Raymond and Annette Mulrooney of Dublin, Ireland, visitors of the Concilium, the international world council of theLegion of Mary, recently met with members of councils and praesidia in the Diocese of Sacramento during a two-week visit. The Mulrooneys, joined by Charles McGloughlin of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Sacramento and president of the Legion of Mary Comitium in the diocese, met with the Solano County Curia, North Area Curia and Northern Counties Curia.
The message to Legion of Mary members "was to return to our roots, to our primary mission, which is to evangelize and to spread the message of Jesus and the Gospels, just as his twelve apostles did," noted Raymond Mulrooney. "While our organization is well-known for its ministry of consolation and visiting the sick, our first concerns must be conserving the faith and also the conversion of others to the Catholic faith."
The Legion of Mary is a lay catholic organization whose members are giving service to the church on a voluntary basis in 170 countries around the world. The object of the Legion of Mary is the glory of God through the holiness of its members developed by prayer and active cooperation in Mary's and the church's work. The unit of the Legion of Mary is called a praesidium, which holds a weekly meeting, where prayer is intermingled with reports and discussion. Persons who wish to join the Legion must apply for membership in a praesidium. The Legion sees as its priority the spiritual and social welfare of each individual. The members participate in the life of the parish through visitation of families, the sick, both in their homes and in hospitals, and through collaboration in every apostolic and missionary undertaking sponsored by the parish.
Raymond Mulrooney notes that the Cause for Beatification has been introduced for three legionaries: The Servant of God, Frank Duff (1889-1980), Founder of the Legion, who attended the Second Vatican Council as a Lay Observer; Venerable Edel Quinn (1907-1944), Legion Envoy to East Africa; and the Servant of God, Alfie Lambe (1932-1959), Legion Envoy to South America.
To read more about the Legion of Mary, visit the international website at http://www.legionofmary.ie/
The Diocese of Sacramento currently has 38 praesidia in 40 parishes. For more information about the Legion of Mary in the Diocese of Sacramento, contact Charles McGloughlin at 916-832-0654 or charlesmcg@gmail.com.
In photo above, left to right, are Raymond and Annette Mulrooney, Gladys and Charles McGloughlin.