St. Maximilian’s Religious Life
This is the second part in a series of articles from Fr. Simon Tipps about our Pastorate’s new patron, St. Maximilian Kolbe.
St. Maximilian Kolbe was a man of zeal—zeal for souls. He wanted to save as many souls as possible through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was zeal for souls and love for the Blessed Virgin that influenced his decision to join the Conventual Franciscans at age 16. He soon made his first profession of vows and was sent to Rome for seminary studies.
In 1917, while in Rome, he witnessed the freemasons* celebrating their 200 th anniversary. During this celebration, the freemasons entered the Vatican and processed through St. Peter’s Square with a stuffed image of Satan crushing St. Michael with a sign that read, “The devil will rule in the Vatican, the Pope will be a salve of the devil”. This diabolical procession of the freemasons horrified St. Maximilian. The freemasons were dragging souls to hell and Maximilian’s zeal was inflamed against them. He resolved to combat the evil and errors being spread by the freemasons.
Kolbe new that if he was to be successful against the freemasons, he must belong totally to the Blessed Virgin Mary because she alone crushes the head of the devil. With this in mind he formed the Militia of the Immaculata. The Militia was formed, “to pursue the conversion to God of all people, be they sinners, or non-Catholics, or unbelievers, in particular the freemasons; and that all become saints, under the patronage and through the mediation of the Immaculate Virgin.” The conditions of membership were threefold, “to consecrate oneself entirely to the immaculate Virgin, placing oneself freely as a docile and generous instrument in her hands, to wear the Miraculous Medal, and to register with a canonically established center.” The Militia of the Immaculata continues St. Maximilian’s work to this day. I am a member and I encourage each one of you to learn more and consider joining at: www.militiaoftheimmaculata.com
* For those who do not know, the freemasons have always been and still have beliefs and principles that are, “irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1983).
