Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Legion of Mary is an international association of lay members of the Roman Catholic Church founded by Frank Duff on 7 September 1921 in Dublin. Its members are engaged in spiritual works of mercy, such as visiting the sick and the lonely; distributing Catholic literature; evangelising; and fostering family prayer.
The basic unit of the Legion is the praesidium, normally based in a parish. Members of a praesidia meet once a week, when they are allocated a weekly apostolic task, usually undertaken in pairs. Members undergo a probationary period, after which they are called to make the Legionary Promise. Perhaps the best-known member of the Legion of Mary is the Venerable Edel Quinn (1907-1944), who served as Legion Envoy to East Africa in the 1930s and 1940s.