Legionaries must defend the truth

Apr 09, 2015

By Bernard Anthony
The Legion of Mary, both individually and collectively, seeks to celebrate the Acies as near to the Feast of the Annunciation as possible. This ceremony is one of the most profound functions of the Legion. In the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, the legionaries renew and deepen their Consecration to Mary at least once a year. That consecration is at the heart of their vocation. The Acies ceremony was held at the Cathedral of St John on March 22. 1,100 active Legionaries from around the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese were present. The event was organized by the Kuala Lumpur Regia.

Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Julian Leow in his address told the Legionaries that the word ‘legion’ gave the impression of fighting. Acies means formation for going into battle to fight the forces of evil, the unseen forces.

Looking at what is happening to our society and in our world — are we ready to battle the evil forces? Some people see the devil in all places. In some prayer meetings leaders cast out the devil. The advice given was to leave the devil alone. Do we see the devil or do we see goodness? The prelate said goodness will overcome evil, even evil acts or negative activities happening around the world. “God will triumph in the end. In the meantime, we have to be ready to defend goodness,” exclaimed Archbishop Leow.

He advised the Legionaries to counter the spirits that lead people away from the truth. “Legionaries, you are soldiers of Christ! You must be ready to defend the truth, the goodness and to overcome evil. You are in the front-line for this so be ready to fight the evil spirits, which are very subtle in our world today.” The prelate added that the danger is when we lose the sense of sin. “We might be taking back office stationery that is not ours, which is stealing. The lines for Communion become longer, whereas the lines for Confession shorter. Are we becoming holier?” the prelate asked.

“Legionaries help by praying and creating awareness about the trap of the devil. If we do not know the enemy it can come into our home and attack us slowly, in subtle ways.”

Archbishop Leow emphasized that Legionaries need to defend the faith and the Church. “You come to renew your act of consecration to Mary. Keep close to her so that she leads you closer to Jesus.Mary never leads us to herself, but rather to Jesus. She points you to Jesus. Mary shows you the way to Jesus. Be close to her,” he repeated.

Earlier Fr Raymond Pereira, who is the Spiritual Director, said he was happy to see the Legion of Mary (LOM) members consisting of Presidiums from all over the KL Archdiocese coming to renew their promises.

Fr Raymond commended them for being fervent in their spiritual activities, including hospital and home visits, outreach and prayers. He urged them to continue serving in the Church and be committed and confident, so as to attract others to join the LOM. Fr Raymond also shared Pope Francis’ Reflection on Our Lady to the Legionaries, that touched on the founder, Frank Duff.

Fr Andrew Wong CDD who is the Spiritual Director for PJ Curia (Mandarin) in his address welcomed everyone. He spoke on their duties as Legionaries and invited them to fight social evil by giving them words of encouragement to continue soldiering on as faithful Legionaries.

Next was the individual Act of Consecration with the Spiritual Directors leading the way followed by Archbishop Leow and the rest of the legionaries. Each one put their right hand on the Vexillum and spoke aloud the promise, “I am all yours, my Queen, my mother, and all that I have is yours.” Fr Raymond then led in the Collective Act of Consecration to Our Lady. The Catena was led by LOM Secretary, Jenny Tan and Fr Yong celebrated the Benediction. The meaningful Acies ceremony ended with a concluding prayer and hymn, Mary is My Mother Too. Currently there are some 1,200 Legionaries and 600 auxiliaries in the KL Archdiocese.