The Legion of Mary praesidium at Gahanna St. Matthew the Apostle Church is heeding Christ’s command to “Behold your mother” (John 19:27), love their neighbor and pray unceasingly.

The legion follows the Lord’s commands to serve Christ through honoring the Blessed Mother in their prayers and through their outreach.

The local praesidium meets weekly on Mondays to pray the rosary and to offer additional Marian prayers prayed by all legion members, known as the Tessura. Members also pray for the cause for sainthood for Frank Duff, who founded the Legion of Mary in 1921.

There are several branches of the legion, each known as a praesidium. Every praesidium is named after a title of Our Lady or in honor of an event from her life.

At St. Matthew, the praesidium is known as the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Manuel Xavier received permission from the church’s pastor, Father Ted Sill, to organize the group several years ago.

“I have always had a devotion to Our Lady, as well as wanting to get involved in my parish as a parishioner,” member Dawn Shininger said. “The legion has been a great way to pray together with others.”

The Immaculate Heart of Mary praesidium is one of several praesidia in the Diocese of Columbus. The curia, which consists of all the praesidia in the diocese, meets once a month. Father Edward Shikina, pastor of Cardington Sacred Hearts and Marion St. Mary churches, serves as the spiritual director.

The Legion of Mary also focuses on outreach and evangelization. The Immaculate Heart of Mary praesidium visits individuals in nursing homes, usually weekly, in the Gahanna area.

Members pray the rosary with nursing home residents and read books on Catholic subjects, such as the lives of the saints, with them. Nursing home visits are identified by the parish’s homebound ministry, Shininger said.

Active members seek to do good works and recognize Jesus in each individual they encounter. They do so with support from auxiliary members of the Legion of Mary, who commit to praying the rosary and a few additional prayers daily.

“Sometimes it’s very difficult, especially when you go to a place where (it) is not comfortable … but you do it because you are trying to save souls, and with their prayers, it encourages us,” Xavier said of the legion’s auxiliary members. “It gives us the fortitude that we need to do our job well, and that’s the beauty of the Legion of Mary.”

The legion attends to business items. This includes attendance, meeting minutes, treasurer reports and a teaching or explanation on a topic of a relevant aspect of the Catholic faith from the praesidium’s president. 

“We are very structured; we are very business-like,” Xavier said. “A lot of people, they prefer to be in a social setting. When they find that this is not a social setting, then they fail to show up, but that’s the way we are.”

The Immaculate Heart of Mary praesidium currently consists of Xavier, who serves as its president, and three members: Shininger, Cynthia Walden and Marie Antoinette Potts.

Members also offer individual reports during meetings, Shininger said.

“We hear from other members on visiting nursing home parishioners, as well as brainstorming ideas on upcoming projects, like evangelizing fallen-away members of the parish or welcoming new residents to the area and our parish,” she said.

This summer, the Immaculate Heart of Mary praesidium took a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama. The shrine, located in the Diocese of Birmingham, is also home to Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, founded by Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation.

“The idea of our pilgrimage came about as a result of this year of Eucharistic revival,” Shininger said. “The National Pilgrimage stop there on June 20th of the Juan Diego Route made our trip a two-for-one opportunity.”

The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage took place from May 17 to July 16 in the United States. The southern route, the St. Juan Diego Route, passed through dioceses in the southern part of the country, while three additional routes covered the north, east and west.

The pilgrimage led up to the National Eucharistic Congress, which took place in Indianapolis on July 17-21.

On their pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Immaculate Heart of Mary praesidium members traveled through Louisville and then made a stop at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky. There, they prayed the rosary outdoors together and spent time at the abbey before continuing on through Nashville.

The praesidium attended daily Mass in each city on their journey to the shrine. The members also prayed the rosary each day, either after Mass or in the car, Shininger said.

Upon arriving at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Legion of Mary members participated in the Adoration Sodality Day of Recollection along with the Perpetual Pilgrims, a group of young adults traveling with the St. Juan Diego Route.

The Adoration Sodality is a group for laity, priests and religious who spiritually join in the mission of adoring the Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Sodality Days of Recollection are held the third Thursday of every month at the shrine.

Once a year, Legion of Mary members from the various praesidia in the diocese gather for a Mass on or near a Marian feast day and to re-consecrate themselves to the Blessed Mother. In the Diocese of Columbus, the curia typically gather on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, Xavier said.

“I’ve been inspired by these events, to see other legion members of our diocese, which includes a significant presence of Korean Catholics, whose history in their country has a strong influence and involvement in the legion,” Shininger said.

“It is a great reminder of the universality of our faith, as love of Mary always brings us closer to her Son.”

The Legion of Mary is the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church. There are approximately three million active members in countries throughout the world.

The legion seeks to give God glory through the holiness of its members. Each Legion of Mary praesidium is an extension of the heart and hands of its parish’s pastor.

Legionaries cooperate in Mary’s and the Church’s work of crushing the head of the serpent and advancing the reign of Christ.