Legion of Mary
 | ||||
Our Lady Spouse of the Holy Spirit
Serving the Archdiocese of Michigan
| ||||
Prayer for the Beatification of Venerable Edel Quinn
Eternal Father, I thank you for the grace you gave to your servant, Edel Quinn, of striving to live always in the joy of your presence, for the radiant charity infused into her heart by your Holy Spirit and for the strength she drew from the Bread of Life to labour until death for the glory of Your name in loving dependence on Mary, Mother of the Church. Confident, O Merciful Father, that her life was pleasing to you, I beg you to grant me, through her intercession, the special favour I now implore ..........., and to make known by miracles the glory she enjoys in Heaven, so that she may be glorified also by your Church on earth, through Christ Our Lord, Amen
Prayer for the Beatification of the Servant of God Frank Duff
God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the mystery of Your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus in this mystery.In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelising work.We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith. With confidence we beg You that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before You . We ask too that if it be in accordance with Your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by the Church for the glory of your Name, through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
Prayer for the Beatification of Servant of God Alphonsus Lambe
God, who by your infinite mercy inflamed the heart of your servant, Alphonsus Lambe with an ardent love for you and for Mary, our Mother; a love which revealed itself in a life of intense labour, prayer and sacrifice for the salvation of souls, grant, if it be your will, that we may obtain, by his intercession, what we cannot obtain by our own merits. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen
Frank Duff, Edel Quinn, and Alfie Lambe are heros. We pray each of them is declared a saint by the Catholic Church and hope for the day that we too, by following their examples and the example of Mary may one day be listed among the saints. Heroes of the Legion of Mary with causes for sainthood under consideration:
Thomas Morehead
Thomas Moorehead was an example for all men and women who wish to follow Christ. His path was that of our Lord’s Mother Mary. He was consecrated to Jesus through Mary, wore Mary’s brown scapular, prayed numerous rosaries every day, belonged to the Carmelite Third Order and was active in the Legion of Mary. But most of all Tommy showed us how to imitate our Blessed Mother’s virtues by his profound example.For 40 years he served our mother in the Legion, and with the exception of his last night on earth, never missed a weekly meeting. Such was his dedication and obedience. When Tommy was asked to do something that would call attention to himself, he would say”…place me under obedience and I will do it…” He was always seeking God’s will in a situation, and not his own, by the path of obedience.
Tommy began his day with the 6:30 Mass every morning. He was indefatigable in his efforts for our mother Mary and the service of Christ in others. His apostolate was in the hospital, taking the patients to Mass and talking to them about Jesus and Mary.His total consecration to Jesus through Mary was according to the formula of St. Louis Marie De Montfort in the treatise “True Devotion to Mary”. In that consecration, Tommy gave Mary all his worldly and spiritual goods past, present and future. He lived that consecration. He read Butler's "Lives of the Saints" every day and never ceased to be amazed at what they had accomplished. It never occurred to him that might be one of them.
He was saintly in the fashion of St. Therese, the Little Flower, quiet, simple and prayerful.
More Legion
Heros
Michael Ekeng
Michael Ekeng was a foundation member of the Legion of Mary and the President of the first Praesidium in the entire African continent. This praesidium was started by the Most Rev. Dr. Moynagh, then bishop of Calabar of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, Kiltegan, Co. Wicklow when he was in charge of the Ifuho Mission, Ikot Ekpene, Nigeria. The date was September 7th, 1933 – the 12th anniversary of the Legion’s birth in Dublin. .
Michael Ekeng was Bishop Moynagh's right hand man in the task of extending and perfecting the Legion of Mary in the Calabar diocese. He was described as "a man of God" or more accurately, as a "free man of God", for Michael had tasted the bitter experience of slavery, had bought his freedom by his own industry, and had then found his way into the Catholic Church via Protestantism in which he had been instructed by his former “master”.
Here is a pen-picture of the outstanding zeal of this remarkable African Legionary by one who watched him closely at work, Most Rev. Dr. T. McGettrick, Bishop of Ogoja, Nigeria, writing after Michael’s death in 1958. “Michael Ekeng's capacity for work was amazing. I have known him to start from Calabar at 1 A.M., travel to Oran 18 miles by canoe, go on from there to a Legion meeting 55 miles away, and after the meeting cycle on 12 miles to the nearest mission, fasting all the time, to receive Holy Communion. He was a fine example of what Bishop Moynagh called "the wonderful effects of the Legion on the legionaries themselves.
Although nothing official has been acknowledged to date, there was talk in Africa of the introduction of Michael's cause for sainthood as well. During the Holy Year of 1950 Bishop Moynagh sent Michael on a pilgrimage to Rome, and thence to Ireland. Mr. Ekeng addressed the Concilium of the Legion of Mary, attended many Legion functions and took part in a pilgrimage to Lough Derg.
Michael Ekeng never ceased to express gratitude for what the Irish missionaries and the Legion had done for Africa. This appreciation he demonstrated unceasingly by his notable, self-sacrificing work both for the Irish missionaries and the Legion in Calabar. He saw the Legion on Calabar grow to 18 councils and close on to 150 branches.
May this truly apostolic soul, to whom Irish missionaries and the Legion of Mary are indebted for so much, rest in peace and reap the reward of a remarkably fruitful life in the service of his fellow Africans...
Joaquina Lucas
Joaquina Lucas joined the Legion of Mary in 1940. She was one of the foundation members of the first praesidium set up in the Hospicio de San Jose, Manila; an orphanage, hospital and home for the aged all combined, run by the Sisters of Charity. Their Spiritual Director was Fr, Manuel Gracia, C.M., the founder of the Legion in the Philippines. All of that first group were university students, among them her friend and later fellow-envoy, Pacita Santos, who was recruited by Joaquina. During the occupation, the Legion grew and expanded. At the end of the war there were 12 curiae in the Manila area. In 1946, Joaquina was appointed the first Envoy of the Legion of Mary to Latin America, beginning her work in Mexico and then traveling down to South America. She was bi-lingual. Speaking English and Spanish with equal fluency, she covered Colombia, Peru, Argentina and Brazil where she learned to speak Portuguese fluently. In 1953 when Bros. Grace and Lambe arrived in South America as Envoys she met them at Bogotá airport in Colombia and for some months acted as their interpreter and helped them perfect their Spanish until each of the began work in his own assigned territory.
When she had completed her Envoyship in South America, Joaquina came to Dublin and after some months at Legion Headquarters she was appointed Envoy to Portugal. She completed her assignment in Portugal in 1958 and returned home. In 1963 she was again appointed Envoy, this time in Japan, Indonesia and Korea where she remained until 1965. She was one of the longest serving Envoys of the Concilium.
Since her return home to Manila she had taken an active part in the Legion there being especially concerned in many of the Senatus activities.
No doubt Our Lady had a great welcome for her stalwart Legionary and proficient Envoy.
.
Mary Duffy
Mary Duffy joined the Legion in 1925 when there were only four Praesidia in existence. She used to say she “came into the Legion on the crest of an enormous wave of grace”. She was one of a small team who spent weekends and holidays traveling around Ireland and later into Wales setting up praesidia. Mary had a deep, deep devotion to the Holy Spirit and Our Lady which obviously helped her over come the shock when Mr. Duff asked her to consider going as Legion Envoy to North America. She arrived in New York in 1934 and spent 12 years traveling throughout United States and Canada visiting priests, establishing praesidia and organizing the government of the Legion in that vast territory
In 1946 Mary returned to Dublin and joined a praesidium in Regina Coeli hostel where she worked among the mothers and children for the remainder of her life. Mary was most meticulous about attending the Concilium meeting. She died on 19 August 1997 and was buried on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. A great chapter of Legion history has been closed. May Mary Duffy rest in peace.
Our Lady Spouse of the Holy Spirit Regia
Serving the Archdiocese of Michigan
