Secrets to living the 'Tres Magna'

Founder and CEO Tom Monaghan encourages Legatus members to embrace the Tres Magna (Latin for “big three”) — daily Mass, daily Rosary, and monthly Confession — something he practices himself. Keeping the Tres Magna “will not only keep us on the path to sanctity, but it will give us the grace to truly live the Legatus mission,” he wrote in a 2021 column in Legatus magazine. 

It’s not an easy thing to maintain flawlessly for anyone, much less for busy executives and spouses with ample demands on their time and attention. As a pledge to strive toward this goal, however, many members have added their names to a commitment form on the Legatus website. We recently talked with five of these members to learn what obstacles they face and how they make it work — and the spiritual benefits they reap as a result.

Head start

Practicing the first part of Tres Magna has not been a major challenge for Christopher Skokna, a member of Legatus’ DuPage County Chapter and CEO of Twin Supplies, a lighting company in Oak Brook, IL. The reason? He’s been attending daily Mass since age 19, well before he joined Legatus. 

“I started going to Mass for help and guidance, then I became a trader with Cboe Global Markets and I went out of thanksgiving,” Skokna said. “Now I go to pray for my eight kids.”

When the priest puts water into the chalice at Mass, he continued, “I put the names of my family members into the chalice, too.”

Rising at 6 a.m. to attend 7 a.m. daily Mass is now routine, he said, “and when I’m really tired and don’t want to get up, it is a sacrifice I can offer.” 

Monthly or bimonthly Confession has also become routine. It gives him the opportunity “to work on my patience, my temper, and other weaknesses,” said Skokna. He doesn’t always complete the daily Rosary, he admitted, “but when I miss it, it shows I have to work harder.”

Tres Magna, he concluded, “has been a positive and important thing for me.”

‘Makes life better’

Hannah Kerschen has been a member of the Wichita Chapter for 21 years along with her husband Richard, a contractor. She has been going to daily Mass for more than 30 years, and in the past year has added the daily Rosary and monthly Confession. She also likes to begin the week with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Having an active devotional life, she believes, “makes life better.”

She has also found that her commitment to the Faith has “rubbed off” on her three adult children, who all practice the faith along with their families. “Not a lot of people I know can say that,” Kerschen mused. “I feel very fortunate.” 

A matter of priorities

Andrew Gauzza, vice president of the developing Westchester County Chapter and senior technology partner at Data in Science Technologies, said trying to live the Tres Magna has become more challenging — and yet more vital — “in a time that I am fraught with tension” over growing his company.

“We are making decisions that are affecting profitability and the livelihoods of the entire DST team,” he noted. 

He said he has worked up to attending Mass thrice weekly and Confession twice a month. “Confession provides an outlet – for me, a collaborative moment – with God to tell Him what I am struggling with at home and in business,” Gauzza said. “That time spent clarifies the important things in life.”

He said he spends most mornings in the house chapel praying the Liturgy of the Hours, which along with the Eucharist “provides me with the fortitude to make those decisions as the Spirit is guiding me.” 

Lack of time and the burden of responsibilities are always factors for busy executives trying to maintain an interior life, he acknowledged.

“Prioritizing what is truly important is a constant struggle,” he said. “Travel and meetings are often time constrainers. Finding places – an airport chapel or Mass at a local church — is typically the answer.” 

Struggling to maintain the Tres Magna “helps me focus on Catholic values as I make decisions in a morally twisted secular world,” said Gauzza.

Grace for the journey

Ragan Richard, an attorney with Phelps Dunbar in Louisiana and a member of the Baton Rouge Chapter, began praying the daily Rosary more than 30 years ago.

“In the last year of my father’s life, before he died of cancer, we had many conversations,” Richard recalled. “He taught me the value of sacrifice in the spiritual life and encouraged me to pray the Rosary consistently.”

He added daily Mass along with prayer at the beginning and end of the day after listening to an audiotape series by Catholic author and scholar Brant Pitre. “It started an effort to spend more time with Christ and grow in a deeper relationship with Him,” Richard said.

This relationship makes him more aware of sin in his life, he continued, so he has become more aware of the need for frequent Confession. “You want to be a little better when you receive Communion,” he related, “and you become more conscious of serving God, rather than just yourself.”

The secret to maintaining the Tres Magna is in making it a priority, Richard believes, which for him includes being the first one to rise in his home for prayer. He tries to incorporate spiritual practices throughout his day, such as listening to Catholic recordings while exercising or driving in the car.

He also enjoys visiting new places to participate in Mass while on the road. One trip to Birmingham, AL, allowed him to visit the EWTN studios for an early morning Mass before starting work.

“We are on a journey to heaven, and we need God’s grace to get there,” Richard said. “These gifts of the Tres Magna help bring us closer to Christ and to follow His teaching.”

New? Start it slow

Nancy Markel is a member of the Denver Chapter with her husband, Steve, a retired money manager who now works in the nonprofit world. She has been a regular at daily Mass for many decades and fondly recalls going to daily Mass and praying the daily Rosary with her mother when she was young. The Markels have gone to daily Mass as a couple throughout their marriage and say the Rosary after dinner every night. “It brings a calmness and serenity to your existence,” she said of the Tres Magna. “You rely on God rather than mankind for what you need.”

She recommends those new to daily Mass or Rosary to start slow, perhaps praying a single decade at time, and then to build on it. For those intimidated by Confession, she advised: “Don’t see it as going to another human being, but as an opportunity to have God present right there with you in the confessional.”