What a humble begining that on the evening of September 7th 1921 with a group of Catholic women and Fr. Michael Toher of Dublin Archdiocese, Francis Michael Duff founded the first branch of the Legion of Mary called a praesidium.
Servant of God Francis Michael Duff was born in Dublin, Ireland, on June 7, 1889. The eldest child of a wealthy family. He is best known for bringing attention to the role of the laity during the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church, and for founding the Legion of Mary. He attended Blackrock College and entered the Civil Service at the age of 18 and had a distinguished career. His free time he at first dedicated to sporting activities, but at the age of 24 he joined the Society of St. Vincent de Paul where he was led to a deeper commitment to his Catholic faith and at the same time he acquired a great sensitivity to the needs of the poor and underprivileged.
He Along with a group of Catholic women and Fr. Michael Toher, a priest of the Dublin Archdiocese, he formed the first branch of what was to become the first praesidium of the Legion of Mary at Myra House, Francis Street, Dublin Ireland, at 8p.m. on September 7, 1921. From that date until his death, November 7, 1980, he guided the world-wide extension of the Legion with heroic dedication. He attended the Second Vatican Council as a lay observer.
In 1916, aged 27, Duff published his first pamphlet entitled "Can we be Saints?" In it he expressed the conviction that all without exception are called to be saints, and that through Christian faith all persons have available the means necessary to attain such sainthood. In 1917 he came to know the Treatise of St. Louis de Montfort on the True Devotion to Mary, a work brought to his attention the importance of Mary in the life of the laity.
On September 7, 1921 Frank Duff founded the Legion of Mary which was initially knwon as "Association of Our Lady of Mercy". This is an Association of Catholics who, with the sanction of the Church and under the powerful leadership of Mary Immaculate, Mediatrix of all Graces (who is fair as the moon, bright as the sun, and - to satan and his legionaries - terrible as an army set in battle array), have formed themselves into a Legion for service in the warfare which is perpetually waged by the Church against the world and its evil powers. Here we will explore some of those early traditions which are the roots of the present day Legion of Mary. What was it like at that first meeting? It was not a thought-out organisation. It sprang up spontaneously.
There was no premeditation in regard to rules and practices. A suggestion was siply thrown out. An evening was fixed, and a little group came together, unaware that they were to be instruments of most loving Providence. The ladies had not been doing the hospital visitation yet. Before the Legion started, Frank Duff had been working away at a lot of personal tasks and one of those was the visitation of that hospital. He was doing that very work up to the time when the Legion took it over and then he dropped from it. Actually his presence at those early meetings constituted a sort of difficulty inasmuch as they were declaring on the first night that they were not going to take in men for the present. The reason was that they were meeting on St. Vincent de Paul premises and if they started recruiting men, they were certainly entering into a competition with them. They were eagerly looking for men. No doubt the man who would join them would be equally willing to join the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Well, competition with them in those circumstances was out of the question. That was going to be the limiting condition. As long as that would be the result of bringing in men, they would not bring them in. But, most definitely laid down was the fact that the Legion of Mary was not to be a women's organization alone.
Since at that time, Frank was the only male member, he was there officially as a Tribune. Has that office passed from the Legion's ranks? Not completely because it remains on in name. The name is retained with a different function. At that time they were seeing the benefit of having an experienced man present at the branch of the Legion. They put it down on paper at a very early stage that such was a desirable thing and that every praesidium should have in it a man experienced in the system of the city, the social and charitable organizations, and that he should be a member with the title of Tribune. Later on when circumstances changed and there would very possibly be men in every praesidium, that name was transferred to different set of duties. Nowadays it means a person, either a man or a woman, who is acting as spiritual director of a praesidium at the direction of the Spiritual Director. In other words, supposing, as it happens in many places of the world, a priest has many praesidia under his care, he would appoint somebody who would act, as far as possible, in his place and that office is now known as the Tribune. What about the expression Spiritual Guide which was used by some Legion groups? This new title (Tribune) supersedes the title “Spiritual Guide” because Spiritual Guide assumes too much. It's an arrogant sort of title if you think it out. The office does not carry the state and standing of a priest. The Tribune is, in a peculiar sort of way, a shadow of the original idea of the Tribune who was to be an odd man out in the praesidium but one who was really justified. It's a shadow of the old idea. Or perhaps the old idea was the shadow of something more important that developed later.
Frank remained on in that first praesidium for a very long time. In the first year four praesidia came into existence and he attended the meetings of all those four for a while. For a very long time he attended the parent meeting. Father Toher and Father Creedon were on the scene and as the praesidia began to come into existence, they more or less divided them up among themselves trying to have at least one of them present at every meeting. When the first praesidium started outside Francis Street, Frank moved onto it in the capacity of Tribune. He continued to repeat this idea as new praesidia came into existence, transferring over to the new one and that meant at one stage, his dropping out of Myra House. They were always more or less all right because they had Father Creedon or Father Toher. But Frank did continue with them for a number of years and then only parted company later.
Frank Duff's insight into the role of the Blessed Virgin in the plan of Redemption, as also into the role of the lay faithful in the mission of the Church, are reflected in the official handbook of the Legion of Mary. He died on the evening of November 7, 1980 aged 91 years. His Cause for Beatification was introduced by His Eminence Desmond Cardinal Connell, the then Archbishop of Dublin, in June 1996. The Legion of Mary operates throughout the world.
Today between active and auxiliary (praying) members there are in excess of 10 million members worldwide.
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