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Legion HANDBOOK D10944_1 26/02/2014 15:53 Page 68

68 SCHEME OF THE LEGION CHAPTER 11
Hence the holiness of life which the Legion of Mary seeks
to promote in the members is also its primary means of
action. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide
in me, and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me
you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5)
“The Church, whose mystery is set forth by this sacred Council, is
held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because
Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as
“alone holy”, loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her
so as to sanctify her (cf Eph 5:25-26); he joined her to himself as his
body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of
God. Therefore, all in the Church, whether they belong to the
hierarchy or are cared for by it, are called to holiness, according to the
apostle’s saying: ‘For this is the will of God, your sanctifica tion’. (1
Thess 4:3; cf Eph 1:4) This holiness of the Church is constantly
shown forth in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in the
faithful and so it must be; it is expressed in many ways by the
individuals who, each in his own state of life, tend to the perfection
of love, thus helping others to grow in holiness; it appears in a
manner peculiar to itself in the practice of the counsels which have
been usually called “evangelical.” This practice of the counsels
prompted by the Holy Spirit, undertaken by many Christians whether
privately or in a form or state sanctioned by the Church, gives and
should give a striking witness and example of that holiness.” (LG 39)

2. AN INTENSELY ORDERED SYSTEM
Unharnessed, the great natural sources of power run to
waste. Likewise, zeal unsystematised, enthusiasm undirected,
never bring large results, interior or exterior, and seldom are
durable. Aware of this, the Legion places before its members a
mode of life rather than the doing of a work. It provides an
intensely ordered system, in which much is given the force of
rule that in other systems is merely exhorted or left to be
understood, and in regard to every detail of which it enjoins a
spirit of scrupulous observance. It promises, in return,
perseverance and conspicuous growth in the qualities of
Christian perfection, namely, faith, love of Mary, fearlessness,
self-sacrifice, fraternity, prayerfulness, prudence, patience,
obedience, humility, gladness, and the apostolic spirit.
“The growth of what is usually designated the Lay Apostolate is a
special manifestation of our modern days, possessing—were it for no
other reason than the numbers concerned—infinite potentialities.