HONG KONG (SE): Some 1,500 members of the Legion of Mary in their familiar yellow uniforms, packed the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Caine Road on September 6, with hundreds more following by livestream from the ninth floor of the Diocese Centre, as they marked its 105th anniversary with a bilingual Mass.
Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J., presided, and told the gathering not to let their faith calcify into a checklist of rules, but to actively live out Christ’s love in the world around them.
He was joined at the altar by Father Timothy Wan Kwok-kwong, spiritual director of the Hong Kong Regia, Father Paul Tam Wing-ming, spiritual director of the Hong Kong Comitium, and more than 30 other priests and spiritual directors drawn from curiae across the city.
The legionaries who filled the cathedral came from the Regia, the Comitium, and Chinese- and English-speaking curiae stretching from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon and the New Territories—a reminder of how deeply the movement has woven itself into parish life since it began.
In his Chinese-language homily, Cardinal Stephen looked back over the Legion’s history since Frank Duff founded it in Dublin in 1921, noting that no movement survives 105 years without weathering its share of storms, from within and without.
Turning to the day’s reading from Ezekiel, in which God calls the prophet to serve as a watchman for his people, the cardinal said legionaries carry a similar calling—but stressed that watching over one another must never slide into harsh judgment.
“Fraternal correction should first be carried out in private,” he said. “The purpose of correction is to offer struggling brothers or sisters an opportunity for awareness and repentance, while allowing us to grow in understanding and empathy toward them.” True strength, he added, lies not in enforcing rules but in staying humbly open to the Holy Spirit while protecting the community’s spiritual wellbeing.
Cardinal Stephen looked back over the Legion’s history since Frank Duff founded it in Dublin in 1921, noting that no movement survives 105 years without weathering its share of storms, from within and withou
Switching to English, Cardinal Stephen took aim at a misconception he said shadows Christianity generally—that it’s little more than a list of dos and don’ts. Love, he reminded the Legion, is what the law was always meant to fulfil.
He warned against going through the motions out of obligation, or treating the Legion of Mary Handbook as an end in itself, urging members instead to become genuine lovers of God and neighbour.
“I encourage you to let yourselves incarnate, like that of our Lord, into the human experiences of today,” he said. “How can you as a community, collectively and creatively respond to the cries of those who are thirsting for love and dignity, in Hong Kong and beyond? My sisters and brothers, you are well capable of that.”
The celebration began earlier in the day with the Rosary, recited in both Chinese and English, followed by the Legion’s own Catena Legionis [chain of the Legion], led in English by Father Cyril Cheung Lok-tin, spiritual director of Curia Regina, and in Chinese by Father Wan.
I encourage you to let yourselves incarnate, like that of our Lord, into the human experiences of today. How can you as a community, collectively and creatively respond to the cries of those who are thirsting for love and dignity, in Hong Kong and beyond? My sisters and brothers, you are well capable of that
Cardinal Stephen
Father Wan then delivered the allocutio [pronouncent], drawing on a chapter of the Legion Handbook titled “Never Despair.” He told members that when their apostolic work seems to bear little visible fruit, they should not lose heart—the Legion, he said, is not ultimately about getting things done, but about growing in holiness, with active service simply the means by which members sanctify themselves.
Even overcoming a small personal flaw, he said, counts as real spiritual growth, and he urged legionaries not to dismiss their smaller weaknesses but to keep striving to imitate Christ, trusting that personal change eventually ripples outward into the wider world.
On the other hand, Father Cheung emphasised that legionaries’ primary purpose is self-sanctification by identifying with Mary. Rather than focusing inward, members are called to look outward to everyday life, fulfilling their mission to bring faith to a secular society.
Father Wan closed the celebration with the concluding prayers and blessing, and all in the cathedral rose together in song for the Legio Hymn to bring the anniversary Mass to a close.
