Checkbox for Consecration

By Jillian Cooke, MTh, MAPM
Father Kolbe Missionary of the Immaculata


During a recent conversation with a group of MI members, an underlying question was evident: Am I doing it (the consecration) right? This question struck me in two ways. First of all, I was inspired by their desire to live out their consecration, be holy, and really unite their will with God's will. Secondly, I was sorry that an all too common worldview was at work: its about what we do. The consecration, set in this world view, becomes something to be done (and done right!), rather than something freeing and transforming of our very selves.

In the world of "doing," the consecration becomes something rather than a relationship and dedication to someone. Narrowing the consecration down to a list to be checked off (endorphins anyone?), we essentially put the consecration in OUR CONTROL and limit it to our human understanding and our own tangible reality. There were a couple of clear groups: those who were secure because they were checking off all the boxes and those who were insecure because they weren't or didn't know what to do. The checkboxes varied person to person, and the anxiety (or relief) increased with every box to check: miraculous medal (check), rosary (check), Mass (check), total consecration prayer (check), miraculous medal prayer (check), feelings of peace all warm and fuzzy (GASP).... wearing the miraculous medal (I DIDN'T KNOW!)...

I began to get lost in a two or three sided battle of feelings, doctrine, curiosity, and bewilderment. There was only one thing to do: demolish the checkbox mentality. Tell the truth, watch them crumble, and build them back up again.

There is no check box to ensure that you are living the consecration.

The entire room seemed to groan in dismay.  The rebuilding began:

As members of the Militia of the Immaculata you wear or carry the miraculous medal, say the miraculous medal prayer, and renew your total consecration daily. The consecration with apostolic intent requires of course that you live a life faithful to the teachings of the Church and united to Her through the sacraments - in particular Eucharist and Reconciliation.

These are MEANS to the end of sancitification and evanelization. These are means of apostolate and conversion. These are NOT THE HEART OF CONSECRATION.

The heart of consecration is surrender. We surrender our will to the will of the Immaculata, which is the Will of God. We have intentionally made ourselves a gift for the sanctification of souls, and so the surest way of living the consecration to Mary is to recognize this gift. Everything that comes from us, all that we are, all that we do, has been given to her - our life, death, and eternity. Feelings will come and go, prayers will be forgotten and resumed, life will have many ups and downs, but we are gift and she is gift, and together we go to God, bringing as many souls with us as possible. This is consecration.

Still looking for that checkbox? Surrender that need to know as well, and just ask yourself in prayer at any given moment: Is this the gift I want to be for God? 

Cast Myself at Your Feet

I, a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet, humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property. 

After we acknowledge Mary as our mother, queen, and refuge, we present ourselves to her in humility. In order to fully live out our consecration we must not only recognize her, but we react to this knowledge through the giving of ourselves. Consecration to Mary is not only a gift - Mary to us from Christ on the cross - but it is also a responsibility: "...he took her into his home."

Have I taken Mary into my home? Have I adopted her way of being a disciple?
Have I seriously worked to accept Christ's gift from the cross?
Have I seriously done my part to make myself a gift?
What part of me have I reserved for myself and not given it wholly?
Which of my possessions distract me from my vocation to be holy?
What are some ways I can more fully live my consecration to Mary?

A Family Re-United

by Mike Conger (MI)*

In spite of a rich Catholic upbringing, early in my education at university, I decided to leave the Church as an

atheist. This would last for nearly 20 years. I finally answered the call to return, receiving the gift of faith in February of 2011.

Six months later, my beautiful brother, Matthew Conger, passed away due to liver cancer. After his diagnosis, he was only with us for one month’s time. He was 42 and too young to die, but my renewed faith had prepared me to accept God’s will.

In the short month from diagnosis to death, our family experienced many Graces and even miracles. Admittedly, it is seldom easy to see God’s plan in the death of loved ones, but this time it was clear. Matt himself had said he wanted his death to reunite the family. We had been without another brother, his wife and my two nephews for 17 years. But our entire family united again around our love for my sick brother.

Matt was a lapsed Catholic, but expressed some interest in coming back to the faith. Through God’s Grace, he soon found himself with an opportunity for reconciliation. There was a parish priest in his hospital room. That day Matt felt stressed and somewhat blindsided, so I asked for a chance to speak to him alone. I asked him to simply listen to father, telling him he didn’t have do anything he did not wish to do.

Some time later, father emerged having heard Matt’s confession. My brother also received the Holy Eucharist as well as the Anointing of the Sick. I can hear my mother’s voice on that early afternoon crying, “In six months, 2 of my babies have come back to The Lord.” My parents have a devotion to the Blessed Mother, praying the rosary every night, praying for our conversion. They live the spirit of bringing souls to Jesus through Mary.

One of many of the pieces of art work
produced by Mike.

My brother died on the morning of September 8, 2011, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I am so thankful for this special connection to Our Lady’s Feast Day. Around 6:00 am, the day after his funeral mass, I decided to walk to my parent’s church. There I found a beautiful garden dedicated to the Blessed Mother. I knelt down to pray to her, and open my heart. I felt a comfort I had not felt before. I expressed a sorrow for never having cultivated a real relationship with her.

Over the next several months, my relationship with Mary grew, and I was called to discover The Militia of the Immaculata (MI). Here I learned of Total Consecration to Mary, the Immaculata. Through this act, we entrust ourselves to the heart of Our Lady, pledging to listen to Mary’s will, which is in unison with God’s will. This is all so we can become closer to her Son and help to bring others to Christ.

I will forever have the connection of my brother’s death coinciding with Our Lady’s Feast Day. After every mass I attend, I thank her for praying for Matt’s soul. Each morning I ask her to guide me and wrap me in her mantle of protection. She will never let us down. I love the Blessed Virgin, and I am so grateful to be Consecrated to Our Lady. 

*Mike was born and raised in Southern California. A man of many talents, Mike is an elementary school teacher, gifted artist, and collaborator with the Fr. Kolbe Missionaries. 

Living the Consecration: Mother? Refuge? Queen?

Fr. Kolbe Missionaries of the Immaculata

Lent is a time of conversion, a time to renew our baptismal promises and commitment, and a time to be transformed by grace. The consecration to Mary is one, powerful way to live out these baptismal promises and be transformed to His glory. It is right, then, that we take time during this holy season to examine our conscience in the light of our total consecration to Mary. Therefore, day by day, little by little we would like to aid your reflection by breaking down the prayer of total consecration as written by St. Maximilian Kolbe. 

In the very first line of the prayer of consecration to Mary as written by St. Maximilian Kolbe, we pray: 

O Immaculata, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Refuge of Sinners, and our Most Loving Mother... 

Many of us have prayed them so often that the  words roll off of our tongue as smoothly as the Hail Mary or the Our Father. If you are a member of the Militia of the Immaculata, you prayed these words at least once, namely on the day of your consecration. Habit or not to us, they were deliberately  chosen by St. Maximilian to address the Blessed Mother in this special prayer. Since we pray them, we should mean these words with our minds and our hearts, and if we do, then we will LIVE them in our daily life. 

Do I recognize Mary as the Immaculate Conception?

Do I recognize Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth?

Does she reign in my home? My heart? Do I act in order to please her?

In the face of temptation, to whom do I turn? 

Do I recognize in Mary an "icon" of God's unfathomable mercy? 

Is she a sign of hope?

Do I trust in her love for me? 

Do I have confidence in her maternal intercession?

Do I seek her intercession? 

HAS MY LOVE FOR CHRIST INCREASED?

Living with Apostolic Intent

By Father Luigi Faccenda, OFM Conv
*Originally published "Go Into My Vineyard!" Spes Nostra July-August 1995: 2. Print.

The Church on earth is by its very nature missionary (AG 2). In order to accomplish his plan of salvation, God willed to need us: He made us his collaborators. In every age he called many people to be priests, missionaries, consecrated persons so that by their example, word, and above all the offering of their whole lives, his redemptive work might be brought to all people and nations.

The call of the Lord is also addressed to every person who lives in this world...

Consecration to Mary draws us in a deeper way into mission. Therefore, it is not just for our personal sanctification ,but it becomes a calling to work for the sanctification of others.

... Christ's cry for souls reverberated in Mary's heart, and she continues to communicate it to all her children. This is the dynamic dimension of consecration which St. Maximilian perceived and developed and which unites the Militia Immaculatae movement to the very mission of the Church.

Therefore, consecration to the Immaculata in the Kolbean spirituality is clearly a total offering of ourselves "with apostolic intent." The true experience of consecration leads us to radiate the presence of Mary around us.

Those who consecrate themselves to Mary and experience her strength in temptations and her consolation in difficulties feel the desire to share their joy with others so that they too may be drawn to Mary.

Where is our apostolic field?
Fr Kolbe answers: "Let everyone regard his surroundings, relatives, acquaintances, working companions, place of residence as the territory of his mission to win all for the Immaculata, and to this end let every influence and capacity be employed."

Through our consecration Mary not only calls us to share deeply in her mission of giving Christ to the world, but she realized it through us.

What means are we to use to collaborate with her?
"By good example we draw our brother closer to us, by prayer, sacrifice, patience, the grace of divine guidance, by external works the task is perfected. Therefore, the Militia Immaculatae employs every means that is lawful and just that leads to the desired end."

The Church confirms: "During the celebration of the Eucharist these sacrifices are most lovingly offered to the Father along with the Lord's Body. Thus as worshippers whose every deed is holy, the lay faithful consecrate the world itself to God. (Lumen Gentium 34)"

What is the ultimate goal of all this?
"It is a matter of deepening more fervently the love of the creature toward the Creator."

If we work together in the vineyard of the Lord, we are sure that the whole world will be transformed and that God will revive the hearts of mankind, triumphing over error and sin in view of the definitive coming of his Kingdom. For this reason, I invite you to offer everything you have the salvation of all: your time, love, and your live. Do this with the Immaculata! Do this in the footsteps of St. Maximilian!

Go into the Vineyard: Pray for Vocations!

My First Death

Olavarria, Argentina, November 5, 2004

Before I even headed down to Argentina, I knew that there was a missionary in Olavarria who had cancer. I knew that she was very sick... and I was dreading it. I can't stand when people are sick. I use to think I was a jerk, because my thoughts usually oscillated between "suck it up and stop whining" and "do I really have to look at you?" It took a long time before I realized that I just didn't know what to do with the feelings of compassion and fear... but I digress.

So, I had a gut wrenching dread as I flew to Argentina. My thought: She's gonna die when I'm there. NOTHING is staying within my comfort zone. In this spirit of surrender (note the sarcasm), I retrieved my bags at the airport repeating (almost compulsively): "I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die."

However, there must have been some surrender in my freaked out heart; I did not foresee the resurrection that was about to take place.

I arrived on September 16th. Rita was indeed very sick. Outside her door: "Todo Tuyo," the very same "Totus Tuus" that I had scrolled on every single note I'd taken in the last four years. She only left her room to go down the hall to Mass, where a temporary chapel was set up for the community prayer. My first words to her were the Hail Mary, she had never heard a North American speak English. "Where the was I?"

About a month and a half later, Rita had a bout of relative health. She went downstairs to celebrate her 40th anniversary of profession. I and one of the missionaries carried her down stairs. At one point, I was alone with her, holding her up, and I whispered - "Quiero ser una misionera." Her response: "Sheesh!" It was the only English word she had picked up, learned only moments before - an appropriate response.

That afternoon, she renewed her vows and my heart and mind were mysteriously quiet.

It was only a few weeks later. I was in the little chapel, down the hall I heard the swishing of skirts and footsteps. Funny how footsteps can sound ominous. These were - heavier and quicker than usual. Suddenly one missionary came in the chapel, took Jesus, and said "come."

Down the hall I went. The missionaries at home were already crowded into her little room. I found a spot on the floor and I knelt down. They prayed all sorts of prayers. I knelt and prayed the Divine Mercy and prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. The cries got a little louder, the prayers a little softer, we went out and the paramedics came in..... everyone disappeared.

The very next day was her funeral. The missionaries gathered around her casket and prayed the MI prayer of consecration. When they got to the line, "Please make of me, of my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death, and eternity, whatever most pleases you..." I entered a new depth of understanding the consecration.

I had already given the Immaculata my death. I had given her everything, so becoming a missionary would be nothing new. I would be hers for the glory of God and the sanctification of others. That night we left on a pilgrimage. While we were there I was blessed with a confirmation from God - a small, sure sign that I was on the right track. I waited just a few days, and then I made my first public yes.

Not sure how she knew, but the directress of the community, at the dinner table, said to the community "Jillian has something to say." I froze. I sweat. I stuttered and shook. I said in atrocious Spanish...

"Quiero - pero mas importante Jesus quiere, ser una Misionera del Inmaculada Padre Kolbe." 

The applause and song was deafening.

Jillian Cooke

Fr. Kolbe Missionaries

www.kolbemission.org/en (English)
www.kolbemission.org/ar (Espanol) 

Mary's Hour

Fr. Faccenda and Brother Zeno at the canonization
of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Oct. 10, 1982

The presence of Mary has been significant in combating the various errors in the crucial moments of history.

Homily to Father Kolbe Volunteers of the Immaculata, August 1983

transcribed and translated by the Father Kolbe Missionaries of the Immaculata

You’ve heard it more than once. I’ve repeated it many times in my fifty years as a priest. You’ve heard it from other Marian apostles. “This is Mary’s hour.” This affirmation began a long time ago, precisely twenty centuries ago. This is Mary’s hour. When the angel says to Mary, "You will be the mother of the Savior,” Mary accepts and thus confirms that this is Mary’s hour. The hour of Mary becomes the hour of Christ the Redeemer; it becomes the hour of the triumph of the Most Holy Trinity. This is Mary’s hour. Jesus wanted to confirm this on Calvary: “Woman, behold your son.” “Behold your Mother.”

This is Mary’s hour. Throughout the centuries we hear it repeated, when the Arian heresy denied the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Then, the Council of Ephesus proclaimed Mary the Mother of God, because the humanity and divinity of Christ are united in the person of Christ. The church acknowledges through this Council against the Arians that this is Mary’s hour. In Ephesus the population entered the streets in festive manner, with lit candles in hand and singing to Mary because they had understood that it was Mary’s hour. And, being Mary’s hour, it was the hour of Christ, and the hour of the Reign of God.

We go forward and we find ourselves before the Turks and the Muslims who want to destroy Christianity as they were “destroying” it in Asia Minor. The famous battle of Lepanto. The Christian forces against the Muslim forces that wanted to destroy the Church in Italy. Pope Pius V organizes prayer and invites everyone to pray the rosary, when at a certain point he stops before a vision: the victory of the Christian forces. One more time it is proclaimed that this is Mary’s hour. Mary continued with her triumphs in souls, bringing about the reign of Christ, the reign of Salvation.

We arrive in France. It is the era of the French Enlightment (600-700). The “rationalization” of religion begins, and so do the Marian schools of Louis de Montfort to Saint John Eudes and  Chaminade, who through a deepening of the knowledge of Mary and especially her mission and presence in the Christian people, want to save the faithful from rationalism that distances Christianity from Revelation. De Montfort’s is the first to speak of consecration to Mary, through his book “True Devotion to Mary.” He had to hide the manuscript underground because even the clerics and bishops did not want to comprehend the reality that it was Mary’s Hour and they feared that de Montfort and this school, favoring Mary, would displace Christ.

Going forward, we arrive to the 1800s and there are new errors. Marxism is about to take root and once again Christians look at each other and ask: Who can save us from these new errors? Again, this is Mary’s hour. Proclaimed at La Salette with the apparition to two shepherds, proclaimed and renewed at Rue de Bac with the miraculous medal, renewed and confirmed more universally through the apparitions at Lourdes in which Our Lady comes to underline that it is not material things that must prevail, but faith. Faith triumphs at Lourdes and spreads to the entire world to this day. This is Mary’s hour.

The maturation of Marxism arrives, through atheistic materialism, that is – communism. We see all the East, Russia and nearby countries dominated fully within the talons of Marxist, Leninist, tyrants. These not only deny the presence of God, but give supernatural value to matter, reason, and man before God. The response? Our Lady of Fatima appears with her message that will be fully acknowledged by the Church: This is Mary’s hour. “If you listen to my request, there will be peace, Russia will convert.”

This is Mary’s hour, repeats Pope Pius XII when, listening to the message of Fatima, he consecrates the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and consecrates Russia to her Immaculate Heart.  This is Mary’s hour. This is the Marian era, the era in which the souls breathe Mary as the bodies breathe air. (St. Catherine Laboure)

In the face of this materialism, not only doctrinal, but also practiced in the form of masonry, sects, false religion; in front of this vulgarity that seems to bring down humanity: Providence is always ready, Father Maximilian Kolbe through devotion to Mary and awareness of her role in the mystery of Christ and the Church, repeats again: this is Mary’s hour.

Then, John Paul II in front of a dominant materialism, hedonism, and a people that remain with faith turned on its head. What happens? The new evangelization, and it repeats: This is Mary’s hour.  

...

Deeply, Gradually, Freely

Enter into Consecration to Mary

Padre Luigi Faccenda, OFM Conv.

Homily of Father Luigi Faccenda, OFM Conv., May 12, 1986

transcribed and translated by the Fr. Kolbe Missionaries of the Immaculata

Mary is the mother of Jesus, both God and Man. The consecration that you have made to Christ, you have made also to Mary Most Holy, as an inescapable consequence. It is true that every grace comes from God and that He is the source of all grace, but the mother of grace is Mary Most Holy.  I stop at this point about this specific charism that you have embraced and to which you have dedicated yourself, that is to say, the consecration to Mary in the spirit of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

You do not enter into the depths of the spirit or the fullness of this charism immediately, one day or another, but rather there are three ways.

First of all there is a need to enter personally with all the depth that we are capable of, second to enter gradually, and third to enter freely.

These three points very briefly are as follows:

1)      First of all there is a need to enter deeply into the consecration to Mary, not through sentimentalism, but embracing the essence of the consecration to Mary. The essence of the consecration to Mary is to live always more fully the consecration to Christ, that consecration that we have rediscovered at a certain point, that consecration that we made through Baptism. But the consecration to Mary, I repeat, must be made profoundly, giving to Mary all our faculties, of soul and body, the faculties of the spirit and the faculties of our body, the good and the bad that we have and that we do, our life, death, and eternity. If you follow these points, which are recited during the consecration, you understand that these are essential things, therefore, profound. One cannot say, “I am consecrated to Mary” and then do whatever they like; “I am consecrated to Mary” and then live superficially, in disobedience, in search of what is mine, putting God aside. We put God aside when we put ourselves first and do things because others are watching us, may praise us, and may even venerate us. Deeply.

2)      Gradually. It is logical that one cannot enter entirely into this profundity all at one time. One must arrive gradually. “Gradually” is not to say that little by little I will arrive when I am ninety. Who is to say that you will arrive at ninety? And, even if you do arrive at ninety – one hundred – what will you have done with your life? What will you give to God from a life that is wasted, spoiled doing whatever you felt, waiting for God to make you comfortable? What will you do with this kind of life? What will you give to Christ?

Gradually today, yes. Gradually tomorrow, yes. The day after tomorrow, yes. Gradually my mind, my obedience, my heart, my chastity, my body, my poverty... Gradually, day by day. The Church speaks to us of this journey, speaking of Mary and the Church herself, when she says that the Church is a pilgrim, Mary is a pilgrim, and we are pilgrims together with the Church and Mary. Gradually. “Pilgrim” here means to go forward, not to sit down, make myself comfortable, and let the others serve me. I must go to my knees in front of my brothers and sisters, because if I do not kneel before my brothers and sisters and serve them, I do not serve God. If I do not know how to put myself at the service of my brothers and sisters, then everything is at the service of my ego. I throw God out of my life, my house, just as those who do not want children throw out God and those who have everything in abundance throw out God because they are in need of nothing. Gradually and deeply.

3)      Freely. It shouldn’t be the formation directors and those responsible that tell you this, but you ought to consider the consecration such a great gift that God has given to you that you go out and meet it freely. Instead, when you beg, push, and yell (against what it entails), it is a sign that you have not considered freely the gift of consecration, this gift of the charism. You have therefore put your life and heart elsewhere, instead of accepting the gifts of God with liberty, love, serenity, and joy. Accept all physical ailments, all moral evil (against your person), and you will not rebel against God even in the face of the tortuosity of life.  You will have the ability to dance in your prisons, just as certain prisoners condemned to death in a consecration in Romania danced. They managed to dance with joy, because at a certain moment the Spirit overwhelmed them. There was a heart that believed in God, believed in the Holy Spirit, believed in the journey of consecration to God, and believed in the charism of consecration to Mary. Freely. 

Consecration and the Missionary Spirit

Fr. Luigi Faccenda, OFM Conv

Homily December 14, 1998

Fr. Luigi Faccenda

 to the Fr. Kolbe Missionaries of the Immaculata

Transcribed and Translated by the Fr. Kolbe Missionaries of the Immaculata

“Your apostolate depends on the measure in which you live your consecration.”

If Father Kolbe, speaking of the Immaculata, has left within us a certain conviction and made us dream in some way to see the glories of Mary, resplendent like the sun, beautiful, strong as an army deployed for battle, then he must have left in us a sense of trust, hope, comfort. After all, having the fortune and grace of consecration to the Immaculata, we become instruments in Her hands, so that She can continue to bring about salvation. 

Why do I say the Immaculata brings about salvation? Why not Christ? Certainly, it is Christ that is salvation, but He saves through Mary. If today, more than ever, we are not able to look upon the beauty of the Madonna and Her maternal heart, the presence of Christ also fades, because where there is Mary there also is the Son. It is a vain search – says St. Bonaventure – if we search for Jesus, keeping Mary in the distance.

This is reason for comfort, hope, and the interior joy that is capable of calming our turmoil, spiritual darkness, and our superficially romantic notions. It is capable of eliminating everything inessential to make us see God in His greatness, the Father in His fatherhood, Christ in His redemption, and the Spirit in His work of sanctification.

Consecration and mission.

Consecration to Mary, inserting ourselves fully in the plan of salvation, places us in the heart of the salvific mission of the Church. It cannot be reduced to a personal act (a difference between Louis de Montfort and Father Kolbe) in view of one’s one sanctification, but obligates one to work for the conversion and sanctification of all people. (Lex credendi, lex orandi, lex vivendi, lex operandi, and working through Her and with Her for the salvation of the world.)

On the other hand our battle is already sure of victory, because She is already sure of victory. “She will crush your head.” So, why do we not go forward with more trust, more serenity? Why don’t we better fight the battle, our battle? Why don’t we put ourselves in Her hands with more fidelity and serenity?  Why do we not place ourselves in Her heart, so that She can carry us and carry with us the world She desires to save through us?

After humanity was given to Mary at the foot of the cross, Jesus cried out: “I thirst.” Mary made Her own the thirst of Her Son, who was thirsting for souls. He desired to communicate this thirst   to His children, from St. John to the other apostles to all of us. I thirst. Looking upon the thirst of Jesus, we must not be conditioned by our own thirst, because there is an unfathomable difference between our thirst and that of Jesus. The thirst of Jesus is the thirst of someone who wants to bring all people to eternal salvation, who wants all people to be happy for all eternity, who does not want any sacrifice to be wasted. Our thirst is often egotistical, sentimental, and for things that give us a little light for a moment and then go away. We, perhaps, go back and say: I thirst... for joy, understanding, love, glory, peace, etc. Our thirst is very limited, and cannot stand up to the thirst of Jesus.

Mary repeats to us what Jesus said and is still saying: I thirst. I thirst for souls. Here we have the reason for the great messages from the Madonna: in Lourdes, I thirst; in La Salette, I thirst and cry for the sins of people; in Rue de Bac, I thirst, behold your salvation – trust in me; I thirst, She said in Fatima, Syracruse and in so many others. We should ask ourselves if we satiate the thirst of Jesus, or if our ego, pride, and our desire for carnal satisfaction must be abandoned in order to hang on to the great truth of life eternal and infinite, infinite like God.

This is the new dimension of consecration that St. Maximiliian intuited and developed from the base of the De Montfort spirituality. He, in fact, founded all his missionary action and that of the Militia of the Immaculata upon this dynamic aspect of consecration. Dynamic aspect, not a stingy aspect, not an aspect in waiting, but the dynamic aspect of consecration: to work with Mary and through Mary, in Mary, doing all that She wishes and sending us wherever She wills. For this reason, Father Kolbe began the journalistic and editorial activity. 

Your apostolate depends on the measure in which you live the consecration, and therefore the work that the Madonna would accomplish for the good of souls depends on “the measure in which we do or do not live out our consecration to the Immaculata.”  Whenever we take from Mary, and keep something for ourselves, we frustrate the work of Redemption. It is not for nothing that St. Paul called out “I make up for what is lacking in the passion of Christ.” In order for the redemptive passion of Christ to arrive to all souls, the collaboration and cooperation of the entire mystical body of Christ is necessary, and therefore, yours and mine.

When the apostles are preparing themselves for their defining mission to preach the Pascal message, where do we find them? With Mary. Upon whom did the Holy Spirit descend? Upon Mary and the Apostles. What did the Holy Spirit accomplish? He gave strength to these, an extraordinary force that no one could have imagined... Certainly the Holy Spirit is still ready to accomplish miracles; this work only the Spirit can accomplish. He is ready to realize His sanctifying mission, but I repeat one more time, it will be accomplished in the measure in which we respond and believe, in which we sanctify ourselves and cooperate in the salvation of our neighbors and those far away.

Called to be Less than a Slave

The other day a good friend of the community was married. Actually, two good friends married each other, and several other friends were in attendance. After the beautiful Mass we were all outside pondering what to do in the time before the reception.

Like all good sons and daughters of St. Maximilian, it didn't take long for them to begin talking about God's providence, the Immaculata's care, and our evangelizing efforts. We began to talk about the total consecration... and the difference between a slave and an instrument.

"St. Maximilian doesn't say we are slaves. That's Louis de Montfort, right?.....the reason people where chain bracelets."

"No, St. Max says we are even less than slaves."

"LESS THAN THAT! WHAT? (the surprise was surprising)  Less than a slave. Oh man.....are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. He didn't want us to be slaves, because slaves keep their free-will. They can do all that the Master says and in their heart of hearts refuse to submit. That's why he says instrument: they have no will to get in the way. That's how it should be for us.... Our will should be so surrendered that it never gets in the way."

"Yeah. Yeah. I know. But, I never thought of it like that: less than a slave!"

"C'mon. When the Lord is your Master you can be a slaved and you can be used by Him. You can be used to such an extent that it is as if you have no will of your own."

"True. True. But, I'm HUMAN."

"I promise you. God knows you are human, and by His Incarnation has given you incredible dignity. That's just it, only when we surrender entirely to our Creator will we be able to live a truly dignified life.... because only the Creator knows what that looks like for each of us."

"Alright.... alright.... now you're getting on philosophical on me. That's cool. Ready to go?"

"Sure. Let's go."

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Roots of the MI; Fire of Love

June 16, 1675

Our Lord, having revealed himself to St. Margaret Mary, requested that the Feast of His Sacred Heart be celebrated within the Octave of Corpus Christi. He further requested the devotion to His Sacred Heart on the first Friday of every month. St. Margaret Mary, making a long, beautiful story very short, celebrates her feast on October 16th.

That day should ring a bell, and if it does not, may it now! This is also the day that the Militia of the Immaculata was founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe. He intentionally chose this day to begin the spiritual movement whose aim would be to spread the Kingdom of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The significance is mind blowing. The Sacred Heart points to the Interior Life, Obedience, Charity and Suffering. These are the four pillars of total consecration! We cannot possibly live our total consecration in the Kolbean Spirituality without pleasing and glorifying the Sacred Heart! This brings GREAT JOY.

For some guidance, consider the questions below and the excerpts from the Diary of Margaret Mary in italics. These italics are the words of Christ in his private revelation. Let us strive to live these four pillars whole heartily and give due honor and praise to our Lord.

1. Do I receive Holy Communion as frequently as possible?
In the first place you shall receive Me in Holy Communion as often as obedience (to your confessor and superiors)

will permit you, despite the mortification and humiliation it may cause you, which you must receive as pledges of My Love.

2. Do I live obedient to Holy Mother Church? Have I sought spiritual direction?
Therefore, do nothing without the approval of those who guide you; being thus under the authority of obedience, his efforts against you will be in vain, for he has no power over the obedient."

3. Do I renew my total consecration daily?
Hence it is that you must no longer lay any claim to whatever you may door suffer, either to increase your merits orto make satisfaction by penance or otherwise,since everything is sacrificed in favor of charity.

4. Is my suffering willed out of love?

Therefore, in imitation of Me you must act and suffer in silence without any other interest than the glory of God, in the establishment of the Reign of My Sacred Heart in the hearts of men, to whom I wish to manifest It by your means."

A Bolivian Vine

It was time to harvest the sugar cane, which for many was the one job they had all year. The
people of Chane Rivero, Brazil worked hard, under a very hot sun, accompanied by thousands of blood sucking insects. They carried their unique stories of sadness, misery, disillusionment, and the daily fight to get enough bread to feed their often numerous children. It is difficult to explain the amount of sorrow and suffering, because these often do not have a voice - no matter how eloquently one speaks.

 When we arrived, we promptly began going house to house, family to family, meeting a bit of difficulty at first. The people were resistant to welcoming us in their little homes of the barrio. It was a "novelty".... but little by little, day by day, they opened theirs doors and hearts to sincere and friendly dialogue.

We invited everyone to trust and invoke the Madonna, so that they might have the strength in such difficulties and, above all, that she might help them begin a new life. Many, many times we encouraged this new life to begin through the sacrament of Marriage. We invited them to the Church to celebrate their union before God and the Universal Church.

On September 8, together with the people, we renewed our Total Consecration to Mary: "Little Mother, these people suffer, they need grace!"

The hour of Mass was approaching, when the marriages would be celebrated. No one was there. Then, little by little, a few presented themselves. In a short time, they were nine convinced couples ready to receive the Sacrament.

The proprietor of the area arrived. He had been promising for years to give the town an image of Our Lady, in order to have her as patroness.  He arrived with his whole family, came near to the altar, and before all the people he confessed: "For 25 years I have been living in sin, without Marriage, without Confession, without Holy Communion. This is the moment: I have traveled day and night to Cochabamba and back to give to you and the Madonna this gift. Instead, I have received something greater: peace of heart and grace in my soul."

In the end, it was a place of reunion and prayer. The ceremony was externally impoverished, in the open air, simple clothes, and dusty feet. But faces revealed radiant hearts, kissed by Grace.

After the Holy Mass we stopped awhile to give thanks and praise to Mary, for the marvelous work! At this point we spoke of the great vastness of the Lord's field, how great was His vineyard! Spontaneously, in our hearts, we prayed:

"Lord, give light and strength to the young people called to follow you, so that the place assigned to them in the vineyard may not remain empty!"

The Sacred Heart's Power over Mary... and Us

"Those who consecrate themselves to Mary, upon experiencing strength in temptations and consolation in difficulties, worry and feel the need to make others in their own happiness, so that they too are drawn to Mary. Mary will enlighten their hearts, warm them with the love of her maternal heart, and inflame them with the fire of love that burns in the Divine Heart of Jesus. This is proof of the depth of one's experience of consecration: it radiates to our brothers."
- Fr. Luigi Faccenda, OFM Conv.  (OVS 11, 2003)

Many are those who believe that consecration to Mary detracts from Jesus. However, true Marian devotion - like any healthy devotion - is Christocentric. Even more so is consecration to Mary, a total surrendering for the sake of the Kingdom of God, absolutely Christocentric. As a matter of fact, the total consecration has absolutely no sense without referring to and revolving around the Lord.

1917

1917 is quickly drifting into the vague fog of history - for many of us, it is already lost - and yet, it seems that it may go down in salvation history as one of the most magnficent years of all time.  I imagine it is right up there with 1531 and 1858.

The Immaculata appeared to three small children in Fatima, Portugal, carrying a message of prayer, penance, and total consecration.  While around the world the fires were already burning - those that would swallow whole countries, and those that would enflame hearts with the heroic love of God. 

1917's main characters ranged from Woodrow Wilson to Lenin, from "Pancho" Villa to Georges Clemenceau. German U-Boats were a frightening force, income tax was introduced in Canada, and suffragettes were arrested in Washington DC. In the midst, 211 people were killed when a F3 tornado touched down in the mid-west, and the "Spanish" influenza took more soldiers lives than World War I.  It seemed that the whole world rebelled, and all nature groaned. 

Look to Mary

Live your consecration to the Immaculate without limitation, be inspired ceaselessly by the example of your founder Father Maximilian M. Kolbe, being each day more, things and properties of Mary, and live so your state of perpetual victim with apostolic intent;

And in those times of joy as in sorrow, in times of trial, as in those of victory over the struggles, in the difficulties and uncertainties of everyday life have recourse to the powerful and infallible patronage of Mary.

- Father Faccenda (OVS I, December 1959)

Explanation of the Prayer of Total Consecration #7

Cast myself at your feet, humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property. 


By these words we beg, we beseech the Immaculata to accept us.  We offer ourselves to her entirely, in every respect, as her children, and as slaves of love, as servants, as instruments, and under every single aspect, under every title that anyone at any time might be able to express.  We become hers as her possession and property, to use us and use us up even to complete destruction, according to her free disposition.

-St. Maximilian Kolbe (Aim Higher, pg. 135)

Explanation of the Prayer of Total Consecration #6

I, a repentant sinner
We here admit that we are not as she, immaculate, but sinful.  What is more,none of us can say that he has reached this day without sin, but feels himself guilty of much infidelity.  We also say unworthy, because truly between an immaculate being and one soiled by sin there is in some sense an infinite difference.  In all truth we acknowledge ourselves unworthy to turn to her, to pray to her, to fall at her feet, in order not to become similar to the proud Lucifer.

-St. Maximilian (Aim Higher, pg. 135)

Explanation of the Prayer of Total Consecration #5

God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you
In a family, the father is glad at times that the mother stays his punishing hand over the child by her intercession, because justice is satisfied and mercy is shown.  Not without cause is justice suspended.  Similarly God, in order not to punish us, gives us a spiritual mother, whose intercession he never opposes.  Hence the saints claim that Jesus reserved for himself the order of justice, giving to the Immaculata the whole order of his mercy.

-St. Maximilian (Aim Higher pg. 134)

Explanation of the Prayer of Total Consecration #4

Our Most Loving Mother


The Immaculata is the mother of our entire supernatural life, because she is the Mediatrix of the grace of God, hence our mother in the sphere of grace, in the supernatural sphere.  She is a most loving mother, because you do not have mother so affectionate, so loving, so godlike, so Immaculate, so wholly divine.

-St. Maximilian Kolbe (Aim Higher, pg. 134)

Explanation of Prayer of Total Consecration #3

Mama Mary: Instrument of SWEET mercy!

Refuge of Sinners
God is merciful, infinitely merciful, nevertheless just and infinitely just.  He cannot bear the least sin and must demand full satisfaction for it.  The stewardess of the infinite value of the Precious Blood of Jesus that washes away sin, the Immaculata, is the personification of God's mercy. Therefore she is rightly called refuge of sinners, of all sinners regardless of the number and greatness of their sins -- even though the sinner would think there is no more mercy left for him.  Indeed, every cleansing of teh soul is for her a new confirmation of her title of Immaculate Conception.  The more deeply the soul is plunged into sin, the more does the power of her immaculateness show itself, by the fact that she gives snowy whiteness to such a soul.

-St. Maximilian Kolbe

REFLECTION/QUESTION: What does "personification of God's mercy" mean to you?