Posted: March 30, 2014 in Bilbao, Books, The Legion of Mary

PACITA SANTOS La filipina que traj a Espaa la Legin de Mara is a memoir of the founding the
Legion of Mary in Spain written by the woman herself who brought the Marian organization to this
country. Originally written in English, it was translated into Spanish by Frank Kures and published by
the Legion of Mary Senatus of Madrid to commemorate the diamond anniversary of the foundation of
the Legion of Mary in Dublin, Ireland on September 7, 1921. Sent from the Concilium of Dublin by Frank
Duff, the founder of the Legion of Mary, Pacita Santos aka Mara Paz Santos Daz left Dublin for London
and then Bilbao by way of Paris and then Lourdes. She arrived in Bilbao on February 4, 1950, a decade
and a year after the end of the Spanish Civil War and the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

Pacita Santos.

Pacita was prepared for the worst. But she found an attentive ear in a diplomatic cardinal who received
her and ultimately gave her permission to set up the Legion of Mary in his jurisdiction. The priests were
not as diplomatic, however. They and some lay people thought that, for a woman, Pacita was too
daring. In one seminary, she was not allowed, as a woman, to speak to the seminarians. She
suggested that they could place a curtain so only her voice could be heard and her presence could not
be seen. Some responses were downright frustrating: You want my advice? Better go home. You
have more faith than us. A bishop asked her: Dont you know that it was Spain that evangelized the
Philippines? He gave her the impression that he thought she was trying to teach him the devotion to
the Blessed Virgin Mary, so she humbly explained that she was very grateful indeed for the faith
handed down by the mother country and she was there to demonstrate to him that Filipinos have
zealously guarded that faith and in return she was there to propagate the devotion as part of that faith.

The bishop ultimately softened. Bilbao became the first Legion of Mary curia in Spain, and the first
presidium was established in Madrid. Mission accomplished. Somewhere, somehow, theres a lesson

here: Spain became the last of the major Catholic countries to accept the Legion of Mary from the hand
of someone who came from the last of the countries it once Christianized and evangelized.

Legion Heroine
JOAQUINA LUCAS
Foundation member of the first praesidium set up in Manila, Philippines
Joaquina Lucas joined the Legion of Mary in 1940. She was one of the foundation members of the first
praesidium set up in the Hospicio de San Jose, Manila; an orphanage, hospital and home for the aged all
combined, run by the Sisters of Charity. Their Spiritual Director was Fr, Manuel Gracia, C.M., the founder of
the Legion in the Philippines. All of that first group were university students, among them her friend and later
fellow-envoy, Pacita Santos, who was recruited by Joaquina. During the occupation, the Legion grew and
expanded. At the end of the war there were 12 curiae in the Manila area.
In 1946, Joaquina was appointed the first Envoy of the Legion of Mary to Latin America, beginning her work in
Mexico and then traveling down to South America. She was bi-lingual. Speaking English and Spanish with
equal fluency, she covered Colombia, Peru, Argentina and Brazil where she learned to speak Portuguese
fluently. In 1953 when Bros. Grace and Lambe arrived in South America as Envoys she met them at Bogot
airport in Colombia and for some months acted as their interpreter and helped them perfect their Spanish until
each of the began work in his own assigned territory.
When she had completed her Envoyship in South America, Joaquina came to Dublin and after some months at
Legion Headquarters she was appointed Envoy to Portugal. She completed her assignment in Portugal in 1958
and returned home. In 1963 she was again appointed Envoy, this time in Japan, Indonesia and Korea where
she remained until 1965. She was one of the longest serving Envoys of the Concilium.
Since her return home to Manila she had taken an active part in the Legion there being especially concerned in
many of the Senatus activities.