The Legion of Mary is a worldwide organization made up of Catholic men and women, under the banner of Mary to create more holiness in their lives and to spread a deeper devotion to others.
The Legion offers a special way to love and thank our Blessed Mother for her continuous work and intercession on our behalf … with the honor of doing a work for her as well.
Meetings are held each Monday in the downstairs Parish Center of the main Church at 1:00PM. We invite you to come and learn more about us.
Primary Contact: Camy Felix
Phone: 516-477-0565
The Legion of Mary is a Marion organization founded in 1921 by Frank Duff, Servant of God and the Venerable Edel Quinn; both awaiting Canonization. There are over 3 million members world wide, who are dedicated to the Blessed Mother.
Weekly Visitation with a Statue of Our Lady: The statue originated in Fatima Portugal after Our Lady’s appearances had stopped. The people missed our Lady’s presence and so a statue in her image was developed to keep her closeness with them. The Legion of Mary at St. Thomas the Apostle can bring that joy to you throughout the year as well. Our Lady of Fatima’s Pilgrim Statue can be brought to your home and remain with you for a week. Special prayers to invoke her presence in your home will be said. Comfort, consolation and peace may be just some of her gifts to you. If you feel a desire to have her in your home, it could be that She is desiring to be there as well. For more information, please contact Grace Martello (516) 489-6886, leave your name and phone number and I will get back to you.
PREPARATION
A suitable place in your home where our Blessed Mother’s statue will be put.
A decorative table cover, candles, flowers and other desired objects have been placed there.
Our Blessed Mother (symbolized by her image) is brought into your home with love, reverence and prayers by two members of the Legion of Mary.
You may invite family and friends if you wish.
At the end of the week when we pick up her statue farewell prayers are said.
Good News from
THE LEGION OF MARY
The Legion of Mary ~ Bishop Fulton Sheen
(Speech given at the Annual Council Officers’ Meeting in Rochester, N.Y.)
"You are the only organization in the world today that ever anticipated the Vatican Council. The only one! You just go through your works and see how far ahead you are of the Council and with the Church. You are Pre-Council, Pro-Council, and Post Council.
First you are a lay organization devoted to the apostolate, though the apostolate was reserved for the clergy. So you swept back about 20 centuries. Read over the list at the close of the Epistle to the Romans, members of the Legion of Mary, so that you will see that you have brought up to date the apostolate of the early Church. Also, in the Acts of the Apostles, it is in the third Act whereby the Church becomes established in a certain house; first a catechist works among the group and finally the Church itself. That is the first way you anticipated the Vatican Council.
The second and more important still is that you belong to the out-ministry. We priests belong to the in-ministry. That’s not what God intended, but that’s what happened. We wait for people to come to us and we build bigger rectories. We are failing because we are in in-ministry, waiting. You were from the beginning and out-ministry, commissioned to do the same sort of thing as Our Blessed Lord did ~ walking up and down alleys.
Third, you anticipated it even in relation to the Blessed Mother. This may seem strange but it’s true. Your service is dedicated to building up the Church. It’s not just merely the devotion to Our Lady, it’s a devotion to Our Lady as the Mother of the Church. At the Council, we voted on the question of whether or not to give a new title to Our Lady. Our Lady has many as you know. It was decided not to give her another title. Two weeks later Pope Paul read his Encyclical Letter on the Blessed Mother as the "Mother of the Church." We gave her a new title. That’s the Mother you love and who is your patroness.
You are a small group ~ you have to be. Remember this! The Holy Spirit never works with the majority, only with minorities. You are the only present effective apostolate that we have in the world.
My good legionaries, this is what you are. From what I have told you, you know how much esteem and affection I have for you. I say you have anticipated the Vatican Council ~ the future apostolate of the Church, and you are only at the beginning, just the beginning. Pray often to the Holy Spirit that your zeal will spread and that others will have the courage to do it. I consider it an honor, really an honor, to be in the midst of you. Just as sometimes oil gets outside of a bottle by osmosis, so too, by being near you, I hope to get some of your spirit."