The Immaculata, Our Ideal


Ave Maria

I can't say enough about this book. Fr. Stehlin has a done great service to traditional Catholics in writing it. It brings out the true militant nature of St. Maximilian's ministry, and how we must maintain this militant nature as members of the M.I. to be effective evangelizers. Fr. Stehlin quotes St. Maximilian directly throughout the book, giving a clear picture of exactly what the Saint was trying to achieve through the Immaculata. I have ready many biographies of St. Max.

None of them bring out this great Saint's convictions concerning the "new ecunemism" like this one. St. Max was adamantly opposed to it and viewed it as a danger to the Faith. I had not known that the new ecunemism was raring it's ugly head in the early 1900's. Honestly, I'm not that good at book reviews, so I'll leave you at this- buy the book. At  $16.95, you will not be disappointed. I was surprised that Angelus Press was out of stock on this book. They said that they have tried to order more copies from Fr. Stehlin but he had none to send so maybe it is being reprintned? Anyway, I did find it here, at the Fatima Shoppe.

Thanks, Fr. Stehlin.

Mary's Knight

Ave Maria

Presented here is the definitive biography of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Written by Claude R. Foster, Professor of History at West Chester University (now emeritus), Pennsylvania. It covers the entirety of Raymond Kolbe's life.
At 700 pages long, it measures almost 2" thick. Considering its size and laminated casewrap hardcover, it reminds me of a college textbook. It is filled with quotes from people who were intimately close with St. Maximilian, many of which the author interviewed directly. In a recent email from the author, he informed me of this:

"On July 15th, as I arrived for a two-week visit at Niepokalanow, the last Niepokalanow witness for the biography, Brother Jeremiasz, departed this world. Now all the Niepokalanow witnesses have joined the Church Triumphant. The only witness now living is Brother Roman in Japan. The biography could not be written today. All of my key witnesses for the ministry and martyrdom of Saint Maximilian are gone. The timing for Brother Hieronim and me to collaborate in providing this biography was providential."

  I can't convey how detailed this account of  his life is. No stone was left unturned in Mr. Foster's research. It also includes a wonderful set of black and white and full color photographs in the middle of the tome. (As a side note, the author has just informed me that this biography is now available in Polish and Italian.)

 It is available from the-  Marytown Bookstore
                                   1600 West Park Ave.
                                   Libertyville, IL 60048-2593
                                   Phone: 847-367-7800

           Here is a direct link where the book can be purchased online: LINK

Be good, St. Max is watching.

Why a blog?

Ave Maria

I should probably explain why this blog was created. The first reason, I think, is out of necessity.

The administrative body of the M.I. is the Conventual Franciscans in Libertyville, IL at Marytown, the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe. (BTW: I am priviliged to live only about a couple of hours from the Shrine, which I have visited) As far as I know/ remember, they do not embrace the traditional sacraments (1962 books). This does not really affect one's membership in the M.I. since your daily practice and devotion is done in solitude, but traditionalists have a habit of looking at things a bit differently. Traditionalists also like to "group up" and collaborate since in many cases we are forced to group and collaborate just to have the traditional mass and sacraments made available to us.

Another reason for the creation of this blog is a personal one. My devotion to St. Maximilian and practice of the requirements of membership in the M.I. have fallen lax. Maybe this blog will renew my vigor.
It kind of already has.

Pray for me.



St. Maximilian, Pray for us!

As it was in the beginning

Ave Maria

To kick off this blog, here is the text of the original goals, conditions, and means of the Militia Immaculatae, composed by St. Maximilian himself-

I. Goal: The conversion of all sinners, heretics, schismatics, Jews, and especially Masons and the sanctifying of all under the protection and through the grace of the Holy Virgin Mary, the Immaculate.

II. Conditions:
     1. The complete commitment of oneself to the Holy Virgin as an instrument in her pure hands.

     2. The wearing of the miraculous medal.

III. Means:
      1. A daily recitation of the prayer:
          O Mary, pray for us who seek refuge in thee and for all who have recourse to thee, especially
          the Masons.

      2. The utilization of every possibility, as circumstances permit, to preach zealously the gospel and to
          distribute the miraculous medal.

Upon examination, these statues are really very simple. That is the way St. Maximilian lived his life-simply. Though he possessed doctorates in both philosophy and theology, his mind still operated such as a child's.
This is especially evident when one reads his writings. They were written for all to understand, peasant and nobleman alike. Further examination of these statues also reveals their militant character. War against evil using prayer, not violent force. The killing of Satan's work with "spiritual bullets" (as St. Maximilian liked to call them) called Miraculous Medals, not real bullets. Most of this militant character and straight foward language has been lost or obscured in the current, revised statutes of the MI. Read them here.  There is no mention of either Jews or Masons in the current statutes. It accept the fact that cultural circumstances and attitudes do change over time, but I can't help but think that these statues have been presented in more general sweeping manner (as opposed to being aimed at specifics religions or cults) as not not "offend" or discriminate against a particular group of people. This type of thinking, if indeed that is what the revisers of the statutes had in mind, is overly paranoid in nature and could be understood as leaning toward religious indifferentism. Jews still need to be converted, despite some statements I have read as of late. The Church has always taught supersessionism when it comes to understanding the Old Covenant and the Jewish religion. The Masons are in error and need to leave behind their erroneous, indifferent teachings and accept Christ fully. It is not as if the original charter for the MI was lacking. St. Maximilian strives for the conversion of all "...sinners, heretics, and schismatics.", so it cannot be said that St. Maximilian was only concerned with the conversion of Jews and Masons.

Note: Fr. Karl Stehlin's excellent book: The Immaculata, Our Ideal has an excellent chapter on this.
This book is a must have for anyone who is trying to be a true Knight of the Immaculata. A review of this book is upcoming on this blog.

Let us strive to live out our consecrated life as St. Maximilian intended, as a militant Catholic, not passive one. To have the gentleness of a kitten but the roar of a lion when called upon.

St. Maximilian, Pray for us.