Page 342 - 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 337

APPENDIX 1 PAPAL LETTERS AND MESSAGES 337
difficult for the Church to be present and active (ibid. 33).
The area of the lay apostolate today is extraordinarily en larged.
And so the commitment of your typical vocation becomes more
impelling, stimulating, live and relevant. The vitality of the
Christian is the sign of the vitality of the Church. And the
commitment of you legionaries becomes more urgent, conside ring
on the one hand the needs of the Italian society and of the
nations of ancient Christian tradition, and on the other hand the
shining examples which have gone before you in your own
movement. To give just some names: Edel Quinn, with her activity
in Black Africa; Alfonso Lambe in the most emarginated areas of
Latin America; and then the thousands of legionaries killed in Asia
or ending up in work camps.

With the spirit and solicitude of Mary
3. Yours is an eminently Marian spirituality, not only because the
Legion glories in carrying Mary‘s name as its unfurled banner, but
above all because it bases its method of spirituality and apostolate
on the dynamic principle of union with Mary, on the truth of the
intimate participation of the Virgin Mary in the plan of salvation.
In other words, you intend to render your service to every
person, who is the image of Christ, with the spirit and the solicitude
of Mary.
If our one and only Mediator is the man Jesus Christ, as the
Council states, “Mary’s motherly role towards men in no way dims
or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ: on the contrary, it
demonstrates its efficacy” (LG 60). So the Blessed Virgin is invoked
in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Perpetual
Help, Mediatrix, Mother of the Church.
For its birth and growth, apostolic work looks to her who gave
birth to Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Where the Mother is,
there too is the Son. When one moves away from the Mother,
sooner or later he ends up keeping distant from the Son as well. It
is no wonder that today, in various sectors of secularised society,
we note a widespread crisis of faith in God, preceded by a drop in
devotion to the Virgin Mother.
Your Legion forms a part of those movements that feel
personally committed to the spread or the birth of that faith
through the spread or the revival of devotion to Mary. It therefore
will always be able to do its utmost that, through love for the
Mother, the Son, Who is the way, the truth and the life of every
person, will be more known and loved.
In this perspective of faith and love I impart the Apostolic
Blessing to you from my heart.