The Object of the Legion of Mary

The Legion of Mary Handbook states the following purpose of the Legion: "the object of the Legion of Mary of the Legion of Mary is the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by prayer and active cooperation under the ecclesiastical in Mary's and the Church's work of crushing the head of the serpent and advancing the reign of Christ." Careful and deliberate reading of this presents a noble and heroic challenge to all its members as without doubt, achieving this purpose is a work of a lifetime - and thus the Legion Handbook also states that entry into the ranks of the Legion is a vocation. So what does it mean?

Glory of God - our Christian vocation is to glorify God by living pious, virtuous and sanctified lives. Glorification of God comes in many forms - obedience to his commands, prayers, adoration, love of neighbor. For the Legion of Mary, we glorify God beginning by our own holiness - but moves towards the love of neighbor by leading them to Christ and his bride, the Holy Catholic Church. The Legion is an apostolic organization towards this missionary end.

Holiness. A Legion member desires holiness as he or she enters its ranks. Then through the example of the virtues of Our Lady and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, develops gradually a life founded on prayer, sacrifice and apostleship. Seldom thus a member enter its ranks already a 'living saint' though we do have many far more advanced in their spirituality, but most of us, we were called to the Legion,  'the way we were' - ordinary men and women living simple lives, situated most likely in a career, work and in the raising of our young children and family. 

Active Cooperation in Crushing the Head of the Serpent - the Legion of Mary works closely with Our Blessed Mother and the Church to bring the reign of Christ into the world by crushing the head the Serpent, Satan. As the enemy is strong, we would like to believe that we are an army of Mary with stronger soldiers as we engage in a battle with him and his minions. We take pride and joy that we have within our ranks committed, holy men and women of faith to lend support to our Mother Church in her mission of salvation.

"The immediate end of organization of this class is the apostolic end of the Church in other words: evangelization and sanctification of men and the Christian formation of their conscience as to enable them to imbue with the Gospel spirit the various social groups and environments." (Legion Handbook, p.12)