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Legion HANDBOOK D10944_1 26/02/2014 15:53 Page 25

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THE DUTY OF LEGIONARIES

TOWARDS MARY

1. The honouring of the Legion devotion to Mary by
serious meditation and zealous practice is placed on each
member as a solemn trusteeship to the Legion. It is to be
regarded as an essential part of legionary duty, ranking
before any other obligation of membership. (See chapter 5,
The Devotional Outlook of the Legion, and appendix 5,
Confraternity of Mary Queen of All Hearts)

The Legion aims to bring Mary to the world as the infallible
means of winning the world to Jesus. Manifestly, the
legionary without Mary in his heart can play no part in this.
He is divorced from the legionary purpose. He is an unarmed
soldier, a broken link, or rather as a paralysed arm — attached
to the body, it is true — but of what use for work!
The study of every army (and no less that of the Legion)
must be to bind the individual soldier to the leader, so that
the latter’s plan passes smoothly into concerted action. The
army acts as one. To this end is all the elaborate machinery of
drill and discipline directed. In addition, there is found in the
soldiers of all the great armies of history a devotion of a
passionate sort for their leader, intensifying their union with
him, and rendering easy the sacrifices which the execution of
his plan called for. Of this leader it could be said that he was
the inspiration and soul of his soldiers, in their hearts, one
with them, and so forth. These phrases describe the operation
of his influence and in a measure express a truth.
But at best such unity is only an emotional or mechanical
one. Not so the relation between the Christian soul and Mary
its Mother. To say that Mary is in the soul of the faithful
legionary would be to picture a union infinitely less effective
than that which actually exists, the nature of which is
summed up by the Church in such titles of Our Lady as:
“Mother of Divine Grace,” “Mediatrix of all Graces.” In these
titles is expressed a sway of Mary over the life of the soul, so

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