Introduction

In order to understand a movement, one has to look at its origins. There is what is called the grace – or the charism – of the founders. In the case of FIAT, there is the exceptional grace of Veronica O’Brien, and her longstanding and fruitful collaboration with Cardinal Suenens. There is also a little group around them: the people who have made the apostolate of Veronica O’Brien and Cardinal Suenens possible.

In order to understand the actual grace of FIAT, we have to see it as the result of three important movements in the Church, that have occurred over the past 50 years.

These three movements are:

The Legion of Mary, in the fifties (of last century)
The Second Vatican Council, during the sixties.
The Charismatic Renewal, during the seventies.

The spirituality of the Legion of Mary has been inspired in an important way by the spirituality of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort. For that reason the little booklet “The Secret of Mary” is required reading in order to understand the spirituality of FIAT.
The Legion of Mary is at the same time a spirituality and a means for the apostolate.