Talk 2: Giving of the Work Report

Report Furnishing: Being Adequate and Audible

The standing instruction of the Legion of Mary says:

“Legionary duty requires from each legionary:  First, the punctual and regular attendance at the weekly meetings of the praesidium, and the furnishing there of an adequate and audible report on the work done;”

The Legion of Mary Handbook, says that a Congress should “apply itself to the fundamentals … and listed among suggested subjects to be dealt with in a Congress: “The methodical system of the Legion, including the conducting of the meeting and the vital matter of the member’s reports, that is, the manner of giving them and of commenting on them.”

Thus, this talk will describe the vital matter of the member’s reports, that is, the manner of giving them and of commenting on them. 

As any experienced legionary will tell you, the giving of the work report starts before the meeting where the work assignment is given.  The legionary remembers and takes his notebook to the meeting.  At the meeting, he takes note of what his work assignment is, and with whom it is to be done.

The legionary brings his notebook to the work assignment, and takes careful notes during the assignment.  Just as no reporter, analyst, auditor, student, scientist, or other professional would never fail to take a notebook, or perhaps a PDA, so should not the legionary of Mary be deficient at this.  If those who labor for temporal profit are cunning enough to take notes, so should those who labor for God be so cunning, for Our Lady does not desire us to be slothful, lazy, and dim, but a light onto the world.

With careful notes taken, the legionary then discusses the work with his partner.  Together they break-up the work into two reports that compliment each other.  If the legionary is with a new recruit, he should carefully instruct the probationary member (or member new to the work) on how to give his report at the next meeting, following the Master-Apprentice system taught in the Handbook.  By the time the legionary arrives to his meeting, he has careful notes indicating the statistics for his visit, and his highlight. 

When called upon to give his report, the member, remaining seated, delivers his report orally, aided by his notes.  He would be wise to start the report with a brief glance at the statue of Mary, to inspire and aid him.  If, sadly, he was prevented for performing his work, he should furnish some explanation.  According to the Handbook, the absence of a report, if unexplained, conveys the impression that neglect of duty is in question and constitutes a bad example for every member.

The report should be given to the entire praesidium, not just to the president.  It must be yelled or spoken in a loud voice, so as to ensure that every member can hear it without the straining of ears.  A member should rightly fear that – should he talk too quietly – the praesidium president will do his duty and refuse to accept the report, for it is the president’s duty to both speak loudly, himself, at the meeting and to demand that all others speak loudly also.  Given that, in its own way, the work report is as important to the meeting as the prayers, we must always seek to give our report in an audible manner.

The report connects the work with the praesidium and therefore it must be a clear presentation of the doings of the member — in a sense as vivid as the picture on a cinema screen — such as will enable the other members mentally to engage in that work, to judge it, to comment on it, to learn from it. Accordingly, the report must show what has been attempted and achieved, and in what spirit; the time spent; the methods used; what has not been gained and the persons who have not been touched.

The meeting should be bright and cheerful. Therefore, the reports should be such as will interest as well as inform the meeting. It is impossible to believe that the praesidium is

healthy if the meeting is deadly dull, and undoubtedly it will repel young members.

Some classes of work are so full of variety that it is easy to make a good report. Other works do not offer the same possibilities, so that each unusual feature, however small, should be remembered for mention in the report.  For example, a group of junior legionaries making rosaries could report on the color of the rosary.

The report must not be too long; nor too brief; above all, it must not be a routine phrase. Failure in these directions not only shows that the member is neglecting his duty but also that the other members are assisting him in that neglect. This strikes at the whole legionary idea of the supervision of the work. The praesidium cannot supervise a work unless it is fully informed about it.

It is mainly through the meeting that the legionary discipline is exerted which overcomes those weaknesses and drives the member on to accomplishment. But if the report gives little indication as to what the legionary is really doing, then the praesidium can exert only a vague control over that member’s actions. It will not stimulate him. It will not safeguard him. He will be deprived of the interest and guidance of the praesidium and he cannot afford to be without those vital things. Legionary discipline loses its grip on that member with unhappy results all round.

No legionary should be content to give a merely good report. Why not aim very high, and deliberately set out to add to the perfect performance of the work a model report to the praesidium; and thus train the other members both in the doing of the work and in the way of reporting on it?

“Example,” says Edmund Burke, “is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.” Acting on this, one individual can raise an entire praesidium to the highest pitch of efficiency. For the report, though not the whole meeting, is so much its nerve-centre as to cause everything else in the praesidium to react in sympathy with it either for better or worse.

Before and after giving his report, the legionary should listen intently to the reports of others.  He should prod them with questions.  He should offer advice, suggestions, and raise his concerns.  Indeed, the legionary who goes an entire month without commenting on another’s report, can hardly claim to be fulfilling his vocation in the Legion of Mary.  St. John Chrysostom said that Christians will render can account [to God], not only of themselves, but of the whole world.  If we fail to correct and help our fellow legionaries, we have failed our Christian duty. 

Let us then, through the prayers of the Mother of God, always strive to give glory to God though the delivering of our work reports, and through our comments and questions raised regarding the reports of others, giving glory to The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit who live and reign now, and forever, unto ages of ages, Amen.