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Edel Quinn
Monday, April 12, 2004


" Ask Mary each day to obtain for us strength for that day, to carry on His work and hers "

Edel Quinn was born in Kanturk, Co. Cork, Ireland on September 14th, 1907. As a girl her ambition was to enter a Contemplative Convent, but she was prevented from doing so by ill health. At the age of 20 she joined the Legion of Mary in Dublin and gave herself entirely to its apostolate. in 1932 she became seriously ill and spent a long period in hospital. She later resumed her Legion work, though with her health permanently impaired.
In 1936, Edel was appointed Legion of Mary Envoy with the commission to establish the organisation in the vast territories of East and Central Africa. She encountered great obstacles in this pioneering work. As against every difficulty and her wretched health, she brought to her task an absolute faith in God's love and a limitless trust in the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin.
Edel was gifted with a clear practical mind, notable organising ability, an indomitable will, a deep fund of warm, human sympathy and an infectious joyousness of spirit that never failed her. These qualities eventually won everyone to her side.
Although working alone and in a state of perpetual ill-health and exhaustion, Edel established the Legion on a firm, enduring basis even as far a Mauritius in the indian Ocean. Hundreds of Legion branches and multiple councils were established and she mobilised thousands of Africans in the service of the Church.
After eight years of heroic labour, Edel died in Nairobi on May 14th, 1944, where she is buried in the Missionaries' Cemetery. The Diocesan Process, the first step towrds her beatification, was sent in motion by the Archbishop of Nairobi.
On 15th December 1994 our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II in a special assembly of the Cardinals and other members ofthe Congregation for the Causes of the Saints made the following solemn declaration.. "It is certain that the Servant of God, Edel Mary Quinn, a secular virgin of the Legion of Mary, practised to a heroic degree the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity towards God and her neighbour and likewise the cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Fortitude".

He ordered the Decree to be published and to be inserted in the Acts of the Congregation.

Because of this proclamation of her outstanding holiness Edel Quinn now bears the title Venerable

The following extracts from Venerable Edel's private notes and diary indicate the basis of her spiritual life:
"What boundless trust we should have in God's love! We can never love too much; let us give utterly and not count the cost. God will respond to our faith in Him" ..... "Mary loves us because we are Christ's legacy to her. Let us give ourselves completely to her to be made all His, to be consumed unceasingly, to be spent for Christ" " To suffer for love of Our Lord is my very greatest joy". Finally a favourite prayer:
Dear Jesus make Thyself to me
A living bright reality
More present to Faith's vision keen
Than any outward object seen
More dear, more intimately nigh
than e'en the sweetest earthly tie

All Things are but Signposts that Point to God
We have been considering at some length methods of serving God. Let us try to remember they are only methods. There is always a tendency for the interest of any work to absorb us so that we forget why and for Whom we began it.
It is natural that this should happen. The work is visible; the supernatural is not; and we unthinkingly allow the visible things to push the supernatural into the background of our lives. This takes from the value of all our acts as offerings to God.
Instead, a little thoughtfulness would turn those very things which were inclined to lead us away from God, into visible reminders of His presence in the world.
When we see a Church, even though it is only a spire in the distance, it induces a feeling of reverence at the thought of His Presence with us in the Eucharist. But then Churches are rare. We want that feeling of reverence over all our life. We can make it habitual if we cultivate the practice of seeing Him in all things.
In the beginning He created all things from nothing. But he did not then cease to work. It requires His omnipotent power to keep all these things there now. Were His Hand removed this second from any object we see, it would at once disappear from our vision into its original nothingness.
Thus every thing we see should tell us that God's Hand is upon it. A sense of awe should fill us to think that we can touch what He is touching. The waving leaves on the trees tell us of the presence of the breeze which we do not see. Why not make trees and leaves and wind, and all else around us, speak plainly to us of the wonderful Power which holds them in existence?
We pick up an insect, or a flower, or bread, or a book. Each one proclaims Him to the thoughtful mind.
St. Bonaventure said of St. Francis of Assisi that he made everything in nature a step in the ladder by which he went to Heaven. He loved the very stones beneath his feet because there were the works of his Creator.
All the Saints saw without effort God in His works. Everything was a cause of prayer to them. But there was a time when they were only beginners as we are. They persevered; shall we?
You are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, Who is in You
In considering God in His works around us, we are not to forget His presence in ourselves.
It is of Catholic doctrine that the Holy Ghost makes a dwelling in anyone who is free form mortal sin. Life would be greatly brightened if we could bring home to ourselves this wonderful truth.
How could we ever again feel sorrowful, or lonely, or think ourselves poor!
If we consider God in His heavenly Kingdom, we are apt to think of Him as at a great distance. We know Him as a loving Father, but this sense of remoteness diminishes the sense of His protection. Rather let us think of Him living in each of us - giving our hearts their beat and listening to our inmost thoughts.
Look at the great Sun blazing in the sky with enough light and heat for the entire world. He Who made it is within us with a Glory infinitely greater.
There is holiness in the very thought of this; and the idea of sin as something that will drive out this Divine Tenant acquires a clearer and more repulsive meaning.
Heaven and Earth are Full of Thy Glory
The greatness and the loveliness of God, being infinite, cannot while we live be measured by us. We can only feebly search after an idea of them by representing to ourselves the pick and cream of what we know, and then try to raise our minds above that.
Take from what is around, all that is delightful, mighty, pure, exquisite, glorious. Gaze upon them, and their beauty takes the very breath away. But their beauty is only the shadow of His Beauty.
In the light of this truth, will not the delicate flower, or sky tinted with splendour, speak to us with a new meaning? Before, we admired them for what they are; now rather, let us reverence them for what they suggest.
God's Dealing with Men
His goodness is equally beyond our comprehension. Our Lord's life on earth, or the Host and Chalice lifted up in the Mass. Should give us an idea of the depth of the love He has for each individual one of us, however wretched.
We are being dealt with in a princely way. One of the first results of our increases in holiness will be the gradual realisation of the wonderful goodness which is lavished upon us from morning until night. We grumble at the apparent afflictions and punishments that come to us, though each one of them bears, as the saying is, a jewel in its head. We are blind to the fact that nothing which is the bearer of a blessing can really be punishment at all.
God is good. Let this be the great thought whenever the shadows thicken. There is nothing from Him which is not kind - though it may seem hard. Whether it is one of those things that people dread most, such as death, of cancer, or bankruptcy; or only a headache, we may be sure it is for the best. There is some hidden mercy in it. God is good. God is so good.
Trust as a Characteristic of the Saints
In this spirit of trusting faith did the Saints receive whatever came to them. Aware that they were enfolded in the arms of a loving Providence, it was equally a cause of thanks to them whether they were cradled to the left or the right.
This holy spirit is not beyond imitation by all, for we see it in the poor of our day. The greatest calamity is met with fortitude. "There is no Cross but breaks a heavier," they will observe, and then - even though the tears are falling fast - "God's will be done; welcome be the Holy Will of God."
We must follow the holy ones of all times in this childlike confidence, this perfect knowledge that He is their Good Father.
Our Love for Him
Our hearts were made to hold the biggest and the purest of loves. For nothing less than this did God intend them. It is dishonouring such vessels to keep in them a love based only on motives of reward or punishment, wholesome though these are. So let us try to send our love for the Good Shepherd to summits far above such thoughts of self, and love Him "not that in Heaven we may reign,not to escape eternal pain, nor in the hope of gain"but for Himself, and that we may satisfy with something clean that great love of His which craves for our love.
And as this pure love strengthens in our hearts, it will soon, like the eagle, grow impatient even of the mountain peaks, and hunger after heights of heights, till - with the Little Flower - we will cry out in longing:
"Jesus!, Jesus!, I would so wish to love you, love you as you never yet have been loved."

Hindrances and Pitfalls
.

Sin
Sin in its various forms is, of course, the greater barrier. Such serious things as dishonesty, wronging one's employer or those who work for one, gambling, intemperance, cursing, might be gone into at length. But surely this is unnecessary. We are considering a person who is making a serious effort for sanctity; who is fully aware of the gravity of such failings, and who has probably already cut them out of his life.
Then, there is the host of commoner faults: self-love, lying, backbiting, vanity, envy, and so forth, in direct attacks on which a life-time could be spent with poor results. A surer success will quietly come of itself if prayerfulness and love develop. These will induce a frame of mind to which anything wrong will be distasteful. Such failings become no longer temptations, and simply drop out of one's life.
All the foregoing are plainly labelled "sin." When we are guilty of any of them, we know that it is an occasion for repentance and amendment. But there are other enemies to sanctity that are more hidden, and which constantly deceive even well intentioned people by assuming an innocent and commendable appearance. Amongst these may be mentioned discontent, human respect, an uncontrolled tongue, ill-temper, discouragement, conceit. The seriousness of these is that they are harboured by good people, when sin has been driven out, in ignorance that they do sin's work.
Discontent
This is the great fault of the good. "There is no harm in being dissatisfied," they will say. Or they will call it ambition, and make a virtue of the turmoil which it makes in their minds. There would be some advantage in discontent if it spurred us on to aim at better things. But unhappily, discontent tends only to make us despise what we have. So warped are we by it that we envy today in someone else what yesterday we scorned in ourselves.
Now, this spirit of discontent particularly concerns us when it sets up the delusion that our particular mode of life and surroundings are unsuited to sanctity. Very often we entertain the thought as a holy one. We feel sure we could be Saints if God made us Priests of Nuns, or indeed anything else but what we happen to be.
Than such a delusion, no greater obstacle to progress can exist. The conditions of each man's life, as it is, are the raw materials out of which he has to fashion his future. Disbelief in the possibilities of doing any good with what he has is unlikely to lead to effort. A man is just as likely to start digging in his back garden for diamonds, as to seek for the jewels of sanctity where he does not believe they exist.
It may be that our present manner of life really is unfavourable to higher things. if this be so, God will in good time open up another door to us, that is, provided we are doing our duty in making the best of what we now have. Most probably, however, far from being unfavourable, our present life is just the only one which will bring us to sanctity. God, who sees all things, did not choose it over all others for us without ample reason. By discontent we are setting ourselves up as judges over His actions. Now let us pay Him the compliment of thinking deeply over this, and then bind ourselves with a stern resolution to put away every such disturbing thought. Its place will be filled by a grace. A calm will steadily grow up within us. We will find ourselves less and less put out by the worries of everyday life. We are getting on.
When Discontent is Banished
Those who have always been in the close friendship of God cannot fully value the greatness of this treasure, peace of mind, which they have always possessed. But to those who have known the opposite, this feeling of calm, as it develops, carries a plain message of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the soul. One is on the way to that tranquillity which was a notable feature in the lives of the Saints. For instance, it is written of St. Vincent Ferrer:
"Whether in the streets, or the choir, of his own cell, or preaching, or on a journey, or whatever he did, he was always tranquil because he made an oratory in his heart, and there conversed uninterruptedly with God without any outward thing disturbing him.
Another Big Obstacle, Human Respect
The danger of Human Respect is not sufficiently recognised. In almost every Catholic it is a weak spot. In the case of some, it is a defect so grave as to put real holiness out of the question. Human Respect may be defined as the putting of the opinion of others in the place of our conscience. It sets up ridicule and unpopularity as the thing most to be avoided even at the risk of offending against truth and principle. Beginning in small things, if constantly yielded to, Human Respect brings about a general lowering of principle. A state of mind is reached which is as different from sanctity as chalk is from cheese.
You have always been in the habit of blessing yourself when at your meals. When not at home, through a form of shame you do not do this. This is human Respect.
You always touch your hat as you pass a Church, except when with Protestants? You would not have a religious picture in your drawing room. You are shy about making the Stations of the Cross. You would be mortified if your Rosary Beads fell from your pocket in Protestant company or in the bus. All these are signs of the disease we are discussing.
In a word, you are so taken up with making your conduct acceptable to others that you have no room for the thought that God might have been pleased by these little open professions of Faith. You have treated Him as the rich are supposed to treat the poor relations, acknowledging them in private, ignoring them in public.
In the life of St. Philip Neri, we read how that Saint was in the habit of imposing very humiliating penances upon his disciples in his anxiety to destroy in them any trace of this mean spirit. Such practices would nowadays be termed extreme. Here is a suggestion which is not extreme. It will help anyone resolved upon the destruction of this failing. Wear openly something Catholic; some little devotional badge or emblem that will mark you as a Catholic, who is not ashamed to be known as one. The feeling of unwillingness to do this which will come to many, is the best test of its value; it is the spirit you seek to kill that is protesting in you.
Such objection as: "I don't believe in badge-wearing," and "I don't believe in making a parade of my religion," are usually not sincere. Those who speak in this way seldom seem to have any objection to wearing political or trade badges. Be honest with yourself. The trouble is that you are not really proud of being a Catholic. It is human nature to publish the fact if you are.
The priest and nun advertise themselves to the world for what they are. Let the laity also, in the little ways that are open to them, confess Christ before men that he may one day confess them before His Father in Heaven. But in this let there be wholesome moderation. Do nothing that will earn for yourself the name of mere eccentricity, for this would destroy much of your influence. To cover your self with religious emblems or to make an unnecessary show of devotion in a Church is to err in this way.
Discouragement and Pride
This spiritual value of any work you do is not to be judged by the little or much result you see from it, but by the purity of intention and the effort which you have put into it. The powerful sermon or book that converts many might bring less merit to its author than the smallest act of self-sacrifice. Thus it is as foolish to be discouraged by lack of visible results as it is to be puffed up by apparent success. Many average people have seen wonderful things come of their labours, while Saints often have been faced with constant failure.
Whatever you take up, act well your part. Let this be your only concern. Be not anxious for results which may bring conceit, one touch of which can destroy the beauty of any work in God's sight
Should some success cause stings of self-conceit, summon common sense to your side to tell you how little self-denial there is in your life; how little you do; and how much more you could easily do if you liked. And then contrast yourself with those multitudes of good people over the world who have given up everything for the Master's sake, and yet count themselves as idlers in His sight.
Let your frequent prayer be: "Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thy Heart." If you become perfectly humble, God will certainly use you for some great work.
O Jesus, I desire to become a saint, not that I may be great, but that You may be greatly loved.

concilium@legion-of-mary.ie

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