Talk entitled ORDER OF THE PRAESIDIUM MEETING by bro. Ezekiel Murphy Ossai.
The Legion of Mary is an Association of Catholics who has formed themselves into a Legion for service in the warfare which is perpetually waged by the Church against the world and its evil power.
The Legion of Mary is open to all Catholics who: faithfully practice their religion; who are animated by the desire to fulfil their role in the Church's apostolate through membership of the legion; and who are prepared to fulfil each and every duty which active membership of the Legion involves
In the definition of who a legionary is, we see that the Legion set themselves for war against the whole world and the forces of evil. And so for an army to defeat their enemy they ought to be disciplined in all aspect; in other words we are gathered to discuss discipline: but like it is said, charity begins at home and so this discipline must begin in our various meeting and it must be uniform as specified by the Legion of Mary handbook.
The handbook tells us that duty means discipline, so that to be on duty is to be disciplined.
In studying this discipline associated in the meeting, we shall focus on the thing that forms the praesidium meeting.
THE OPENING The praesidium meeting normally begins with the invocation and prayers to the Holy Spirit and the five decades of the rosary. The prayer is to be said with all devotion and should not be said too fast or too slow. The leader of the prayer plays a major role in this aspect. He ought to dictate the pace of the prayer and motivate others to participate in the prayer.
Emphasis must all times be made by the praesidium for her members to always be at the opening of the meeting because any praesidium rosary missed will never be replaced.
Let it sink into our sub-conscious that the rosary we say at the meeting is for the Queen of the Legion and so we need to say it with respect and devotion.
THE SPIRITUAL
During this, no disturbance or distraction should be entertained by any person whatsoever.
The spiritual reading can be taken from any spiritual book but this is on rare occasion since most presidium do not have spiritual directors at their meetings; it is therefore advisable to base our readings from the legion handbook except when a handbook is unavailable, you can then lay your hands on the bible or any other catholic spiritual book/publication. Now in taking our readings from the handbook, we are to read it orderly i.e. from page 5 to 354. If par adventure, a feast day is to be celebrated, we can base our readings from that part of the handbook and in subsequent week; continue with our normal orderly reading.
THE MINUTES The record of the previous meeting is to be read at the meeting and the president/presiding officer to call for correction.
Since, the minutes is business like in nature, the secretary must take pain in preparing it and ensure that he/she reads it before the meeting proper. After correction, the minute is to be adopted and supported by two members. This follows the signing of the minutes by the president and secretary.
Mind you, the presiding officer and the secretary are not to be in the adoption process.
STANDING INSTRUCTION At the first meeting of every praesidium, the four basic rules should not only be read to members but it should also be explained to them for encouragement.
ROLL CALL AND EXPLANATION At meetings, it is the duty of the vice president to mark up attendance. We are not just to report absenteeism and excuses of members but also to furnish members of reasons, that is why the roll call goes with explanation.
RECRUITING NEW ACTIVE MEMBERS This work is for all legionaries, but the officers must continue to hammer this in the ears of the members for them to take this task seriously.
CORRESPONDENCE At this point, all letters or messages from anywhere are to be read and discussed. Also, any letter leaving the praesidium is to be first read in the meeting.
REPORT OF MEMBERS Another important activity in the praesidium is report of members. This is so, because the whole essence of the Legion of Mary is the performance of active work. This conforms to the teaching of St. James that faith without good work is useless. So, in furnishing the praesidium with reports, the legionary must try as much as possible to present the work in the praesidium exactly the way it was done.
At meetings, the president receives the report on behalf the praesidium. He/she must ensure that his/her emotion do not lead him/her to receiving whispered report (it should be said loud enough for everyone to hear). The president should discourage members concealing any part of the report since it is the report that connect the work with the praesidium
.
The president is to encourage members to improve on their good report and shone any
bad report. They should be room for comment after each report.
Meanwhile, it must be noted that it is also the duty of Our Lady under the auspices of the president to assign work at the meeting. He is not to assign petty jobs to himself or to his close friends.
ALLOCUTIO The allocutio is the explanation of the day’s spiritual reading and must not last longer than five or six minutes. You must note that in Roman days, the term allocutio refers to the Roman General’s address to his legion. The spiritual director, the president or any assigned member is to prepare the allocutio before the meeting; possibly, he can write down his allocutio for guide. Serious work should be put in preparing this allocutio because the faith of the legionaries depends on it. If the legionaries do not grow spiritually, it is because you as the president has been lukewarm or have failed in the preparation of the allocutio.
In view of proper preparation, presidents should equip themselves always by reading the bible, catholic literatures and even visiting the internet to read spiritual reflection.
Sometimes, officers take as much as thirty minutes in delivering allocutio. This might be as a result of their epileptic preparation or because they did not arm themselves with time. But sometimes, as a result of trying to teach rather than lecture, it can be permissible to cross to about ten minutes allocutio but we are to try to recover the added time in other activities
MEETING DURATION The praesidium meeting is to last for one and a half hour only. This time is so because the legion fathers have apportioned time in everything in the meeting. So, any praesidium that holds meeting more than this approved time is a sign that the praesidium is nearing to be split or that the activities are unnecessarily over done.
Punctuality plays a great role in the meeting duration. If members and officers come before the appointed time, then things like preparing the meeting environment and setting up the altar will not take part of the meeting time. The matter of punctuality applies to everything in the legion meeting. So, it is advised that a time piece be readily available to help. The bible teaches us in Isaiah 38:1 “…set your house in other…”.
It is only when we apply the principles of punctuality as the sole of business that we can succeed with meeting the demands of the legion constitution.
LEGION PRAYERS The legion prayer is to be regarded as invariable. In the legion of Mary, the prayer includes the invocation and prayers to the Holy Spirit, five decades of the rosary, the catena legionis and the legion concluding prayer. Anything outside this is invalid, as far as the legion is concerned. If par adventure, any other prayer that is not the legion prayer is to be said, we to remove the standard of the legion, i.e. the vexilium, from the altar to show that the meeting has ended.
RESPECT FOR THE MEETING Respect is the thing that connects the meeting with the members; this respect manifests itself in obedience, loyalty and humility. On no account must any officer or member receive calls when the meeting is in session.
ALTAR The altar remains a vital part of the meeting. It is actually the presence of Our
Lady and the Blessed Trinity, so proper care of the altar should be done with time.
From the altar, graces are derived since the altar is full of sacramental and is the presence of Our Lady who is the channel of Graces.
We are to care for the altar as we care for our own homes. A writer once wrote a book
on “journey around my home”. Take a journey around your praesidium altar materials
and from time to time see the ones that need replacement.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, chapter twenty of the handbook titled” The Legion System invariable”, tells us that the members are not at liberty to vary rules and practice as they choose. If we are not ready to choose every part of the legion system, it is better we leave the legion altogether. The legion handbook is aware that some people, who want to claim they know it all, will venture to use their wisdom to change the rules, which is why it states that such person shouldn’t venture setting up the legion at all.
Cardinal Newman also explains the fact that acceptance should be wholehearted and not half-hazard.
If we follow the system of the legion, we shall have no problem whatsoever and eventually raise the standards of this great society.
Thank you
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