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296 CARDINAL POINTS OF THE LEGION APOSTOLATE CHAPTER 39
“Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members
of my family, you did it to me.” (Mt 25:40) With these words
written on his heart, the legion ary must see our Lord in his
neighbour (who is all man kind without distinc tion) and render
service accordingly. The evil, the unthankful, the afflicted, the
despised, the outcast, the greatest objects of natural repulsion,
all are to be viewed in this new light. They are surely the least
of Christ’s brethren and (mindful of Christ’s words) to be
rendered a princely and reverential service.
Always will the legionary bear in mind that he is visiting
not as a superior to an inferior, not as one equal to another,
but as an inferior to his superior, as the servant to the Lord. It
is the absence of this spirit that produces the patronising
manner. The visitor, possessed of the latter, will accomplish
neither supernatural nor natural good. His presence will be
tolerated only when he is the bearer of gifts. On the other
hand, the gentle, sympathetic visitor, humbly asking
admission to the homes at which he knocks, will be joyfully
received though his gifts are not material; and he will quickly
establish himself on a footing of true friendship. Legionaries
should bear in mind that a want of simplicity in dress or
accent will raise a barrier between them and those they visit.

18. THROUGH THE LEGIONARY, MARY LOVES AND
TENDS HER SON
The words of a legionary explaining the successful outcome
of a very unpleasant and difficult visitation: “We got them to
like us,” admirably summarise legionary methods. To awaken
this affection it is first necessary to show it: to love those
visited. There is no other way, no other diplomacy, no other
key to real influence. St. Augustine puts the same idea in
another form when he declares “Love and do what you will.”
In a masterly paragraph of his life of St. Francis of Assisi,
Chesterton asserts that distinctive Christian principle: “St.
Francis only saw the image of God multiplied but never
monotonous. To him a man was always a man, and did not
disappear in a dense crowd any more than in a desert. He
honoured all men; that is he not only loved but respected
them all. What gave him his extraordinary personal power
was this: that from the Pope to the beggar, from the Sultan of