Page 152 - 聖母軍團員手冊（英文版，2014年5月-2022年1月更新版）

Legion HANDBOOK D10944_1 26/02/2014 15:53 Page 147

CHAPTER 25 THE LEGION PICTURE 147
offspring; the Legion and the powers of evil, which fall back
scattered in defeat.
The Catena prayer is that of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces,
Mother of God and Mother of all men.
At the top of the picture is the Holy Spirit the giver of all
good gifts: below, the globe surrounded by the good and the
bad, typifying the world of souls: between the two, Mary full
of grace, all aflame with charity, the universal channel of
intercession and distribution. But first she will enrich those
truest children who, like St. John, have rested on the Heart of
Jesus and have lovingly accepted her as mother. The words in
the border:† “Woman, here is your son . . . Here is your
mother.” (Jn 19:26-27) point to the manifestation, amid the
inconceivable sorrows of Calvary, of that motherhood.

5. The concluding prayers are mirrored in every line of the
picture. The Legion is depicted as a host innumerable,
advanc ing in battle-array under the leadership of its Queen
and bearing her standards, “the crucifix in their right hands,
the Rosary in their left, the sacred names of Jesus and Mary in
their hearts and the modesty and mortification of Jesus Christ
in their behaviour” (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort). Their
prayer is for a faith which will super naturalise every instinct
and action of their lives, and enable them to dare and do all
things for Christ the King. That faith is represent ed by the
Pillar of Fire which melts all legionary hearts into one, and
guides them on to victory and to the Land of Eternal Promise,
casting abroad as it proceeds the life-giving flames of divine
love. The pillar is Mary who saved the world by her faith
(“Blessed is she who believed.” (Lk 1:45)‡ in the border), and
who now, through encir cling gloom, leads on unerringly
those who call her blessed, until the everlasting splendour of
the Lord God come upon them.
6. The prayers end with a pointing from the legionary
labours to that roll-call of eternity, when the faithful
legionaries will muster shoulder to shoulder, not a single one
missing, to receive the incorruptible crown of their
membership.
In the meantime: a prayer for those for whom the conflict
has ceased and who await the glorious Resurrection, and who
may need their comrades’ supplication.