About the Legion of Mary
The Legion of Mary is a lay Catholic association whose members are giving service to the Church, on a voluntary basis, all over the world. It was founded in Myra House, Francis Street, Dublin, Ireland, on 7 September, 1921. At present, it has about 2,250,000 active members in over 160 countries. The official handbook of the Legion has been published in at least 50 languages.
The basic unit of the Legion is called a praesidium, which holds a weekly meeting, where prayer is intermingled with instruction in the Faith and the work of the apostolate is discussed and planned. Active members are required to attend these weekly meetings at which they undertake an apostolic work assigned for that week by the praesidium. There are junior praesidia for persons under 18 years of age. Auxiliary membership is for those who wish to associate themselves with the Legion’s apostolic work by the support of their prayer. It is open to priests, religious and lay people.
The object of the Legion is the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by. prayer and active apostolic work. The essential means by which the Legion is to effect its object is personal service acting under the influence of the Holy Spirit, having Divine Grace as its moving principle and support, and the glory of God and the salvation of souls as its final end and purpose.
Legionary service is based on the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ and draws inspiration from the True Devotion to Mary, as taught by St. Louis-Marie de Montfort. United in faith with Mary’s love for Jesus, legionaries aim at recognizing and serving the person of our Lord in all those whom they meet. The Legion seeks to work in close union with the priest, to whom it looks for formation and spiritual guidance and for whom it aspires to be an effective apostolic instrument.
Visitation of families, the sick and the lonely, helping with other parish activities are ways in which legionaries participate in the life of the parish. Visitation of hospitals and prisons and serving the most afflicted and marginalized people have been part of the legionary apostolate since its earliest days. Encouraging the living of the faith on a deeper level and sharing the faith with others are important elements of the Legion’s work. The Society of the Patricians, which seeks to build up the religious knowledge of people, and the Peregrinatio Pro Christo movement, which sends teams of legionaries to distant places to offer the faith to those outside the Church, are among some of the legionary apostolic initiatives undertaken in the course of the years.