Posted on 08/14/2007 8:35:54 AM PDT by Pyro7480
(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."
Catholic ping!
Obviously I am baffled. I read his book on it many years ago, but I could not comprehend his concept.
Anyone who responds: please do in simple terms... :o)
I have an explanation in a book, but it’s at home, and I’m at work, so I’ll try to post that later tonight.
As part of a penance earlier this year, I had to read either the Book of Sirach or a book on the life of a saint. I picked St. Maximilian Kolbe. The book was primarily made up of other people’s recollections of him and his life. It made a huge impact on me and I made sure to attend Mass for his feast day today.
A great man and a great saint.
Yea!
We are members of Malitia Immaculata.
King Vanity and I attended two consecutive teen summer camps here in Oregon when he was a teen.
Greatest Catholic Nuns/Fathers and Families we have ever met.
Sister Ann is a very special person in our hearts.
They were so good at teaching the teens about Mass and respecting the traditions of the Mass.
Many wonderful memories of those two summers.
We yearly resubmit in Prayer our commitment.
Interesting. First I’ve heard of it. I’ve noticed when saints achieve a certain level of mystical development their terminology gets difficult to understand or even a little out there.
I’ll have to think about this. Maybe St. MK is referring to the nature of God’s uncreated purity?
"Additionally, he calls the Holy Spirit the Uncreated, Eternal Immaculate Conception, who is "conceived" from the love that flows eternally between the Father and the Son; a love so perfect that it is personified. Kolbe explains:
Everything that exists, outside of God himself, since it is from God and depends upon him in every way, bears within itself some semblance to its Creator . . . because every created thing is an effect of the Primal Cause.. . ."It is true that the words we use to speak of created realities express the divine perfections only in a halting, limited and analogical manner. They are only a more or less distant echo as are created realities that they signify of the properties of God himself.
Would not "conception" be an exception to this rule? No, there is never any exception . . .
And who is the Holy Spirit? The flowering of the love of the Father and the Son. If the fruit of created love is a created conception, then the fruit of divine Love, that prototype of all created love, is necessarily a divine "conception." The Holy Spirit is, therefore, the "uncreated, eternal conception," the prototype of all the conceptions that multiply life throughout the whole universe.
There's rather a long piece at the site!
Maybe I shouldn't say anything. Whenever there's a discussion on the Trinity, I feel I should be on my knees (or on my face).
Only thing I can kinda sorta make out, is that St. Maximilian is struggling to make a distinction between the way the Second Person (Word) and the Third Person (Spirit) flow from the Father. The Word is begotten of the Father. Period. The Spirit, "Who proceeds from the Father and the Son" proceeds from them both: therefore he calls it "Conception" (to distinguish it from "being Begotten"?)
There I leave the discussion, because it's inevitable I would fall into some error of human analogy. Enough. I'm so out of my depth.
It is true that the words we use to speak of created realities express the divine perfections only in a halting, limited and analogical manner.
This is so true. It's a problem all the mystics faced and why they were and are often misunderstood.
Mrs. D is right though. At this level the experience is so intense the concepts fly right over people's heads, including mine!
Oops. Meant to ping you to #13.
I agree. I kind of see the point, in a vaguely comprehended way, but I sure don’t GET it :-).
The name of St. Maximillian's dedicated group is called "Militia Immaculata."
Poland: Auschwitz martyr Kolbe remembered
The Man Who Stepped Out of Line (St. Maximilian Kolbe and Christian Masculinity)
St. Maximilian Kolbe VOLUNTEERED To Be Starved To Death; Terri Schiavo Did NOT
St Maximilian Kolbe-Priest, Martyr, Saint
August 14 - Memorial, St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe
This is how it was taught to me:
God is love.
Love’s own way is to completely pour Himself out to total expense, and in so doing Love begets His own Image who in turn is also completely and totally Love.
As Love poured Himself out into His Son, His Son who is Love pours Himself out entirely until He is completely spent, and act of love that is entirely directed to the Father who is the Origin of Love.
This action/word in Hebrew ‘dabar’ or ‘davar’ of Love pouring Himself out and then the Perfect Image pouring Himself back out toward Love the Father spirates the ‘divine conception’ of the Holy Spirit who likewise is completely Love.
All of this takes place in the eternal Now of God’s time and is a spontaneous act of love by Love Himself that then continues calling into existence all that is and all that ever shall be.
Excellent explanation. I think we forget that God’s time is timeless because we only know past, present and future.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.