Legio Maria was founded on 9th
March 1962 at the home of John Baru in Suna Migori. Before that day, Simeo Ondeto had gone
through a huge transformation from a Roman Catholic auxiliary catechist to a
highly treasured prophet, but he had never been recognized as God by the huge
multitudes that visited him to listen to his grabbing preaching about the
Kingdom of God. And while he had
previously said he was the son of God sent from heaven by his father to give
glory to the faithful of God, the message did not win the hearts of men. And
they still called him the risen prophet.
Legio
Maria Pentecost of March 9th 1962
On Friday evening, March 9,
1962, when around 1,150 members of the Legion of Mary who followed Simeo Ondeto
were in the home of John Baru, they at once heard the sound of a mighty choir
singing familiar songs from the nearby Kachola Hill towards John Baru’s home.
Startled and puzzled by what they were hearing, they rushed and gathered
outside to see what was happening. And as they were standing at the center of
the home trying to guess what was happening, they noticed that the mighty
chorus consisted of a multitude of voices and was moving nearer and nearer.
The mighty choir of heavenly
Glory landed at the home of John Baru by 6:00 p.m. and immediately caused a
rapturous experience that had never occurred in the world before. All the 1150 people were caught up in spirit,
got ecstatic and started to see the vision of the glory of God in their midst.
They spoke in tongues and saw things that ordinary human eyes can never see.
And surprisingly, all of them were having the same experience as if their minds
were all joined at once into one huge super-computer, making their visions
public and their experiences concurrent.
What
did they see? The Legion of Mary faithful saw:
a. Angels and saints descend from the clouds
of heaven and join them in John Baru’s home.
b. Simeo Ondeto seated in the throne of
heaven as the son of God and King of Kings, judging the living and the dead.
c. Angels and saints falling down on their
stomachs before the glorious seat of Simeo Ondeto and worshipping him.
d. A brilliant and magnificent light of the
Glory of God surrounded the area where Simeo Ondeto was seated, burning
brightly like the pillar of fire that led the people of Israel.
Results
of Legio Maria Pentecost
Legion Maria Pentecostal day
had great spiritual ramifications for these members of the Legion of Mary lay
movement. They had shared an experience like no other and learned the
unshakable truth that Simeo Ondeto is God. They had communed with the angels and
saints of heaven and tasted the sweet inheritance of eternal life that awaited
them. They had seen Christ, the son of
God in their own likeness, seated in the throne of heaven and passing judgment
on the living and the dead. Theirs was an experience worth absolute faith. And
they would never mix this sweet experience with the dirt of unbelief. So, from
that day of 9th March 1962, Simeo Ondeto was elevated in their midst. He was no
longer going to be called prophet, but was now going to be their Lord and God.
Declaration
of the Holy Spirit during the Legio Maria Pentecostal Day
The shift from knowing Simeo
Ondeto as prophet and teacher to Christ and God was not only based on the
rapture and concurrent spiritual experience of his followers. The Holy Spirit
himself had declared Simeo Melkio Hosea Enure Santa Maria Laurida Lodvikus
Messias as the Son of God and the glory of God who is the fulfillment of God’s
promise of the second coming of his son.
The declaration was made at around 8:30 pm when the spirit had indwelled
Siprianus Ochieng and was speaking directly to the gathered members of the
movement.
The Holy Spirit asked Simeo to
declare who he was to the gathering. And at first, Simeo introduced himself as
Simeo Ondeto, Son of Joseph Owiti Obimbo of Angoro Awasi, Watombori clan. When
he had done so, the Holy Spirit threw the entire gathering into ecstasy and
tongues with huge shouts of “No! No!” It was after this that the Spirit again
called Simeo to tell the children of God the truth and Simeo said he was the
Messiah (Christ) sent by God from heaven. Then the Spirit went on to teach and
reveal to the gathering that God had sent his son on earth as was promised in
the New Testament and that Simeo Ondeto is the fulfillment of that promise. He
is the second Christ, the glory of God.
Truth
Worthy of Unshakeable Faith
Legion Maria belief that Simeo
Ondeto is God is not based on the private experience of an individual prophet.
It is not based on intelligent interpretation of scriptures and in the
persuasive oratory skills of great teachers and orators. It is based on something bigger, something
larger than individual dreams and visions of prophets. It is based on the
unanimous, concurrent and simultaneous public experience of over 1000 people
who were gathered at John Baru’s home on 9th March 1962. It is based on what
they saw and heard. It is based on their communion with angels and saints from
heaven. It is based on the truth of the four songs they heard together, the
rapture they experienced together and the ecstasy and spiritual indwelling they
had together.
When Legio Maria says we have
God, we refer to that glorious day. We rethink of how God revealed himself to
our own at once and made a declaration to them. We know that one man can lie,
and two can collude to say untrue things. But we know that over 1,000 people
who saw the lord seated in the throne of God and passing judgment over the
living and the dead could have not all at once lied. And we know that the Holy
Spirit that spoke through them in tongues, and who opened their eyes to see
angels and saints descend from the clouds of heaven and worship Simeo Ondeto is
true. So we firmly believe and declare as a faithful people to whom the Glory
of God was revealed, that ours is not accidental timid faith based on
misrepresentation of scripture; but it is a living unshakable faith based on
the Pentecostal Day of 9th March 1962, at the home of John Baru.
Simeo
Ondeto Declares Himself as Christ
Teaching Legio Maria faithful
at Raha soon after the Pentecost, Simeo Ondeto declared himself the second
Christ. Speaking to Legios, he said:
“My children, I have come
again. Truly I have come. I have come as one of you. As one of your brothers
with whom you eat from the same plate. But why don’t you discover this truth?
Your eyes are blocked by thick cobwebs.”
In this sermon, Simeo Ondeto
was declaring that he is the Christ, Messiah, Son of God. He is the second
coming of Christ.
Worshipped
as God
Simeo Ondeto is worshipped by
Legio Maria as God. Right from 1962, Legios fell down and kneeled before him in
worship. Prayers are directed to him for answers and he blessed Legios not as
their leader but as their God. Chairs were removed from church and only one
seat was left on which Simeo sat and blessed Legios. And whenever Legios enter
church compounds or into the presence of their lord and God, they remove their
shoes as Moses of old was asked to do when he was in the presence of his God.
Simeo
Ondeto and Jesus Christ
Legio Maria started as an
offshoot of Catholic Church and ended up with a God. Simeo Ondeto, however, did
not advance a new claim about God, but instead stated he was the Son of God.
Inevitably, Simeo Ondeto stated he had the same status as Jesus of Nazareth.
And because God has only one begotten son and Simeo Ondeto is that son, he and
Jesus is one person revealed differently in the form of flesh.
Secondly, in Lejo Maria, the
role of Mary mother of Jesus replays. Legio Maria reveres a black African woman
by the name Mary. Mary’s body was buried in Ephesus Church in December 1966.
She is the woman who is sometimes confused with Gaudencia Aoko as Legio Maria
co-founder. Mary, indeed, was an old woman of around 90 years of age by 1962.
She could not go everywhere to preach Legio Maria message and left the task to
the younger people such as Aoko Gaudencia. But when it came to the core tasks
such as ordination of Legio Maria priests, she played the most critical role.
By having the same status as Jesus and having the same spiritual mother called
Mary, Simeo Ondeto placed himself in the same position as Jesus of Nazareth.
Legio
Maria Theology of God
Legio Maria faithful believe in
God who is the father of Simeo Ondeto; God who sent Simeo to them. That God is
one and is the creator of everything that is and that is not. He is the energy
from which everything comes and returns.
And He is three persons in one: The first person, the second person, and
the third person. Just like the Christian theology of the trinity, the Legio
Maria version of the Trinity is similar.
According to Lejo Maria, Simeo
Ondeto is the pre-existent Son of God. He is God even before he is revealed to
humans. And when he is revealed, He works with humans to ensure that they too
are lifted into sonship and become the sons of God. When he takes flesh, his
divinity is never corrupted by his humanity.
And so, Simeo Ondeto was both fully human and fully God. He took up
flesh to complete God’s mission. After
which, he returned to the heavenly Kingdom where he sits as fully divine being.
Simeo
Ondeto: The Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient
All the attributes of God that
humankind is aware of are used by Legio Marias in reference to Simeo Ondeto. He
is called the omnipotent (janyalo, n’gat man kod nyalo), the Lord (Ruoth),
Teacher (Japuonj), the African Lord (Ruodh Jorotenge), Black God (Nyasach
jorotenge), Omniscient, and omnipresent. Through the power of the Holy Spirit,
Simeo Ondeto multi-locates (be in different places at the same time). When
people visited him, they would always find that he had known them by name,
family, and clan or village before they introduced themselves.
The
Seven Names of Simeo Ondeto
Simeo Ondeto has seven names
which the Holy Spirit revealed at Raha and at Johannes Baru’s home in Suna
Migori. The names are Melkio, Hosea, Enure, Lodvikus, Santa Maria, Laurida, and
Messias. Of all the seven names or titles, the most important to Legio Marias
is Lodvikus. Lodvikus means vicar of the lord or what is interpreted as one
like the lord. Therefore, to Lejo Maria faithful, Simeo Ondeto is the Glory of
God.
Eternal
Spiritual Leader
Simeo Ondeto is the eternal
spiritual leader of Lejo Maria. That is the principal title that appears on
Legio Maria banners. What does it mean? To Legion Maria, eternal spiritual
leadership refers to Ondeto’s sonship of God and his eternal mediatorship. He
mediates forever for all Legios and brings them to the glory of God. He lifts
us to the high and heavenly heights of glory. He gives us life because he has
life abundantly.”
“Our
God, Simeo Melkio. Give us a living faith and bring us to your eternal glory.
Just as we communed with angels and saints of heaven when you were revealed at
John Baru’s home, bring us to eternal communion with the holy ones of God and
into your eternal kingdom. Amen.”
