Dear Spiritual Directors, Brothers and Sisters in the Legion of Mary,

With all humility, I would like to take to express my sincerest gratitude to all of you for providing me, a rather inexperienced Legionary, the opportunity to serve this historical council, the Oakland Comitium. Thank you for allowing me to lead us all into the beginning of the bicentennial period of the Legion of Mary. We know that all of us will not get to celebrate that momentous occasion. However, for a moment, please allow me to imagine what that day would be like. 

What that day would be like in the annals of our Legion history would depend on how each one of us, current members and predecessors of the future active and auxiliary members of the Legion, would make it to be TODAY. The joy and happiness of that day would depend on our INTENSITY OF EFFORT in our commitment to fully live out the ideals, principles and the mission of the Legion of Mary. It is my hope that on that day, there will be many joyous events gracing the occasion of our bicentennial celebration beginning with a Mass of Thanksgiving. I imagine that the Church will be filled with thousands of Legionaries with their families made up of young children, faithful as ever to the Catholic faith. I imagine that these Legionaries joined the ranks of the Legion because you and I had a hand in their recruitment. And thus in a sense, though we will not be there, our spirits would be felt by those whom we brought into the ranks of the Legion. So our legacy lives on as those of our predecessors who made it all possible for us to be here now having taken part of our Centenary anniversary. Now it's our turn to pave the way for the future generations of disciples of Christ. 

On that day too, it is my hope that our Holy Mother Church, as Christ has promised, will still be standing as strong as ever - with more members joining in the Mystical Body Christ. Thanks to the works of conversion - with the Legion of Mary performing its missionary purpose along with the universal Church. I envision a Church filled with holy men and women defending the TRUTH of our faith as we know now that it is attacked and will be mocked many years from now. I imagine too a Church with CONVICTION - withstanding the tides of lukewarmness and indifferentism. Yes, it is my dream that a hundred years from now, we have with us the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, fighting, battling for every soul. Finally, I apologize that I write with such optimism (when the reality seem to suggest the bleak reality of our faith). This is because I have faith in God's mercy. I have faith in Mary. I have faith in the Legion of Mary system, as the most potent weapon to bring souls to heaven through the Catholic Church. Today, let us begin to work together to bring as many souls to Christ, through Mary and through the Legion of Mary. 

To Jesus through Mary,

Sister Priscilla Abaya

President - Oakland Comitium

Diocese of Oakland (CA)