Last month we suggested that some of the most basic and empowering elements in the spirit of the Legion as found in the Handbook are the Legionary Promise and the Standing Instruction. What exactly do we commit ourselves to in the Legionary Promise? It is crystal clear that we promise to submit ourselves totally to the Holy Spirit with Mary, in Mary and through Mary. The Holy Spirit is the principle of fruitfulness in the Church and therefore in the Legion too just as he is pre-eminently fruitful in Mary. There cannot be any fruitfulness in the apostolate without the Holy Spirit being at work in the apostolic activity. He is the primary agent in evangelisation and our personal sanctification. Our founder, Frank Duff was so profoundly convinced of this principle that he entrusted the whole Legion to the Holy Spirit and enshrined it in the Legionary Promise. He sees Mary as the best way of becoming radically open to and consecrated to the Holy Spirit. So we are totally and utterly dependent on Mary as the most effective way of having a true devotion and consecration to the Holy Spirit.

Of course, these doctrinal principles did not originate with Frank Duff but are rooted directly in Sacred Scripture and the great tradition of the Church. The Advent and Christmas Liturgy is full of the roles of the Holy Spirit and Mary in bringing Jesus into the world and into our own personal lives. The Legion is steeped in the good news of the Incarnation; it is essentially a Christmas movement and therefore rooted in the joy of God coming among us and dwelling within us. Let us take a brief look at the texts of St. Mathew's Gospel: 'This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His Mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.' And then an angel of the Lord came to explain to Joseph this important principle: 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit.' Saint Luke emphasises the same principle: 'How can this come about since I am a virgin?' 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you' the angel answered and 'the power of the Most high will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called the Son of God.' The Legion has seized on these Gospel texts so that they have become her very soul and most powerful inspiration. Jesus comes into our world through Mary and the Holy Spirit. There is no other way in God's plan.

What is true of the birth of Christ in the Incarnation is also true of the birth of Christ in his mystical Body, the Church. It is the relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit that brings Jesus close to us in his mystical Body and enables Jesus to abide in us and we in Him. And it is this abiding in Jesus that bears must fruit. Without him we can do absolutely nothing that has any eternal value. So we think of Pentecost the birth of the Church as described in the Acts of the Apostles: 'All these joined in continuous prayer, together with several women, including Mary the Mother of Jesus and with his brothers.' It must be noted that the Holy Spirit comes upon them when they are in the company of Mary. That is always the case. We remember the words of our great Patron, Saint Louis Marie de Montfort: 'where there is Mary there also is the Holy Spirit.' This saying like almost everything in the Handbook finds its roots in Sacred Scripture: 'Now as soon as Elizabeth hear Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.' The Legionary is someone who listens for the voice of Mary that he too may be filled with the Holy Spirit.

So let me end by wishing all my brothers and sisters in the Legion a happy Christmas and a joyful New Year. And as you enter more deeply into the Liturgy of the Christmas Season, may you come to realise once again how deeply the graces of this time are embedded in our Legionary Promise and our Legion life.