Legion of Mary  |  Legion of Mary Handbook

GOVERNMENT OF THE LEGION


1.  OF APPLICATION TO ALL GOVERNING BODIES


  1. The government, local and central, of the Legion shall be carried on by its councils, whose duty in their respective spheres shall be to ensure unity, to preserve the original ideals of the Legion of Mary, to guard the integrity of the Legion spirit and rules and practice as set forth in the official handbook of the Legion, and to spread the organisation.
    The Legion in any area will be as good as these councils wish to make it.
  2. All councils should hold regular frequent meetings, that is, as a general rule not less frequently than once a month.
  3. The prayers, setting and order of the meetings of any council of the Legion shall be identical with that prescribed in the case of the praesidium, save that
    1. the time-limit on length shall not apply;
    2. the standing instruction need not be read;
    3. the secret bag collection shall be optional.
  4. A primary duty of any council is that of allegiance to its next highest council.
  5. No praesidium or council shall be instituted without the formal permission of its next-highest council or of the Concilium Legionis, and the approval of the appropriate ecclesiastical authority.
  6. To the bishop of the diocese and to the Concilium Legionis severally is reserved the right to dissolve an existing praesidium or council. On dissolution, a praesidium or council ceases at once to be part of the Legion of Mary.
  7. Each council shall have a priest as Spiritual Director, who shall be appointed by the appropriate ecclesiastical authority, and shall hold office at the pleasure of that same authority. He shall have decisive authority in all moral and religious matters raised at the meetings of the council, and he shall have a suspensive veto on all the proceedings, with a view to obtaining the decision of the authority by whom he was appointed.
    The Spiritual Director ranks as an officer of such council, and he shall uphold all due legionary authority.
  8. Each council shall also have a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, and such other officers as shall be approved as necessary by the next-highest council. They shall be elected to serve for a period of three years and are eligible for re-election to the same respective offices for a further consecutive period of three years (that is a total of six years). A legionary whose term of office has expired must not continue to fulfil the duties of that office.
    When an officer for any reason whatsoever does not complete a first term of three years, he is to be regarded as having served a period of three years on the date on which he vacates the office. During the unexpired period he is eligible for election to the same office for another period of three years, which will be considered as a second term. If an officer does not complete the full three years of a second term he is to be regarded as having served a period of six years on the date on which he vacates the office.
    Having completed a second term of office an interval of three years must elapse before a legionary is eligible for election to the same office in the same council. This interval is not required where another officership in the same council or any officership in another council is in question.

    Every council officer must be an active member of a praesidium and is subject to the standing instruction.
  9. The raising of the status of a council (for example,Curia to Comitium, etc.) shall not affect the terms of office of the existing officers.
  10. The officers of a council shall be elected at an ordinary meeting of the council by the members of the council (that is, the officers of any directly affiliated praesidia, the officers of any directly affiliated councils and any elected officers of the council) who are present. Every legionary is eligible for such election. If elected and if not a member of the council he shall become a member ex officio. All elections of officers shall be subject to ratification by the next-highest council, but in the meantime the persons elected may discharge the functions of their offices.
  11. Notice of the taking of nominations and the holding of an election shall be given to the members, if at all possible at the meeting prior to that of the election. It is desirable that nominees should be made aware of the duties of the office.
  12. It is allowable to comment - with proper restraint of course - on the suitability of candidates. It is also allowable for the officers of a council, if they are all agreed as to the suitability of a particular candidate, to declare that as a body they recommend that person. But that recommendation must not operate against the nomination of other candidates or against the full form of election.
  13. The election shall be made by secret ballot. The manner of such election shall be as follows:
    The election for each officership is to be taken separately, and in descending order. Each name put forward must be formally proposed and seconded. If only one name be put forward, it is of course unnecessary to proceed to a ballot. If two or more names are duly proposed and seconded, a ballot shall be taken. A voting paper is to be given to each member of the council (including the Spiritual Directors) who is present and entitled to vote. Careful attention is to be given to the latter requirement; only members of the council are entitled to vote. When filled up, the papers are to be folded carefully and then collected by the scrutineers. The name of the voter is not to appear on the voting paper.
    If the count shows that one candidate has obtained a clear majority of the votes, that is a number greater than those of all the other candidates added together, then that candidate is to be declared elected. But if no one has secured a clear majority, the results of the voting are to be read out; then the same candidates are to be re-voted for. Should this second ballot fail to yield a clear majority to one candidate, then the candidate who has secured the lowest number of votes is to be eliminated and a re-vote taken on the remaining candidates. If this third ballot is also ineffectual, procedure is to be by way of successive eliminations and re-votes until one candidate has secured the necessary clear majority of the votes.
    The fact that the election is in respect of officers of a spiritual organisation is not to be held to justify casual methods. The elections must be carried out in strict and proper form, and with due regard to the secrecy of the individual voting paper.
    It is necessary that a complete record of the elections, including the names of the proposers and seconders and the number of votes received by each candidate (when there is more than one candidate) be included in the minutes of the meeting and be submitted to the next-highest council so that ratification may be considered.
  14. The representatives of a praesidium or of a council to its next highest council shall be its officers.
  15. Experience has shown the appointment of correspondents to be the most effective way for a higher council to fulfil its functions of superintendence of its distant affiliated councils. The correspondent keeps in regular contact with the council and from the minutes received monthly prepares a report for presentation to the higher council meeting when required. He attends the higher council meetings and takes part in the proceedings but, unless he is a member of the higher council, he has not the right to vote.
  16. With the permission of a council, other persons, whether members of the Legion or not, may attend the meetings of that council in the capacity of visitors, but shall not be entitled to vote there. Such persons are bound by the confidentiality of the meeting.
  17. The councils of the Legion shall be the Curia, the Comitium, the Regia, the Senatus, and the Concilium Legionis, and any other councils which may be set up under the Constitution.
  18. The Latin names of the various councils accord fairly well with the functions which those councils fulfil.
    In the Legion, Mary is Queen. She it is who summons her legionary hosts to their glorious warfare and commands them in the field, inspires them, and personally leads them on to victory. It is a natural step from the Queen to her special council, or "Concilium," which would represent her visibly and share her superintendence of all the other legionary governing bodies.
    The district councils will be essentially representative bodies, the higher councils less so, by reason of the
    practical impossibility of securing a full attendance at the regular meetings of central councils representative of extensive areas. Thus the titles of "Curia," "Comitium," "Regia," and "Senatus," set forth the character and status of the respective bodies and are appropriate to the areas served.
  19. A higher council may combine with its own proper functions the functions of a lower council. A Senatus, for instance, may also act as a Curia. This combination of functions can be advantageous for the following reasons:-
    1. Usually it will be the same persons who will be concerned in the management both of the higher council in question and of the district council. It would spare those legionaries if one meeting could be made to serve the purpose of two.
    2. But there is a more important consideration. The normal representation of the higher council is drawn from a large area, so that it may be found impossible to secure a full attendance at the regular frequent meetings which it must hold. As a result, a small group of earnest legionaries will be found burdened with a heavy responsibility and a great volume of work. Inevitably, much of the work will be performed indifferently or left undone, with serious hurt to the Legion.
    The combination of the functions of such higher body with those of the lower will ensure a large and constant attendance of members. These will not only perform the duties proper to the lower council, but will be interested and educated in the work of the higher body. It then becomes possible to enlist them in the all-important supervisory, extension, and clerical work of the higher body.
    It may be objected that such an expedient amounts to giving the government of a large area to a body which is virtually a district council. This is misleading, because it is only the nucleus of that higher council which is proper to the district. The representatives of every affiliated council have the duty to attend and no doubt conscientiously do so to the best of their ability. The alternative which is proposed is that the higher council should function separately, contenting itself with, say, four meetings in the year. By this means it would be enabled to secure a large representative attendance. But indeed such a proposal, alleged to be in the interests of representative government, is far from being so in reality. For during the long intervals between its meetings, that council must necessarily leave its functions to be discharged by its officers. Thus only in name is the council exercising the functions of government. As a consequence its members soon lose the sense of responsibility and all real interest in its work.
    Moreover, a body meeting so rarely would be more like a Congress than a council. It would not possess the qualifications for governing, the chief of which is the sense of continuity and of mental closeness to the work of administration and its problems.
  20. Every legionary is entitled to communicate privately with his Curia or with any higher council of the Legion. In dealing with anything thus imparted to it, that council shall act with circumspection and of course with due respect for the position and rights of any subordinate Legion body. It may be objected that departure from the normal channel of communication with higher bodies, which is through one's own immediate body (praesidium or council), would be an act of disloyalty. That is not so. For the fact has to be faced that for various reasons officers sometimes withhold from higher bodies matters which should be reported to them; so that - were there no other avenue of information open - those higher bodies would be deprived of necessary knowledge. Each council has the right - without which it could not function properly - to know what is really taking place in the sphere committed to its care, and this essential right must be safeguarded.
  21. The duty of contributing to the funds of its next highest council is imposed on each legionary body. In this connection see chapters 34 and 35.
  22. The very essence of a legionary council is its frank and free discussion of its business and problems. It is not merely a supervising or decision-making body, but a school for officers. But how can these be educated if there is no discussion, no bringing out of legionary principles, ideals, etc.? Moreover, that discussion must be general. On no account must a council resemble a theatre in which a small minority is performing to a silent audience. The council only functions fully if all its members contribute to it. A member is not functioning in the council if he plays no active part in it. By listening, he may receive something from the council but he gives nothing to it. Indeed he may come away empty-minded from the council by virtue of the psychological fact that inertness dulls memory. The habitually silent member of the council is like an inert cell in the human brain or body, which is holding back something that is needed from it, which betrays its purpose, and which is a potential danger to the person. It would be sad if anyone became that danger to the legionary body which he so desires to serve. Passivity, where activity is vitally required, is like decay; and decay tends to spread itself.
    Therefore, as a matter of principle, no member is to be passive. He must make his full contribution to the life of the body, not merely by being present and by listening but by talking. It sounds ridiculous to say, but it is seriously meant: Each member should contribute at least an annual remark. In some shy persons everything will rise up against the idea of talking. But their reluctance must be conquered, and herein should be displayed a little of that courage which the Legion expects in all circumstances.
    To the foregoing there is the obvious retort that it would be impossible for everyone to talk in the time available; and no doubt that is the case. But let that problem be dealt with when it presents itself. Ordinarily the problem is the opposite one, namely inadequate participation, all the contributions coming from a handful of hardened speakers. Sometimes the silence of the body is masked by the eloquence of the few. Much too often the President, by excessive speaking, suppresses all others. Greatly to be feared is the damping effect of the single voice. Sometimes the President excuses himself for this by alleging that if he did not talk, there would be dead silence. Perhaps that is true, but he must not fear the moment of silence. That silence would be the most eloquent invitation to the members to bring the council to life with their voice-transfusions. It would be a reassurement to the more timid ones that now is their moment; now they are not preventing anyone else from talking by saying something themselves.
    It must be the set policy of the President not to utter one unnecessary word. He should analyse his handling of the meeting from this point of view.
  23. To help the meeting, do not speak challengingly; nor ask a question without adding some idea as to the answer; nor raise a difficulty without trying to solve it. To be merely negative is only a poor step from that destructive silence.
  24. To win over, not to vote down, should be the keynote of any Legion meeting. A hasty forcing of a decision may leave two parties, a minority and a victorious majority, with irritated feelings and hardened differences. On the other hand, decisions which have been come to after patient examination and ample ventilation of views, will be received by all, and in such a spirit that the loser gains merit by his defeat, and the winner does not lose it by victory.
    So, when differences of opinion are found to exist, those who are obviously in the majority must exhibit a complete patience. They may be wrong, and it would be a grievous thing to win an incorrect position. Decision should, if possible, be postponed to another meeting, and perhaps again and again, so as to allow minute consideration. Members should be made acquainted with every angle of the question, and taught to pray for light. All must be made to realise that it is not the victory of an opinion which is at stake, but a humble quest of God's wishes in the matter. Then it will commonly be found that unanimity has come about.
  25. If the interests of harmony are to be vigilantly guarded in the praesidium, where occasions for differences of opinion occur but seldom, what caution must be exercised in the councils; because:-
    1. There, members are less accustomed to work together.
    2. Differences of opinion are many, one of the chief functions of the councils being to adjust such differences. The consideration of new works, efforts after higher standards, disciplinary interests in general, discussion of defects-all these necessarily tend to create differences of opinion which may develop unpleasantly.
    3. Where the members are numerous, it is only too easy to find among them a few persons who, though excellent workers, are of the type commonly termed "cranks." These exercise on an assembly a most unhappy influence. Their working abilities win for them a following. They bring about an atmosphere of disputation with its sequel of ill-feeling. In the end the body which should be the model to those below it, an object-lesson in fraternity and in the method of conducting business, is found setting a bad example to all legionaries. The heart is pumping acid through the Legion circulation.
    4. False loyalties so often operate, that is, a tendency to tilt against some neighbouring or higher council, which is alleged (Oh how easily a plausible case is made and wins acceptance!) to be exceeding its powers or acting unworthily.
    5. "Never do men come together in considerable numbers, but the passion, self-will, pride, and unbelief, which may be more or less dormant in them one by one, bursts into a flame and becomes a constituent of their union. Even when faith exists in the whole people, even when religious men combine for religious purposes, still when they form into a body, they evidence in no long time the innate debility of human nature; and in their spirit and conduct, in their avowals and proceedings, they are in grave contrast to Christian simplicity and straightforwardness. This is what the sacred writers mean by the 'world,' and why they warn us against it; and their description of it applies in its degree to all collections and parties of men, high and low, national and professional, lay and ecclesiastical." (Cardinal Newman: In the World)
    These are startling words, but they come from a very profound thinker. St. Gregory Nazianzen says the same thing in different terms. When analysed, what seems so strange a statement resolves itself into this: that the "world" is lack of charity; that charity is weak in us; that this weakness is covered to some extent by ties of relationship, intimacy, friendship (things proper to small numbers); but that when the numbers grow large, and criticism and disagreements operate, the weaknesses in that charity tend to declare themselves with most unhappy results. "God Himself and charity are one and the same thing," says St. Bernard. "Where charity does not reign, the passions and lusts of the flesh rule. The torch of faith, if it be not lighted by the fire of charity, will never last long enough to guide us to eternal happiness . . . There is no true virtue without charity."
    It is of little use for legionaries to read the above pronouncements of danger, and then to vow that amongst them "such shall never be." It can be, and will be if there are defects of charity at their meetings, if the supernatural spirit is allowed to weaken there. Vigilance must never relax. We read in history that the Roman Legion never passed a night, even in the longest marches, without pitching a camp, entrenching it, and fortifying it most elaborately; and this even though only a single night would be spent in it, even though the enemy was afar, even in time of peace. With some approach to this exact discipline, let the Legion of Mary apply itself to the protection of its camps (which are its assemblies) against the possibility of invasion by this fatal spirit of "the world." This protection will lie in the exclusion of all words and attitudes which are hostile to charity, and, generally, in the saturation of the meetings with the spirit of prayer and full Legion devotion.
"Grace, no less than nature, has its feelings and its affections. It has its love, its zeal, its hopes, its joys, its sorrows. Now, those 'feelings' of grace have always been in their fullness in Our Blessed Lady, who lived much more by the life of grace than by the life of nature. The vast majority of the faithful are rather in the state of grace than in the life of grace. Quite different to them, the Holy Virgin has been always in grace and-more than that-in the life of grace, and in the very perfection of that life of grace, during the whole of her time on earth." (Gibieuf: De la Viérge Souffrante au pied de la Croix)

2. THE CURIA AND THE COMITIUM


  1. When two or more praesidia have been established in any city, town, or district, a governing body termed the Curia should be set up. The Curia shall be composed of all the officers (Spiritual Directors included) of the praesidia in its area.
  2. Where it is found necessary to confer on a Curia, in addition to its own proper functions, certain powers of superintendence over one or several Curiae, such higher Curia shall be styled more particularly a Comitium.
    The Comitium is not a new council. It continues to act as a Curia in respect of its own area and to govern directly its own praesidia. In addition it supervises one or more Curiae. 
    Each Curia and praesidium directly related to a Comitium shall be entitled to full representation on the latter.
    In order to relieve the representatives of a Curia from attendance at all the meetings of the Comitium (which, added to the meetings of their own Curia, might form an undue burden), it would be permissible to deal with the business of that Curia and to require the attendance of its representatives only at every second or third meeting of the Comitium.
    A Comitium shall not ordinarily cover an area larger than a Diocese.
  3. The Spiritual Director shall be appointed by the Ordinary of the Diocese in which the Curia (or Comitium) functions.
  4. The Curia shall exercise authority over its praesidia, subject to the Constitution of the Legion. It shall appoint their officers (other than the Spiritual Director), and keep count of their terms of office.
    As to the manner of appointment, see paragraph 11 of chp 14, The Praesidium.
  5. The Curia will ensure the scrupulous carrying out of the rules by the praesidia and their members.
    The following shall form important parts of the work of a Curia:
    1. The education and supervision of the officers in their duties and in the general management of their praesidia.
    2. The receiving of a report from each praesidium not less frequently than once a year.
    3. The exchange of experiences.
    4. The consideration of new works.
    5. The creation of high standards.
    6. The ensuring that every legionary satisfactorily performs the work-obligation.
    7. The extension of the Legion and the stimulation of praesidia to recruit Auxiliaries (including the after-care and organisation of the latter).
    It is manifest, therefore, that a high degree of moral courage will be required from the Curia, and especially from its officers, for the proper discharge of its functions.
  6. The fate of the Legion lies in the hands of its Curiae, and its future depends on their development. The state of the Legion in any district must be counted precarious until a Curia has been established there.
  7. Legionaries under 18 years of age cannot sit on a Senior Curia. But if deemed advisable by the Curia, a Junior Curia, subject to the Curia, may be set up.
  8. It is absolutely essential that the officers of the Curia, and particularly the President, should be easily accessible to the legionaries who are subject to that Curia, so that difficulties, or proposals, or other matters which are not ripe for more public discussion, may be talked over.
  9. It is most desirable that the officers, and particularly the President, should be able to devote considerable time to the duties of their positions, on which so much depends.
  10. When there are a large number of praesidia attached to a Curia, the resulting number of representatives at the latter will be considerable. This fact may possibly involve disadvantages from the aspects of accommodation and of administrative perfection, but the Legion believes that these will be amply compensated for in other respects. The Legion looks to its Curiae to supply another function than that of administrative machinery. Each Curia is the heart and brain of the group of praesidia which are attached to it. Being the centre of unity, it follows that the more numerous the bonds (that is, the representatives) which link it to the individual praesidia, the stronger will be that unity, the more certain will the praesidia be to reproduce the spirit and methods of the Legion. It will be at the Curia meetings alone that the things which relate to the essence of the Legion can be adequately discussed and learned. Thence they will be transmitted to the praesidia, and there diffused amongst the members.
  11. The Curia shall cause each praesidium to be visited periodically, if possible twice a year, with a view to encouraging it and seeing that all things are being carried out as they should be. It is important that this duty be not fulfilled in a carping or fault-finding fashion which would end by causing the advent of visitors to be dreaded and their recommendations to be resented, but in a spirit of affection and humility which will presume that there is as much to be learned from as taught to, the praesidium visited.
    At least a full week's notice of such intended visitation should be given to a praesidium.
    Occasionally one hears of this visitation being resented on the score that it amounts to "outside interference." Such an attitude is not respectful to the Legion, of which those praesidia are but parts and of which they should be loyal parts: shall the hand say to the head "I need not your help"? Furthermore, it is unthankful, for do not those units owe their very existence to that "outside interference." It is inconsistent, for how willingly they accept from their central authority things which they are pleased to regard as benefits. It is foolish, too, for thereby they set themselves against universal experience. It is the lesson of all organised life (whether religious, civil, or military) that an ungrudging, comprehensive, and practical recognition of the "central principle" is essential to the preservation of spirit and efficiency. A regular visitation of the units of organisation is an all-important part of the application of that principle, and no competent form of authority neglects its duty in this respect.
    Apart, however, from the fact that visitation from the Curia is necessary to health, each praesidium should remember that it is part of the Rule, and hence should insist that this duty is not overlooked by the Curia. It goes without saying that a cordial welcome should be given to the visitors.
    On the occasion of this visitation, the various membership rolls, the Secretary's and Treasurer's books, the Work Sheet and the other items of the praesidium system must be examined with a view to judging if they are properly kept, and to ascertaining if the Legionary Promise has been made in the case of each member who has fulfilled the required period of probation.
    This inspection should be made by two representatives of the Curia. These need not be restricted to Curia officers: any experienced legionary may be appointed. The visitors are to submit to the Curia officers a written report on the result of their inspection. A specimen report sheet can be obtained from the Concilium.
    Defects which are found should not, in the first instance, be made the subject of open comment either at the praesidium itself or at the Curia. They should be discussed with the Spiritual Director and the President of the praesidium. If this does not secure rectification, the matter should be brought before the Curia.
  12. The Curia stands in much the same relation to its members as a praesidium does to its members. Thus, all that is said in these pages regarding the attendance and conduct of legionaries at their praesidium meetings is to be taken as applying equally to the attitude of praesidium representatives towards their Curia meetings. Zeal in other respects will not compensate for failure on the part of officers to give a faithful attendance at meetings of their Curia.
  13. The Curia shall meet at times and places to be fixed by the Curia itself, with the approval of its next-highest council. Such meetings should, if possible, be held not less frequently than once a month. See the reasons for this frequency: section 1, paragraph 19 of this chapter.
  14. An agenda for the meeting shall be prepared beforehand by the Secretary in consultation with the President, and circulated to each Spiritual Director and each President previous to the praesidium meeting immediately before the Curia meeting. It shall be the duty of the President to notify the other representatives of the praesidium.
    Such agenda should be provisional, and as much liberty as possible should be extended to members to raise additional points.
  15. Vigilant watch must be kept by the Curia to ensure that praesidia do not drift into the giving of material relief, which would mark the end of all really useful legionary work. The periodic inspection of Treasurers' statements will help the Curia to discern the beginnings of any incorrect tendency.
  16. The President (and of course the same applies to all those others in authority) should beware of falling into what is an exceedingly common fault, that of keeping even the most minute items of responsibility in his own hands. One result of such a tendency will be the slowing down of work. It may even paralyse the whole system in large centres where the work is considerable in quantity. The narrower the neck of the bottle, the more slowly will the contents be given forth, until sometimes people break off that neck in their impatience.
    But another serious feature is that the denial of some responsibility to those who are fit to assume it does injustice both to those individuals and to the whole Legion. The exercising of some degree of responsibility is a necessary part of the development of great qualities in the individual. Responsibility, indeed, can transmute mere sand into gold!
    The Secretary should not be held restricted to secretarial work, nor the Treasurer to the keeping of the accounts. All officers, and even senior and promising members, should be entrusted with spheres of initiative and control, for which - subject of course to the higher authority - they will be held responsible. The ultimate aim must be the filling of every legionary with a sense of responsibility for the well-being and extension of the Legion as a potent means of helping souls.
"All the works of God are founded on unity, for they are founded on Himself, who is the most awfully simple and transcendent of possible unities. He is emphatically One; and whereas He is also multiform in His attributes and His acts, as they present themselves to our minds, it follows that order and harmony must be of His very essence." (Cardinal Newman: Order, the Witness and Instrument of Unity. This and the next three quotations form, in the original, one passage)


3. THE REGIA


  1. A council designated by the Concilium to exercise authority over the Legion of Mary in a large region, and ranking next in status to a Senatus, shall be called a Regia. The Concilium will decide whether a Regia shall be affiliated directly to the Concilium or to a Senatus.
  2. When Regia status has been conferred on an existing council it shall continue to exercise its original functions in addition to its new responsibilities (see section 1, paragraph 19 of this chapter on Government of the Legion).
    Membership of the Regia shall consist of:
    1. the officers of every legionary body directly affiliated to the Regia and
    2. (b) the members of the council on which Regia status has been conferred, when such is the case.
  3. The Spiritual Director of a Regia shall be appointed by the Bishops of the dioceses in which that Regia has jurisdiction.
  4. The election of officers of directly affiliated councils are subject to ratification by the Regia. These officers have the duty to attend Regia meetings unless circumstances (that is, distance, etc.) prevent them.
  5. Experience has shown the appointment of correspondents to be the most effective way for the Regia to fulfil its functions of superintendence of its distant affiliated councils. The correspondent keeps in regular contact with the council and from the minutes received monthly prepares a report for presentation to the Regia meeting when required. He attends the meetings of the Regia and takes part in the proceedings but, unless he is a member of the Regia, he has not the right to vote.
  6. A copy of the minutes of the Regia meetings should be sent to the council to which it is directly affiliated.
  7. Any proposed change in the composition of the Regia which would significantly affect the core attendance at the meeting would require formal sanction by the Concilium, whether the Regia is affiliated directly to the Concilium or to a Senatus.
  8. In Roman days the Regia was the residence and office of the Pontifex Maximus; later it designated a king's capital or court.

"To be many and distinct in his attributes, yet, after all, to be but one - to be sanctity, justice, truth, love, power, wisdom, to be at once each of these as if he were nothing but it, as if the rest were not - this implies in the Divine Nature an infinitely sovereign and utterly incomprehensible order, which is an attribute as wonderful as any, and the result of all the others." (Cardinal Newman: Order, the Witness and Instrument of Unity)


4. THE SENATUS


  1. A council designated by the Concilium to exercise authority over the Legion of Mary in a country shall be called a Senatus. It must be affiliated directly to the Concilium.
    In countries where by reason of size or for other reasons, a single Senatus would not be adequate, two or more Senatus may be approved, each of which shall depend directly on the Concilium and shall exercise authority over the Legion in the area assigned to it by the Concilium.
  2. When Senatus status has been conferred on an existing council it shall continue to exercise its original functions in addition to its new responsibilities (see section 1, paragraph 19 of this chp on Government of the Legion).
    Membership of the Senatus shall consist of:-
    (a) the officers of every legionary body directly affiliated to the Senatus and
    (b) the members of the council on which Senatus status has been conferred, when such is the case.
  3. The Spiritual Director of a Senatus shall be appointed by the Bishops of the dioceses in which that Senatus has jurisdiction.
  4. The elections of officers of directly affiliated councils are subject to ratification by the Senatus. These officers have the duty to attend Senatus meetings unless circumstances (for example, distance, etc.) prevent them.
  5. Experience has shown the appointment of correspondents to be the most effective way for the Senatus to fulfil its functions of superintendence of its distant councils. The correspondent keeps in regular contact with the council and from the minutes received monthly prepares a report for presentation to the Senatus meeting when required. He attends the meetings of the Senatus and takes part in the proceedings but, unless he is a member of the Senatus, he has not the right to vote.
  6. A copy of the minutes of the Senatus meetings should be sent to the Concilium.
  7. Any proposed change in the composition of the Senatus which would significantly affect the core attendance at the meeting would require formal sanction by the Concilium.
"God is an infinite law, as well as an infinite power, wisdom, and love. Moreover, the very idea of order implies the idea of the subordinate. If order exists in the Divine Attributes, they must have relations one to another, and though each is perfect in itself, it must act so as not to impair the perfection of the rest, and must seem to yield to the rest on particular occasions." (Cardinal Newman: Order, the Witness and Instrument of Unity)

5. THE CONCILIUM LEGIONIS MARIAE


  1. There shall be a central council, which shall be called the Concilium Legionis Mariae, in which shall be vested the supreme governing authority of the Legion. To it alone (subject always to the rights of the Ecclesiastical Authority as provided for in these pages) shall belong the right to make, alter, or interpret rules; to set up or repudiate praesidia and subordinate councils, wherever situated; to determine the policy of the Legion on all points, to decide all disputes and appeals, all membership questions, and all points as to the suitability of works or the manner of carrying them out.
  2. The Concilium Legionis Mariae meets monthly in Dublin, Ireland.
  3. The Concilium may delegate portion of its functions to its subordinate councils or to individual praesidia, and may at any time alter the amount of such delegation.
  4. The Concilium may combine with its own proper functions the functions of a subordinate council or councils.
  5. The Concilium Legionis Mariae shall consist of the officers of every legionary body which is directly affiliated to the Concilium. The officers of the senior Curiae of the Archdiocese of Dublin form the core attendance at the meetings of the Concilium. Due to distance, etc. regular attendance on the part of the great majority of other legionary bodies is not possible. The Concilium reserves the right to vary the representation from the Dublin Curiae.
  6. The Spiritual Director of the Concilium shall be appointed by the Hierarchy of Ireland.
  7. The elections of officers of directly affiliated councils are subject to ratification by the Concilium.
  8. The Concilium appoints correspondents to fulfil its functions of superintendence of its distant councils. The correspondent keeps in regular contact with the council and from minutes received monthly prepares a report for presentation to the Concilium meeting when required. He attends the meetings of the Concilium and takes part in the proceedings but, unless he is a member of the Concilium, he has not the right to vote.
  9. The duly authorised representatives of the Concilium may enter into any legionary area, visit the legionary bodies there, carry on work of a promotional character and generally exercise functions which it is allowable for the Concilium to exercise.
  10. To the Concilium Legionis Mariae alone shall belong, subject to the Constitution and rules of the Legion, the right to amend the handbook.
  11. Changes of Rule cannot be effected save with the agreement of the great bulk of the legionary bodies. These, through their appropriate councils, shall be notified of any proposed change of rule, and given sufficient time to signify their views on the subject. The views may be signified through their representatives actually present at the Concilium meeting or by writing.

"Thus God's power, indeed is infinite but it is still subordinate to his wisdom and his justice; his justice, again, is infinite, but it, too, is subordinate to his love; and his love, in turn, is infinite, but it is subordinate to his incommunicable sanctity. There is an understanding between attribute and attribute, so that one does not interfere with the other, for each is supreme in its own sphere; and thus an infinitude of infinities, acting each in its own order, are combined together in the infinitely simple unity of God." (Cardinal Newman: Order, the Witness and Instrument of Unity)