Hello and welcome!
Next week, I will be in Rome for a meeting of the Council of Cardinals advising the Holy Father on the reform of the Roman Curia. So, on Saturday, we had a Zoom meeting with some of the cardinals to prepare the agenda and reflect on some of the themes that we will be discussing with the Holy Father.
Sunday, we gathered at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross with local members of the Legion of Mary as part of the Legion’s 100th anniversary celebrations. 
The Legion of Mary was founded in Dublin by Servant of God Frank Duff. 
He was from a distinguished Irish family and, at one point, was the assistant to the famous figure of the Irish revolutionary period, Michael Collins. Frank Duff was very involved in the St. Vincent de Paul Society, serving the poor in Dublin. Out of that, he formed the Legion of Mary, which, with its impulse to lay apostolate, is one of Ireland’s great contributions to the Church. It is one of the very early manifestations of the laity’s involvement in different apostolates. And for that reason, St. Paul VI invited Frank Duff to the Second Vatican Council.
The Legion of Mary is very much based on the spirituality of St. Louis to Montfort, who was one of the great inspirations of Pope St. John Paul II. In fact, the pope took his motto, “Tutus tuus,” from St. Louis’ “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin.”
It is probably one of the largest Catholic organizations in the world, with several million members. There are particularly large memberships in countries where the Irish settled or Irish missionaries served. South Korea is one of the countries with the largest memberships, and it is also very popular in Africa and throughout Latin America. In the United States, it tends to be more popular in Irish and Hispanic parishes.
In my homily, I noted that if you go to the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., they have many different shrines and altars to Mary as the patroness of many countries. In the Irish Shrine, of course, they have Mary sitting in the middle of a holy well, which is a great tradition of Ireland, and they have images from the Book of Kells. But there are also symbols of the Legion of Mary because it is one of the great missionary impulses of Ireland in more modern times.
One of the interesting characteristics of the Legion of Mary that Frank Duff instituted is the use of terminology taken from the Roman legions. One of those terms is the “tessera.”
In the Legion, they have active members who dedicate a certain number of hours each week to apostolate and the auxiliary members who pray the prayers every day. The prayers are contained in a little booklet called the tessera.
In Roman times a tessera was clay coin or medallion that would be used as a sort of ticket or voucher. (In Italy, they now use the word tessera to refer to the tickets on public transportation.)
When I was young, I was very active in the Legion of Mary — visiting the prisons, the shut-ins and the sick. We also took Catholic literature and placed it in all the barbershops and train stations. It was very formational in my own vocation, and I met many wonderful people. And, of course, in those days, we were also moved by the accounts of the many members of the Legion of Mary who were imprisoned and martyred in China and the stories of great missionaries, such as Edel Quinn in Africa.
In our own archdiocese, we have long had a Praesidium, and, of course, Mary McHale ran the Sancta Maria House for homeless women for many decades. So, I was very happy to be with them and help celebrate this important milestone.
Sunday evening, we were invited for dinner at the home of Antonio and Reyes Enrique. They had heard that a priest originally from Valencia, Spain, Father Jose Vicente, was accompanying my friend Bishop Pablo Schmitz from Nicaragua, who is spending some time in Boston. So, we all went and were treated to a delicious Paella Valenciana and turrones. 
We all enjoyed the evening, but for Father Jose Vicente, who is a priest for the Diocese of Managua, it was an evening “at home away from home.”
Thursday, I was in New York City to participate in the funeral of Manuel Albacete Cintrón, who was the younger brother of one of my closest friends, Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete. The funeral was at St. John the Baptist, the Capuchin parish in New York, where Archbishop Roberto Gonzales and Father Chris Marino concelebrated the Mass with me.
While I was in the church, I noticed this Shrine of Padre Pio. When you walk in and look over at the shrine, it appears that Padre Pio is in the confessional.
I hadn’t noticed it before, and it really caught my eye!
Finally, today I paid a visit to the New York Encounter, which is being held this weekend in New York City. This conference for young people is sponsored every year by Communion and Liberation. It is something like the American version of what they call “il Meeting” held in Rimini, Italy. It is the largest cultural event in Italy and usually draws a couple million people.
The New York conference brings together several thousand young people. Though it was held as a virtual event last year, we are pleased that it is being held in person once again and that a group of young people from Boston accompanied by Father Michael Zimmerman are able to attend.
It is a wonderful way to evangelize our young people and the culture. We are so grateful for all they do to bring this together.
Until next week,
Cardinal Seán