Allocutio at January 2016 Concilium Meeting by Fr. Bede McGregor OP

The Legion and the Miraculous Medal (2)
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At our last meeting we introduced the topic of the place of the Miraculous Medal in the spirituality and apostolate of the Legion. We recalled the words of Our Lady to St. Catherine Laboure: ‘Have a medal struck according to this pattern. Those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around their necks. There will be abundant graces for those who have confidence.’ It is good for us to remember the simple fact that it is Mary herself who designed the medal in all its detail and encourages us to engage in the promotion of it as one of our apostolates. It is a sacramental that gives us a constant and lovely reminder of the deep bond that we have with Our Lady as our Mother and all that it implies.

We earnestly suggested that the legionary not only distribute the medal and encourage people to wear it, but also we must communicate the biblical messages given by the medal in simple symbolic language. So we considered three fundamental truths about Mary found in Sacred Scripture. First we pointed to Mary as the Woman of Genesis. It is important for us legionaries to be steeped in this image of Mary, the reality of the spiritual warfare and the conviction that victory comes through Mary. Secondly, we spoke of the image of Mary as the Mediatrix of all graces. We need to be able to explain in simple terms to those we contact the place of Mary in the salvation of each one of us and of all mankind. Thirdly, we spoke about the wonderful power of Mary’s intercession expressed in the prayer she gives us on the medal; ‘O Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee.’ Perhaps when trying to explain this prayer encircled around the medal and which is so much part of the prayer life of the legionary, we might introduce the prayer we call the Memorare. So often as we do our weekly visitation of homes and in our other contact work we meet individuals and families too that seem to have insoluble problems that we have no answer for. It is a golden opportunity to give them the Memorare and explain the all-powerful intercession of Mary.

But today I want to pick out three major themes expressed symbolically on the reverse side of the medal. The first thing that strikes us is the large ‘M’. This signifies Mary as Mother and Mediatrix of all graces. At the moment when Mary said to the Archangel Gabriel: ‘Let it be done to me according to thy word,’ her whole identity and mission changed for all eternity. She became a mother at that instant: the Mother of God and the Mother of each one of us and of all mankind. This is not some kind of pious effusion or human projection, or some kind of mythology, this is radical reality. This is a sublime truth. Everything that we can find or think of in a good mother is found in Mary in a super eminent and super abundant way. One of the most compelling reasons for hope in a Christian and especially a legionary is the Assumption of Our Lady. The dogma of our faith means that we have a Mother in heaven who is also the Mother of God, who pleads for us and does everything that a good mother would do for her child. We legionaries really need to communicate the truth about Mary as Mother both of God and us. It would be a great sadness to deprive those who do not really know these truths about Mary because of a lack of interest or apostolic zeal on our part.

We have already treated of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces on many other occasions, but let me just reiterate the basic truth that every grace that each one of us needs on our journey towards heaven can be obtained through Mary our Mother.

The next thing we see on the reverse side of the medal is the Cross. This of course is the centre of our faith and the source of every grace that Mary distributes according to God’s will. Every Christian seeks to say with Paul: ‘May I never boast except in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.’ (Gal.6:14). On the Cross together with the Resurrection the whole work of our redemption is accomplished. Mary leads us to this great mystery of our faith. This gives us the opportunity in our apostolate of the Miraculous Medal to speak about the Eucharist since it is the paschal mystery made really present among us. The Mass matters absolutely and there is no greater apostolate than to lead someone to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion. The Eucharist is a major teaching of the Miraculous Medal as signified by the Cross atop an altar table.

Lastly, we see the symbols of the two Hearts of Jesus and Mary. We all know from the Handbook and the example of Frank Duff our Founder of the fundamental importance of these two Hearts in the personal interior life of every legionary and in all our apostolic work. But why are they so important? Well, because the heart is the symbol that tells us the most important thing about God and Our Lady. First let us speak about the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The heart is the symbol of the truth that is the essence of the joy of the Gospel, namely God is love and loves us infinitely, personally and passionately and in fact it is metaphysically impossible for God not to love us. Many of us may sometimes find it very hard to believe in this unconditional love of God, a love radically undeserved and totally unmerited. But it is the absolute truth and we must continuously try to live our lives in its ambience. It was manifested in the pierced Heart of Christ on the Cross and in many private revelations throughout the history of the Church lest we forget it. Mercy is another name for love especially for those of us most mired in misery and recent Popes have stressed this truth about the mercy of God. As Pope Francis continuously says: ‘Mercy is the name of God.’ We too must make the truth of the Sacred Heart the fundamental source of all our apostolic and pastoral outreach. The Immaculate Heart of Mary is a mirror image of the Heart of Jesus in so many ways. We will have to defer this topic for another Allocutio. I only hope these two Allocutios will renew our love for the Miraculous Medal and encourage us to open all its treasures to others. Amen.