and one blind girl in the Legion. The juniors also visited the Moro Naaba who is Paramount Chief of the Mossi Tribe. Gounghin Curia in the course of its extensive visitation work called on 494 Mulsim homes and visited 326 sick Muslims.

Congo Republic
Brazzaville Regia have set up 3 new Comitia and reduced its directly dependent Curiae from 19 to 13. They say the Frank Duff prayer at the end of their meetings.

Ivory Coast
Many Muslims converted and some joined the Legion.

Guinea
Conakry Comitium: The Comitium governs 11 Curiae and 14 praesidia. A Congress for the Legion in Guinee was held in February 2009.

Cameroon/Chad
The Acies was held by all Councils. The junior Curia Cotonou has 5 praesidia with a total of 131 members and 2 Frank Duff children's clubs at which 62 children attend. Retreats, consecration of homes to the Sacred Heart and True Devotion are some of the works mentioned in reports. Curia Regina Pacis started 2 new junior praesidia.

New Regia in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Concilium approved that the Assumpta Comitium in Campo Grande be raised to Regia to govern the Legion in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), which is situated in the western part of the Sao Paulo Senatus area. The Archbishop of Campo Grande has given his approval and the installation of the Regia will take place on the 30th October 2010. There will be five Comitia affiliated to it.

The new Regia will govern the Legion in the Archdiocese of Campo Grande and its five Suffragan Dioceses: Corumba, Coxim, Dourados, Jardim and Tres Lagoas. The Archbishop wishes the Regia to be known by the Portuguese title Nossa Senhora da Assuncao. It will be affiliated to the Sao Paulo Senatus.

Election of Concilium Officer

At the August 2010 Concilium meeting, nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Secretary of Concilium with responsibility for Ireland and Europe, as Rose Caulfield had completed her 3-year term. She was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, she was duly elected Assistant Secretary for a second 3-year term. Tommy McCabe thanked her for agreeing to take on this onerous office for a second term.

Election of Concilium Treasurer

Nominations were sought for the office of Treasurer to the Concilium Legionis Mariae. Mary Murphy was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, she was duly elected Treasurer for a 3-year period. Tommy McCabe thanked her for her generosity in letting her name go forward and wished her every grace and blessing. He also thanked the outgoing Treasurer, Janet Lowthe, for her untiring services rendered to the Concilium, particularly in her capacity as Treasurer.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie


All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND


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August 2010 Concilium News

Election of Concilium Assistant Secretary

Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Secretary of the Concilium, with responsibility for Ireland & Europe, as Rose Caulfield had completed her first term. Rose Caulfield was proposed and seconded and as there were no other nominations, she was duly elected Assistant Secretary of the Concilium. On behalf of Concilium, Tommy McCabe, President, thanked Rose for her dedicated service and wished her every grace and blessing in her second term.


Visit to Concilium by the Officers of Legion Councils of Austria.

Four of the officers of the Senatus of Austria, including their Spiritual Director Fr Florian Calice and President Elizabeth Ruepp, along with 16 other officers of directly attached Councils, attended the Concilium meeting. They had a 3 day officers’ conference in Dublin earlier in the week.

The Senatus of Austria comprises 10 directly attached Praesidia, 10 Curiae& 10 Comitia. The Legion is present in the 9 dioceses of Austria. There are approx 2,100 active and 12,000 auxiliary members .The Senatus also caretakes the Legion in Czech Republic, Moldova, Slovakia and the Ukraine, on behalf of the Concilium.

Tommy McCabe, President of Concilium, thanked Fr Calice and all the officers for coming to Concilium and for their dedication to the Legion and encouraged them to continue in their apostolate.



Web site guidelines etc –letter to councils

The Concilium decided to send a letter to all councils to remind them that all Legion websites should comply with the Guidelines for Legion Websites, and councils are responsible for the content etc of their websites.

In particular Council officers are asked to look at their websites and consider the following:

(1) Does the site comply with the Guidelines for Legion Websites?
(2) Is all the content in keeping with the legionary spirit and system as per the Legion Handbook?
(3) Is legionary confidentiality respected? - In regard to persons, meetings and reports?
(4) Is sufficient care taken in regard to the appropriateness of links to other sites and to guard against including material on the website which is not specifically related to the Legion of Mary, to its apostolate, its spirituality or methods.


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Concilium Allocutio August 2010
By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.
Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

The Assumption of Our Lady


It does not happen very often that the Concilium Meeting takes place on the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven in the totality of her personhood. So it is an obvious invitation to meditate on this tremendous feast of Mary. The Assumption is at least three things: a gift of joy, a sign of hope and a source of great encouragement for the Church and each one of us, especially in times of despondency when everything seems to be going against us and we experience apparent failure and the temptation to back off from the struggle to be holy and engage in the apostolate.

These three things must be major characteristics of the Legion if it is truly to be a presence of Mary in our secular and sometimes radically hostile world.

The Assumption is a gift of joy to us. I think Pope Benedict points to a delightful reason for joy on this feast when he says: "The feast of the Assumption is a day of joy. God has won. Love has won. Love has shown that it is stronger than death, that God possesses the true strength and that this strength is goodness and love. Mary was taken up body and soul into heaven: there is even room in God for the body. Heaven is no longer a very remote sphere unknown to us. We have a mother in heaven. And the Mother of God, the Mother of the Son of God, is our Mother too. He himself has said so. He made her our Mother when he said to the disciples and to all of us: 'Behold Your Mother'. We have a Mother in heaven. Heaven is open. Heaven has a heart." Mary was God's gateway to earth and mankind, and now she is our gateway to heaven. We must pass through the heart of Mary if we are to be truly children of the Father and brothers and sisters of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Assumption is an effective sign of hope. One of the great rallying cries of the Legion is: Victory comes through Mary. She has conquered death through the power of her Son. She has vanquished Satan and destroyed sin. The Assumption of Our Lady assures us that in the fierce and relentless battle between good and evil in our world and in our own interior lives, if we stay in union with Mary she will give us the last word and lead us to Jesus her Son. There are no limits to her maternal love for us and no restrictions on the power of her intercession on our behalf.

The II Vatican Council puts it very simply: Mary shines forth on earth … as a sign of certain hope and comfort to the Pilgrim people of God. Pope Benedict points out there are some people today who live as if they never had to die or as if, with death, everything were over; others, who hold that man is the one and only author of his own destiny, and behave as if God did not exist, and at times they even reach the point of denying that there is room for him in our world. But the Holy Father goes on to point out that only openness to the mystery of God, who is Love, can quench the thirst for truth and happiness in our hearts; only the prospect of eternity can give authentic value to historical events and especially to the mystery of human frailty, suffering and death. The mystery of the Assumption points us to eternity as the ultimate meaning and horizon of our lives. So we Legionaries are called with Mary to be messengers of eternal life. We are called to offer meaning to the lives of our contemporaries. But it is an eternal life that begins here and now by the indwelling of the Trinity through grace and that comes to full flowering at death. In other and simple words the Legion is called like Mary to be a great sign of hope especially to those who see themselves as most hopeless.

The Assumption is a source of Encouragement. It has sometimes been said very beautifully that both humanity and divinity are completely at home in Mary. Certainly God made the perfect home for his Son in her heart. Our Lord spent thirty times more time with His Mother than he did in his public ministry. One of the homeliest reasons for the Assumption is simply because Jesus wanted his Mother to be with Him in Heaven. They were inseparable in life and it is only fitting they should be inseparable for all eternity. And how can we forget her humanity. She is utterly and completely one of us. She lived the life of grace in this world. She cooked meals and did the washing up, she kept the house clean and joyfully met the demands for hospitality and neighbourliness, she discreetly helped young couples in the village who were getting married, she took special care of Joseph her husband when he was dying, she quietly and unobtrusively helped people without putting them under a compliment, she was a great woman to get a bit of advice from. She was a lovely accessible means of grace to all who came into contact with her. She was a terrific woman and mother. None of these beautiful qualities have been lost in heaven but deepened beyond all our imaginings.

Finally, let me say that the Mary that founded the Legion was not simply the Woman who lived two thousand years ago in Nazareth but the Woman of the Assumption who has conquered death and has been invested by God with the distribution of all graces, the one who leads us infallibly to Jesus and through Him to the Father in the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Concilium Bulletin August 2010
Reports
UNITED STATES

St. Louis Senatus: Several new praesidia have been started. Prison work is done in several councils and 5 people were received into the Church and 5 returned to the sacraments. Three Marriages were validated and three Baptisms recorded. Children are taught religion in schools.

Boston Senatus: Three new praesidia have been set up. Prison work includes teaching religion and after care of prisoners. A praesidium has been set up in the prison. The Sancta Maria praesidium has 6 members. After many visits to an elderly man who was lapsed, he died shortly after he received the Sacraments.

Cincinnati Senatus: All attached praesidia and councils have been visited during the year. Works mentioned include bringing Holy Communion to the housebound, holding a Communion Service in a Nursing Home and visiting new converts.

Philadelphia Senatus: Norristown Comitium celebrated their 50th anniversary in June with a dinner. 165 members attended the occasion. They staff a drop-in for street people twice a week, providing services and activities for these men. They visit a prison and a hospital among their many works. Book-barrow and Patricians also featured in their report. The Senatus marked the 30th anniversary of providing the North American Supplement of the Maria Legionis this year with a beautiful commemorative edition, recalling the wonderful developments of the Legion in the USA. In the Metuchen Comitium, visits are made to prisons and to homes. Eight adults were baptised and 11 couples had their marriages blessed by the Church. An Alfie Lambe 'C' Day had 40 participants, shared between the parish and the Legion, going door to door with excellent contacts. Allenton Curia heard of legionaries visiting two very ill ladies, one who died 10 minutes after their visit, the other 3 weeks later. By the visit both felt the embrace of Our Lady's presence at the hour of death. Delaware County South Curia operate a book barrow apostolate. Mater Dolorosa Curia was blessed with 3 entering Seminaries. They report improved attendance at their meetings, due to a change of meeting time and day.

San Francisco Senatus: The Senatus has 12 directly attached praesidia. Seattle Comitium has 9 Curiae and 15 praesidia and set up a Spanish praesidium. North Mateo Curia has 24 senior and 3 junior praesidia attached. A family praesidium has 11 parents and 7 juniors and their works are home visitation and crowd contact apostolate. The juniors train altar servers and contact their peers. South San Mateo Curia has 13 attached praesidia including a seminary one. Stockton Comitium reports the works of home visitation, street contact and prison ministry. Oakland Comitium has a new Chinese-speaking Curia. Anchorage Comitium report on the work of home visitation and crowd contact apostolate.

Houston Senatus: Two Peregrinatio Pro Christo projects took place in June, one to Corpus Christi and one to Del Rio in Texas. Approximately 1000 homes were visited in both projects, with many excellent contacts made. In New Orleans Comitium report, a praesidium in the university has 8 members. Baton Rouge Curia has a new praesidium. The Hispanic Comitium had 6 members on PPC to Del Rio. They are extending at a rapid rate. There will be a need for more Curiae in the near future. 'Back to Basics' is the theme of all 12 praesidia in the Northern Curia for this year. They took part in both PPC projects and are very active in extension. San Antonio Comitium held a Congress in June. The Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean Curiae in Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth are most supportive of their respective communities, caring for catechumens and the disabled. They provide parish bulletins to business houses and surgeries, encouraging the lapsed to return to the practice of their faith. In the Dallas Comitium, the Farmers Branch praesidium has to divide due to high numbers.

New York Senatus: The composition of the reporting councils is: in Morris County Curia with 48 parishes has the Legion in 6 with 36 members. Our Lady of the Valley Curia has 1 junior and 9 senior praesidia with 30 auxiliaries. North Bronx Curia has 17 senior and 1 junior praesidia. West Side Curia has 4 praesidia with 39 members. Works done by the Senatus include home, nursing home, hospital and funeral parlour visits. Baptisms, First Holy Communions, Confirmation, Marriage validations and Enthronements to the Sacred Heart apostolate are also undertaken. Two families came back to the church from the sects.

Chicago Senatus: Contact was done at a gay pride parade. A junior and adult praesidium was started. In a Spanish Curia a youth praesidium has to divide because so many of the young people want to join in evangelisation.

CANADA

Montreal Senatus: The visit by the Toronto legionaries will take place in September. Baptism for children and adults are arranged and Holy Communion brought to the sick and Catechism is taught to adults.

Ontario Senatus: Extension is being done with some success. Children are prepared for First Holy Communion and students are taught the Rosary. Home and hospital visitation is also done.

Toronto Regia: Attached praesidia carry out street contact and home visitation. A continuous learning workshop had 75 in attendance. Extension was carried out by several attached councils and new members recruited. Three new Korean praesidia were set up in Toronto Comitium. In St. John's Curia, New Brunswick True Devotion is studied. Scarborough Comitium gained 18 new members. Prison visitation is done. Mississauga Comitium has 2 Patrician groups. In Peterborough Curia the Rosary is recited in 4 schools.

Edmonton Comitium: A Legion booth was set up at a Family Life Conference. Efforts are ongoing to set up a praesidium in a prison.

Vancouver Comitium: A new junior praesidium of 8 members has been started in a hospital. Work is done among people on the move and seafarers. As a result of working in Skid row, three women came off the street and gave up the life. Many returns to the Sacraments were also reported. Talks on Doctrine are given to the Spanish community. A video is shown monthly and results in returns to the Church.

WEST INDIES

Trinidad Regia: Seventy-seven legionaries attended a retreat. The Rosary is recited in homes and explained to those who do not know it. Religious instruction is given in government schools.

Santiago de los Caballeros Senatus: Masses were celebrated for the beatification of the Servant of God Frank Duff and Venerable Edel Quinn. Two people were reconciled to the Church before death. Home, hospitals and prisons are visited. Marriages are regularised and Holy Communion brought to the sick.

Senatus of Haiti: Works include home, hospital and prison visitation. Catechism classes are held. They accompany the priest on sick visits. A 6-day Retreat and Congress were held.

AFRICA
KENYA
Senatus of Kenya: A Bishop and 12 priests attended the first meeting of a new Comitium under Kisumu Regia. Nairobi Junior Curia has 8 praesidia and report 4 lapsed returned. All reports indicate home visitation being done with many returns to the sacraments, marriages validated and many recruited for instruction. A programme of extension by the Senatus to every parish in Meru Diocese is underway. The translation of the Edel Quinn book in Kikuyu is ready and legionaries requested it be translated into other languages. Large numbers gathered for the annual Mass at Venerable Edel's grave. Legionaries from Uganda, Tanzania and all parts of Kenya attended.

UGANDA
Senatus of Uganda: A very colourful Schools' Curia Acies had 644 present, while 1,000 members attended a Tertiary Institutions Acies. Six praesidia were started in colleges and legionaries in Seminaries featured in 2 reports and their external work includes visiting the sick and acting as tribunes to school praesidia which is most helpful. Study of the Handbook in line with "Back to Basics" is encouraged as is undertaking the True Devotion.

NIGERIA
Enugu Senatus: Two Regiae both reported many prepared for the Sacraments, both had a Moslem family converted and in the 2 areas following contacts a number of street girls returned home, family disputes were reconciled and marriages blessed. 107 Senior and 108 Junior Praesidia were started.

Ibadan Senatus: One Comitium reported 207 marriages regularised and 104 lapsed returned while a Curia had 3 conversions including one Muslim.
Onitsha Regia held a training day for 1,030 Officers of praesidia, Curiae and Comitia; the general topic was "Leadership of Legion of Mary in this contemporary world". 80 Legionaries participated in an 8-day project to 10 villages.

Jos Regia: Most praesidia are recruiting at least 10 new members per year and juniors are transferring to senior ranks. A Curia in a Major Seminary had 15 members ordained to the Priesthood and Deaconate and a new praesidium was created.

Ikot Ekpene Regia: One Comitium held a week long extension project with 26 legionaries visiting 9 stations in a parish, reviving weak praesidia and starting a praesidium.

Lagos Regia: Five Curiae were formed, while 8 marriages were regularised and 22 members undertook the True Devotion in one Curia, and a Comitium had 4 conversions including one Muslim.

Abuja Regia: A Curia's junior membership rose from 90 to 190 in a year and 5 senior and 2 junior praesidia were formed while a Comitium increased from 1834 to 2650 members in 3 years. A praesidium reported 7 conversions including a Muslim, now a legionary. The Regia had a successful Spiritual Directors' Forum. Attendance included a Bishop.

Kaduna Regia: Items referred to in the April and May minutes included the Acies, the Causes, Patricians, a Congress and an Audit Committee is being appointed. A meeting has been held between the 3 Regiae in Northern Nigeria in relation to the printing of the Handbook in Hausa and English and other areas of common interest.

TANZANIA
Hai Moshi Comitium: Reports include home and hospital visitation with many returns to the Sacraments and marriages blessed, teaching Moslems about the Catholic Faith and 5 of the 18 bhang smokers contacted gave up the habit! Dar-Es-Salaam Comitium recently visited the 5 Dioceses under its caretakership to confirm the composition of the councils. Extension is ongoing. The annual Venerable Edel's Mass held on 12th May was well attended and each praesidium was asked to hold a Mass and Novena during May.

Kahama Comitium: After a long silence a report was received on the Acies held on 16th May. 127 Legionaries attended the ceremony, which included Mass. A retreat was held the previous day in preparation.

Mtwara Comitium: Works include visiting the sick, praying with them and doing works of service, teaching Catechism, counselling couples, organising Stations of the Cross, marriages being blessed, lapsed returning and conversions including some Muslims. A praesidium was restarted.

ZAMBIA
Lusaka Regia: Works include visits to sick, lapsed etc. and there are good reports of returns to practice and marriage regularisations. Retreats and pilgrimages are held and are well attended. Extension work in 2 Dioceses is planned. Further information on True Devotion has been requested.

THE GAMBIA
Banjul Curia has 8 praesidia. Illiteracy is a serious problem including among many of the praesidia officers.

MALAWI
Blantyre Regia The necessary arrangements were made for the planned launch of the Senatus at Blantyre on 12th June. The restructuring involves the raising of 4 Regiae. Membership is increasing, but attendance is a problem in some areas. The setting up of youth praesidia is encouraged.

EUROPE

MALTA
Malta Regia: Works include the distribution of a brochure of Mass times to all major hotels, an apostolate to the Italian Community and visiting a refugee centre and a corrective facility. 47 auxiliaries attended a retreat. Two radio programmes about the Legion are broadcast weekly. Good contacts are made with Muslims and lapsed Catholics. Curia reported on teaching catechism and the consecration of homes to the Sacred Heart. Four junior Curiae were amalgamated to form one junior Curia. There are now 2 junior Curiae on Malta and four on the Island of Gozo.

Gozo Comitium: Sixty attended a Congress on "True Devotion to Mary". Three Curiae reported on home visitation and contact with tourists. Twenty-seven young people attended the Lord's Supper organised by the junior Legion.

GREECE
Athens: A praesidium of 8 members visits the sick and participates in two ecumenical groups. Rhodes: A praesidium of 8 whose Spiritual Director is the Vicar General has an outreach to the Albanian community. Thessaloniki: In a praesidium of 10 members their apostolate includes visitation of homes, prison and mental institutions.

ALBANIA
Shkoder Comitium has 31 praesidia and 3 Curiae affiliated. Two members of the Malta Regia made a visit in May and discussed the Legion government, the study of the Handbook, the True Devotion and the re-printing of the Handbook, Tesserae and prayers for the causes. Albanian legionaries visit families, teach catechism and pray with Muslims.

PORTUGAL
Lisbon Senatus: Five destitute families were brought to the notice of the parish services and their needs attended to. In Setubal the Legion was established in 4 parishes. Benfica legionaries organised courses for the evangelisation of adults and an alpha course for non-practising Catholics.

Azores: Contact is maintained with the parents of 76 children who are catechised by legionaries. Twenty-six attended a Legion Conference for Priests. The Bishop of Angra stated "We are grateful to this organisation to which the clergy are much indebted." Faro has only 5 praesidia. The Regia of Coimbra is planning a second praesidium in Aveiro Diocese.

CYPRUS
Legionaries are full of enthusiasm following the Pope's recent visit. The 2 praesidia in Nicosia and in Limassol do crowd apostolate. They promote the Rosary on visitation.

ITALY
Rome Senatus: Bishop Martinelli attended the first praesidium in the Diocese of Frascati. The Maltese peregrini attended the May Senatus meeting.
Milan Regia hopes to start a praesidium in the Catholic University. The Regia is assisting the Diocese in the preparation for a visit of the Pope to Milan in 2010. The Comitium of Genoa held a Congress. A Filipino praesidium in Turin reported marriage validations among their compatriots. Padova Comitium: A group of children recite the Rosary monthly on Radio Mariae. Praesidia in Lana, in Austrian Tyrol do street contact and book-barrow work during the summer months.

SPAIN
Madrid Senatus: Plans are advanced for the many young legionaries who will travel to Madrid in 2011 for the World Youth Day with the Pope. The Senatus plans a joint PPC team to work in the Bilbao Senatus area. Some legionaries undertake contact apostolate with the many people who visit their churches. Pesca Joven, is the term for youth contact work, which is done on the streets.

Bilbao Senatus: Works include visits to homes, hospitals, welfare homes, bible classes in rural areas and contacting young men in a rehabilitation centre for addictions.
Logrono Comitium organised pilgrimages to Fatima and Lourdes. Members bring Holy Communion to the housebound. Basauri Curia organised two religious retreats for young people.

Barcelona Senatus: Works are preparing children for First Holy Communion and Confirmation, helping in the Lourdes pilgrimage, visiting the families of prisoners and contacting tourists.


Austrian Council Officers Conference

From Wednesday 11th August to Friday 13th August 2010, nineteen officers of the Senatus of Austria and their Spiritual Director Fr. Florian Calice CO attended a Conference for officers in the Headquarters of the Legion of Mary. On the Saturday they travelled to the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock in Co. Mayo and on the Sunday attended the Concilium meeting.

The theme of this conference was: "The New Evangelisation: the great challenge of the New Millennium". Under this theme some of the headings discussed were:

The Church is built up through the holiness of its members, which included Baptism, The Mystical Body of Christ, the Eucharist and True Devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary; also Leadership in the Legion.

The formation of legionaries, extension of the Legion in Austria, Legion government and finance and audits were discussed at length during the second day of the conference.

On the final day discussed were the works of the Legion toward a new evangelisation and the promotion of the Causes for canonisation.

At the Concilium meeting Fr. Florian thanked the Concilium for an interesting and informative conference and Elizabeth Ruepp, President of the Austrian Senatus told us that Austria has 9 Dioceses and one Diocese for military and there is a Legion presence in each of the 9 Dioceses. The Senatus has 10 Comitia, 42 Curiae and overall there are 339 senior and 23 junior praesidia.

Tommy McCabe, President of Concilium, thanked the Austrian legionaries for coming to Dublin and commended them on their great knowledge, spirit and loyalty to the Legion and their wonderful participation in all the discussions.

Tribute to Tom Smith, R.I.P.

Tom Smith who died on the stroke of the Angelus on Thursday 22nd July 2010 is sadly missed by the many who knew him. He joined the Legion when he was 19 and had therefore served in it ranks for 50 years. His first praesidium met in the home of a great legionary named Barney Quinn and one of his earliest Legion works was the picketing of the Medical Mission, one of the last of the proselytizing agencies in the city. His next regular work was the manning of a book-barrow at the G.P.O.

When Bethlehem Curia, Dublin was formed in the mid-sixties, he was elected its first President and came to the notice of Frank Duff who invited him first to join him on the annual week at Mount Melleray Cistercian Abbey and, in 1968, to become one of his regular cycling companions. One could say that from then on he was on intimate terms with Frank. His great interest in Thomas Aquinas led Frank to call him Thomas the Minor. Elected a Concilium Officer, he received the added responsibility of the Incolae Mariae and kept Fr. Bradshaw's team in Iceland supplied with volunteers from Britain, Austria and USA as well as from Ireland. Not very long ago, he furnished a list of the countries where Incolae had worked - England, Scotland, France, Spain, Denmark, Holland, Gibraltar, Iceland, South Africa, Argentina and Papua New Guinea. He was proudest of all, of his list of Incolae who went on to study for the priesthood and became priests to the number of 7, two of them still serving in Iceland, one as Vicar General there. He was correspondent for the Senatus of Scotland until recently and also for Councils in South Africa.

He had a heart for any enterprise, one which did not succeed was to have a praesidium in the Irish Parliament building, Leinster House. He was greatly loved by the Filipino immigrants who joined the Legion in Bethlehem Curia and his most recent exploit was to launch a praesidium for the Filipinos living or working on the Southside of the city. He was a true Catholic who loved his Faith, his parish and the Legion.
May he rest in peace.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie


All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.



Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND







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July 2010 Concilium News

Visit to Concilium by the Officers of the Legion Councils of Poland

On Sunday 18th July 2010, the officers of Lublin Regia, Warsaw Comitium and Warsaw Praga Comitium and Spiritual Directors: Fr. Janusz Wegrzecki, the National Spiritual Spiritual, Fr. Jozef Sarzynski, and Fr Tomasz Nowaczek, attended the Concilium meeting. They had a good discussion on the apostolate and the development of the Legion in Poland with the Concilium officers the previous day.

The Legion was founded in Poland thirty years ago and is now in 27 of the 41 dioceses and has permission from Bishops to start in 5 more. There are approx 5,800 active and 19,000 auxiliary members. The apostolate includes home and hospital visitation, street apostolate and contact work.

Tommy McCabe, President of Concilium, thanked the Spiritual directors and all the officers for coming to Concilium and he encouraged them to continue to extend the Legion. Thanks were also expressed to Jobie Stephens and Enda Dunleavy, the Concilium correspondents for Poland.

Catholic Youth Conference

The 9th annual Catholic Youth Conference took place on the weekend 12th and 13th June 2010 in All Hallows College, Drumcondra, Dublin, with approximately 250 young Catholics in attendance for two days of Eucharistic Adoration, lively discussion, testimonies, talks and social activities, including a football match.

The theme of the Conference was: "The Hope that never disappoints is Jesus Christ." The speakers included the Concilium Spiritual Director, Fr. Bede McGregor OP, who opened the Conference, Fr Ciaran O' Carroll, Fr John Harris OP, Mr John Lonergan, former Governor of Mountjoy Prison, Professor Patricia Casey, consultant psychiatrist, Dr Andrew O Connell, journalist and Dr John Murray, lecturer Mater Dei Institute.

Feedback from the participants was very positive and the organising committee expressed thanks to all who had promoted and helped them organise the conference.

Tommy McCabe, President of Concilium, thanked the committee members for all their hard work organising the conference.

The Alfie Lambe Fiesta in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, Ireland.

A Fiesta was organised in Alfie's hometown of Tullamore by the Alfie Lambe committee. There was an attendance of approx 200. The day consisted of music, including a Rock Group, Prayer, a DVD on the life and work of Alfie, testimonies from younger legionaries and concluded with Holy Mass, celebrated by Fr Oliver Skelly, PP, Vice Postulator for the Cause of the Servant of God, Alfie Lambe.

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Concilium Allocutio July 2010
By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.
Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

Souls are not approached except through Mary

Today in this year of going back to basics as a means of renewal in the Legion throughout the world we move from the four sections of the Standing Instruction to Chapter thirty-nine of the Handbook. It is entitled Cardinal points of the Legion Apostolate and the first section begins with the heading: 'Souls are not approached except with Mary'.

This is one of the most important statements of the Handbook. It expresses a principle and truth that shaped the whole inner and outer life of the Servant of God, Frank Duff. It encapsulates the meaning and methods of evangelisation according to the spirit of the Legion of Mary. There can be no true evangelisation without Mary. Recent Popes have called Our Lady the 'Star of Evangelisation'. She throws light on the very nature of evangelisation and she accompanies every form and activity of evangelisation and apostolate.

The reasoning behind this basic principle of evangelisation is quite simple. God Himself associated Mary from all eternity with the Incarnation and Redemption God willed in one eternal decree both Jesus and Mary. As the Handbook puts it: 'For God Himself has thought fit to arrange that no foreshadowing or coming or giving or manifestation of Jesus should be without Mary'. God chose Mary as the instrument for bringing Jesus into the world. He chose her to be the Mother of the Redeemer. Jesus enters history through the power of the Holy Spirit and the totally free consent of Mary. She consents to surrender her maternal rights over her Son so that he may die for us on the Cross. God does not approach mankind through Christ and his work of redemption except through Mary. As Pope John Paul II puts it so beautifully: 'the redemption took place beneath the heart of Mary'.

The Handbook points out that God could have dispensed with Mary altogether and indeed could have dispensed with Jesus Himself. But God decided to send his Son into the world through Mary and he associates her with all that Jesus does for us in his death and resurrection. This is God's eternal plan that Jesus, God Incarnate, does not approach souls except through Mary. It is therefore imperative for the Legion to root itself in God's plans and methods for the evangelisation and the salvation of the world. We shall have to come back to this principle of the absolute inseparability of Mary and Jesus in the salvation of the world.

But let us for the time being ask the question: how exactly, practically speaking does Mary approach souls? The answer to that question provides a blueprint for the whole Legion Apostolate or what we call more often today, evangelisation. First and foremost, Mary is totally focused on Jesus. Her role is to bring Jesus into the world, to bring Jesus into the centre of every human life. In union with Mary that is also the goal of all Legion activity - the purpose of evangelisation. Mary's approach to souls is a maternal one. Mothers do not deal in abstractions, they deal with each individual child, and they deal with persons in intimate personal contact. That is pre-eminently the case with Mary, the Mother of the Church and of all mankind. It is also the nature of a true mother that all her actions spring from her heart and she can wish for nothing else but the good of the child, especially its eternal good. It is also supremely important that a mother never gives up on her child no matter what the circumstances may be. The Legion seeks to share in Mary's maternity of souls and therefore seeks to bring all the characteristics of Mary's approach to souls into play. It is a magnificent ideal that our Founder puts before the Legion and we need to keep going back to it for inspiration and guidance.

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Concilium Bulletin July 2010
REPORTS
South America

COLUMBIA
Bogotá Senatus: Forty-three returns to the sacraments were mentioned. Shortage of money for extension is raised in some areas. Works include looking after domestic workers; street girls, now in a hostel, are visited; Vocation Committees exist in many parishes, a junior praesidium of 8 members was set. A family was rescued from the Jehovah's and 2 suicides prevented. Two Columban drives resulted in 44 new members and 3 praesidia in formation. Hilda Firtels book on Alfie Lambe is being re-printed.

Medellin Senatus: In preparation for a PPC project, legionaries studied the Catechism of the Catholic Church for one month. The PPC was held in Holy Week with good results. A sample of the works reported include caring for the sick so family members can rest, therapeutic care of drug addicts and teaching children to make May Altars. A woman who had joined the sects is now a legionary.

ECUADOR
Senatus of Quito: Four jails are visited in Cuenca Regia. A retreat was held for young people, disabled children are helped with homework, children 'at risk' are visited, 3 Exploratios were held and 80 legionaries attended a 3-day retreat. Extension was carried out in 4 new parishes at the parish priests request.

URUGUAY
Senatus of Montevideo: A praesidium reported holding a Parish Reconciliation service. In Salto the meeting did not take place due to excessive heat. On commenting that cleaning the church is not really Legion work, the priest said that he depends on the Legion to do it. Some legionaries have been studying lay ministry for the Diocese.

VENEZUELA
Senatus of Caracas: A campaign of one million rosaries was carried out in the schools and 1800 people were contacted on the internet. In Chacao a prostitute converted after 6 months of visitation by legionaries. Talks were given to students and 9 returned to the practice of the faith. Twelve young people set up a group of dance, music and theatre.

CHILE
Senatus of Santiago: Reports of excellent works like the apostolate amongst the Mapuche Indians who are a forgotten race. Visits are made to the homes of young drug addicts to help both the parents as well as the addict. The parish priest implored extension workers experiencing difficulties, not to abandon their weekend Columban drive. The Continental General Mission as requested by the Cardinal is giving great scope to those legionaries who are experienced in home-to-home visitation.

BOLIVIA
Senatus of La Paz: The vice president of the Senatus is a young brother who is a key link with the many emerging youth praesidia. The Spiritual Director of the Senatus is one of the Auxiliary Bishops who travels up and down the country. Most praesidia do Exploratio at least once a year.

PERU
Senatus of Lima: During this period 3 Comitia, 5 Curiae and 2 praesidia reported. All reports indicate that extension is a priority. Each reporting council has set up at least two praesidia and in Callao (on the outskirts of Lima) 8 junior praesidia were set up. Talks on the True Devotion to Mary have been organised. A number of young persons were rescued from a satanic group and they are now taking instruction to be received into the Church. On street contact work the Miraculous Medal is offered with an explanation.

CUBA
Havana Comitium: On behalf of the Concilium the visiting legionaries from the Senatus of Merida will travel to Havana in September.

PARAGUAY
Senatus of Asunción: The Senatus organised a day to study the South American Bishops document of Aparecida. Exploratio Dominicalis projects are carried out on a regular basis and included one involving juniors. Youngsters were involved in a 'live crib' at Christmas while a Youth Conference was held. One praesidium organised a Devotion to St Rose of Lima, Patron Saint of Police before Mass, for a local police Precinct.

ASIA

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Madang Regia: Reports received includes work helping mothers with natural family planning, conversion work which is always on the agenda and several non-Catholic families who were received into the Church. Members are focusing on the work of enthronement of the Sacred Heart in homes.

Rabaul Regia: Regularising of relationships features prominently in reports, also the preparation of children for baptism.

NEW ZEALAND
Auckland Senatus is active in extension and recruiting works. Reports tell of running sacramental programmes in schools and parishes. In the Maori College 17 students aged 14 to 16 years were received into the Church. A woman of 103 years recently received her First Holy Communion. The Korean Comitium has 36 senior praesidia and 2 junior praesidia. Care of the newly baptised, transport to Mass and visits to the lapsed were reported. The junior Curia has 7 praesidia and 90 members. As well as Church based activities, legionaries visit nursing homes and assist patients to Mass, teach catechism and circulate the Rosary statue. In American Samoa, after the earthquake, a praesidium began a month long nightly pilgrimage of transferring Our Lady's statue from home to home.

AUSTRALIA
Melbourne Senatus: Extension is widely promoted. The junior movement is fairly strong in some councils and members help with the Children's liturgy and visit First Holy Communion classes. In West Melbourne a pilgrim statue is taken to the homes of Italian families. A Holy Hour on Saturday, coinciding with Confession time, has seen a marked increase in Confession reported the Parish Priest. Attached to the Senatus are 10 Comitia and 3 Curiae in the Pacific Islands. In Fiji a new praesidium was set up in the western part of the main island.

Sydney Senatus: Works reported on by 6 Curiae with 35 praesidia and 300 members include teaching catechism in state schools, running piety stalls, reciting the Rosary at funerals, providing transport to Mass and encouraging the lapsed met on door-to-door visitation to return to the practice of their faith. Visiting seamen is undertaken and one Curia distributed 1,000 prayer cards for the year of the Priest. The Vietnamese Curia has 12 praesidia and 135 members. Three new praesidia were started by Seminarians. The Causes are promoted in the Senatus area.

PHILLIPINES
Mindanao Senatus. Two cases advised of possible miracle cures through the intercession of Frank Duff. A Mormon convert and a convert from the Baptist Church have joined the Legion. A praesidium in the Mayor's office focuses their work on fellow-employees with excellent results.

Bicolandia Senatus: Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in homes is an ongoing work in all councils. A teenager was helped back to the sacrament of penance. Legionaries assisted in the preparation for Mass and Holy Communion to 1,646 elementary and secondary students. One 8-year old was baptised with the permission of her father, who is a Protestant. Naga City legionaries visited stores at the market and invited the owners to attend religious activities. Legionaries from Masbata traveled to the Senatus meeting, crossing the sea, which showed great effort and courage.

Cebu Senatus: Three Regiae, 6 Comitia, 21 Curiae and 6 praesidia reported a membership of 12,113 senior, 9,037 junior and 2,400 probationary members. The Causes are supported vigorously, visitation of councils is carried out, extension and Exploratio Dominicalis is constant. Five praesidia were set up in a Municipal Jail. A Patrician meeting was held with detainees at a Police station and a lively discussion followed. Members of 12 junior praesidia encourage their own families to attend Mass, a campaign of home visitation was establish to promote devotion to the Rosary, engage in household work and encourage ex-juniors to return to their meetings.

Senatus of Northern Phillippines: Four Curiae were elevated to Comitium status and Lipa Comitium was raised to Regia status. A Seminar on the Legion apostolate was held in February. Lucena Comitium reported the conversion of a couple who received five of the sacraments. San Pablo Comitium reported on 25 conversions. Novaliches Comitium plans to promote the Legion in their 8 parishes, which has no Legion presence. Their apostolate on a Vocation Campaign brought to fruition 2 legionary priests, one deacon, 3 seminarians, 2 nuns and 3 aspirants. Mgr. Ditan encouraged legionaries to strengthen catechetic knowledge during home visitation. A Spiritual Director said in his homily that the legionaries have inspired him with their zeal, their work for souls and their commitment to the apostolate.

Western Visayas Regia: There are 16 directly attached praesidia and 21 councils. Three Comitia and 6 Curiae reported on works, which included visitation of homes, of the sick and elderly, teaching catechism in public schools and running junior praesidia. The lapsed are encouraged to return to the practice of their faith and several sick people and some near to death were reconciled. Marriages were validated and those co-habiting are encouraged to receive the Sacrament of Marriage. Several Exploratio Dominicalis projects were undertaken.

AFRICA

GHANA/LIBERIA
Ghana Senatus: The Legion in Ghana is celebrating its 70th Anniversary. Following visitation of the Liberian refugee camps at Budumburan, a praesidium was set up and the Liberian legionaries attended the Acies. New praesidia have been established in prisons and the work is ongoing and an Acies was held in prison. There are 40 prospective new members in another prison. The Senatus organised a marriage seminar encouraging couples to get married in Church. Extension is ongoing and various councils have set up several new praesidia.

ANGOLA
Benguela Senatus: The retired Bishop of Benguela, D. Oscar Braga, attended the December 2009 meeting and gave the allocutio at the January meeting on showing appreciation for Priests and praying for them. He asked legionaries to pray for the late Rev. Fr. Henrique Verdijk, C.S.Sp., founder of the Legion in Angola. A new Spiritual Director has been appointed. There was a large attendance, including officers of Huambo and Lubango Regiae at the meeting. A national meeting for youth is planned for September. A junior Curia has been divided to form a new Curia with seven praesidia.

Luanda Regia: A retreat for officers of higher councils was held. A new Comitium was established.

MOZAMBIQUE
Maputo Regia: The Regia celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Legion in Mozambique on 5th October 2009. The chief celebrant at the Mass was D. Paulo Mandlate, retired Bishop of Tele. Several Spiritual Directors concelebrated. There was an attendance of 1,200 legionaries. To mark the Jubilee, the Regia wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Maputo giving a short history of the Legion in the country since its foundation.

LESOTHO
The Handbook in their language is ready for printing. Works in recent reports included a family that lives on selling alcohol was visited, and legionaries take care of Church livestock.

ZIMBABWE
Hwange Comitium: Some legionaries walk 50 miles to get to the Comitium meeting. Legionaries are between the ages of 18-40 years. The junior movement is very strong.

SOUTH AFRICA
Marianhill Comitium: Legionaries promote the Rosary in May and October among Catholics and non-Catholics and also distribute Miraculous Medals. Other works included doing acts of mercy to the poor and helped with books to needy children. They also help orphans.

Matatiele Comitium: The Patrician meeting has been revived and 40 attended the first meeting.

Johannesburg Senatus: There are 20 attached praesidia and 4 attached councils. Their works include home visitation to Catholic and non-Catholic homes, street contact apostolate and they also make contacts in taxi ranks. Extension is being carried out and two praesidia have been revived.

Cape Town Senatus: The Senatus is applying seriously the Concilium's theme for 2010 on "Back to Basics" through the study of the Handbook. An Officers' Conference is planned for 1st August on the theme "Back to Basics" and during their day of recollection the Legion Promise was discussed.

CAPE VERDE/GUINE BISSAU
Cape Verde Regia: Exploratio Dominicalis is undertaken by all praesidia. Guine Bissau is celebrating its 43rd year and is grateful for the assistance given to them by Cape Verde.

EGYPT
There was a large attendance of legionaries at the various Acies ceremonies and many Bishops attended. Some Sudanese legionaries also attended. Legionaries were invited to participate in a conference, which will discuss the Synod for the Middle East to be held in Rome in October 2010. The Senatus is planning a Conference for legionaries in 2011.

Visit by Council Officers of Poland

Officers from the Lublin, Warsaw and Praga councils, Poland attended the Concilium Meeting on Sunday 18th July 2010. Attending the meeting from the Lublin Regia were Fr. Jozef Sarzynski, Spiritual Director of the Regia, the President Linda Kozlowska, Secretary Maria Wojtanowicz and Treasurer Zofie Grabowska. The Warsaw Comitium officers were represented by Fr. Janusz Wegizecki, National Spiritual Director for Poland, Maria Elzbieta Kowalxzyk President, Jolanta Widenka Vice President, Anna Karlowicz Secretary and Grazyna Stachera Treasurer. The Officers representing Praga Comitium were Fr. Tomasz Nowaczek, Spiritual Director of the Comitium, Irena Cieslak President, Liliana Chmielewska Vice President, Ewa Mackiewicz Secretary and Jadwiga Malinowska Treasurer.

In her address to the Concilium Linda Kozlowska, President of the Lublin Regia said that there were about 4,500 active legionaries in 27 Dioceses and the Bishops of 5 other Dioceses had granted permission for the Legion to start. The apostolate as described in the Handbook is carried out; there was a PPC project in the Czech Republic and spiritual encouragement is given. In his talk Fr. Janusz said that we cannot get into the souls of people without Our Lady. The Warsaw Comitium has 51 praesidia with a total membership of 438 and Praga Comitium has 42 praesidia with a membership of 474. On the previous day, fruitful discussions were held with some of the Concilium officers on the development of the Legion in Poland. Emphasis was put on extending the Legion in those areas where there is no Legion presence.

Tommy McCabe, President of Concilium, thanked the officers for coming to Ireland and wish the members of their councils many graces and blessings in their work for the Legion of Mary. Thanks were also expressed to Enda Dunleavy and Joby Stephens their correspondents.

Peregrinatio Pro Christo

Volunteers have now been assigned to the Peregrinatio Pro Christo projects. Some of the British projects are:
1. A team of 14 legionaries will work in Waterloo, Liverpool from 17 to 24 July;
2. A team of 12 legionaries will work in Birmingham from 24 to 31 July;
3. A team of 10 legionaries will work in Wigan, Liverpool from 31 July to 7 August; and
4. A team of 12 legionaries will work in Croydon from 7 to 14 August.

The British projects are going well and a Parish Priest wrote to the Committee expressing his gratitude for the great work done by the team in his parish.

Projects are also scheduled from Amsterdam, Holland to Belfast, Northern Ireland; Birmingham, England to Holland and Berlin, Germany; Scotland to Finland and Liverpool, England to Sweden.

Please pray for the success of all the projects and that all our legionaries will travel safely.

Annual Audits

"The Treasurer's books shall be audited annually. It is suggested that two members of the praesidium or Council (as the case may be), other than the Treasurer, be appointed to that duty." (Legion Handbook)

The attention of Council Officers is drawn to this requirement of the Handbook. Councils have the duty of seeing that this requirement is met. Curiae should ensure that the annual audit is carried out by each of its praesidia. Higher Councils should ensure that it is carried out by each of its affiliated praesidia and councils.

It is suggested that reference to the audit should be made in the annual reports of praesidia to their councils, and also during visitation of praesidia by councils. It seems desirable that the audit should be carried out at the same time each year. In the case of a praesidium it might be considered suitable to have it done when the annual report is being prepared.

It is also suggested that reference to the audit be made in the minutes of praesidia and councils and in reports of councils to higher councils. Correspondents are requested to draw the attention of councils to this requirement and to monitor minutes and reports with this in mind.

It is important that the audit should cover all income and expenditure and any monies on deposit and that the auditors verify, through current bank statements and/or actual cash in hand, the balance shown. The audit should also cover all financial transactions related to the works of praesidia, for example, sales of newspapers, books and magazines, clubs, Patricians, etc. and also financial transactions related to property, sales of Maria Legionis, Handbooks and other Legion literature, etc.

It is desirable that the auditors' report be presented at a meeting of the praesidium or council. It would be of assistance to all councils in carrying out their responsibilities toward the praesidia and councils affiliated to them if copies of the auditors' reports could be presented or forwarded to them.

"It would be impossible to associate the idea of wastefulness with Our Lady's housekeeping. Therefore it goes without saying that every Legionary body must handle its property and its funds watchfully and economically." (Legion Handbook).
Some Handbook Reflections


Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.
In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.
We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …
We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

All Legion Councils, praesidia and individual legionaries are encouraged to actively promote the Cause of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, through the widespread dissemination of the Frank Duff prayer leaflets, through the organising of Frank Duff prayer groups and the holding of Masses to commemorate his life.

If you need Frank Duff prayer leaflets, please contact the Concilium.

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND

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June 2010 Concilium News

Election of Concilium Assistant Secretary

Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Secretary of the Concilium as Liam Hayden had completed his second term. Two candidates were proposed and seconded and following a ballot, Pat O’Donoghue was elected.

Visit to Brazil

Tommy McCabe, Concilium President; Paddy Fay, Concilium Secretary; Tadgh McMahon and Pat O’ Donoghue, Concilium Correspondents, reported on their recent action packed 15 day visit to the Legion in Brazil. They met with the Apostolic Nuncio and a number of Archbishops and Bishops, visited Council meetings and held worthwhile meetings with officers from various councils, discussing many aspects including formation, the apostolate, extension of the Legion, administration, government and structure of the Legion Councils.

One of the high points of the visit was the two day annual national Legion Pilgrimage of approx. 80,000 legionaries to the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil. In Aparecida, they attended an inspiring conference of officers, including many of the Spiritual Directors, of the eight Senatus and one Regia of Brazil directly affiliated to the Concilium, and some other Regiae, one group of officers making a 55 hour bus journey to be there!

The eight Senatus: Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador, Sao Luis, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Ponta Grossa and their attached Regiae and the Regia of Brasilia have an active membership of more than 400,000.

Tommy McCabe, on behalf of the Concilium, thanked the legionaries of Brazil for their wonderful welcome.


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Concilium Allocutio June 2010

By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P.

Spiritual Director to the Legion of Mary

Confidentiality

The fourth and final item in the Standing Instruction is about confidentiality in the Legion system. Commitment to confidentiality inside and outside the Legion was an outstanding characteristic of our founder, Frank Duff. Bishops, priests, religious men and women and laity from all walks of life confided in him and besides giving them an attentive, sympathetic, listening heart they knew he could be trusted with their deepest secrets and concerns. His spirit of confidentiality was rooted in his absolute respect for the dignity of the human person and the demands of an authentic friendship. He was totally convinced that his whole apostolate and influence depended on his respect for the confidential nature of the information that he received from those who shared their very lives with him. He was outstandingly trustworthy.

The words he put in the Handbook are very strong: 'The Standing Instruction, read to members month after month, should bring home to them the all important place of confidentiality in the Legion's scheme of things. Lack of courage in a soldier is accounted shameful, but it is treachery to the Legion to repeat outside matters of a confidential nature learned or discussed at a praesidium meeting.' I think that one of the easiest ways of understanding the importance of confidentiality is to remember how we felt when we said something to a friend in confidence and discovered it had been shared with a third party against our wishes. Trust vanishes and friendships are destroyed. Or at least we will not share anything of importance with that person again.

The Handbook says that the Legion is akin to a family and its discussions should be like those of a family when it discusses family secrets. Intimate family concerns are not communicated outside the family circle. Where there is a lack of trust because of leaks on confidential matters the praesidium will sooner rather than later disintegrate. Members will cease to speak at the praesidium meeting and so problems will not be properly discerned and tackled. Fortunately, the record of the Legion in this matter is remarkable but we do need to be continually alert because human nature can be very weak in this area. The worst possible indictment of a Legionary would be the reputation for gossiping. But it would be just as bad if he were to be seen as someone who couldn't keep a confidence. The Handbook suggests such a person should be expelled from the Legion because of the damage to souls and the apostolate that he would cause.

Some rare cases may arise when a legionary is perplexed about the keeping of confidentiality or not. The Handbook advises that the Legionary should immediately have recourse to the Spiritual Director or if he is not available to some other competent advisor.

There are many other things that could be discussed about confidentiality that would extend this allocutio too much. We could compare the legionary commitment to confidentiality with that of doctors, counsellors, solicitors, journalists, and so many others. But the Handbook gives us all the basics required for this theme. We need to read it frequently because so much is at stake. As legionaries, we are responsible not only to ourselves and those we meet in the course of our Legion work but to Mary herself. We act in her name, as her representative so to fail in confidentiality we are betraying Mary to some extent and spoiling her name among people who may not know her. The spirit of Mary is our model and inspiration in this as in everything else. Let us turn to her and ask for a share in her discretion and respect for the secrets of the heart that we meet in the course of our apostolate and in all our meetings.

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CONCILIUM LEGIONIS MARIAE

BULLETIN JUNE 2010

REPORTS

Argentina and Brazil

ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Senatus: There is great excitement about the upcoming visit to Argentina by the Vice-Postulator Fr. Oliver Skelly and Concilium representatives, in connection with the Cause of The Servant of God, Alfie Lambe. The apostolate of home-to-home visitation is mentioned in all reports. One Curia recorded 2,559 homes visits in the year, many of these in barrios where the sects are active. Two Senatus officers made a weeklong visit to Mendoza Regia during which they had many meetings with the officers of the Regia and attached councils.

Salta Senatus: Members in this Senatus are actively promoting the Cause of Alfie Lambe, who worked extensively in their area. There is a good number of junior legionaries and young adult legionaries and both younger and older legionaries work well together. The Jujuy Regia gives special attention to the visitation of their praesidia and councils. Legionaries in Tucuman Regia give talks on the Sacraments, local feasts and the Miraculous Medal to staff and pupils in State schools.

Rosario Regia: Some works carried out in the Regia are visitation with the Pilgrim Statue by all praesidia, teaching catechism in preparation for the Sacraments - one praesidium had 22 baptised. Columban recruiting drives take place in all praesidia. The archbishop is very interested in the extension of the Legion and wants a praesidium in each parish. During 2009 the True Devotion to Mary was promoted. Legionaries in Parana Comitium promote Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in homes and teach catechism to inmates in prisons. Another Comitium reported the conversion of a Mormon family and a Jewish lady. It has a junior Curia made up of University students. Another Curia had 11 families return to the practice of the faith. Contact was made with young men who were on drugs and drink. Corrientes Regia's plans for this year include recruiting drives, described as "miraculous fishing"; promotion of The True Devotion to Mary, giving attention to "Back to Basics" and studying the putting into practice chapter 40 of the Handbook. They have a very active Junior Curia.

BRAZIL
Tommy McCabe, Concilium President; Paddy Fay, Concilium Secretary; Tadgh McMahon and Pat O' Donoghue, Concilium Correspondents, reported on their recent action packed 15-day visit to the Legion in Brazil. They met with the Apostolic Nuncio and a number of Archbishops and Bishops, visited Council meetings and held worthwhile meetings with officers from various councils, discussing many aspects including formation, the apostolate, extension of the Legion, administration, government and structure of the Legion Councils.

One of the high points of the visit was the two-day annual national Legion Pilgrimage of approximately 80,000 legionaries to the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of Brazil. In Aparecida, they attended an inspiring conference of officers, including many of the Spiritual Directors, of the eight Senatus and one Regia of Brazil directly affiliated to the Concilium, and some other Regiae, one group of officers making a 55-hour bus journey to be there.

The eight Senatus: Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador, Sao Luis, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Ponta Grossa and their attached Regiae and the Regia of Brasilia have an active membership of more than 400,000.

Tommy McCabe, on behalf of the Concilium, thanked the legionaries of Brazil for their wonderful welcome.

Europe

AUSTRIA
The report covers 8 Curiae and 9 Comitia attached to the Senatus. A new Korean Curia was established. Curia Floridsdorf closed and its 3 attached praesidia became part of the new Curia Vienna North East. Pilgrimages, retreats, Exploratio Dominicalis and extension efforts feature in reports. Curia Vienna South East started a Chinese praesidium with 6 members. Comitium Unter Dem Wienerwald has 13 Patrician groups and had 50 young people at a retreat. Sixty including 5 Priests attended the Senatus Winter School, which discussed the Priest and the Legion. The Senatus is promoting the consecration to Jesus through Mary for all of Austria.

Czech Republic: The seat of Comitium Bruenn has been moved to Curia Olmuetz because of a larger attendance at that council. Praesidia attached to both bodies have full officership as have the praesidia attached to Comitium Prague and Curia Klattau.

Slovakia: Curia Trnava has 8 praesidia with 71 active members. The officers have met with the new Archbishop Robers Bezak.

Comitium Zaeliz with 11 directly attached praesidia and 3 Curiae have started 3 new praesidia.

Moldova: Curia Chisinau has 9 senior and 3 junior praesidia. Legionaries give Catechesis to children from unbelieving families and held a 2-day retreat for legionaries.

Ukraine: The Legion here comprises one Comitium, 7 Curiae and some isolated praesidia. All are trying to spread the Legion. Some works of one Curia in Berditschev are (i) visitation of homes and preparation of people for reception of the Sacraments; (ii) validation of marriages; (iii) contact with non-believers; (iv) work with children in orphanages, especially Roma children.

BELARUS
The Comitium governs 8 directly attached praesidia and 11 Curiae, one of which is a junior Curia. The junior recollections in January had 50 in attendance. Instead of having just one Congress for all the Belarusian legionaries as in former years they agreed to hold congresses at Curia level. All the Curiae took the same theme for their Congress - The Legionary and the Eucharist - since January six of the Curiae have had successful Congresses with good numbers of Priests in attendance. Patricians are going well in Molodechno Curia. In this area also 2 women were dissuaded from going ahead with abortions. In Minsk they are spreading the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. Legionaries are invited to pray and sing at the funerals of Orthodox people. Fr. Jury, Comitium Spiritual Director, spoke at the Deanery Meeting in Grodno in February. Two new praesidia were set up in the period of this report and 1 closed due to inability of village people to get to the meetings.

CROATIA
Zagreb Regia: The Spiritual Director and President of the Regia had a very fruitful meeting with the Cardinal Archbishop who said he would like to have the Legion in every parish in the Diocese. At a Deanery Youth Meeting a presentation on the Legion was given by a couple of junior legionaries. Great efforts at extension are being made and 5 new praesidia were reported in the Archdiocese of Zagreb as well as some new praesidia in the attached councils. Some visible results from the legionary works were returns to the Sacraments after absences of from 10 to 50 years.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Two new praesidia were established in Sarajevo bringing the number now attached to the Curia to 6.
Slovenia: Ljubljana Curia has 6 praesidia attached and 793 Auxiliaries.

HUNGARY
Budapest Regia: There are 25 praesidia, 12 Curiae and 6 Comitia attached. Two of these Comitia are comprised of Hungarian speaking legionaries in Romania and one Hungarian-speaking Curia in Ukraine. During the period 7 new praesidia were set up. On 28 November '09, 12 legionaries took part in a special street contact project during which they encouraged people to make spiritual preparation for Christmas. 75 legionaries attended the Regia's Winter School. New Officers were recently elected to Szeged Comitium and are visiting their attached praesidia and Curiae.

LATVIA
The Comitium and the 3 attached Curiae reported very good attendances at their Acies ceremonies including a large number of auxiliaries. The Legion in Latvia has suffered a very great loss with the death of the Comitium Spiritual Director - friend and supporter of the Legion from its inception - Monsignor Anton Smelters, R.I.P.

LITHUANIA
Kaunas Comitium: A new praesidium with 5 members and 20 Auxiliaries was established in Kaunas. Some items mentioned in praesidia reports were return of a man to the Sacraments after a lapse of 50 years and the reception into the church of 2 young boys whose parents are unbelievers. Reaching out to youth was discussed and resulted in the setting up of a Sunday School. The new Comitium in Telsiai Diocese has 12 praesidia and 2 Curiae attached. Extension efforts are being made. Works include home visitation, some results of which are return of a married couple to the Sacraments after 20 years and the organising of Rosary Prayer Groups.

POLAND
Lublin Regia: Extension is ongoing with the establishing of a new Curia in Zabrzu. Among the praesidia directly attached to the Regia is a praesidium of seminarians who visit the sick and teach catechism to blind children. In addition to the usual legionary works, contact with addicts and Jehovah Witnesses feature in reports. Some results from home visitation by legionaries of Zamosc Comitium were: 19 First Holy Communions; 13 Confirmations; 11 couples received the Sacrament of Marriage and 78 persons went to Confession. Warsaw: Our Lady of Mercy Comitium reports the setting up of a new Curia in Szczecin. Our Lady of Victories Curia Praga held its first meeting as Comitium in September '09 with jurisdiction for the Dioceses of Warsaw-Praga, Drohiczyn and Elblag.

ROMANIA
Bucharest Curia: governs the Legion in the Romanian speaking part of the country. There are 16 praesidia attached all with strong membership. Two are in Northern Romania. Works are selected homes visited and special cases passed on by the Parish Priest.

ASIA
Singapore Senatus: Praesidia in Singapore pray at funerals. Tertiary Curia reports on lunchtime Rosaries on campus, assisting Catholic student apostolic activities, and having a booth at a recruiting fair. Nursing home visitation is carried out, the sick are visited and help is given in cleaning and feeding patients. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Curia celebrated its Golden Jubilee. The Korean Curia provides childcare services at Mass, also help catechism classes and do Mass time traffic duty.

Kuala Lumpur Regia: An Officers Formation Day took place in February and 69 Legionaries speaking English, Tamil and Chinese were in attendance. The Regia comprises one Comitium, 15 Curiae and 13 directly attached praesidia.

Hong Kong Comitium: Sunday school is mentioned as a point of recruitment of junior members. Praesidia and Curia reports focused on good attendances.

Taiwan Senatus: The Senatus has celebrated its 60th anniversary, it was an occasion of encouraging prayer throughout the whole church in Taiwan. The Priests are very supportive of the Legion and continually encourage spiritual growth and expansion. Since February 4 new praesidia have been formed. A praesidium in Taipei invited children to become auxiliaries. Attention is given to praesidia in remote areas; through the efforts of these remote praesidia 97 people have been baptized mainly aboriginal people.

JAPAN
Osaka Senatus: The three highest councils Osaka Senatus, Nagasaki Regia and Tokyo Regia had a meeting on April 10th at which matters of common interest were discussed. Apostolate in reports included catechesis, ecumenical dialogue, visitation of the lapsed, lending books and DVDs to the parish and sending cards to Auxiliaries on Saints Feast Day. Mention is made of an elderly lady who was visited over a long period being baptised, it was also reported that a praesidium organises recycling of aluminum cans to provide wheelchairs for African children, another praesidium organises others in the production of soap from recycled oils.

INDONESIA
Jakarta Senatus: Reports include teaching catechumens and Sunday school (under the supervision of the Parish Priest), preparation for Holy Communion and Confirmation, hostel type work for victims of domestic violence and prison visitation. Mention is also made of bible study and the theme of a forthcoming Congress is 'Expansion'.

Malang Senatus: Two important visitations were carried out recently: (i) to Kupang Regia in West Timor from 26th February to 1st March and a new Comitium was set up; (ii) to Indonesian Papua from 6th to 15th May, the purpose was to find out the state of the Legion and to promote extension. Senatus Officers carried out both visitations. Works recorded include the visitation to Catholics to encourage Mass attendance, visitation to the sick, parish pastoral work and helping with 'family welfare' work. The Senatus is holding a national conference in July.

KOREA
Seoul Senatus: The Spiritual Director has been focusing on the Back to Basics theme of Concilium Allocutios. Incheon Regia gained 73 senior praesidia and lost 12 junior praesidia during the year, they gained 857 auxiliaries, 50,355 people were invited to the Church and 6,432 were baptised. Of 1,256 persons taking a correspondence course, 139 were baptised. Suwon Regia gained 100 senior praesidia and one junior praesidium and gained 2,223 auxiliaries. Out of 107,145 people invited to the Church, 11,559 were baptised. Euijeongbu Regia recorded an increase of 18 senior and 5 junior praesidia and Western Seoul Regia increased by 11 senior and 4 junior praesidia. Cheongju Regia had an increase of 5 praesidia. A praesidium attached to the Senatus recorded 5 baptisms.

Gwangju Senatus: Reports from Regiae show thousands of people invited to the Church and many invited to receive the Sacraments.

Daegu Senatus: The celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Daegu are being planned and the acting Bishop has asked the Legion to be the core laity organization in making the preparation for the anniversary. Reports show many baptisms, a group of military cadets who were not recruited by the Legion but were given care of by the Legion from their dogma classes until they were baptised.

AFRICA

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Bangui Senatus: The raising of provincial councils to a higher status following formation sessions for officers has been receiving attention culminating in the inauguration of Bangui Regia as Senatus for the country. Reports include conversions, families reconciled and abortions prevented, formation of juniors and meetings for auxiliaries. A young legionary saved a boy from drowning who turned out to be a Chieftain's son.

CONGO
Bukavu Senatus: The minutes show hundreds of new legionaries, families reconciled, marriages regularised and returns to the sacraments. Negotiations on the printing of the Handbook in Swahili have now resumed. There is a new Comitium in Kalonge.

Butembo Senatus: Two representatives of the Senatus visited an area in the extreme northwesterly corner of the Congo with statistically the greatest need for evangelisation and returned with proposals for strengthening legionary structures there. Reports from the Comitia in the Butembo Archdiocese show attention to all aspects of spiritual need - instruction, catechising, and regularisation of marriages and also contact with the pygmy people.

Kinshasa Senatus: The Senatus has 13 directly attached praesidia, 8 Curiae, 14 Comitia and 5 Regiae. Statistics show a total membership of 32,000 but this covers only the Archdiocese of Kinshasa. The Senatus visited the Regia of Kikwit and is due a further visit to Kisangani.
Kananga Senatus: With regular communication still in deficit, a neighbouring council was able to report the Legion working normally in the Kasai province.

RWANDA
Kigali Senatus: Minutes indicate a variety of works from laundry to visits to the sick, the elderly, the bereaved, advising orphans who have to care for younger siblings and run the home, helping sort out irregular marriage situations, recruiting catechumens and conducting meetings for auxiliary members.

BURUNDI
Gitega Senatus: A new praesidium has been added to the Senatus, also a new Curia and 6 new Comitia. Promotion of Montfort's True Devotion through enrolment in the "Friends of Montfort Fraternity" is a recurring feature.

MAURITIUS
Regia of St. Denis: The Legion of Mary is celebrating its 70th birthday and reports from attached councils include organizing retreats, Eucharistic Processions and Stations of the Cross, visitation of homes and hospitals, bringing Holy Communion to the sick and aged. Legion outings for senior members are organised and the Junior Curia is to have a special 'soirée' with Monsignor Piat.

RÉUNION
Works are home and hospital visitation, helping the Priest in Church e.g. Eucharistic ministry, arrange choir, teaching of Catechism, saying of the Rosary for deceased in mortuaries and visit the bereaved in their homes. There is a junior Curia attached. A junior praesidium was raised to senior level in January 2010. Works of junior members are home visitation with senior members and visitation of the elderly and sick in nursing homes.

MADAGASCAR
As a result of extension and the permission of a Parish Priest, five praesidia were set us. A sixth is in formation. The Legion is now in seven of the twenty Dioceses.

Visit by Senatus Officers of Strasbourg, France

The Officers of the Senatus of Strasbourg, France, Nicole Halfinger President, Lea Maurer Vice-President, Marie-Louise Knittel Secretary and Suzanne Hermann Treasurer, visited the Concilium. During the meeting on Saturday 19 June with Concilium Officers suggestions on the development of the Legion in their area were discussed. They also attended the Concilium meeting on the Sunday.

In her address to the Concilium, The President, Nicole Halfinger, said their Senatus is responsible for the East of France and have 123 active members and 436 auxiliaries. The Senatus takes care of the formation of its members by organising days of formation, recollection and retreats. Works in the Senatus are home-to-home visitation, visitation of the sick, bereaved and encourage families to enroll their children for preparation of the Sacraments. In January each year French-speaking legionaries meet at Strasbourg to plan for the future. She expressed her thanks and appreciation to Orla O'Sullivan, their former correspondent.

Tommy McCabe, Concilium President, thanked the Strasbourg officers for their visit, which was very fruitful.

Election of Concilium Assistant Secretary

Nominations were sought for the office of Assistant Secretary of the Concilium as Liam Hayden had completed his second term. Two candidates were proposed and seconded and following a ballot, Pat O'Donoghue was elected.

The Servant of God Frank Duff Commemoration Ceremony
Glasnevin Cemetery - 6th June 2010.

The Annual Commemoration Ceremony for the Servant of God, Frank Duff, took place in Glasnevin Cemetery on Sunday 6th June 2010. There was an attendance of approximately 280. Fr. Padraig O'Cochlain, Chaplain to the Legion of Mary, gave an inspiring and uplifting address using the theme 'Let the children come to Him'. Fr. Liam O'Cuiv led us in the Rosary and Legion prayers and Jack Fearon acted as Master of Ceremonies. Afterwards there was a procession to the graveside of Frank Duff while reciting the Rosary and singing hymns. Prayer for the beatification of The Servant of God, Frank Duff, was included in this ceremony.

Prayer for the Beatification of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.

In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.

We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith.
With confidence we beg you that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before you …

We ask too that if it be in accordance with your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name,
through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

This prayer can be obtained from the Legion of Mary website
http://www.legion-of-mary.ie

Favours attributed to the intercession of
The Servant of God, Frank Duff

Should be reported to:

Legion of Mary,
De Montfort House,
Morning Star Avenue,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7, IRELAND

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