Last September, a small group of five Trinidadians went to St Lucia for the celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Legion of Mary. They were well received and treated by the hosts.

The big celebration was held in Babonneau, 15 minutes outside of Castries. Along with other Legionaries from Martinique, Dominica and Grenada, our group fully participated in the celebration, an account of which was carried in the November 19 issue of this paper.

Since the Regia is the governing body for the Caribbean, Sr Annette took the opportunity to visit the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Antigua.

Martinique

Sr Annette brought greetings from the Regia of Trinidad to the Legionaries there, stating that it was a pleasure to be visiting and to offer whatever help she could. Two members Bro Louri, former President of Comitium and Sr Yvette, President of Comitium arranged meetings in three different areas.

Martinique: Legionaires behind the Legion of Mary altar

Guadeloupe: Annette Wong Fo Sue (centre) with group of Legionaires and spiritual director Pere St Gelin (second from right) of Sacre Coeur Praesidium

Antigua: Annette (right) with vice-president of Our Lady of the Assumption Praesidium in Antigua, E Martin (left), Marguerite Joseph and Fr George Williams at the Catholic radio station

St Lucia: Visiting the volcano and sulphur springs

Martinique: Annette, Vicar General Jean de Coulanger, Yvette Lauge and Marguerite Joseph of St Lucia

One was held in St Pierre in the North West near Mt Pelée, and was attended by about 50 to 60 Legionaries.

Another held at Rivière Salée in the south where just over 100 persons attended questions on visitations from Regia, the recruiting of members and the works of the Legion, namely, home and sick visitation, RCIA classes, getting people to return to Mass and the sacraments etc were fielded to Sr Annette.

She gave guidelines to them and also reminded them of how important it was to get young people to form Junior Praesidiae in order for the Legion to continue without the youth there’ll be no continuity.

In Lorrain North another meeting was held, where again questions were posed and answers and guidelines given. Over 120 persons attended.

At Comitium meeting on the Sunday another hundred persons attended. Since they had been operating without a name, Sr Annette ensured that a name of Our Lady was chosen for both the Curia and the Comitium. After a fulfilling week, which of course included sightseeing, Sr Annette continued her Legion journey to Guadeloupe. What a wonderful experience she shared with us.

Guadeloupe

On arrival in Guadeloupe, Sr Annette was met at the airport by the Vice President of Comitium. After some sight seeing, it was then to the business of the visit-Legion meeting.

At the first meeting attended, although it was intended to be a Praesidium meeting, three Praesidiae were present, represented by the Spiritual Director of Comitium, the other officers and 15 members.

The works done are visits to the hospital, accompanying the priest to give communion to the sick, street contacts, home visitations, missionary work. Distribution of communion to the hearing impaired is also done.

In Guadeloupe, there is however need for more regular correspondence with the Regia as some of the Legion’s rules are not fully observed.

The visit though, was well received and there is hope for continued correspondence.

Antigua

In Antigua, Sr Annette was accompanied by Sr Marguerite, secretary of the St Lucia Comitium. There is only one Praesidium in Antigua with 24 active members. Attendance at weekly meetings needs to be improved. Presently the vice president conducts the meetings as the President has been ailing for a while.

In order to accommodate the visitors, the meeting day was changed from Wednesday to Thursday. At this meeting there were 14 members present. It must be mentioned that the secretary is very efficient.

The minutes were very detailed and well done and were also well read. This praesidium has been through many ups and downs. Originally started in 1980, it petered out, then began again in 1991, died off, restarted in 1999 until 2001 and began again in 2002 up to the present time. There are only 11 auxiliaries, so there is surely need for more praying forces in this army.

It was a pleasure that the two visiting Legionaries were able to secure a radio interview with Fr George Williams who is in charge of the Catholic radio station.

Some of the questions posed to them were – Why do we worship Mary? Sr Annette was right on target as she replied – Do we? Mary is the mother of Jesus and our Mother too and as such we love her and honour her, but we certainly do not worship her. We pay her the homage due to her as the Mother of God.

Fr Williams also questioned Sr Annette about her vision for Antigua vis à vis the Legion of Mary. Her reply: to see the present praesidium divided into two and that every parish in Antigua and Bermuda has a praesidium. More visits from the Regia was requested.

Sight seeing also played a great part in the visit. As the proverb says “All Work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

What a pleasure spreading Mary to our Caribbean brothers and sisters.
Pray, pray for our dear Legionaries.