Over the past year, the Legion of Mary has celebrated their centennial anniversary. Established in 1921 by Servant of God Frank Duff in Dublin, Ireland, the Legion of Mary is a lay apostolate whose mission is to serve the spiritual and social welfare of the Church through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, Mediatrix of All Graces.
In his homily for the centennial celebration of the Legion on September 25, 2021, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone praised and encouraged the Legion of Mary in their work:
“There is need for that sense of an enclave where people can be formed in the faith, and their faith can be strengthened. But they must not remain closed in on themselves, so that they can be strengthened and nourished in their faith, solidified in their religious identity in order to go out and to be involved in the world… This is what the Legion of Mary has been doing…[bringing] Mary to the world as the infallible means of winning the world to Jesus, precisely by going forth and being involved through personal service: visitation of homes, establishing contact of some sort with every soul everywhere, serving Christ in the sick and the marginalized, wherever there can be found an opportunity to do spiritual works of charity for the needy. In this way, you take your turn in working as God’s agents in His plan of salvation for His people, which is the true heart of evangelization.”
During the centennial year, September 7, 2021 – September 7, 2022, the Sacred Penitentiary in Rome has granted the Legion of Mary members (active and auxiliary) and other members of the faithful a special plenary indulgence for prayer for the work of the Legion.
An indulgence is the partial or complete remission of temporal punishment due to sin in God’s justice that has already been forgiven. The sins of a penitent are forgiven (if the necessary preconditions are met) in the Sacrament of Penance, and the sacrament remits the eternal punishment for sin. But there still remains the temporal punishment required by Divine Justice. This requirement of temporal punishment must be fulfilled either in the present life or after death in Purgatory. An indulgence then offers the penitent sinner the means of discharging this debt during his life on earth.
The indulgence for the Legion of Mary’s centennial year can be fulfilled through sacramental confession, holy communion, prayer for the intention for the Holy Father and a firm amendment of a contrite heart and detachment of sin. In addition, the Sacred Penitentiary states that a work must be completed which could include any of the following:
- Visit a Church where the Legion of Mary officially exists or any Church that has been designated by the Legion of Mary, in cases of areas or localities where the Legion of Mary is not present. (Full list here.)
- Participate devoutly in a pilgrimage to an appropriate Marian Shrine, internationally (such as Guadalupe in Mexico, Fatima, etc.) or locally such as Our Lady of Peace Shrine in Santa Clara, CA, Shrine of Our Lady of Bethlehem in Carmel, CA).*
*Note: During this visitation of Churches or while on pilgrimage, the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed must by recited devoutly. - Attend or participate at the joyful celebrations of the Centenary Anniversary of the Legion of Mary (announcement will be made by your local Legion group for such a joyful event). The aged, sick or the homebound can also receive the indulgence by ‘joining in spirit’ at these joyful celebrations by offering prayers, sorrows or misfortunes of their lives to the mercy of God and adopting a spirit of firm amendment and detestation of sin.
The full decree and list of parishes and shrines can be found on the Senatus website:
https://www.sfsenatus.com/plenary-indulgence
