Lan (Cla LEON-JOSEPH SUENENS PNUD LIS Cane EVEN EE SL KCOnAsie Li of « woud spite of or own day il tah. ele deep om” your wind. You wil tie ap from’ i ech speeches flings and with new sane on Rl es the ony Sa gi of mprome ft, eho combined Iasmonious entenas and sperm fourage. Her bea, et me her nl were ‘spicing, bt anyone who ‘thowed her war ed iad viged ows dios es She adap. hen to all by Bee bought che he tok iron gop on sul 2nd teed thea fm mmetioeey and ery She wea steve sad Toeales Sergone. who met bee Peet tera ee ee achting exterior Bid Ai incredible sength. | No ner dcovred shadow far inher nora eon Sethe el of dy. Already the fat Become # kgenary gure ix As ies acy for you 10 wake dit slow coma with Bie Quinn, becuse, “une uetiontly he wl Teeagtien your cps; and vixe do" You. eed ore han des What could te more peciour?EDEL QUINNBy the same Author Theolgy of the Apostolate of the Legion oy Mary. ‘English + The Merce Press, Cork. French, sth Elion; Desclée De Brouwer, Broges Dutch | “Sheed and Ward, Antwerp Italian : Colewi, Rome German: Rohr, Freiburg ; and Helle, Vienna. Spanish: Delée, Bilbao. Chinese: Hua Miag Presy Hong Kong. In preparation : Japanese, Korean, Slovac, Portngucse editions Une Hirvine de Apostle: Edel Quinn French, and Edition: Deselée De Brouwer, Bruges Dutch Sheed and Ward, Ancwerp. Chinese : Hua Ming Pres, Hong Kong. Tn preparation + Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Slovse editioas. Que futeil penser ds Résrmement Moral? Freach * Editions Universiaires, Paris—Brusels English (in preparation): Burns and Oates, Londoo,A Heroine of the Apostolate (1907-1944) EDEL QUINN Envoy of the Legion of Mary 10 Africa HE. Mea. LEON-JOSEPH SUENENS suxwany mior OF MALINeS, suLGTUML Preface by H.E. Archbishop Riberl, Internuncio to China EDEL QUINN AT THE AGE OF OF HER ENV * Devine aber fore oxen toaaeae he cour of ito.” ©. J. FALLONETD, 43 PARKGATE ST., DUBLIN THAT 1S ON THE EVE sue) DISTRIBUTED IN U.S.A. and CANADA BY PUBLISHERS PRINTING CO. “lo B. CHESTNUT ST, LOUISVILLE, 2, KY.Fea Pred 958, Reise = 54 aeaaaned ari oaaetang Poplin Bitton 058 Repl — = = 1996 In accordance with the decrees of Pope Urban Vill, it i declared that there is no intention in this book of anticipating the judgments of the Church. @ Dal Vaticano, Pere sth October, 1952 piSua Santvta No, 286284. Monisignote, On red of your ero the 15th July 1 at ence fered the Holy Father in your rare the beautiful vokune in which you have ‘enshrined the memory of Ede! Mary Quin, the Envoy of the Legion of Mary im Africa, His Holiness showed marked appreciation of your courteous presentation to him of this interesting. biography, and insucted me to transmit {0 Your Excellency the assurance of his deep gratitude. This “heroine of the apostolate”, as you style har in the subsite of your boo, has im voy truth spont herself in the planting of the Legion of Mary in the sol of Africe. Her devotedness and super- natural sprit hve beet such as should be brought to the knowledge not only of the members of the Legion itself, but also of all those ‘oho hate at heart the advancement of devotion to Our Ledy, ond in eneral of all those apostolic workers who, im their various tay are ‘Eorking in the Fathers hervestfelds. It is unquestionable that this Inost attractive exemple will operate to draw mumerous souls along the path of more complete sereice of the Church. ‘Accordingly, the Holy Father expresses the earnest desire tht this, book all meet with the most facoureble reception, ond as a pledge ofthe graces What he ally down om your works, he imparts £9 you ‘with a hs heart the Apostolic Benediction 1 thank you also forthe copy of the Life which you so kindly for- warded to myself, and 1 beg of you, Monseigneur, to accept this assurance of my dovoied regard in Our Lord. Austliary Bishop to His Eminance, the Cardinal Archbishop of Manes,‘Cum licentia Ondinaii Mechlinae a4 Novembtis 1933, Copyright by Desciée De Brouwer et Cle, Bruges, Belglum--ros2 PREFACE by HIS EXCELLENCY THE INTERNUNCIO TO CHINA ‘Tar reawakening in this 20th century of the layman's realisation of his duty to co-operate in the apostolate forms a characteristic expres- sion of the perenial viality of the true Church of Christ. During the preceding centuries, as a result of the Protestant revolt, the Church teas obliged to put special stress on the hierarchical consticution with Thich her Divine Founder had endowed ber, and to safeguard it as the vital contre of her system. Meanwhile, the Protestant defection from the Faith over s0 considerable and so important a portion of Europe could not fal to induce, more than any other cause, the dechnstansation of the masses “This is not to say, however, that other causes may not have con- tributed to that lamentsble process, such for example, as the frailties inherent in all human institutions. Even in the Church, spicitual and taterial clements conffont each other in constant opposition. So, while making full allowance for the innumerable elements in that terrible struggle of ideas, of political interests, of economic neces- Sities, still one has to face up to the fact (Paradoxical though it may Seem) that the “ages of faith” contained in themselves a germ of weakness. Te was that they permitted the duty of the apostolate, ‘hich is one of the fundamental requirements of the Christin faith to drife into oblivion in the minds ofthe faithful in those ages the whole of society was profoundly rooted in faith Gil institutions in their most intimate expression were saturated with the sense of Christ. Christian values were not called in question and, even when veiled or at times violated under the stress of indivi dial passions, they were openly professed, often eyen with ostenta- tion. One deep and lively faith was the heritage of all men, ‘As a result of this, sight need was felt to communicate the faith to others. Through 4 gradual, imperceptible process, the ides of the ty aptly became sbcured imo tothe pont of toma elise is wes indeed a radical departure from the extiy Christian tradi- tion, in which that duty of universal apostleship was 0 vividly appreciated and so thoroughly fulflied that it constituted one of the ¢ reasons for the wcredibly rapid diffusion of the new religion ‘As a sequel to that weskening of the apostolic spirit, the greatvii PREFACE spiritual catastrophes of the mode epoch took place, Fitst, the pagansing reaction of the various national reaissances; secondly, the breaking off of entice nations from che centre of the faith; thirdly, spiritual disturbances in che ideas and customs of the cations stil Calling. themselves Catholic; finally, the inevituble abandonment of religious practice, atthe outset by the ruling classes and then By the masses. Tis sigaificant to note that, following the great work of 2e-eta lishing and consolidating the hierarchical principle in the Church— a work which culminated in the definition of papal infalibilty, the Popes have never ceased to insist om the necessity for the lay aposto- late, The passing years have scen the crescendo of this insistence seach an ever mre commanding cone. ‘Then, tthe very moment ‘when many began to speak of the necessity for a theo ia apostolate tere appeared in the mist ofthe strife of World War I the memorable. Encyclical on the Mystical Body, which gave solid {theological bass o this apostolate. ‘Such is the bistorial seting in which Miss Edel Quinn appears asa shining example of the lay apostolate. The child of a comfortable middle-class family, but early ‘aking her place among the young business-assistant class, she is a typical expression of the moderD masses, Of a delicate constitution and wasted by an incarable dis- case, she represents a sublime challenge of the sprit to the material- ism which seeks to gain possession of the masses. Above all through her humble and uspresentious life, though her intimate contacts si fe the test dandonl ol, by fae of ve which mse Simple and yet hetoi, she efors to this present generation a perfect possbiies it holds for the winning back of souls co Christ. Tntentionally we have spoken of the “masses”, For althowgh the apostolate of Edel Quinn was essentially the inconspicuous one of individwal contac, who can fail to see the force of spiritual fermen- tation that will be brought to beer upoa the masses, if all those who have been won fo or brought back to Christ by an apostle share his insncble zeal? Therein we would sr the case ofthe mosard seed ‘Any apostolate is doomed to sterlity, however, unless it be tadiston of 2 toe intro: lie, This an unquestionable axiom, This aot surprising, then, wo see Edel Quinn adopt as her favourite fading and her constant meditation, the celebrated spiritual writers of our day. Such reading and reflection led her to make of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the sacred Eucharist which she receives every day, often at great sacrifice, the cenre of her life. In Catholic Ireland, where the teachings and directives of the Roman Ponti are followed ‘ad practised with sincere love and filial devotion, Edel Quinn stands oue as 2 striking demonstration of the religious trans- formation effected in the world by the Pope of the Eucharist. No wonder, then, that her intense spirituality impelled her decisively to- PREFACE Pa wards the contemplaive Life, and made her unshakable in that resolve, even when am stractive married life was offered to her by one ‘who had learat to value her at her true worth. God alone could turn her from chat high attaction. He did this by a dicect and providental intervention, as if His purpose was 0 remind us that a fruitful apostolate can only be the redation of the inner Life of grace, Tn the modern wosld, Christin spirituality and fruitful apostle ship appear inconceivable without being fused in Mary. ‘The instinc’ of the Catholic Churca has always discovered Mary in every Chris- tian manifestation. [es particularly significant thatthe rebirth and in crease of Catholic infitence in the modem world has appeared simul fncously with the oocoming of what we call “the era of Mary” ‘That epoch has been marked by the definition of the two dogma: of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and of her corporal Assump- tion into heaven, No less significant has been the canonisation of Saint Lovis-Marie de Montfort, the most outspoken champion of tht doctrine of Maxy, the Co-Redemperix of the human race and th Mediatris of all Graces. ‘Might we not, then, regard it as inevitable that among the, mos modern and efficacious forms of the lay apostolate, onc would rise up ‘which would contain ind express that intense devotion ro the Mothe: ‘of God in its deepest, richest, most advanced aspects? And, indeed that birth took place: and Divine Providence arranged that it should coincide with the anniversary of the birth of the Virgin Mary; which is appropriate. For the Legion of Mary is in very deed school of Marian spirituality daticared to the service of the apostolate. Not withstanding the milicry terms chosea to describe the Legion organi- ‘ation its pre-eminent characteris alk othe mind which anaes and 10 the heart whica feels) is the relationship of mother and child ‘which exists between Mary and the Lesionares, and which establishes among themselves and. with Christ, ‘the’ first-born of many brethren”, that fraternal union which the Apostic of the Gentiles loved to dwell on. From this union, too, there arises among Legionaries that sense of family, unity whick made of the first, Christians “one heart and ‘ne soul", and inspired them to deeds of courage, This explains the surprising difusion ofthe Legion chroughout the five continents, and its prodigious development in mission lands. It is no exaggeration to athfm that in the Legion of Mary is renewed the fervour of the fist centuries of the Church. We believe that this outpouring of spirit will become the greater in the measure that the Legioaaries absorb the rich heritage of defined and developed doctrine which the een- tries have provided, and in so far as they bring their organisation to 4 ome solily bse, more conseiouy planned, more experienced iiency ‘Out of the Legion of Mary spring che Marian spicituality and the conquering dynamism of Edel Quinn. Her life and work provide suchx PREFACE an inspiring example of these wo most salient aspects of the Church to-day as to become a factor destined to influence by sheer force of example the course of history. ‘Asia witness in four continents, through my offcst duties, of the great tasks confronting the Church, I have always hoped that her Wonderful life would find a pen capable of presenting it fittingly to the attentive examination of the Catholic world, Tt was with great satisfaction, then, that I heard the announcement that His Excellency, Monseigneur Sueneas, Auxiliary Bishop of Malines, had undertaken that work. It would be diffcalt to confde it to a person of greater authority, 10 4 more brilliant writer, to a desper thinker, fo one With more expert knowledge of modeia conditions, ‘Mgr. Suenens is the eminent author of the Theology of the Apostate of the Legion of Mary, which is a beautifol and brilliant presentation of the axiom, “To Jesus through Mary", and which fives a clear and authoritative exposition of the principles which ave been the life of Edel Quinn's apostolate. In his Thcology of the “Apostolate, Mgr. Suenens has supplied a natural introduction to this present volume, A Heroine of the Apostolate, These books are comple~ Inentary; the rst finds confirmation in the fruitful. apostolate escribed by the second; and the second can only be explained by the principles illustrated in the first. These two books should be read by everybody, Tras Bot been easy forthe autor to pencrste the vel of humility which covered the profound spitituality of Edel Quinn. For this ‘dditional reason the Theology of tke Apostolate should be studied, Te will aid notably towards the understanding of that fulness of fs and through her of Christ, of which the apostolate of the heroine of these pages is but a manifestation, "These pages are written at the very moment when the Legion of ‘Mary, the Marian school of Edel Quinn, is the vietim of a cruel persecution, the first thar it has had to undergo in the thirty, years Of its existence, Conscious of the meaning of the Communion of Seints, the author very justly concludes Chapter XIV with the words: “Hidden in the depths of the Aftican bush, Edel Quinn was helping, ‘knowing it to save China." From the vantege point whence on the margin of the most subtle and most total persecution in history, I can say—and T am happy to say—that T endorse this statement, Without the astonishing success of Edel Quinn’s apostolate, it would have been dificult co find the courage to launch the Legion of Mary amidst the adverse and hazardous conditions which afficted Chia nthe poser pete, “The introduction of the Legion of Mary into China has been followed by a growth far surpassing our most optimistic hopes. That growth has been both wide and solid. Above all, the Legion has been ih the advance guard in its defence of Catholic orthodoxy. In that noble cause many of its members have been brutally butchered end PRERACE a imprisoned. At a time when those Legionaries are being made the target of the most unreasonable and fantastic accusations, this account ‘the innocence of Edel Quan wil serve to shed, iid ight ‘on the noble activities, the sublime idealism and the ircesistble force of the Legion of Mary. Ethereal as a breeze, frail as a ower, but at the same time stron as the army which her invincible encray has drawn after her anc Will continue to draw after her—that Heroine of the Apostolate will confound before the world the mad folly of the new persecutots. ‘And in the glowing path odden by Edel Quinn, the world will