Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

______JULY 2021

16th JULY 2021 – FEAST OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

[On the 16th of July] we celebrate Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the patronal feast of the Carmelite Order, who take their name from Mount Carmel in Palestine.

In the book of Kings, this is where the prophet Elijah challenged 450 prophets of Baal to prove the divinity of their God. It was of course Elijah who showed the supremacy of the True God of Israel. Carmelite tradition suggests that a community of Jewish hermits had lived at that site from the time of Elijah until the Carmelites were founded there in the late 12th century.

The early Christian hermits of Mount Carmel dedicated a chapel to Mary. Soon, community members were known as the “Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”

In the early 13th Century, members of the Carmelites moved to England where they became mendicant friars. Legend states that in a vision to an English Carmelite named Saint Simon Stock, Our Lady gave the brown Carmelite scapular.

The scapular was originally a large apron like garment that would be placed over the Carmelite’s good clothes. And while they would be out in the fields working, the scapular would protect the good clothes from getting dirty. It is a powerful symbol of the protection of our Lady, for we have received the “good clothing” of our baptism, and she protects us from the dirt and evil of the world, helping us to keep the dignity of our baptismal garment unstained through this pilgrimage of the Christian life on earth.

We do well always to show our love for Our Lady and to entrust ourselves to her protection. Yet, Wearing the Brown Scapular is not an automatic guarantee of salvation. It is not a magical charm, nor is it an excuse to live in a way contrary to the teachings of the Church. It is a sacramental which has been approved by the Church for over seven centuries and is a sign of one's decision to follow Jesus as did Mary, the perfect model of all the disciples of Christ.

If you have not worn a scapular for a few years, today is a very fitting day to begin again.

The Scapular reminds us that we are to be like Mary to be totally dedicated to God. More than anyone else, it is she who can help us to follow her Son to love him and serve him and live for his glory and the salvation of souls. Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Pray for Us.

Excerpts from http://fatherkevinestabrook.blogspot.com/2013/07/homily-july-16-our-lady-of-mount-carmel.html

At the Senatus Meeting on 12th June 2021, the election of Br. Ronnie David as North Curia President 2nd term was ratified. We thank Br. Ronnie David for serving again.

Honouring the late Eminence Cornelius Cardinal Sim and his involvement in the Legion of Mary in Brunei

The Legion of Mary was inaugurated in Brunei on 20th April 1954 during the time of foreign missionary priests. Late Cardinal Sim was ordained as priest on the 26th November 1989. In 1991 when most of the foreign priests were repatriated, the late Cardinal Sim single-handedly managed the three parishes with the help of the laity. He took the role of the Spiritual Director for the praesidia during this time. As a Spiritual Director he was much involved and was very supportive of the Legion. All throughout his priestly vocation, he was a great administrator, a source of encouragement and was supportive of the activities and programs involving Legion of Mary such as evangelization, trainings of legionaries, overseas outreach programs, migrants’ outreach, retreats, attention, and care for the sick, the aged and the dying, tasks given by the parishes in collaboration of its mission just to mentioned a few. During his time, a total of three curiae were inaugurated. They are the English Curia, Filipino Curia and Chinese Curia. The English Curia is made up of six praesidia, including two Bahasa praesidia, the Filipino Curia has seven praesidia including 3 junior praesidia and there are five praesidia under the Chinese Curia. This is made possible because of the support and approval of late Cardinal Sim. On one occasion during his talk via Zoom, late Cardinal Sim identified himself as a member of the Legion of Mary. This reflected his love for the Legion. On 17th April 2021, he personally contacted the current English Curia President Sr Gilna Ong, expressing his full appreciation to the untiring services of legionaries in the three parishes of Brunei. On 7th May 2021 at 11.05am, before his departure to Taiwan for his treatment, late Cardinal Sim’s last message to English Curia President Gilna read “Thank you for all your prayers, God bless you always. I will be missing the place” (the place he was referring was the church).

Eternal rest grant unto Cornelius Cardinal Sim, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

Talk by Rev. Fr. Ferdinand Purnomo OCD: Ignite and Shine Through Mary on 26th May 2021

This year happens to be the 200 years anniversary of the Catholic Church in Singapore, Catholic200SG, and we are also blessed with the occasion of the 100 years anniversary of the Legion of Mary coming up on 7th September. These two beautiful occasions …I would like to offer my little contribution … reflection on how to ignite and shine through Mary. 2

Because of limited time I just want to focus on two things: 1. Imitating Mary’s faith 2. Imitating Mary’s discipleship

I must say first that when I was recruited into the Legion of Mary it was the idea of lay apostolate that really captivated me and captured my attention. But at that time I remember it was more of my friendship with the other legionaries who recruited me and also my own enthusiasm as a growing up teenager and young man and I wanted to be able to make a difference, to contribute, to try something new because of my youth.

Ignite and Shine through Mary - first we have the ignite word. We can take inspiration from St. Catherine of Siena’s letter to Stefano Maconi (L368)… “If you are what you ought to be, you will set fire to all Italy [the world]” but the context is changed to universal or general. But I think it still captures what she wanted to say to Stefano Maconi that if you are what you ought to be, you will set fire i.e. ignite. We are not like the emperor Nero who set fire to Rome in a destructive manner. It is not that kind of fire. This is a fire of the Holy Spirit that gives life, that communicates salvation, that unites. This is the fire of the Holy Spirit whom we have just celebrated last Sunday at Pentecost.

And the (word) shine is of course Jesus himself. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” Notice that you are the light of the world… not, you should be, not you ought to be, not you will be, but you are the light of the world. The immediate context was that Jesus was addressing not Christian. He was addressing a group of Jewish men. The Jewish people have been called by God, form by God into a people from the very beginning when God gave his promise to Abraham. And the promise of God to Abraham included the blessings of all the families of the people, of the world…. That is God’s intention from the very beginning. That the people are forming through the descendants of Abraham will be the means by which God bless the whole world. They were never meant to be an isolated people. That is why the people of Israel is called the light of the world because they are supposed to show the world how it is to live in covenantal relationship with God as (in) God as the father, we as the children, in a family relationship, having this unique intimacy which the world does not know. In that sense the people of Israel are the light of the world and so when Jesus calls his disciples he is just reminding them of what they have been called by God from much earlier that “you are the light of the world.” So that continues until today that we are still as the body of Christ.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.” (Matthew 5:14-15 ESV) St. Therese interpreted this phrase in the context of community life, so that was in terms of charity and she said that the charity must not be hidden and must not only be for certain people but to all in the house - must give light to all in the house. I think the Legion of Mary system also adopts the same principle that no work is excluded as long as we can bring back the scattered children of God, bring them into contact with Christ intimacy with God than it should be attempted.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others,so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 ESV)…Legionaries are meant to be leaven in the community, in the society rather than being different... To some extend their works could be hidden but yet it still gives light to those who are beneficiaries of the work…a light that shines before them.

1. Imitating Mary’s Faith

I remember participating in a (Legion) function and there was a game like a quiz. One of the questions was “What is the top quality of Mary that we should imitate?” … Of course it is the faith. And where do we get this? From Chapter 3 of the (Legion) Handbook, “Spirit of the Legion”

Above all her faith - what exactly is her faith? We get the clue to the answer from these phrases - “not of impossibility” and “can do all things.” These two phrases allude to two verses in the Bible and that is what Angel Gabriel said to Mary that “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37 ESV) and what St. Paul said “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13 ESV). The Legion does not speak of impossibility because it can do all things. So we look at these two phrases in more detail especially the first one because that is the direct contact with Mary. So we get the clue of what Mary’s faith is like and that is what we need to imitate.

Before we look at the passage in the Annunciation, I want to point out another important clue that are found in the Legion Tessera and that is the phrases ‘Beata Quae Credidit’ in Latin. These are the words of Elizabeth when Mary visited her cousin. And what did the Lord speak to Mary? Angel Gabriel said to Mary at the Annunciation: [1st part] “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [2nd part] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:30-33 ESV)

1st part …I used to wonder what’s so great about the faith of Mary in believing in the incarnation of God that she would conceive this child to be named Jesus whereas Zachariah earlier in the gospel did not believe and then was in the sense punished (as) he was muted. Just by listening to the English Lectionary did not give us enough clues to understand the difference. The Mass Lectionary on the 19th of December that’s when Zachariah’s reading was proclaimed, he asked, “How can I be sure of this?” Whereas the next day Mary’s account of Annunciation she asked, “But how can this come about?” Now, even if (both) the wordings are not identical, if you look at it, compare the two, they look very similar, right? Actually, there is a difference. The difference is apparent, clearer when we look at the bible directly rather than the Mass Lectionary... Zachariah actually asked, “How shall I know this?” - What you have just said, how shall I know? That indicates doubt in the possibility of what the Angel Gabriel has just said to him that his wife would bear a son. Whereas Mary’s question is ‘how will this be’, not ‘how can this be’ – (there) is very big difference. ‘How can this be’ is asking possibility whereas ‘how will this be’ is asking the unfolding, how it progresses, how it will come about. The fact that it will come about, she accepted but how it will be since she is a virgin. So she is asking the angel to elaborate on the plan… She believed in the words of the angel and that is one fundamental difference.

2nd part… “he shall be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.” That means he will be a king, and as a king he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. He will be a king forever. That is the statement of the annunciation from Angel Gabriel. This is in part of what Mary believed in. She has to believe in that as she was looking at her own son brutally wounded and dying a horrible death on the cross. She had to believe not only as she was cuddling the baby (Jesus) or when she presented the baby at the temple but here at the crucifixion, at the foot of the cross she has to believe that “he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32-33 ESV) And yet as she was looking at her son dying on the cross and eventually dead - she believed. That is her faith. That is what make her great. Not just the birth of Jesus. Unfortunately, we don’t hear this during Easter or during Lent. We always hear the phrase in the context of Christmas, but this phrase is actually fulfilled on the cross because the cross of 4

Jesus is the throne of glory. Because Jesus says when I am lifted up I will draw all men or all people to myself. “When I am lifted up” is when he is on the cross. And he asked the Father “glorify your son” and the Father said “I had glorified it and I will glorify it again”. This is the glorification of Jesus. This is where he reigns as king and this requires faith as the human eyes cannot see that. Mary has to believe in this even if she has to witness the fulfillment of Simeon – “this child is appointed […] for a sign that is opposed” (Luke 2:34 ESV) and “a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Luke 2:35 ESV). She believed. So this is the faith of Mary we need to imitate. Which is why nothing will be impossible with God (Luke 1:37 ESV). That is one of the last thing that Angel Gabriel said to Mary and she accepted that nothing will be impossible with God. As Jesus was dying on the cross she still believe it is not impossible, his kingdom will have no end.

The 2nd part of the Spirit of the Legion about being able to all things - “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13 ESV) . This was expressed by St. Paul. In Christ he was a son of Mary. Remember the Tessera has this other phrase ‘Mulier Ecce Filius Tuus. Ecce Mater Tua.’ This is the moment when Christ Jesus gave Mary to the care of his beloved disciple. We call him John… She is our mother because Jesus has given her to his beloved disciple, and he said to the disciple “behold your mother.”

Paul, one of the children of Mary, said “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13 ESV) The immediate context was probably more the physical sense sometimes he had food to eat, sometimes he did not have food to eat, sometimes he had freedom to preach, sometimes he was imprisoned, sometimes he was able to collaborate with others, sometimes he was betrayed. In another place we would say he was constantly under pressure because of threats from everywhere, from inside and from outside – enemies outside as well as false friends inside the church.

So that is no longer just physical but also social psychological and I would say it applies to all levels i.e. physical, psychological and spiritual where the personal, or ecclesial as a church where each baptized person is a member of the church is within this bigger circle. Being “plenty and hunger, abundance and need” Of course when there is plenty, there is abundance, there is no problem. There is more problem, more difficult, more challenge when there is hunger, there is a need, when there is a lack of goodness.

The beloved disciple, the son of Mary given by Jesus himself said in his letter which give us a clue that the situation even in the early Church was always precarious. The Church was always faced with grave challenges. The immediate context was groups of heretics who denied Jesus is the Christ including the Jews who rejected Jesus and eventually rejected the Christians. Christians were expelled from synagogues. They were forced to form a separate entity otherwise they would have just transformed Judaism into Christianity. Because they were rejected, they had to be separated. Even within the church who believe in some association with Jesus but who deny his divinity or his humanity, they are all kinds of Christological heresy that has come up in the history of Jesus not only during the time of the apostle John. But what 5 he said still holds true – denying Jesus as the Christ is the antichrist. So let what you heard from the beginning that means what was handed down from Jesus to the apostles and then the apostles preached that is what you heard from the beginning that is always the point of reference to which the church must go back to make sure that the Church remains faithful to Jesus Christ. Whereas people down the century especially in the modern times are inching for novelty. They want to change to the point that sometimes there is disconnection from what was heard from the beginning.

This is another one from chapter 4. “…he who is in you…” is the Holy Spirit. “ …he who is in the world” is the spirit of the world or the evil spirit or the devil. Even this is a revelation that we as children of Mary have to accept and believe the Holy Spirit that has been given to us and dwell in us if we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us will remain with us is greater than he who is in the world, the master of the world - the devil. Despite what we see, just like Mary believe despite seeing Jesus dying and eventually dead - she believed. That is the type of faith we need to inherit from Mary.

“They are from the world; therefore, they speak from the world, and the world listens to them” – this is a clue if the world loves you there is danger there. “Whereas we are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error” – he who is in you is the Spirit if truth who is stronger, who is greater than the spirit of error (the devil). So opposition from the world is to be expected because the world does not listen to us. Whereas if we speak like the world speaks, then the world will listen, will accept. This is also happening in the Church today.

Nowadays there are also people teaching a kind of prayer, a kind of meditation where you do not think of Jesus Christ, of his incarnation, you must blank your mind, there is no incarnation, as if Jesus never came in the flesh, as if his flesh has no significance or whatsoever. That is the deceiver, that is the antichrist. It is still there today.

Back to Paul, because I want to go to a more recent example. From Romans chapter 1 regarding people who opposed. This is always between those who follow wisdom and those who reject wisdom. Wisdom is God ultimately.

People who reject God lose their intellectual powers actually. They can make assertions that are quite absurd like scientists who accepted the physical world including the Big Bang for example and yet rejected God who is the cause of all that. They will say things like the Big Bang happens spontaneously. That is the most unscientific thing people can say. They would say things that must be taken on faith basically because they cannot possibly proof it or even demonstrate. They become futile in their thinking. They become foolish. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…When people reject God, God will give them up to what they want. That is the expression of God’s wrought. Whereas God’s mercy is when he gives us what we need even though it is painful. When we want to do our own thing then eventually God will let us do… leading us to destruction. God gave them up to dishonourable passions …penalty for their error– it cannot be more explicit than this and yet what do

6 we see? On 11th of May over 100 Catholic priests in Germany had offered blessings to the same sex couples going against the decree by Vatican and of course the catechism and the faith of the church of 2000 years. They defy God’s law publicly. But thank God, two days ago (24th May), Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Műller defended God’s law by saying that pseudo blessings of homosexually active male or female couples is theologically speaking blasphemy. When we see these things happening there are great concerns because the church nowadays is not quite united. They are so many factions and people openly defying the church teachings and so on. They seem to be getting away with that, so it is a big concern. There are people who can then lose their faith in God. Many people have left the church because of these scandals … and it is a pity because they need not lose their faith. Some people even say that this is the end of the church after 2000 years. You can listen to Fr Casey Cole OFM who commented on the sentiment of many Catholics who are gripped by fear and despair that everything is going wrong and at the brink of irreparable collapse. Such fear and despair show a lack of faith that God is always in control.

On the same line Pope Francis also gave a video message to the conference in Avila, Spain, to mark the 50th anniversary of the declaration of St. Teresa of Avila as Doctor of the Church - in 1917 together with St. Catherine of Sienna, the first two women Doctor of the Church – and he said in his message that the great temptation is to give in to disillusionment, to resignation, to the dismal and unfounded presage that everything will go wrong. [On the other hand,] he recommends the way of St. Teresa of Avila. She lived in the 16th century just after the Protestant Reformation where there were even wars between Catholics and Protestants. People were killed, murdered, churches destroyed, tabernacles smashed, Blessed Sacrament desecrated… in many ways worse than today and yet St. Teresa of Avila did not think the church was coming to an end. She did whatever was in her little power to reform the church from inside - by committing herself to the Lord in prayer. Prayer opens us up, allow us to taste that God is great, that He is beyond the horizon, that God is good, that He loves us, and that history has not escaped from His hands. Just as Mary believed that Jesus is the king established by God in the line of David and his kingdom will have no end. She believed even though Jesus is already dead. She believed that God is still in control, that history has not escaped from His hands. She believed. So I think this is the message too from the pope which we need to take despite whatever grievances we may have against him for other reasons. This is still true because Mary also did the same. So imitating Mary’s faith is what we need to do.

2. Imitating Mary’s Discipleship

This was in the 1st reading on Monday for Mary, Mother of the Church, Genesis chapter 3 (reading) and John chapter 19 was the gospel. I find it very interesting that the two passages of that one day appeared together on the Tessera. That is alluded to the object of the Legion of Mary which is the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by prayer and active co-operation, under ecclesiastical guidance, in Mary’s and the Church’s work of crushing the head of the serpent and advancing the reign of Christ. So the reign of Christ will last forever. But we have been brought in to be active agents, to be active cooperators in this work. And that is the exciting part about the Legion of Mary because it provides us as the organized means of participating. What can you do as lay people?

The Legion of Mary is a good system. In the context of discipleship of Mary, what can we learn about discipleship from the gospel? The most fundamental thing is what appears in the gospel of Mark when Jesus appointed the 12 whom he also named apostles so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach (Mark 3:14 ESV). There are two stages in this order i.e. that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach. This is where I go back to my experience when I was excited to join the Legion of Mary but …with very little minimal time with the Lord although I guess for most people this two go hand in hand, in parallel. For St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Sienna, Padre Pio, and many saints, they had a period of live of several years when they were just with the Lord, in intimate pray, being formed by Jesus and then 7 comes the public ministry when they are sent out and they become active. St Catherine of Sienna and St Teresa of Avila were like that. Jesus himself was like that. He had his 30 years of hidden life and only 3 years of public ministry. He was not wasting his time by being in hidden life for 30 years. There is a lot of wisdom from his own life from his own example… so the two must go together. What I want to say is that this part cannot be forgotten. If we just jump into the water or into the field and try to preach the gospel, try to bring people back to the church, try to make contacts and so on, then that’s not enough. We might not have enough of ourselves to give. We need to be with Jesus, with the Lord so that he might form us. If this cannot be done one after another then the two must go together but definitely cannot be omitted. Being disciples, we might have the question in what sense can we imitate Mary’s discipleship since she was the mother of Jesus and the disciples, the apostles, and other people? Well St. Augustine in his sermon quoted this message from Mt 12:49-50 “This is my mother and these are my brothers; and whoever does the will of my Father who sent me, that person is a brother to me and a sister and a mother”…and then later on St. Augustine said “… it means more for Mary to have been a disciple of Christ than to have been a mother of Christ” – amazing statement! So although we give Mary the title Mother of God, and that’s the first title the church recognize formally of Mary, yet her greatness principally did come from her motherhood but from her discipleship. She was greater for being a disciple of Christ than from being a mother of Christ because she did the will of the Father. That’s the point. She was not just being a mother who gave birth to Jesus but if she did not follow him after that to the cross than she would just be a mother of Jesus, a mother of God, yes but then she would not have been a disciple, then would not be an example for us. But she did, she went all the way to the cross and that’s what made her a disciple of Christ.

Imitating Mary’s faith and imitating Mary’s discipleship and being disciples of Mary, we need to follow those 2 stages i.e. to be with the Lord and that he might send us out to preach. Formation is important. The Handbook (Chapter 37) has many ideas of work but there is an Appendix 10 that is on the faith formation (titled) Study of The Faith provided for in the (Legion) system…I think the formation of faith needs to be looked at too.

Senatus Allocutio June 2021 by Rev. Fr. Adrian Yeo Senatus Spiritual Director

The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. What are we actually celebrating about Mary today? We are celebrating her as the one whose heart burns with love for God. Her heart is one that is always in love with God. We see in Mary in the Scriptures… whatever we can learn from her in the Scriptures, we see that she loves God. She is one who prays. She is one who read Scripture, because... like just now, the Magnificat we prayed comes from various parts of the Old Testament. So Mary is one who loves God and out of her love for God, she prays to God.

And not only she prays to God, again what we learn in Scripture, Mary thinks of others. Mary, firstly thought of her cousin Elizabeth and she went to help her in her pregnancy. Mary in the wedding feast of Cana went to Jesus and said, "They have no wine." So Mary thinks of others. The love of God is not only just praying, praying, praying, but the love of God leads her to love others as well. We are asked to follow (Mary) firstly in these two: • our heart must burn out of love for God, • our heart must burn out of love for others. So for us as Legionaries and all, we must try to imitate Mary in that sense, this burning for love of God and neighbour.

Another thing which we can follow Mary, when we speak about her heart, is her heart ponders and reflects on the happenings of her life. We read in the Gospels when Jesus was lost, Mary kept it in a heart... and the various things... Mary just kept everything in her heart. And she in a way pondered and reflected to see 8 how God has worked in her life, how God has blessed her. For us also as Legionaries, we need to reflect and ponder our own lives and see how God has worked in it. So as we celebrate today this Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, let us reflect and let us see how God has worked in our lives, and do our hearts burn out of love for God and of neighbour? Amen.

CONCILIUM ALLOCUTIO – May 2021 By Fr. Paul Churchill

“The Descent of the Holy Spirit”

We are in Pentecost time and that causes me to reflect on the third Glorious Mystery of the Rosary. But how should we announce that mystery?

When I look at the Vatican website it states it as The Descent of the Holy Spirit. I wondered at what that formulation was saying. Perhaps it was being cautious, not wanting to get involved in the question on whether there were others present in the room with the Apostles on Pentecost. Or perhaps it intended to allow space for the many personal interventions of the Holy Spirit over the ages?

Another traditional formulation of this mystery, one I think we all grew up with, is The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. It focuses on a specific event 50 days after Christ rose (hence the word Pentecost from the Greek for fifty). St Mark’s Gospel speaks of our risen Lord meeting the apostles during those 50 days and sending them out to proclaim the good news (Mk 16:14-18). St. Luke also speaks of the risen Lord meeting the apostles and telling them to first await the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-8). And the account of Pentecost is sandwiched between the choice of Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:26), thus restoring the Twelve, and verses clearly speaking of Peter and the other eleven proclaiming the Good News (Acts 2:14, 27). There is no doubt that Acts shows us the apostles being changed by that coming of the Holy Spirit enabling them to overcome fear and carry out their mission.

In recent times I have heard a new formulation of this mystery which says The Descent of the Holy Spirit on Our Lady and the Apostles. In my view this is problematic even if well intended. Let me explain.

The first problem is that the Acts do not mention Mary being present on Pentecost day. After the Ascension (at which event no mention is made of Our Lady), at their first meeting (Acts 1:12-14), they had with them some women, Jesus’ relatives and Mary. A few days later Peter deals with the question of a replacement for Judas, the betrayer (Acts 1:15ss). Others are present but there is no mention of Mary. After choosing Matthias we are told of another day, Pentecost. The text and context are ambiguous about who was present. “… and as the lot fell to Matthias he was listed as one of the twelve. When Pentecost day came around, they had all met in one room …” (Acts 1:26; 2:1). Who are the “they all”? It may refer only to the twelve apostles or it may include more. But there is no mention of Mary.

There is however an even bigger problem. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary he announced God’s mission to her. She was to be the mother of the Saviour. When she sought clarification on this she was told, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you” (Lk 1:35). The Holy Spirit was given to her not just so that she could physically conceive Jesus but to be his mother and to carry out her mission as mother and not just to the 9

Head but also to the Mystical Body, as many saints would say. There is no doubt that that outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the Annunciation/Incarnation was the great momentous event in Mary’s life and indeed had a huge significance for us all. We must not take from it.

We do well to remember our sacramental theology. You can only receive the Sacrament of Confirmation once. Given that the Holy Spirit had already come to Mary at the moment of the Incarnation what meaning would his descent upon her at Pentecost have?

It is clear from the words of Jesus recorded at the end of St. Mark’s Gospel and at the beginning of Acts that the apostles were to receive the Holy Spirit to help them undertake their mission. And the events of Pentecost show the effect that had. Their fear was overcome. But Mary had already received the Holy Spirit over thirty years earlier and had already been carrying out her mission. Indeed immediately after the angel left her she went, a young girl full of confidence, with no fear, to bring Jesus to The Baptist, Elizabeth and Zechariah. She was full of the Holy Spirit. And interestingly after that mention of her praying with the Apostles just after the Ascension, her name is not mentioned again in the Acts.

My advice then is that when announcing this third glorious mystery of the Rosary we use the formulation The Descent of the Holy Spirit or The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. The formula The Descent of the Holy Spirit on Our Lady and the Apostles has too many problems with it. I am not saying absolutely that she was not in the company of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. If she was there, it was not to receive the Holy Spirit who had already come to her. No, if she was there, her role was to pray and ask that the Holy Spirit would grant them what they needed to carry out the mission her son gave them. She was already the mother of the Church.

CONCILIUM WORLD NEWS – May 2021

MEXICO Mexico City Senatus: The Senatus printed the Spanish version of Miracles on Tap and it has already been widely distributed and they are now planning to print “A Man for Our Times”. The Senatus has been keeping in touch with attached councils by Zoom. They encouraged the Puebla Regia to hold Virtual Regia meetings. Plans for the Centenary celebrations include study of Miracles on Tap. Attached councils have been asked to submit a short video competition on one of the 3 Causes or Miracles on Tap. Praesidia are being encouraged to set up junior praesidia. The Comitium of Oaxaca reports the presence of the Legion in 2 of the 3 dioceses and 1 of the 2 prelatures.

Merida Senatus: The Senatus continues to hold the Senatus meetings by virtual means. It is a means of keeping in contact with the attached councils and praesidia, they are also keeping in touch by digital means. Most of the active legionaries are helping in their parishes with stewarding and cleaning.

Comitium Nuestra Señora De la Anunciacion reported very sad news, the death of 130 legionaries from Covid-19. A praesidium reported 8 Frank Duff prayer meeting groups and one Patrician group.

Monterrey Regia: The Regia have returned to meet in person very recently. Legion works have been reduced and where possible carried out with caution. Some works are praying with the families of deceased. Little processions through the streets, encouraging the families to put an altar in the doorway and to receive the blessing of the priest. Leading the Miraculous Medal novena and distributing the medal.

Guadalajara Regia: The Regia has returned to meeting in person in April. A number of praesidia have also returned to meeting in person. They carried out works which were possible and helpful during the

Pandemic such as Rosaries at wakes and funerals, inviting parishioners to take part in parish activities by Zoom and other permitted parish works, helping with the Internet activity in the parish.

Durango Regia: With the exception of a few praesidia in remote areas all meetings are held by Zoom. The correspondent encourages them to be positive and creative although they haven’t been sending correspondence except by WhatsApp. The bishops in the attached Comitium of Mazatlan area encourage care and caution, they also asked the legionaries to care for the priests of the dioceses. A number of priests have died from Covid-19. The president of the Comitium is very active even though her husband died recently.

Hermosillo Regia: The Regia and attached councils have continued meeting but mostly by Zoom. Their Spiritual Director outlined the value of personal contact and encouraged return to normal meetings as soon as permitted. The attached Curia of Tijuana is preparing a programme to celebrate the year of St. Joseph. Contact with the sick and house bound is made by telephone. Covid-19 restrictions are observed while reciting outdoor rosaries.

HONDURAS Senatus of Tegucigalpa: Covid-19 has spread across the country, many councils cannot meet except by Zoom, some remote praesidia are free. They use the different means of communication including WhatsApp. They distribute the Concilium bulletin which they find very uplifting. Family members and friends have died including the president’s husband. An attached Comitium was enquiring about the Legion Statutes. The council is taking steps to do something about the Centenary and make known the history of the 100 years of the Legion of Mary.

NICARAGUA Managua Regia: Legionaries are taking part in parish activities since they cannot do home or hospital visitation. In the month of February, the first of a six monthly programme on the Legion of Mary was transmitted. The Spiritual Director, Fr. Idelfonso and a number of officers participated. An attached Comitium plans the setting up of a new Curia.

PANAMA Regia: Regia meetings continue by WhatsApp. Attempts have been made to return to normal meetings without success. Reports indicate 9 new adult praesidia and 3 juniors. Contact is also maintained by WhatsApp with the auxiliaries and others who are housebound.

EL SALVADOR San Salvador Senatus: Meetings have returned to normal after 12 months. A protestant father converted to Catholicism, he and his daughter were baptised, now himself and his wife are doing a marriage preparation course. A woman who contracted cancer and who lost her faith returned and recovered from the cancer. She now takes part in the ministry for the sick.

COSTA RICA Senatus: Normal meeting with the permitted number of 30 allowed but 12 only attended. However, the disease augmented once again and new additional restrictions were put in place. The officers have requested the Episcopal Conference to nominate a replacement Spiritual Director as the previous man died. The correspondent keeps in touch every month with letters and the Concilium bulletin.

PAKISTAN In February, after a long silence, word was received to say that the Legion of Mary is still very active in the Archdiocese of Karachi. English and Urdu speaking praesidia are still meeting when they can but like elsewhere are curtailed. They held their Annual Reunion on line which included recitation of the Legion Prayers and two talks by well-seasoned members.

MYANMAR In April an email was received to say that no Senatus meeting has taken place since April 2020. Some praesidia in the country and in villages have resumed but

11 none in the cities. Many legionaries and their families died due to Covid-19. Prayers are needed for them due to the disturbed situation in their country at this time.

VIETNAM The November and December 2020 minutes were received. Two Regia, two Comitia, a Curia and a praesidium reported in this period. Hanoi Regia have 8,951 active, 86 Praetorian, 5,521 Auxiliary members of whom 152 are Adjutorian members. The members arranged adults and childrens Baptisms and Confirmations, 52 marriages were regularised, 43 abortions prevented and 488 new Auxiliary members were recruited.

Buon Ma Thuot Regia have 11,311 senior members, 4,049 junior members, 1,700 Praetorian members, 16,150 Auxiliary members. They recruited an impressive 949 active and 673 Auxiliary members. They instruct many in the Faith in addition to preparing people for the Sacraments.

INDIA Chennai: The May Regia meeting was cancelled due to the worsening situation in India. All meetings and outdoor activities are not permitted. They keep in touch with each other online. They plead for prayers that the Covid-19 situation will be overcome.

Karnataka: They report having a very tough 3-4 weeks. Legionaries and family members as well as many priests have died due to Covid. They have started a month-long Rosary online every evening at 8.30 p.m. to pray for all afflicted with the deadly virus.

Kerala Senatus: The President was in touch with the Correspondent in March to say that some meetings had resumed. The Senatus officers planned to meet that month to assess the situation but the situation in India has considerably worsened in the meantime.

Mumbai Senatus: February and March 2021 minutes received. No meetings had taken place for 10 months prior to that. A number of Curiae held an Acies ceremony. A retreat was held for limited numbers. All members have been encouraged to study the Handbook and writings of Frank Duff. The 3 praesidia reporting in February mentioned visiting the sick, housebound, bereaved, the marginalised in institutions, crowd contact and visiting the transgender to share the Bible and pray with them. Due to a resurgence of Covid-19 the April and May meetings could not take place.

Pondicherry Senatus: met after a break of 10 months. Notice was given of 2 elections.

HOLY LAND The Legion obeyed the instruction of the Bishop that no meetings would take place from 17th March 2020. In May 2021 there was communication received to say that the Comitium officers, including the Spiritual Director, agreed that praesidia and Curiae could resume meeting as a high percentage of the population have been vaccinated.

LEBANON Despite their difficulties and restrictions some communication was received via social media which included a short video of the Acies ceremony held on 6th May at which 12 legionaries made their act of consecration. They were very pleased with the Handbook Study suggestion and especially liked the idea of keeping a journal. They ask for prayers for their country.

IRISH PROVINCIAL REPORT

COMITIA

Carlow: Fr. McEvoy, Comitium Spiritual Director, conducted the Acies ceremony in Rathvilly Church and two legionaries attended. The ceremony was streamed and legionaries from praesidia in the Comitium and attached Curiae were invited to follow the ceremony. Legionaries from one praesidium recite the Rosary each Sunday at a local Grotto. In Kildare Curia legionaries recite the Rosary online from the local church for the month of May. Members of the praesidium in Newbridge meet on Zoom and recite the Legion prayers. In Laois Curia members are doing a novena to Edel Quinn for the recovery of a lady who is seriously ill

Tuam: The praesidium in Tuam has 8 members, 70 auxiliaries and one adjutorian. No meetings were held since March 2020. At the request of the priest members recited the Rosary novena in the Cathedral in March, May and November which was broadcast on the parish radio and webcam. Members also recited the Rosary in Tuam cemetery on Sundays during the summer and attend a monthly Rosary in another cemetery. The Rosary is recited on Fridays at Our Lady’s grotto and every evening during October and November.

CURIAE Achonry: Legionaries in Kiltimagh remind people of Confessions taking place in the church every Saturday. Two people from Dublin visiting their family grave on Holy Saturday were delighted to be told this and felt blessed being able to attend Confession during Holy Week. Later they wrote to thank the legionaries. Door visits take place to legionaries living alone. Legionaries organise the outdoor Rosary each evening for the month of May at the statue of Our Lady of Knock. They lead the Rosary and some members of the public attend. Some years ago when doing home visitation an elderly man said he would like the priest to call. Since then the priest had been calling regularly and one day recently was inspired to visit the man and bring him Holy Communion. A few days later the man died suddenly.

Galway: They held a Curia meeting via Zoom in March with only 5 in attendance.

Killala: The Curia officers are watching each night on Zoom Mary’s Channel of Grace.

Kilkenny: Members of Castlecomer praesidium say the Legion Prayers and Rosary one night a week on WhatsApp.

DUBLIN SOUTHSIDE Ancilla Domini Curia: Has 8 attached praesidia

Curia Membership: 46 Active, 3 Probationary and 171 Auxiliary members.

All Curia offices are filled including that of Spiritual Director.

The Curia catchment area includes the Liberties area which consists of four Parishes (Francis Street Parish, Meath Street Parish, Whitefriar Street Parish & Donore Avenue Parish) and Clondalkin.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception has 4 active members and 35 auxiliary members. The main work of this praesidium is home visitation and visitation of Peamount Nursing Home and Cherry Orchard Hospital. 45 copies of Maria Legionis are distributed. 13

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart has 4 active members all Praetorians. No auxiliary members. Their works include street contact in Dublin’s Temple Bar and home visitation. The 3 causes are promoted during street contact and home visitation.

Mary Gate of Life with 37 auxiliary members and 28 probationary auxiliaries and 1 Adjutorian member. Their main works include home to home visitation and organising Eucharistic adoration which has an attendance of 35 members and a Patrician meeting. 76 copies of Maria Legionis are distributed.

Our Lady Joy of Israel has 7 active members and a Spiritual Director and 1 probationary member. They have 45 confirmed auxiliary members. Works include street contact in the Liberties area of Dublin and Temple Bar. Home to home visitation is high on the agenda. A monthly meeting (Pauline Circle) between Catholic and other Christian faiths is organised, the aim is Christian unity. Some members volunteer in the Morning Star Hostel. Recruiting is done weekly with reports given at each meeting. A monthly Holy Hour is organised in Myra House.

Our Lady of Victories has 9 active members and 2 auxiliaries. Their works include street contact in the liberties area of Dublin and home visitation. A stall is placed at local community events such as the love Dublin 8 Festival. Some members volunteer in the Morning Star Hostel.

Our Lady Cause of Our Joy has 14 active and 2 probationary members, 2 auxiliaries and 3 Adjutorians. Their works include street contact, home visitation, some members volunteer in the Morning star and Regia Coeli hostels.

Mother of Perpetual Help with 1 Praetorian and 45 auxiliary members.

Their main works include home visitation and crowd contact at Heuston Station. Eucharistic adoration and the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in homes are promoted.

Our Lady of Hope (Clondalkin) with 5 probationary auxiliary members. Works include home visitation and nursing home visitation.

Recruiting is high on the agenda, recruiting drives are organised in various parishes throughout the year. Members are asked to invite two people each week to join the legion. A monthly prayer meeting is organised in Myra House for the promotion of the cause of Frank Duff. The cause of Frank Duff is promoted heavily throughout the year. 2 Patrician meetings are held each month, one in Donore Avenue the other in Myra House.

Myra House is open to the public on Saturdays (Pre Covid), tours of the house are given and the history of Myra House and the legion is explained to visitors.

The house is open to visitors each year for culture night.

The Acies ceremony and Curia Reunion is organised annually.

PPC: 4 curia members went on PPC in 2019.

CLONDALKIN & INNER CITY PROJECT from 8th June - 14th June 2019

The aim of this project was the consecration of homes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary. All those we came into contact with were encouraged to go a step further in their faith journey.

The lapsed were gently encouraging to come back to the faith, while those practicing were encouraged to take a step further by attending Eucharistic Adoration or committing to reciting the rosary daily. Homes, businesses, markets and streets provide opportunity for contact work. We welcomed many legionaries from across Dublin and beyond.

The project began on Saturday 8th June in the Parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Killian, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 and continued there the following day. Many contacts were made, we found the people of Clondalkin friendly and open to the faith. 5 Auxiliary members were gained for the local praesidium and one resident has joined the Legion in another parish.

On Monday 10th of June legionaries turned their attention to Liberties area of Dublin. Homes, Shops and Businesses were visited throughout the course of the week. Street contact was carried out in Temple Bar, Francis Street and Thomas Street. The project finished on Friday 14h June with a Public Act of Dedication to the Sacred Heart at the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue on Gray Street, Dublin 8.Throughout the course of the week 1,448 homes were visited of these 424 contacts were made. There were 4 requests for a priest to call back. One request for aid from the St. Vincent de Paul. 1 active member was gained and 7 auxiliaries enrolled. 207 act of consecration cards and 117 Frank Duff payer cards were accepted. Over 300 miraculous medals were handed out.

Challenges: An increasing age profile and lack of members are the main challenges facing our Curia. Some praesidia mainly those who hold morning meetings aren’t doing too well. It is hoped that these can be restructured and moved to a different time to make the meeting available to a wider range people.

GERMANY Frankfurt Senatus: Council meetings have not taken place since December ’20 because of restrictions. Legion prayers have continued on Zoom. Legionaries have continued their apostolate in pairs, visiting the graves of deceased legionaries and praying for the repose of their souls. Since April visitation of nursing homes has resumed with restrictions. All Councils celebrated the Acies as the celebration of public Mass was permitted. The central Acies was beautifully celebrated in Cologne Cathedral. The audit of Senatus funds has been undertaken. In preparation for the Centenary of the Legion all legionaries in Germany are promoting the 33Day Marian Consecration. A special enrolment form was signed by the participants Masses with the accompanying Consecration will be celebrated in 20 locations in Germany on the 7th June. One Curia alone enlisted 100 participants for the Consecration. Other celebrations planned for Germany are September 6th; a Pontifical Mass will be celebrated by the auxiliary Bishop of Munich in the largest Church in Munich. On 12th September the Bishop of Mainz will accompany pilgrims to a Marian Shrine, Maria Einsiedl. On 7th November the Apostolic Nuncio will celebrate a Pontifical Mass in Frankfurt Cathedral. This will mark the great central event of the celebrations.

Darmstadt Curia: Last Curia meeting took place in December. About half of the praesidia continue to meet in the church to recite the legion prayers and other praesidia pray over the phone or via Zoom. Korean Curia 14 praesidia meet weekly via Zoom

SWITZERLAND Zurich: Praesidia continued to meet during lockdown and the first Council meeting since lockdown will take place in May.

Kazakhstan and Siberia no meetings are allowed.

BELGIUM Brussels Senatus: No meetings have been taking place. Legionaries are studying the handbook and have just finished Chapter 12.

Antwerp Regia No apostolic work is being carried out because of restrictions. Legionaries keep in touch by phone. A short meeting takes place in a chapel in Antwerp where legion prayers are recited.

THE NETHERLANDS Amsterdam Regia: April and May Regia meetings were held on Zoom. The Cape Verde Curia in Rotterdam held its Acies with 41 legionaries present. Except for the months of March, April and May 2020 the praesidium in Groningen was able to meet in the presbytery. There are 8 active and 7 auxiliary members. Contact work is restricted. Catechesis is given to a Chinese community as well as bible study. Children are being guided through the Mass and the Parish Priest has asked the praesidium to help with First Holy Communion children. One child was baptised at Christmas and two other people have been helped back to faith.

ENGLAND Brentwood Regia: Due to restrictions meetings still cannot take place. Praesidia members recite the legion prayers on the day and time of their legion meeting. And some members are coming together on Zoom to recite the prayers. They are delivering the Maria Legionis by posting it through the letter boxes and are also keeping in touch with parishioners by phone. The Regia President continues to send out a spiritual reflection and an Allocutio each week to members.

Southwark Comitium has organised the Centenary Mass for 25th. September in St. Georges Cathedral with Archbishop John Wilson as Chief Celebrant.

Central London Curia: The apostolate being carried out by some praesidia includes contact by phone or on WhatsApp/Facebook with information re church activities. Through this a lapsed Catholic went back to Church and joined one of the online meetings.

Liverpool Senatus: Latest correspondence was for 8th March. An Officers’ meeting was held on Zoom. It was decided to mark the Year of St. Joseph by having a Prayer to him printed and also one to St. Francis de Sales for help in these difficult times; one thousand of each prayer card was printed and have been sent along with some copies of the Maria Legionis to each praesidium for distribution. The Acies was arranged for March 26th in the parish of the Spiritual Director, Fr. Deegan.

Birmingham Senatus: Senatus meetings have not taken place since February 20. Officers meetings have been held on Zoom and some virtual meetings were held with officers of attached Councils with good participation. As a means of keeping in touch with members some praesidia have been meeting online. Bristol legionaries promote the Rosary by distributing Packs to those attending Mass. The Acies was held in three different Councils. All three Churches facilitated social distancing

SCOTLAND Events planned for the month of May are Sunday 9th Fr. Boyle, Spiritual Director will stream legion prayers from the parish. In line with regulations 50 people can attend; on Ascension Thursday the first pilgrimage of the season to Carfin takes place and 100 people can be accommodated, legionaries are asked to promote it. Centenary Events: Pentecost Sunday, May 23rd Bishop Joseph Toal will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving at Carfin Grotto and a Rosary procession will follow the Mass. On Monday 31st May, Feast of the Visitation a ‘Legion Appreciation’ event will be live streamed by Fr. Boyle and 50 legionaries can attend.

SWEDEN A praesidium of 3 Active members have introduced the Rosary pilgrimage. A man to whom they gave a rosary was having difficulty getting work. He prayed the Rosary and soon afterwards got employment. Legionaries continue to lead the recitation of the Rosary before Mass on Saturday and 16

Sunday. They have noticed an increase in numbers participating and as a result three people have asked to join the legion. Catechism is being taught to children and the sick and housebound are also visited. A praesidium with 9 full and 3 probationers have continued with their weekly meeting. Much of their work in the hospitals has been stopped due to the pandemic. The miraculous medal is also distributed. The praesidium held an Acies ceremony.

NORWAY Tonsberg: Our Lady Queen of Peace praesidium has 6 Active and 25 auxiliary members. The praesidium celebrated its 13th anniversary in September. The apostolate includes keeping in close contact with auxiliary members, leading the Rosary in Church. Many other parish duties are also carried out.

Drammen: Our Lady of the Rosary praesidium was not permitted to hold any meetings during 2020 due to the pandemic.

DENMARK Copenhagen: Our Lady of Perpetual Help praesidium resumed meetings in May following lockdown. Every second Sunday they are responsible for disinfecting and other safety requirements in the church. No other legion activities are allowed at present. Mass is planned for Centenary celebrations in September provided situation is back to normal.

CAMEROON Senatus of Douala: January 2021 minutes received. Some councils are back fully in operation, while others are slow to resume, which results in legionaries slacking off in their duties. The Acies ceremonies have mostly been held at the latter end of the year when activities resumed. Comitium Mbouda never stopped their activities and it showed: 22 new members made the promise since the last report. The works covered in the reports include home and hospital visitation as well as orphanages, street contact and contact with the homeless. They also help with catechesis and preparing for the sacraments. Comitium Nkongsamba helped with the celebration of the Christmas Mass in the prison. The Comitium in Melong also ran patrician meetings. Some conversions were reported. The Curia Our Lady of Victories in Bertoua started a new junior praesidium with 29 members in a spiritual centre of Mother Theresa. They also reported 3 conversions.

TOGO Lomé Senatus: Latest minutes are from February 2021. A conference on Alfie Lambe was held and an Exploratio Dominicalis was mentioned. Home, hospital and prison visitation as well as catechesis classes, street contact, book barrow apostolate and praying the Rosary with children are some of the works in the reports as well as 4 conversions. They also help couples for the preparation of their marriage. The organisation for the PPC to Bassar in Togo is ongoing. There were 73 present at a Mass to mark the beginning of the Legion centenary year. The audit for 2019 was done.

SENEGAL Dakar: Mirror of Justice Comitium has 8 Curiae and 29 attached praesidia. The report mentions home, hospital and prison visitation, organising catechesis and helping the elderly. 13 praesidia organised an Acies ceremony.

GUINEA Conakry: Immaculate Mary Comitium has 4 Curiae and 6 attached praesidia. Home and hospital visitation as well as mortuaries and catechesis classes were reported on. The great need for handbooks was again mentioned.

BURKINA FASO A rather special Comitium meeting was held last November at which the Covid problem was widely discussed as well as the following items: The need to remedy the decline of the Legion in some areas, The need for more (French) handbooks, probably from Togo, the appointment of a new Spiritual Director for the Comitium Fr. Blaise Rouamba and the marking of the Legion’s centenary in a worthy way.

AUG – SEP 2021

36 PRAESIDIA REQUIRING SPECIAL MENTION

15 – 21 Aug 2021 pp. 226 – 227 “16. The probation rule …” – “… Basic Duties of Legionaries.”

Reflection

Fervour

The teaching of the Vatican Council and the words and deeds of bishops throughout the world prove beyond doubt that the Church is looking to the Legion of Mary in a special way to enable her to come to grips with the huge problems which confront her at the present time. Legionaries have, therefore, an altogether special responsibility.

While the spirit of Christ and the essentials of his teaching never change, the spirit and outlook of the world are changing every day. We must be on our guard lest we be infected by the spirit of laziness which is at present pervading the world. There is a decided antagonism between a mechanised, automated world and the world of the spirit. The more mechanised the world becomes, the automation grows, then the greater will that antagonism be. The world today offers pleasure of every kind in a degree that has not been possible before. Its appeal is becoming daily more enticing.

It is all the more necessary to remember that Our Lord constantly warned the Apostles against the spirit of the world. “The world hates you,” Jesus told them. And, “Remember that it hated me before you.” St. John told his readers: “You must not love this passing world or anything that is in the world.” And St. James: “Don’t you realise that making the world your friend is making God your enemy.”

The spirit of Christ, of Mary and of the Legion can be summed up in one word: Cross. The teaching of the world can be summed up in one word too: Pleasure. Cross and Pleasure are contradictories. That is why perhaps we are finding it more difficult to recruit Legionaries today. It may also be the reason why there seems to be less fervour in our ranks. Every new invention increases the degree of pleasure offered by the world. The coming of television, for example, has made it much harder to devote a couple of nights a week to the Legion than it was twenty-five years ago [1947]. Yet this very fact of the growth of worldliness makes the call for the apostolate, for fervour and for sacrifices all the more urgent and imperative. …

Very Rev. Francis J. Canon Ripley, “Jubilee Talks to Legionaries”, pp. 193 – 194.

22 – 28 Aug 2021 pp. 227 – 228 “20. Parents and all others …” – “… thence to the Church.”

Reflection

The Vatican Council on Education for the Apostolate

… Young people must grow up with the idea that the parish and the civic community in which they live are their responsibility. They will not do this unless parents are active in religious and public life according to their capacity. Whatever about civic life, there is no excuse for Catholics who refuse the call of the Council to be active in parish affairs. Priests are told to use all the means at their disposal to bring this about.

The Council orders: “Schools, colleges, and other Catholic educational institutions have the duty to develop a Catholic sense and apostolic activity in young people. If young people lack this formation, either because they do not attend these schools or because of any other reason, parents, pastors of souls and apostolic organisations should attend to it all the more. Teachers and educators, who carry on a distinguished form of the apostolate of the laity by their vocation and office, should be equipped with the learning and pedagogical skill required for the imparting of such apostolic training effectively.” Three points are made there, all of them important. The first is that Catholic education must mint apostles. Secondly, those who escape the influence of an apostolic education must be formed in apostleship in other ways. Thirdly, the formation of teachers must be geared to their duty to form apostles.

Reducing the matter to hard practice, the Council says that “Lay groups and associations dedicated to the apostolate or to other superior goals should carefully and persistently promote formation for the apostolate.” Such groups, and they include Praesidia of the Legion of Mary, are “the ordinary vehicles of harmonious formation for the apostolate since they provide doctrinal, spiritual and practical formation. Their members meet in small groups with their associates or friends, examine the methods and results of their apostolic activity, and measure their daily way of life against the Gospel.”

Very Rev. Francis J. Canon Ripley, “More Talks to Legionaries”, pp. 26 – 27.

29 Aug – 4 Sep 2021 pp. 228 – 229 “21. Perhaps it is not …” – “… and people’.’ (Lk 2:52) (CL 46)”

Reflection

Fervour

… At times we are tempted to think that the situation is hopeless. Does it look as hopeless as the situation which confronted those eleven Apostles as they stepped from the Upper Room on the first Whit Sunday [sic]? Does it look as hopeless as it might have looked to St. Paul as he travelled on his missionary way? Does it look as hopeless as the conversion of the Far East must have appeared to the voyaging St. Francis Xavier? The only hope for the world today is a spiritual revival. There is only one source from which that spiritual revival can come – the Church. But it will not come from the Church unless the Church is genuinely apostolic in the majority of its members.

St. John reported God’s message to the Church of Laodica in these words: “I know all about you: how you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are neither, but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth.” Terrible words. To how many Catholics might God address them today? To how many Praesidia? To how many Legionaries? If ever there was an obligation upon Catholics to be fervent, enthusiastic and enterprising it is today. There is no room for the tepid, the lukewarm.

Fervour is the attitude of refusing Almighty God nothing. The Holy Father [Pope Paul VI] spoke recently [1972] about the Church being in a holy ferment, about new life springing up everywhere. Does that apply to us in the Legion? Or has the spirit of laziness crept in? Are we content with the minimum or even with less than the Handbook requires? Do we regard the rules as irksome? Do we make our meetings as short as possible? Do we cut down our work duty to as little as we can get away with? Can we say that we have been really fervent and enthusiastic in recruiting new members? Have we refused to accept nomination as officers because of the little extra sacrifice that may be demanded of us? Are we applying to ourselves the following quotation from the Handbook: “Most people fill up their time. But it is not with religious activities; these rank as a last priority. It would represent an eternal benefit to those persons to make them see that they are living according to a wrong scale of values. The apostolate should be a first priority so that some of those other things would yield place to it”? …

Very Rev. Francis J. Canon Ripley, “More Talks to Legionaries”, pp. 194 – 195.

5 – 11 Sep 2021 p. 229 “2. Seminary Praesidia” – “… shall be followed exactly.”

Reflection

Priests Must be Convinced

One of the greatest glories of the Legion of Mary – a principal reason why it has made such rapid progress and is so respected throughout the Church – is its dependence upon the priest. The Legion is a living, compelling application in practice of what could well become a slogan through the Catholic world: “THE PRIEST MUST HAVE MEMBERS.” He is another Christ. He must be like Christ in every way. As another Christ, he offers sacrifices, he forgives, he prays, he teaches, he blesses, he sanctifies, he directs. Christ’s work would have been brought to nothing if He had not formed a body for Himself of members united with Himself, as it were multiplying His personality, to carry on every aspect of His work. So does every good priest yearn to form a body for himself by gathering around him a group of people whom he can trust, to multiply his personality, to radiate his message, to be a living bridge between himself and the masses of the people and between the masses of the people and himself. The Apostles found it absolutely necessary to form such bodies for themselves. So did all the greatest apostolic Saints in the history of the Church. …

Very Rev. Francis J. Canon Ripley, “Jubilee Talks to Legionaries”, pp. 133 – 134.

12 – 18 Sep 2021 pp. 229 – 230 “(b) A main consideration …” – “… discipline of the place.”

Reflection

Fervour

… I cannot do better than conclude by quoting some famous words of Cardinal Newman: “Take me out of the languor, the irritability, the sensitiveness, the incapability, the anarchy in which my soul lies, and fill it with Thy fullness. Breathe on me, that the dead bones may live. Breathe on me with that breath which infuses energy and kindles fervour. In asking for fervour, I ask for all that I can need, and all that Thou canst give; for it is the crown of all gifts and of all virtues. In asking for fervour, I am asking for effectual strength, consistency, and perseverance; I am asking for deadness to every human motive, and simplicity of intention to praise Thee; I am asking for faith, hope and charity in their most heavenly exercise. In asking for fervour, I am asking to be rid of the fear of man: and the desire of his praise; I am asking for that loyal perception of duty, which follows on yearning affection. In asking for fervour, I am asking for that which, while it implies all gifts, is that in which I signally fail. Nothing would be a trouble to me, nothing a difficulty, had I but fervour of soul. Lord, in asking for fervour, I am asking for Thyself, for nothing short of Thee, O my God, who has given Thyself wholly to us. Enter my heart substantially and personally, and fill it with fervour by filling it with Thee. Thou alone canst fill the soul of man, and Thou has promised to do so. Thou art the living flame, and ever burnest with love of man: enter into me and set me on fire after Thy pattern and likeness.” To which we may add another quotation from the Handbook: “We must make conquests for the Virgin Mary, make those with whom we live understand how sweet it is to belong to Mary so as to induce many of them to join us in our onward march.”

Very Rev. Francis J. Canon Ripley, “Jubilee Talks to Legionaries”, pp. 195 – 196.