Organization: Legion of Mary Houston Senatus
Roles: Communications Specialist, Web Designer, and Web Developer
Overview:
Creating a transformative community experience for thousands of legionaries throughout Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico presented a unique CHALLENGE as the Legion of Mary generally does not use technology. The main reason for this is because the Legion operates by the principle that personal, in-person, face-to-face contact is essential in all of its meetings and works. The Legion of Mary models each and every interaction after Our Blessed Mother’s visitation to her cousin, St. Elizabeth and the love Our Blessed Mother had for St. Elizabeth. There are two technology exceptions. The Legion does use email for correspondence, and some of the larger councils (governing bodies) have basic websites.
As Assistant Secretary to the Houston Senatus, I did two things to help provide a transformative community experience for Legionaries.
The monthly Senatus bulletin, in PDF format, is the main communication tool that goes out to all the lower councils and then to the legionaries. It was already an effective communication tool, so I made revisions to transform it into something that could really support and inspire the Legionaries in their work. Visually, I gave it a facelift, creating a special header that incorporated Sacred Art among other details throughout. For content, I shortened the reports section by highlighting heroic apostolic works of the legionaries, adding a new section devoted to the Marian virtues, and another section that included a monthly excerpt from St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. Lastly, as much as possible, I included photos of Legion events, titling the section Legion Family Album, as each Legion group imitates the love of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Designed and developed a new website that is easier to manage, is more engaging, and when the lockdowns hit, set up livestreaming to the website, YouTube and Facebook.
Results:
Bulletin
Legionaries loved the Family Photo Album, as they felt more connected to fellow legionaries and were grateful to put names with faces.
The legionaries enjoyed learning what others were doing and appreciated getting new ideas and inspiration for works they could do in their parish communities.
At least one legionary cried tears of happiness when she received the new bulletin and saw the Marian Virtues section.
Website
The redesigned website was a hit. One legionary commented that the rotating banner on the homepage was like a “living Litany of Our Lady”. Other legionaries were thankful to have a central place they could go for recent communications, bulletins and other information like the Legion prayers in different languages.
The livestreaming allowed Legionaries from TX, LA, NM, and beyond to still participate in the 2020 Acies and watch a daily livestreamed Mass offered by the Senatus Spiritual Director, Fr. Victor. It helped Legionaries stay connected, and enabled Fr. Victor to better serve Legionaries and his parishioners.