They are also to seek the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary over ideologies around the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning and many other terms, abbreviated as LGBTQ+.
She said, “We are also praying against LGBTQ+ issue that involves men and women marrying each other so that the Lord may protect the family institution.”
The official of the Marian movement in Malawi shared with ACI Africa about preparations undertaken on the first day of October, which she said involve the inauguration of the month of the Holy Rosary on the eve of the new month.
“We encourage everyone to pray the rosary every day at 5 o’clock in their Small Christian Communities (SCCs), at the church or wherever they will be gathering,” she said, adding that every Legionary is obligated to recite the Holy Rosary.
During the month of October, Legionaries are urged to embrace a high level of togetherness, reminding each other of the duty to recite the Holy Rosary on a daily basis, and put in writing their respective experiences, Dr. Shawa said.
She told ACI Africa that the Marian movement with some 250,000 members across the Southern African nation is bound together by common activities.
“The regular meetings bind the Legionaries together,” Dr. Shawa said during the September 23 interview, adding, “The way the meetings are done makes them very active because apostolic work requires us to do home visitations, assist the Church, visit the sick, and connect them to the Priests for sacraments.”
Asked about the fruits of the Centenary celebrations of the movement in Malawi, the Legion of Mary official said that the celebration that was launched with Holy Mass on 16 October 2021 and concluded with Holy Mass in December 2022 had a significant impact on the movement.
“Before the Centenary celebration, some of the Legionaries were not active; some of them had opted to be auxiliary Legionaries, so the Centenary reignited the fire and most of the members came back,” the President of Maula Senatus in Lilongwe Archdiocese, and the Dioceses of Dedza, Mzuzu, and Karonga said, adding that “during the Centenary the Legion of Mary reached 3,500,000 people.”
She continued, “Over 30,000 Legionaries who had stopped recommitting themselves to Mother Mary and not going to Legion of Mary meetings recommitted themselves and have started meeting with their sisters and brothers.”
