On September second the Legion of Mary once again held their annual Eucharistic procession at the Cathedral of Saint John in Downtown Cleveland. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we many processing with us. We are already looking for Procession 2024!

This summer will be a busy time for the Legion of Mary in Northern Ohio! IN July we will have our Biannual Congress, and in September we will be hosting our Annual Eucharistic Procession from the Cathedral of Saint John in downtown Cleveland. And in the beginning of August we will once again have our booth at the Cuyahoga County fair. Flyers for the first 2 events are viewable below. 

Happy New Year Legionaries! With that we are reminded that now, and the new year to come that we must continue to be vigilant in our efforts to bring souls to Our Lord through Mary his Mother. Please consider the following quote from Cardinal John Henry Newman made in the 19th century: "...if we look through Europe, we shall find on the whole that just those nations and countries have lost their faith in the divinity of Christ, who have given up devotion to His Mother..."

As you can gather from that quote, this is not a new problem. The world needs the Legion more than ever, so let's redouble our efforts in 2023 for the salvation of souls!

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Photo Credit: Father Edward Janoch

It is within the sharing and celebration of the Eucharist that we “become one body” through the power of the Holy Spirit. Celebrating the Eucharist inspires us to ensure that the true unity of humankind in Christ becomes a reality in our day. Celebrating Eucharist renews our commitment to building a more just and fraternal society, thus anticipating that kingdom of justice, love and peace, for which all humankind longs.
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Most Reverend Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin

“How deservedly do we keep the Feast of the Assumption with all solemnity.  What reasons for rejoicing, what motives for exultation have we on this most beautiful day!  The presence of Mary illumines the entire world so that even the holy city above has now a more dazzling splendor from the light of this virginal lamp.  With good reason, thanksgiving and the voice of praise, resound today throughout the courts of heaven... let us not complain, for here we do not have a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come, the same which the blessed Mary entered today.” – St. Bernard of Clairvaux
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The title “Mary, Mother of the Church” reflects the deep conviction of the Christian faithful, who see in Mary not only the mother of the person of Christ, but also of the faithful. Mary had been present at the very beginnings of the Church. The Church has traditionally portrayed the Blessed Virgin Mary together with the apostles and disciples gathered at that first Pentecost, joined in prayer with the first members of the Church.
In Roman Catholic Mariology, Mother of the Church (Latin: Mater Ecclesiae) is a title officially given to Mary by Pope Paul VI. The title first appeared in the 4th century writings of Saint Ambrose of Milan, as rediscovered by Hugo Rahner. It was also used by Pope Benedict XIV in 1748 and then by Pope Leo XIII in 1885. Pope John Paul II placed it in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Pope Francis inserted a feast by this title into the Roman Calendar on 6th June.
Pope Paul VI
The Blessed Mother of God, the New Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven her maternal role with regard to Christ’s members, cooperating with the birth and growth of divine life in the souls of the redeemed. – Pope Paul VI’s “Credo of the People of God
Pope John Paul II
In 1987, John Paul repeated this title Mother of the Church in his encyclical Redemptoris Mater and at a general audience on September 17, 1997. With regard to the title “Mother of the Church”, John Paul used Redemptoris Mater as an opportunity to explain how the Blessed Virgin Mary’s maternity of Christ’s faithful derives from her maternity of Christ, as well as how Mary serves as a “type”, or model, of the Church as a whole.
“Mary is present in the Church as the Mother of Christ, and at the same time as that Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of the Redemption, gave to humanity in the person of the Apostle John. Thus, in her new motherhood in the Spirit, Mary embraces each and every one in the Church, and embraces each and every one through the Church. In this sense Mary, Mother of the Church, is also the Church’s model. Indeed, as Paul VI hopes and asks, the Church must draw “from the Virgin Mother of God the most authentic form of perfect imitation of Christ.”
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI referred to the Credo of Pope Paul VI and stated that it sums up all of the scriptural texts that relate to the matter. Pope Benedict addresses the issue, why Roman Catholic Mariology is related to ecclesiology, the teaching about the Church. On first sight, he argues, it may seem accidental, that the Council moved Mariology into ecclesiology. This relation helps to understand what “Church” really is. The theologian Hugo Rahner showed that Mariology was originally ecclesiology. The Church is like Mary. The Church is virgin and mother, she is immaculate and carries the burdens of history. She suffers and she is assumed into heaven. Slowly she learns, that Mary is her mirror, that she is a person in Mary. Mary on the other hand is not an isolated individual, who rests in herself. She is carrying the mystery of the Church
Pope Francis
In 2018, Pope Francis decreed that the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church be inserted into the Roman Calendar on the Monday after Pentecost (also known as Whit Monday) and to be celebrated every year. The decree was signed on February 11, 2018, the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, on the 160th anniversary of the Lourdes apparitions. It was issued on March 3, 2018. Pope Francis hoped this devotion “might encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful.”
Mary is present in the Church as the Mother of Christ, and at the same time as that Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of the Redemption, gave to humanity in the person of the Apostle John. Mary is our mother too—Mother to the Church and mother to us personally. We need to be reminded of how Mary heard the shepherds running in from the fields with the good news that they heard the angels sing that night, and she kept these things and “pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) We need the reminder of how Mary told the servers at a wedding in Cana, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5) We need our Mother to remind us of the magnificent mystery of our Church but also to move us into action. We honor Mary as Mother of the Church on the day after Pentecost, reminding us that Mary was present with the disciples on Pentecost. Mary prayed with the first Christian community, awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit for all believers. Mary prayed with them as the Holy Spirit descended. And Mary, our dear Mother, continues to pray for us
-Fr. Leslie Gomes
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Mary is still today with our Church as it is charged to witness to Jesus in a culture where the presence of God is constantly being pushed back into the corners of public life and also into a position of less relevance in the lives and the hearts of many individuals. She accompanies the apostles of today in the New Evangelization.
As at Pentecost she is there with us encouraging us to be present in our secularized culture, witnessing through the integrity of our lives to the love of Jesus through works of service and of evangelization.
She sustains us to be present in that world untouched by worldliness.
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Archbishop Emeritus Diarmuid Martin D.D.

No human being makes more of a difference than Mary when it comes to helping people obtain the grace and mercy flowing from the heart of Jesus. Why? Because Mary is the New Eve. Mary truly is the New Eve who brings us to the New Adam on the new tree of life, the Cross. And once there, she lovingly encourages us not to eat forbidden fruit but to drink from the blessed fountain of eternal life, the fountain of mercy. And through the grace of her suffering at the foot of the cross, our gentle mother opens our hearts to receive the gift of salvation that comes to us in the love and mercy that flows from Christ’s pierced side. Such saving faith truly is a gift of Christ through Mary. And such a gift leads the Church to rightly declare, “Death through Eve, life through Mary.”
(Excerpt from "33 Days to Merciful Love, Fr. Michael Gaitley)