The Legion of Mary is the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church, with well over 3 million active members in almost every country of the world. The main purpose of the Legion of Mary is to give glory to God through the sanctification of its members.

Members become instruments of the Holy Spirit through a balanced program of prayer and service. Works include parishioner visitation, prison ministry, visitation of the sick or aged, crowd contact, religious education, Pilgrim Virgin Statue rotations, and meeting the other spiritual needs of the parish community. Legionaries are under the guidance of a spiritual director. The Legion is, in essence, an extension of the heart and hands of the pastor.  Our group meets every Monday at 1:30 PM in the church hall.  For more information contact Kay DeFreese ([email protected]).

More information about the Legion of Mary is available at: www.legionofmary.ie

This prayer, known in Latin as Sub tuum Praesidium and first found in a Greek papyrus, c. 300 A.D., is the oldest known prayer to the Virgin.

We fly to thy protection,
O holy Mother of God,
despise not our petitions in
our necessities,
but deliver us always
from all dangers,
O glorious and
blessed Virgin.
Amen
 

A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful to who recite it.

"One evening I went to recite the Holy Rosary that was being led by the Holy Father [John Paul II]...I felt that this man, chosen to lead the Church, was following a path up to his Mother in the sky, a path set out on from his childhood. And I became aware of the density of the words of the Mother of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego: ‘Don’t be afraid, am I not perhaps your mother?’ I understood the presence of Mary in the life of the Pope.  That testimony did not get forgotten in an instant. From that time on I recite the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary every day." - Pope Francis

Even a simple novena can be intimidating because we must remember to say the prayers each day for nine consecutive days in order to complete the novena.  Of course, we need to remember that God cannot be outdone in generosity, so whenever we give to Him of our time and our love, He will respond. He may not grant the particular request that we have asked, but He will bless us in some way for our fidelity to prayer.

The 54 Day Rosary Novena is a very powerful prayer which is actually 6 consecutive novenas to our Blessed Mother.  The first three weeks we pray a rosary (5 decades) each day asking the Blessed Mother to pray for our particular intention.  The next three weeks we continue to pray a rosary each day in gratitude for her help, whether or not we received the answer we wanted. 

We might pray for our family, our friends, our country, etc.  Mary would love to bless them all!  Miracles happen because people ask in faith and there have been miracles as a result of people like us praying this novena.

Modern technology makes prayers like this so much easier since they can be accessed from the internet anytime, anywhere.  20 minutes or so per day for 54 days is not easy to set aside, but we can be encouraged by the words of St. Paul: "Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up."
Galatians 6:9

Specific prayers are available in booklets and online.  One such link is provided here.    www.prayerflowers.com/54DayNovena.htm