Happy 59th Birthday to the Legionaries of Christ!

I was just reading from the book Christ is My Life – an interview with Fr. Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi. I have been reading this book off and on for about four months (I am a slow reader).

Anyway, it just so happens that today I was reading about the granting of the nihil obstat to the movement (the Catholic Churches “stamp of approval”). After being granted the nihil obstat Fr. Macial recalls:

"Overjoyed, I returned to Spain and from there traveled to Mexico to speak with the new bishop of Cuernavaca… His excellency and I decided to go ahead with the canonical establishment and scheduled it for June 29, the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. On Sunday June 13, while celebrating the Eucharist, I received a strong motion from God to do the canonical establishment that very day. I spoke with His Excellency, who agreed on condition we had an official Latin version of the Document of Establishment. The apostolic protonotary of the Archdiocese of Mexico City…very kindly helped me write out the Latin document even though he was in bed with a fever. Once we had fulfilled this requirement, that evening (Sunday, June 13, 1948) the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ was juridically born. Up to then we were nothing in the Church. Then and there a new religious congregation was born in the Church. I made my religious vows in presence of Bishop Espino y Silva. He then named me general superior of the congregation, and gave me authority to name the general council and receive the vows of the members."

What a special gift! Previously ignorant of this day- Our Lord had me read this beautiful story of the movement's birth---on it’s birthday!