Legion of Mary

We celebrate today the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Legion of Mary, a spiritual organization that is known all over the world. It was on September 7th, 1921, that Frank Duff (1889-1980), together with a group of women, formed the first Praesidium in the Dublin Archdiocese, precisely at Myra House, Francis Street, Dublin, Ireland. When Frank was 24, he had joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society to help the poor in Dublin. He encouraged many others to give of their time in voluntary work to help the poor, but also to teach about the Catholic faith and spread the devotion to the Blessed Mother. One of his closest associates was Edel Quinn, an Irish girl, and the members had to focus on 3 main areas: spirituality, work and discipline. They also followed the principles devised by St. Louis de Montfort, and Frank demanded they would have to do practical work in their community, mostly by contacts and visiting families. Frank was invited by Pope St. Paul VI to attend the Second Vatican Council, and even received a standing ovation towards the end of the Council. The Legion of Mary is structured like a Roman Legion, with various terms like Catena, Curia, Comitium, Regia, Senatus and Acies, sections of the organization that is still going strong for 100 years. There are presently over 10 million members world-wide, and the biggest number of members are in South Korea, the Philippines, Brazil, Argentina and Congo.