Servant of God Frank Duff: ‘Pioneer of the New Evangelisation’
The Legion of Mary has been a central part of the Church’s mission around the world for nearly a century. Fr. Bede offers a reflection and the life and legacy of the founder of the Legion of Mary, the Servant of God Frank Duff.
By Fr. Bede McGregor O.P., the Postulator for the Cause of the Servant of God Frank Duff.
Frank Duff’s grave. (Personal image used with permission)
On the 7th of September 2021, the Legion of Mary will celebrate 100 years of existence. Of course, we will also be celebrating the life and message of the Founder of the Legion, the Servant of God Frank Duff (1889 – 1980). In this article I will concentrate on one major theme, namely, the contribution of Frank Duff and the Legion of Mary to the understanding and living out of the vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and the modern world.
I would like to begin with an episode that took place at the Second Vatican Council as recorded by Cardinal Suenens in his little biography of Frank Duff entitled:
‘Frank Duff – Pioneer of the New Evangelisation.’ He writes: ‘I had the joy of having the Pope invite Frank Duff as an auditor to the Vatican Council. When Cardinal Heenan, Archbishop of Westminster, who held the floor at precisely the moment that Frank Duff took his place, saw him enter, he publicly announced the fact to the assembly. The 2500 bishops rose to give him a warm and moving ovation. It was an unforgettable moment: the thanks of the universal Church to the pioneer of the lay apostolate.’
Aid to the Church in Need’s One Million Children Praying the Rosary. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
It really was a tremendous affirmation of what the Legion and Frank Duff stood for. At the time of the Council the majority of the world episcopate would have known the Legion and Frank himself either personally or through correspondence. At the time the Legion was present in 1300 dioceses across the world. It was present on all continents and major nations. I do not want to get bogged down in statistics but, it is good to remember that the Legion was honoured with the witness of many martyrs, young men and women, especially in China and parts of Africa. She continues to be present in some of the most difficult situations of the world today. She continues to grow worldwide and faces new problems on a massive scale almost everywhere. The Legion is providing a truly remarkable lay missionary outreach to the whole world today.
But let us get to the important question. What is the basic spirituality of Frank Duff and the Legion? What is his conviction concerning the essential elements of the vocation of the laity? Well, first of all let me start with a booklet Frank wrote roughly in 1916 at the age of 28 in the midst of a very busy life entitled ‘Can we be Saints?’ He answers that question with a resounding yes!
The very first published words of Frank Duff are as follows:
‘In the heart of every right-thinking Catholic, God has implanted the desire to become a Saint. Yet few make a serious attempt to answer the invitation. The cause for this is to a large extent discouragement, due to a misunderstanding of what a Saint really is.’
Frank then goes on to describe the usual response to the question ‘what is a Saint?’ It boils down to the implicit assertion that it is practically impossible for the average layperson to become a Saint and therefore they don’t even try to be one. Then he gives his own definition of a Saint which goes as follows:
Iraqi Christians. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
‘One who, with the object of pleasing God, does his ordinary duties extraordinarily well. Such a life may be lived out without a single wonder in it, arouse little notice, be soon forgotten and yet be the life of one of God’s dearest friends.’
Frank then goes on to repeat a basic teaching of our Catholic Faith:
‘Every person that is born is called to be a Saint. It is equally a fact that to those who seriously try to respond to the invitation, He gives help sufficient to carry them to the goal.’
So, the primary goal of the life of Frank Duff and the Legion was to get as many souls as possible into heaven with God’s grace and human cooperation with that grace.
I would like to quote the whole booklet but that is not practical in a relatively short article but let me quote a prayer he composed that comes straight from his heart and sums up most of what he tries to say in the rest of his booklet. It goes in part as follows:
‘I do not ask for the big things – the life of the missionary or the monk or those others I see around me so full of accomplishment. I do not ask for these; but simply set my face to follow out unswervingly, untiringly, the common life which day by day stretches before me, satisfied if in it I love You, and try to make you loved’.
‘Nature rebels against this life with its never-ending round of trivial tasks and full of the temptation to take relief in amusement or change. It seems so hard to be great in the small things, to be heroic in the doing of the commonplace, but still this life is Your will for me. There must be a great destiny in it. And so, I am content.’
‘And then to crown the rest, dear Jesus, I beg of You to give me this…fidelity to the end…to be at my post when the final call comes, and to take my last weary breath in your embrace. A valiant life…and faithful to the end. A short wish, dearest Jesus, but it covers all.’
Procession in Madagascar. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
So, for Frank the most fundamental element of the vocation of the laity is the call to be a Saint. The most important question in our life is where we shall spend eternity. As spiritual writers say: the only real tragedy in life is not to be a Saint. Frank simply quotes Sacred Scripture: ‘What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world but lose his soul’ - Mark 8:36. That is Gospel realism, the deepest spiritual common sense. The call to be a Saint is the pivotal point in the message of Frank Duff and the Legion and indeed every true Catholic. But inseparably linked to the universal call to holiness in the vision of Frank Duff and the Legion is the universal call to the apostolate or evangelisation.
About 1917 a very significant development took place in the inner life of Frank Duff. He discovers St. Louis-Marie de Montford and his little book ‘True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.’ The teaching of de Montfort became central to the life of Frank Duff and the Legion. But it did not come easily to him. He read the book several times under the urgings of a colleague in the Civil Service but, he found it very extravagant or over the top as we would say today and he left it aside. But Tom Fallon another good friend persuaded him to read it once more. This time grace intervened and he suddenly became utterly convinced that every word of De Montford’s book was true. Sometimes Frank was asked did he ever have any private revelations or locutions, or mystical experiences and he always answered no. But he did admit that God gave him some special graces and one of them was the deep conviction about the truth of promoting this teaching and it is one of the gifts that the Legion offers its members and as many other people as possible. I came across a little note on a rough piece of paper written in his own hand to a lady called Mary McAndrew that sums up Frank’s convictions on this subject. It goes as follows:
‘Dear Mary, this treatise on the True Devotion to Mary has the strange power – whether we understand it fully or not – and whether we practise it or not- of helping us to understand and love Mary better. So, tolle, lege. (take and read)’
– Frank Duff. It is still his message to us today.
Our Lady of Sorrows, Consoler of Syrians. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need/Grzegorz Galazka)
But how exactly does Mary fit into the vocation of every human being? Well, the Incarnation of the Eternal Son of God is the core mystery of the Christian faith, and Mary has a core place in it and not just a useful but optional role. It is of course true that Mary is a creature and compared with the Creator is nothing – the finite compared to the Infinite. But God chooses Mary to be the Mother of His Eternal Son and of every single human person. It is Mary that gives Jesus to the world puts him at the centre of human history and in the heart of every human being. Mary is absolutely Christocentric, and she enables the Church to be always Christocentric and empowers each one of us to also be centred on Jesus. De Montfort puts the eternal plan of God in four words ‘to Jesus through Mary’. So, Mary has an essential part to play in the vocation of the laity and the lay apostolate.
In several letters and articles Frank expresses his great joy at the solemn teaching of the Second Vatican Council on the universal call to the apostolate. In the decree on the Laity, the Council states bluntly:
‘The Christian vocation by its very nature is also a vocation to the apostolate.’
Our Lady of Fatima. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Frank believed that Our Lady founded the Legion as a means for the laity in fulfilling this essential element of their vocation. In the Handbook of the Legion Frank explains the roots of the Lay Apostolate in the doctrine of the mystical Body of Christ and the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist but especially as a consequence of true devotion to Mary. Frank gives us a beautiful section of the Handbook entitled ‘Real Devotion to Mary Obliges Apostleship.’ He writes in another article:
‘The mission of Mary is essentially maternal. She was constituted in the mind of the Trinity before all time as a mother. She was to bring forth the Lord and give Him to His mission and that she did. As part of the plan, she brings forth all His members, united to Him and to her and to each other and she takes care of their lives. She is most truly a Mother to them in every respect’.
Frank strove to move Catholics from a purely sentimental devotion to Our Lady to an active participation in her motherly care for souls. He wanted us to love and serve Mary with our sleeves rolled up and our hands out of our pockets. If we are not interested in working for the salvation of souls with Mary, we have to ask ourselves do we really love her at all.
When Frank died St. John Paul II sent a telegram to the Legion which stressed Frank’s life long effort to promote the universal call to holiness and the universal call to the apostolate among the laity. He wrote:
‘The Legion of Mary throughout the world mourns the death of its Founder Frank Duff. I join with the members in praying for the eternal repose of his soul. The association that he founded has made countless lay Catholics aware of their indispensable role in evangelisation and sanctification and has enabled them to fulfil that role zealously and effectively. To all Legionaries I impart the Apostolic Blessing as a comfort in their loss and as an encouragement in their future tasks.’
Let us pray that one day Frank may be set before the Universal Church as an example of the vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and in the World.