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THE LEGION OF MARY: Faithfully Serving with the Guidance of Our Blessed Mother
When a longtime parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes invited Ken Kukorowski to join the Legion of Mary, Ken initially thought that he was too busy for the commitment. However, this open invitation led Ken to learn that he could be an auxiliary member, providing prayer and spiritual support while praying the Rosary and a short daily prayer from home. As soon as Ken retired in 2019, he was ready to become an active member, attending meetings and taking on weekly assignments.
“They were in sync with what I already wanted to do,” Ken says. “If other parishioners knew what the Legion does and what little effort it is to help people out, they’d all be clamoring to do this.”
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The Legion of Mary is a global organization, but its heart is at the parish level. Members of the Legion of Mary place themselves under the guidance of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“We put trust in the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Ken says. “She directs things for us — she helps us focus properly and do what needs to be done.”
Each group, or praesidium, exists for the personal sanctification of its members and to assist the pastor in serving the parish.
“A lot of the pastoral ministries that Fr. Pat would love to do — visiting shut-ins, visiting seniors, distributing Holy Communion — is stuff he has to delegate to other people,” Ken says, “The Legion steps up and helps with that.”
For Ken, this means that his weekly assignment is visiting the elderly in nursing homes. Ken found a new depth of meaning in his service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I really missed going to Mass and seeing the people at Mass,” Ken says. “And I think about all these people who are shut-ins, have no cars, or are wheelchair-bound, and the only contact they have is through Zoom — or if others like myself visit them, pray the Rosary, distribute Holy Communion or just sit there and listen to them. It makes them feel wanted.”
The active members have a variety of weekly assignments. For Hrideep Antony, a member of the Legion of Mary for 10 years, this weekly assignment is leading the junior praesidium, a group for the young men of our parish ages 12 through 18.
“Legion means you’re a soldier for Our Lady,” Hrideep says. “The boys really like challenges.”
Hrideep leads the young members in weekly meetings and assignments. The group gives the members a chance to consider their vocation and be open to the call to the priesthood or religious life. All of the members, however, are being prepared for the world beyond.
“The Legion is a training ground where they are taught what to expect when they go to college and how to defend their faith,” Hrideep says. “I’ve seen that when the boys go to college — they continue attending church.”
The adult group and the junior group often collaborate. At least two men from the adult group attend the junior meetings each week and the members often go on assignments together to visit nursing homes.
In all these activities, the members lean on prayer and the guidance of Our Lady.
“We try to practice the virtues that Mary possessed,” Hrideep says. “And we try to bring souls back to practicing those virtues.”
