Allocutio: Personal Holiness – The Object and Means

The general and essential means by which the Legion of Mary 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.

Hence the holiness of life which the Legion of Mary seeks to promote in the members is also its primary means of action. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me, and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

“The Church, whose mystery is set forth by this sacred Council, is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as “alone holy”, loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her (cf Eph 5:2-26); he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God. Therefore, all in the Church, whether they belong to the hierarchy or are cared for by it, are called to holiness, according to the apostle’s saying: ‘For this is the will of God, your sanctification.’ (1 Thess 4:3; cf Eph 1:4) This holiness of the Church is constantly shown forth in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in the faithful and so it must be; it is expressed in many ways by the individuals who, each in his own state of life, tend to the perfection of love, thus helping others to grow in holiness; it appears in a manner peculiar to itself in the practice of the counsels which have been usually called “evangelical.” This practice of the counsels prompted by the Holy Spirit, undertaken by many Christians whether privately or in a form or state sanctioned by the Church, gives and should give a striking witness and example of that holiness.” (LG 39)

How is it that the Legion of Mary does what it does? How has it become so effective that it has spread to the four corners of the earth, touching innumerable souls, both Christian and pagan alike? In this spiritual reading the handbook gives three simple yet necessary means that bring about the ultimate goal of the Legion.

The first is one that we stress rather frequently: the performance of our works under the influence of the Holy Spirit (Who, we note, works through our Blessed Mother). As the Legionary Promise proclaims, one “cannot render worthy service” without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And so one’s heart must be open to Him. This is why the Legionary Promise is addressed to the Holy Spirit: so that we who profess it may be moved to humbly recognize His work in us and be all the more willing to follow the promptings we receive from Him.

The second means is possessing God’s grace, that it may be both the burning fire in our hearts that drives us forward, as well as the firm rock on which we find our repose. Where else can we find this grace except in frequent recourse to the sacraments – particularly Confession and the Holy Eucharist. It is in these sacraments that we meet our Lord face to face and so also receive His very Life in our hearts.

The final means is the keeping of the object of the Legion before our eyes – that is, the keeping of our mind constantly focused on the fact that everything that we do is for the salvation of those souls we touch and for the glorification of God’s Kingdom. Nothing that is done in the name of the Legion is done for personal gain, but rather is done because we recognize that there is something greater than what we have in this world and desire to share it with others.

It is worth noting that each of these means point to the interior of the legionary and not the external works one does nor the individuals they evangelize. The emphasis is on personal holiness, and for a good reason: one cannot give what they themselves do not already possess. If we ourselves do not first have that relationship with God, how can we expect to bring others into that communion? And thus we pray that we may – by the grace of the Spirit – deepen our relationship with our Lord by opening our hearts, accepting His Life within us, and keeping our eyes on the ultimate goal, so that we may teach others to do the same.

Allocutio: There Never Need Be Discouragement

Well, well, well. It sure has been a while since I’ve last posted! As it turns out, some recent events have offered a remedy for the problem of long hiatuses, at least for the school year. Those of you who follow The Slave of the Immaculate – i.e. the assistant spiritual director of our Legion at the college – know that he has discerned out of the monastery to return to lay life. Because of this, and as our current spiritual director is also the college chaplain, the legionaries and I are going to continue to learn – for an indefinite period time – the lessons that many praesidia (groups of the Legion) experience in the parishes where the pastor is unable to fulfill the weekly commitment due to other duties. This specifically affects my blog in that I will be posting each of my allocutios – which means I should have something new up almost every week!

It is an exhilarating time for us as change means that Momma Mary has some pretty wonderful things planned for our little group. Thanks to all who are praying for our success; you are in our prayers as well! So, without further ado, the first allocutio of the semester:

Sometimes the most devoted labours, heroically prolonged, show little fruit. Legionaries do not set their hearts on visible results, but nevertheless it would not be for their good to work with a sense of frustration. It will console them, and it will nerve them to still more strenuous efforts, if they reflect that even a single sin prevented represents an infinite gain. For that sin would be an immeasurable evil, dragging in its train an endless series of calamitous consequences. “However tiny the mass, it plays its part in the balance of the stars. Thus, in a way that only Thy mind, O Lord, can perceive and measure, the slightest movement of my little pen running across the paper is connected with the motions of the spheres, and contributes to, and is a part thereof. The same takes place in the world of intellect. Ideas live and have their most complex adventures in that world of intellect, a world immeasurably superior to the material world; a world united and compact also in its vast, plenteous, and most varied complexity. As in the material and intellectual worlds, so it is in the infinitely greater moral world.” (Giosue Borsi) Each sin shakes that world. It inflicts hurt on the soul of every man. Sometimes the first link in this process is visible, when one person leads another to sin. But visible or unseen, sin leads to sin; and likewise one sin prevented wards off another. And similarly does not the averting of that second sin prevent a third, and so on unendingly until that chain gathers in the whole world and stretches throughout all time? Is it, therefore, too much to say that each sinner converted to a good life, will eventually represent a goodly host marching behind him into heaven?

Accordingly, to prevent a grave sin would justify most arduous labors – even the effort of a lifetime – for thereby every soul will feel the glow of extra grace. It may be that the saving of that sin will be a moment of destiny, the inauguration of a process of uplift, which will in time transfer a whole people from a godless life to one of virtue.

(Legio Mariae, pg. 301-302)

“There are no small parts, only small actors.” This saying ever rings true in our Lord’s divine plan. We all have a purpose, a special and unique role to play in the story of humanity. And yet it seems to be more often than not that we feel like our efforts are rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things. We do all that we can in our attempts to live a holy life, striving to bring others to Christ, but there are frequently those days in which we feel like we are just spinning our wheels, indefinitely stuck in the mud.

The thing that we often forget is that in the spiritual life, no one is ever “stuck” or “static.” One is always moving toward or away from Perfection, and – like outer-terrestrial bodies pushing and pulling on each other through the effects of gravity – one is pushing or pulling the individuals one comes in contact with either toward or away from that same holy state. There is one quote that comes to mind that says it well: “In every encounter we either give life or we drain it; there is no neutral exchange.”

In the end, only God truly knows what grand effects are caused by our faithful attempts. We are just asked to respond and to trust that He and His Blessed Mother are making sure that even our smallest attempts at outreach are not wasted. And this is not only an encouraging thought, but one that should drive us ever forward. Perhaps one friendly smile could show someone the face of Christ. Perhaps one kind word could turn someone’s life around. Perhaps one little mortification offered up could bestow on someone the grace that they need to avoid falling into a sin that would lead to a lifetime of vice. Only God knows, so we should feel encouraged that our “small part” is – by God’s grace – bringing about great things, despite the discouraging thoughts that tell us that our part changes nothing in the vastness of the world. After all, the Blessed Mother couldn’t necessarily see the magnificent things that her Lord was preparing to do as she was woken up at two in the morning by her fussy infant child! And so we ask to imitate her trust in God’s great providence, that our actions may too be used for the sanctification and glorification of His Kingdom.