"The whole life of men,both individual and social,shows itself to be a struggle, and a dramatic one between good and evil, between light and darkness."(GS 13).
This points to the fact that as humans,we are always at war, and this war is between good and evil, between light and darkness.As Christians,we represent light and good, always fighting against darkness and evil.Remember what God said to the ancient serpent in Genesis 3:15,*I will put an enmity between you and the Woman, between your offspring and her offspring..."
This battle,we keep fighting everyday of our lives.To engage in this battle, we need to come together as an army of God through Our Lady.The Legion of Mary is therefore organised as an army, using the model of the ancient Roman army,even though the Legion's army and its arms are not of this world but heaven's.
The Legion of Mary was not pre-planned,it started in a very humble and simple manner-there were no set rules and practices-a suggestion was made,an evening was fixed, and a small group came together,not knowing that they were to be used by the Almighty God.
These legionaries met around a table, and set their altar there.They placed the statue of the Immaculate conception (of the miraculous medal model)on the table, after placing a white cloth on the table.Two flower vases with flowers and two candlesticks with their lights on were also on the table.
Before they arrived, Our Lady was there already waiting to welcome them.She adopted them, and so they depended on Her to persevere and succeed.
The first thing they did was to go knee down,bowed their heads, invoked the Holy Spirit and prayed the Holy Rosary.As soon as they had finished praying, they sat down and discussed how best they could please God and teach people how to love Him.It was this gathering and its deliberations that gave birth to the Legion of Mary as we have it today.
The first meeting of legionaries took place at Myra House, Francis street, Dublin Ireland at 8pm on September 7,1921, the eve of the feast of Our Lady's Nativity.It was first called"The Association of Our Lady of Mercy".
