Junior Legion of Mary helps young members grow in faith through devotion to Blessed Mother
As Anna Donovan finished stringing bright blue rosary beads onto a cord, Mary McKeown helped her apply Krazy Glue to the knots in the string.
“We can say a Hail Mary while we wait for it to dry,” McKeown told her young protege.
Anna is a veteran of the Junior Legion of Mary at Holy Infant in Ballwin, having joined when she was in first grade. Now a fourth grader, she enjoys helping younger children make rosaries, learning how to pray — and ultimately growing closer to God through the Blessed Mother.
“It’s a great experience, and if you come back every single year, you can learn more about God, and you can make more rosaries and help more people,” Anna said. “If I keep going every single year, eventually I’ll be the oldest one to help everybody and be a leader.”
Anna is among more than two dozen children in the Legion of Mary’s junior praesidium (unit) at Holy Infant. Under the guidance of a spiritual director, these young members grow in faith, holiness and devotion to the Blessed Mother. At their weekly meetings on Mondays after school, they also participate in assigned works of mercy and evangelization, providing them with a solid spiritual foundation and preparing them for potential entry into the adult Legion of Mary.
“One of the main goals is evangelization and to learn about Mary,” said Virginia Guinness, who helps lead the junior legion with several other women from Holy Infant’s adult Legion of Mary, which meets year-round. “In that way, when we learn about her, we learn about her Son. Everything that we do, we do for Him through Mary.”
The Legion of Mary is a worldwide apostolate of lay Catholic men and women founded in 1921 by Servant of God Frank Duff in Dublin, Ireland. It has since spread to approximately 170 countries and has several million members, according to the Legion of Mary website.
Holy Infant is part of the St. Louis Regional Senatus, one of 11 regions in the United States and among the oldest, formed in 1932 at DePaul Hospital. It also is one of two praesidia in St. Louis that have junior legionaries. The St. Louis Senatus is headquartered in St. Louis and includes 10 states: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Arkansas, Illinois and Missouri.
Holy Infant’s junior legion kicked off the year with a birthday party for the Blessed Mother in early September, featuring cake, balloons and flowers. Typical meetings include praying the Rosary and the legion’s prayers, a spiritual lesson and an activity emphasizing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
The rosaries the children make are given to Our Blessed Mother’s Rosary and Scapular Program, a local ministry that teaches people how to make rosaries and donates them to groups all over the world. The rosaries are also included in welcome bags for new parishioners, which junior legion members help assemble and deliver.
Third grader Joshua Kenney invited his friend and fellow third grader Wyatt Schelmbauer to join the junior legion. The two have enjoyed learning new prayers, including the Catena Legionis, one of the legion’s prayers.
“It’s fun learning new things, and sometimes we get to go to the (adoration) chapel,” Joshua said, adding that one of his favorite memories from last year was making a crown for the Mary statue in the chapel.
Sixth grader Henry Biro has been part of the junior legion for three years and said he has enjoyed diving deeper into the Bible and growing closer to the Blessed Mother.
“It looked like a fun activity, and I needed to find something else to do for a little while,” he said. “So I said, you know what? Why don’t I give some time to Mary, the Mother of God?”
Growing closer to God
Every Thursday afternoon, about half a dozen junior legionaries meet after school at St. Joseph in Cottleville. After a quick snack, the children settle themselves and pray the Rosary together. Usually it’s the Glorious Mysteries, but sometimes they’ll change it up depending on the season or if there’s a special feast day, group leader Cindy Murley said.
“They are so sweet. Sometimes they’re ‘arguing’ over which decade and who gets to lead it,” she said. “It helps calm the kids. We of course include our legion prayers, too.”
Cindy Murley, president of the St. Joseph Cottleville’s Junior Legion of Mary, stood with, front row, from left, Anna Davis, Noemi Zepeda, Reagan Quint, Emily Davis and Riley Quint and back row, from left, Julia Davis, Maria Zepeda, Austin Njoroge and Luke Davis during a Junior Legion of Mary gathering.
The junior legionaries are part of the Spouse of St. Joseph Praesidium at St. Joseph in Cottleville. It was the first Legion of Mary praesidium in St. Charles County, founded on April 7, 1933, by Father William G. Pezold, just one year after the founding of the St. Louis Senatus.
At each meeting, Murley asks the children to share some good works they did in the past week at home, at school or in their community that helped them grow closer to God.
“Maybe it was going to an extra Mass, visiting another parish, going to confession,” she said. “Or it’s holding the door open for somebody, just being kind to a neighbor or sharing something at school.”
Junior legionaries also perform works of mercy, such as making chaplets — a string of beads used to keep count of prayers — to be donated to parish groups. They’ve also visited with nursing home residents and have made rosaries to be sent to the missions in Africa.
During their meetings, Murley and the children will discuss the Gospel reading from the previous Sunday. She might have a lesson about the Blessed Mother or other saints and give them holy cards, which they collect in binders. At their first meeting of the school year in September, the children had a party for the Blessed Mother’s birthday.
Murley joined the Legion of Mary at St. Joseph more than 25 years ago and has assisted with the junior legionaries for years. She joined the legion at the invitation of another daily Massgoer. At the time, her kids were older and she had the availability to attend meetings. It was a good fit and helped her stay connected to her faith in what she described as a stressful time in her life. About four years ago, she took on the role of leading the junior legionaries after the previous coordinator stepped down.
Murley has seen how the junior legion has inspired potential religious vocations, too. She knows of at least two former members, now in high school, who are considering the seminary.
“You can see they have a love for the Lord and are serious about their faith,” she said. “I hope that stay connected to their faith and hopefully continue on and maybe consider being a member as an adult,” she said.
Legion of Mary
To learn more about the Legion of Mary, visit the St. Louis Regional Senatus at www.stlsenatuslegionofmary.org
