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Legion HANDBOOK D10944_1 26/02/2014 15:53 Page 219

CHAPTER 34 DUTIES OF OFFICES OF PRAESIDIA 219
distinct tones. The minutes play a most important part, both
from the manner of reading and from their substance. Well
read minutes, neither too long nor too short, which have
obviously cost the Secretary con siderable trouble, set a good
headline for the rest of the meeting, and will in no small
measure conduce to its efficiency.
3. The Secretary must have regard to his instruments, if he
wishes to produce good results. It is a fact, dependent on the
structure of the human mind, that even a good Secretary,
writing with a pencil or a broken pen on inferior paper, will
not ordinarily produce a worthy record. Therefore, the
minutes should be written in ink or typed, and in a book of
good quality.

4. The Secretary does not discharge his work-obligation to
the praesidium by the performance of his secretarial duties.

5. He shall punctually furnish all information and all
returns which may be required by the Curia, and shall
generally be responsible for the correspondence of the
praesidium. The Secretary shall also see that the stationery
supplies of the praesidium are kept at a proper level.
6. Portions of the Secretary’s duty may, however, be
delegated by the President to other members of the praesidium.
“The Gospel says: ‘Mary kept all these things in her heart.’ (Lk 2:51)
Why not on parchment as well? asked Botticelli. And without going
deeper into the exegesis of the matter, he thus depicted the most
perfect of all hymns of ecstasy and gratitude: An angel offers the ink
bottle in his right hand, while with his left he supports the
manuscript in which the Blessed Virgin has just transcribed the
Magnificat in illuminated gothic lettering; her chubby Bambino takes
on the air of a prophet and his tiny hand seems to guide his mother’s
fingers, those nervous, sensitive, almost thinking fingers that the
Florentine master always associates closely with the expression of his
idea of the Virgin. The inkstand likewise has its own meaning here.
Although not of gold, nor incrusted with gems like the crown upheld
by the angels, yet it too symbolises the triumphal destiny of the
Queen of Heaven and Earth. It foretells all that to the end of time will
be written in human records in confirmation of what the humble
servant of the Lord has predicted of her own glory.” (Vloberg)