What is the Legion of Mary?

Answer 1

The Legion of Mary is a Catholic Action group that consists of volunteer lay members of the Church supervised by a priest chaplain in order to provide the acts of spiritual and corporal mercy in the community at large.

The Legion of Mary was founded in Dublin on September 7th, 1921. Chapters have since spread to most every country in the world. The Legion is modeled on the Roman legions of old, having taken the reality that at Confirmation a Catholic becomes a "soldier of Christ". The Legion seeks to put this into practice with the Blessed Virgin Mary as their lead and standard, through whom they seek patronage for success in their work. A Legion chapter is called a praesidium. Each praesidium typically meets once a week, usually with a chaplain in attendance, and discusses potential ideas for work in the community as well as organizing their resources and appointing members to specific apostolates. Minutes are taken at the meeting and there is a president, bursar, secretary and all the elected positions of a proper organization. Legionaries often visit the sick, the elderly, run drives, provide Catholic catechesis material and serve as the vital link between the community and the priest, who cannot be everywhere to do these things on his own.