Ad Jesum per Mariam

The name of this blog is Totus Tuus, which means ‘I’m all yours’ in latin. Every year around the 25th of March, we legionaries all around the world would gather together to renew our consecration to our Queen and Mother. This event is known to us legionaries as Acies which is another latin term, meaning ‘as it does an army ranged in battle array.’ (Functions, The Acies, Chapter 30, p.173)

‘The Acies is the great central annual function of the Legion, so that it is necessary to stress the importance of attendance on the part of every member. The essential idea of the Legion, upon which all else is built, is that of working in union with and in dependence on Mary, its Queen. The Acies is the solemn expression of that union and dependence, the renewal - individual and collective - of the legionaries declaration fealty.’ (Functions, The Acies, Chapter 30, p.173)

In the Acies, we line up singly (or in pairs when the numbers are great) and approached the Vexillium (a larger version). Upon placing our right hand on it, we recite our consecration: I’m all yours, my Queen, my Mother, and all that I have is yours. This act of consecration is greatly influenced by De Monfort’s spirituality – Ad Jesum per Mariam (To Jesus through Mary). This is also the motto of the Servant of God, Great Pope John Paul II. The handbook says that ‘working in union with and in dependence of Mary’ is what the legionary work is built upon. These may sound really scary to a number of the faithful, but St. Josemaria (founder of Opus Dei) had these to say:

‘Our relationship with our own mother may show us how to deal with Mary, the Lady of the Sweet Name. We have to love God with the same heart with which we love our parents, our brothers and sisters, the other members of our family, our friends. And we must love Mary with the same heart, too.’ (excerpt of a homily given 4 May 1957, and reprint in Christ is Passing By, nos. 142-145.)

He added further:

‘Those who think that devotions to our Lady are a thing of the past seem to have lost sight of the deep Christian meaning that they contain. They seem to have forgotten the source from which they spring: faith in God the Father’s saving will; love for God the son who really became man and was born of a woman; trust in God the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us with his grace. It is God who has give us Mary, and we have no right to reject her. We should go to her with a son’s love and joy.’ (excerpt of a homily given 4 May 1957, and reprint in Christ is Passing By, nos. 142-145.)

Therefore we legionaries and other faithful should go confidently, with best of our effort, to unite ourselves to her. Remembering our Legion Promise:

‘So that I with her, his Mother, may bring him to the world and to the souls that need him. So that they and I, the battle won, may reign with her for ever in the glory of the Blessed Trinity.”

‘And keeps our line as on we march with Mary, To work your will, to operate your miracles of grace, Which will renew the face of the earth, And established your reign, Most Holy Spirit over all. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.’ (The Legionary Promise, Chapter 15, p. 90-92.)