The Crusade of Mary Immaculate - St. Maximilian Kolbe (Catholic Caucus)

(14 August is the feast day of the great Marian saint, St. Maximilian Kolbe. The following is taken and adapted from a booklet entitled "The Crusade of Mary Immaculate," printed by the Augustine Publishing Company, Devon, UK, 1988)

"...The final aim of man is that to which he tends, and for the attainment of which he uses all means. Our aim is to love God through Mary Immaculate, and in her; therefore, our whole life should used for this purpose. To gain as many souls as possible, this is the purpose of our life; to give ourselves irrevocably and unconditionally to Mary Immaculate, and to cultivate that dedication in the hearts of all throughout the world, so that she may reign in our hearts and in the hearts of all."

"What an immense work that is! But what happiness after death, after a life of so much toil and suffering and self-annihilation for Mary Immaculate! To bend the proud neck of the world beneath the feet of Mary Immaculate - this is the aim of the Crusade of Mary Immaculate. The whole world and each single soul must be conquered for her, as quickly as possible, and then the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will reign, through her, throughout the whole world. It is necessary to win the whole world for her, that the reign of sin may cease."

"What do these words mean: 'To strive for the conversion and sanctification of the souls of all through Mary Immaculate'? What do we want to emphasize by these words? We want to emphasize that the shortest and surest way to conversion and sanctification is - Mary Immaculate. Our desire is to follow that cause ourselves and to teach it to others."

"...The spirit is that which enlivens and moves. The spirit of Mary Immaculate will vivify the members of the Crusade in order that they may become more and more the property of the Immaculate, with greater and greater zeal to win the hearts of their neighbors for her. The more they live by this spirit, the more will they become true Crusaders of Mary Immaculate. The motto of the Crusade of Mary Immaculate is: To lead each and every soul, through Mary, to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In other words, Mary Immaculate must become the Queen of all souls and of each individual soul."

"...The Crusader of Mary Immaculate does not limit his affection to himself, nor even to his family, relatives, friends, or countrymen, but he embraces the whole world and every single person in it, because all are redeemed by the Blood of Jesus Christ, all are our brothers. He desires true happiness for all, the light of faith, freedom from sin, the enkindling in the heart of love for God, love without limit. The happiness of all mankind in God, through Mary Immaculate - this is his dream."

"...The Crusader of Mary Immaculate is not indifferent to the spread of evil, but hates evil with his whole heart, and on every occasion, at all times, and in all places, he fights these evils which poison human souls. There is no heroism which a soul cannot attain with the help of Mary Immaculate. To suffer, to work, and to die for God alone, through Mary Immaculate, and as an instrument in her hands - this is an ideal worthy of the Crusader of Mary Immaculate."

"...Because conversion and sanctification come from the grace of God, the Miraculous Medal will be the best means of obtaining this grace. For that reason, the Miraculous Medal is the best arms of the Crusade; it is a bullet which the faithful crusader aims at the enemy, in this way helping souls. Let us work with all our might that that which was foretold by St. Catherine Labouré, to whom Mary Immaculate revealed the Miraculous Medal, may be realized as quickly as possible. In other words, that Mary Immaculate will become the Queen of the whole world, and of each single soul."

"The lovable practice of greeting on another with the name of Mary is a sign of life."

"O what peace the holy name of Mary gives! Let us repeat it often in the depths of our souls and may it become the aspiration of our hearts. Try to take refuge with Mary as a little child with its best-beloved Mother. Invoke her holy name with the heart in the difficulties of life, in darkness and weakness of spirit, and you will soon be convinced what Mary can do - and Who her Son Jesus Christ is."

American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

August 14, 2007

St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe

(1894-1941)

“I don’t know what’s going to become of you!” How many parents have said that? Maximilian Mary Kolbe’s reaction was, “I prayed very hard to Our Lady to tell me what would happen to me. She appeared, holding in her hands two crowns, one white, one red. She asked if I would like to have them—one was for purity, the other for martyrdom. I said, ‘I choose both.’ She smiled and disappeared.” After that he was not the same.

He entered the minor seminary of the Conventual Franciscans in Lvív (then Poland, now Ukraine), near his birthplace, and at 16 became a novice. Though he later achieved doctorates in philosophy and theology, he was deeply interested in science, even drawing plans for rocket ships.

Ordained at 24, he saw religious indifference as the deadliest poison of the day. His mission was to combat it. He had already founded the Militia of the Immaculata, whose aim was to fight evil with the witness of the good life, prayer, work and suffering. He dreamed of and then founded Knight of the Immaculata,, a religious magazine under Mary’s protection to preach the Good News to all nations. For the work of publication he established a “City of the Immaculata”—Niepokalanow—which housed 700 of his Franciscan brothers. He later founded one in Nagasaki, Japan. Both the Militia and the magazine ultimately reached the one-million mark in members and subscribers. His love of God was daily filtered through devotion to Mary.

In 1939 the Nazi panzers overran Poland with deadly speed. Niepokalanow was severely bombed. Kolbe and his friars were arrested, then released in less than three months, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

In 1941 he was arrested again. The Nazis’ purpose was to liquidate the select ones, the leaders. The end came quickly, in Auschwitz three months later, after terrible beatings and humiliations.

A prisoner had escaped. The commandant announced that 10 men would die. He relished walking along the ranks. “This one. That one.” As they were being marched away to the starvation bunkers, Number 16670 dared to step from the line. “I would like to take that man’s place. He has a wife and children.” “Who are you?” “A priest.” No name, no mention of fame. Silence. The commandant, dumbfounded, perhaps with a fleeting thought of history, kicked Sergeant Francis Gajowniczek out of line and ordered Father Kolbe to go with the nine. In the “block of death” they were ordered to strip naked and the slow starvation began in darkness. But there was no screaming—the prisoners sang. By the eve of the Assumption four were left alive. The jailer came to finish Kolbe off as he sat in a corner praying. He lifted his fleshless arm to receive the bite of the hypodermic needle. It was filled with carbolic acid. They burned his body with all the others. He was beatified in 1971 and canonized in 1982.

Comment:

Father Kolbe’s death was not a sudden, last-minute act of heroism. His whole life had been a preparation. His holiness was a limitless, passionate desire to convert the whole world to God. And his beloved Immaculata was his inspiration.

Quote:

“Courage, my sons. Don’t you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then, tell the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us anything she wishes” (Maximilian Mary Kolbe, when first arrested).

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