Legion of Mary Training and Congresses

LEADERSHIP
Adapted from the Miami Regia Conference
October 12-14, 2007

As a first principle of our efforts we must THINK, Our mind is the highest part of our natural make-up, and we must place it fully at the service of Jesus Christ. We must think and plan as if everything depended on it. Indeed I suppose that everything does depend on it, and that the LORD could say: "I have need of your thinking" - Thinking in Christ, by Frank Duff Cf- 1 Cor 3:21

Are we:

•        Invoking the aid of the Holy Spirit to help us to think and plan?
•        Developing people through officerships?
•        Planning through officer meetings?
•        Using a map of our territories (parish)? Brother Frank Duff suggested praying over a map of the world for a minute every day.
•        Bringing Our Lady into the heart of our thinking and planning?

"So others must be drawn into our plannings until those little nests of apostolic thinkers are legion in number as well as in name. Indeed can we induce every legionary in the world to indulge in this dreaming about souls? If each one could be induced to pray for a minute a day over a map of the world, it would afford an opening for the maternal operations of Mary. And it is part of her mother's office that she would seize on any such opportunity. Nothing is ore certain than the something would happen. Dreaming with Mary is the most solid of actions or she adds in the substance. The one mistake which we can make is to dream on too low a level where faith is thin and feeble.

"So we much think in terms of the apparently impossible: The conquest of the world of souls. Mary will make the dream conic true."

- Final testament of the Servant of God, Frank Duff, in his address to legionaries on October 25, 1980 ~-ten days before his death.

8:30 - Registration - Haut Hall
8:40 - Rosary and Opening Prayers - Church
9:00 - Parish Mass
9:30 - Coffee and Donuts - Hall
10:00 - Welcome - Comitium President

10:20 - First Session - Spiritual Director

The Spirit of Mary's Legion, Its Objective, Its Spiritual Basis
(No Discussion at this time, but refer to it throughout the day.)

●        The spirit of the Legion is the spirit of Mary herself. P12
●        The object of the Legion is the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by prayer and active cooperation, under ecclesiastical guidance, in Mary's and the church's work of crushing the head of the serpent and advancing the reign of Christ. P11
●        Under God the Legion is built on devotion to Mary.... P18
●        The honoring of the Legion devotion to Mary by serious meditation and zealous practice is placed on each member as a solemn trusteeship.... P25
●        Real devotion to Mary obliges apostleship. P31
●        Legionaries should undertake DeMontfort's True Devotion to Mary. P37

11:20 - Very Short Break

1:30 - Second Session -

Government of the Praesidium
What does it control?

Membership, Works, Duties toward System.

(Discussion following presentation based on Patrician Principles.)

●        The praesidium has control over all its members and the power to control their actives. The members, for their part, shall loyally obey the legitimate orders of the praesidium. P 84
●        The praesidium shall hold a meeting every week.... This rule is absolutely invariable. P84
●        The officers of the presidium shall give a report to their praesidia and thus keep their members in touch with the Curia. P 85
●        It shall be the (No. 1) duty the (officers) to attend the meetings of the Curia.... Pp 213-221
●        The officers of a praesidium (other than the spiritual director) shall be appointed by the Curia. P 86

12:40 - Catena - Light Lunch (Sandwiches, Salads)

1:20 - Third Session -

The Curia/Comitium
How does it govern? What are its responsibilities?

(Discussion following.)
●        Where two or more praesidia have been established in any city, town, or district, a governing body termed the Curia should be set up. P161
●        The Curia shall exercise authority over (govern) its praesidia.... P 162 It shall appoint their officers...and keep count of the terms of office. P162
●        The following shall form important parts of the work of a Curia:
●        (a) The education and supervision of officers....
●        (b) The receiving of an oral report from each praesidium not less frequently than once a year.
●        (c) the exchange of experiences.
●        (d) The consideration of new works.
●        (e) The creation of higher standards.
●        (f) The ensuring that every legionary satisfactorily performs the work-obligation.
●        (g) The extension of the Legion.... P 163
●        The Curia shall cause each presidium to be visited periodically.... P164
●        A primary duty of any council is that of allegiance to its next highest council. P152
●        The officers of a council shall be elected at an ordinary meeting of the councils by the members of the council (that is, the officers of any directly affiliated praesidia, the officers of any directly affiliated councils, and any elected officers of such council) who are present. P153
●        The representatives of a praesidium or of a council to its next highest council shall be its officers. P155
●        The duty of contributing to the funds of its next highest council is imposed on each mlegionary body. P155

2:30 - Very Short Break

2:40 - Fourth Session -

The Regia/Senatus/Concilium

How do the Higher Councils Operate? Structure. Territory. Responsibilities.
(Discussion following.)

●        The government, local and central of the Legion shall be carried on by its councils, whose duty in their respective spheres shall be to ensure unity, to preserve the original ideals of the Legion of Mary, to guard the integrity of the Legion spirit and rules and practices as set forth in the official handbook of the Legion and to spread the organization. The Legion in any area will only be as good as those councils wish to make it. P152
●        A council designated by the Concilium to exercise authority over (govern) the Legion of Mary in a large region …. shall be called a Regia. P167
●        A council designated by the Concilium to exercise authority over the Legion of Mary in a country shall be called a Senatus. It must be directly affiliated with the Concilium. (If) a single Senatus would not be adequate, two or more Senatus may be approved...by the Concilium. P168
●        There shall be a central council, which shall be called the Concilium Legionis Mariae, in which shall be vested the supreme governing authority of the Legion. P170
●        The Concilium appoints correspondents to fulfill it function of superintendence of distant councils. P170
●        To the Concilium Legionis Mariae alone shall belong … the right to amend the Handbook. P171

3:50 - Wrap-up - Regia Representative

4:30 - Closing Prayers - Comitium President

NOTES: