St. Kolbe & The Knights of the Immaculata Traditional Observance
The Militia Immaculatae, or “Army of the Immaculate,” (also called the Knights of the Immaculata in the USA) is a worldwide Catholic evangelization movement founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe in 1917.
The organization was formed 1917 in Rome in response to protests against the Pope by Freemasons in Rome.
See also the origin of the MI and the Synthesis of Apocalypse – Fatima – MI(pdf)
Original statutes of the MI (by St. Maximilian)
“She will crush your head.” (Genesis 3:15).“Thou alone hast vanquished all heresies throughout the world.”
(from the Roman Breviary).
I. Object:
To work for the conversion to God of all men, be they sinners, heretics, schismatics, etc., in particular the Masons; and that all become saints, under the patronage and through the mediation of the Immaculate Virgin.
II. Condition:
To consecrate oneself entirely to the Immaculate Virgin, placing oneself freely as a docile and generousinstrument in Her hands. To wear the Miraculous Medal.
III. Means:
If possible, to pray the following ejaculatory prayer at least once a day: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse
to Thee, and for all those who do not have recourse to Thee, especially for the Masons and for all those who are commended to Thee.”
To use all other valid and legitimate means for the conversion and sanctification of men, according to one’s means, in the different states and conditions of life, as the occasions present themselves; this is entrusted to the zeal and prudence of each one. Particularly recommended, however, is spreading the Miraculous Medal.
N.B. These means are recommended only as suggestions and not as an obligation; not one of them obliges under pain of sin, not even venial sin. Our principal motive is to help the greatest possible number of souls to be united with the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the mediation of the Immaculata.
1917 was the year of the October Revolution in Russia, but also the year of the appearances of Our Lady in Fatima! In Rome Freemasonry was celebrating their 200th anniversary. Everywhere you looked you could see flags and posters depicting St. Michael the Archangel being conquered and trampled underfoot by Lucifer. Long processions winded their way through the Eternal City toward St. Peter’s Square. The marchers sang blasphemous songs and carried banners with slogans such as: “Satan will reign in the Vatican and the Pope will be his servant.”
At that same time a young Polish Franciscan happened to be in Rome also: Brother Maximilian Maria Kolbe, a theology student at the Gregorian University. He was compelled to witness these menacing demonstrations. “Is it possible,” he asked himself, “that our enemies should make such a display of force in order to defeat is. while we fold our hands in our laps and do nothing? After all, do we not have much more powerful weapons; can we not count on all of heaven, and especially on the Immaculata?”
The young religious brother meditated on Sacred Scripture, the Fathers of the Church, the teachings of the great Marian saints, for example, those of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort; he also pondered the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, as well as the meaning of the appearances of Our Lady in Lourdes. Indeed, all of these truths and mysteries not only have spiritual significance but also are extremely practical because of their social relevance. “The spotless Virgin, vanquisher of all heresies, will not retreat before the enemy who raises his head against Her. When She finds faithful servants who obey Her command, She will win new victories, greater than we can ever imagine.”
In 1917 Rome was celebrating another anniversary, however, a day of victory for the Immaculata: the instantaneous conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne, a Jew, in the year 1842, thanks to graces obtained through the Miraculous Medal. This coincidence gave Br. Maximilian the idea of founding a Knighthood of the Immaculata. Its emblem would be the Miraculous Medal. Three days after the miracle of the sun in Fatima, on October 16, 1917, Br. Maximilian, with permission from his superior, founded together with six confreres the Militia Immaculatae while kneeling before Our Lady’s altar in the chapel of the Seraphic College in Rome.
The Militia Immaculatae is not an association in the conventional sense, with definite concrete activities, designed for a particular group of interested persons. “It is a movement which should attract the masses and snatch them away from Satan. Once souls have been won over to the Immaculata, there will also be a few who can be led further to the very height of devotion, even to the point of heroism in the service of spreading the Kingdom of God through the Immaculata. All religious orders and congregations, all the movements in the Church can also belong to the MI Membership in the MI will enable each member to give his best to the apostolate, and in this way attain Christian perfection in his state of life, in his vocation. It is necessary to understand the MI as something transcendent rather than general; this means that it should not be viewed as just one organization among many others; rather, it ought to penetrate into the depths of all other organizations.” (From a letter dated December 31, 1935).
“The essence of the MI consists of belonging to the Immaculata unconditionally, irrevocably, unreservedly, and in every respect. That is why anyone who joins the MI becomes entirely Her property. And in precisely this way he belongs to Jesus, just as She belongs to Jesus, and the more he is Her property, the more he belongs to Jesus.
“The MI calls itself a militia, a knighthood, because anyone who belongs to Her does not limit himself to consecrating himself totally to the Immaculata, but he also strives, as much as he can, to win the hearts of others for Her, so that others, too, may consecrate their hearts to Her, just as he has consecrated himself to Her.”
“The object of the MI is to strive for the conversion of sinners, heretics, schismatics, etc., and especially of Freemasons, as well as for the sanctification of all, under the protection and through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin.”Fr. Maximilian Kolbe distinguishes three degrees in the MI, depending upon the members’ zeal, their capabilities and their state in life.
1. “In the first degree of the MI each one consecrates himself to the Immaculata and endeavors to realize the purpose of the Militia individually, according to his own circumstances and the rules of prudence.”
This degree is the basis, the foundation of the Militia: in his individual, personal life, the Knight of the Immaculata prays, sacrifices and works like a soldier in single combat.
2. “In the second degree of the MI, the Knights bind themselves by special statutes and programs. They unite their forces, in order to reach their declared goal more quickly and effectively.”
This degree is characterized by united effort and the organization of Knights so as to conduct a public apostolate. The Knights can join forces for various projects, whether in a parish, in a local religious community, or at the level of a religious order or congregation. Associations can also be formed by Knights who share the same spiritual interests, grouped by age or apostolic aims, etc. Furthermore, already existing organizations (e.g. youth movements, study groups, etc.) can subscribe to the ideal of the MI and thus function as second-degree MI groups.
3.“The third degree of the MI consists in an unlimited devotion to the Immaculata. Thus She can do with us what She wills and as She wills. We belong entirely to Her and She belongs entirely to us. We do everything with Her help, we live and work under Her protection.”
One year after it was founded, the MI received an Apostolic Blessing from Pope Benedict XV. On January 2, 1922 it was approved by Pope Benedict XV. as a pious association [Pia Unio], and in 1927 it was elevated to a Pia Unio Primaria, which means that the MI is allowed to found branches everywhere.
Since then the MI has spread throughout the world in a positively miraculous way. In 1927 Fr. Maximilian founded NIEPOKALANÓW (The City of the Immaculata), in order to put into practice the ideal of the third degree MI A little city arose on a tract of farmland. Twelve years after its founding it numbered 762 religious brothers, who zealously dedicated themselves to the Marian apostolate in every possible form, especially the apostolate of the Catholic press.
Among the eleven periodicals published there were a daily newspaper (which by the year 1939 had 250,000 subscribers), and especially the monthly magazine, Knight of the Immaculata, which had a press run of almost one million for its Polish edition. This magazine was published in various languages, even in Japanese, and in Latin as well for the clergy.
In 1930 Fr. Kolbe founded a second “City of the Immaculata” in Nagasaki, Japan, which was miraculously spared during the atom bomb catastrophe in 1945. In the early 1960’s the MI had 500 affiliates on all five continents and numbered more than three million members.
The revolution brought about by the Second Vatican Council did not spare the MI, either
1. The name. They began by changing the all-too-militant name of Militia (Knighthood) to “Mission of the Immaculata”, so as to correspond better to the principles of religious freedom and conciliar pacifism. Soon afterward the Statutes were adapted to the spirit of the Council. The quotations in the new Statutes are taken exclusively from conciliar texts and the writings of Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II, along with a few quotations from St. Maximilian.
2. The object. These revised Statutes present a completely new object of the MI. There is no longer any mention of the conversion of Freemasons, heretics, etc. Even the ejaculatory prayer of the MI, “O Mary, conceived without sin, …” was deprived of its final clause, which the founder had added: “and for all those who do not have recourse to Thee, especially for the Freemasons and for all who have been commended to Thee”. The conversion of souls, the battle against error and efforts to bring fallen-away Catholics back into the bosom of Holy Mother Church are likewise no longer to be found in the Statutes. There is not a word about Satan, the archenemy of the Immaculata and of souls, and therefore, logically, no mention either of the salvation of souls, which must be snatched from the jaws of hell at any cost.
3. The essence. As for the essence of the MI, there is still talk about total consecration to the Immaculata, but what this consecration involves concretely has been radically changed. Not a word about obedience to the will of the Immaculata; instead of the apostolate of spreading the true faith, the focus now is on activities designed to promote the dignity of the human person and to protect human life.
4. The Mother of God is presented merely as an example and a model to be imitated. On the other hand, the new Statutes are silent about what St. Maximilian calls “the practical application of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception”, namely, Her active role as Mediatrix of all graces (a truth which since Vatican II has been made out to be a debatable opinion), especially of the graces of conversion and sanctification. In this manner, what the founder regarded as the foundation of his entire project is being denied. “All of the work of the MI is based on the truth that Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces. If this were not the case, then our work and our efforts would be meaningless.” (Conference, June 6, 1933).
The MI was revived in the spirit and according to the text of its original Statutes on May 6, 2000 by the superior of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X in Poland, with the permission of his General Superior, Bishop Bernard Fellay, in keeping with the principles of the supplementary jurisdiction.
In February 2002 the General Superior wrote in a letter to the members of the Priestly Society: “By all means, I invite you to undertake this wonderful, thoroughly apostolic initiative and to propagate it. We see that it is in perfect agreement with the Fatima message, on the one hand, and on the other hand with that pious devotion toward the Most Blessed Virgin Mary that our Statutes demand of us.”
Why should we turn to the Immaculata in particular?
“As for the conversion of sinners, we can accomplish this in no other way than through Mary. In His infinite goodness, God appointed His most holy Mother as the treasurer of all graces, and they are poured out upon the world only through Her. Of course, we must ask God Himself for these graces, but always through the intercession of the Immaculata.” (Conference, May 30, 1933).
What is entailed in “Total Consecration” to Her?
“We wish to belong so completely to the Immaculata that nothing belonging to us remains, so that we are, so to speak, annihilated in Her, as though transformed into Her, so that She alone remains in us…. So that we belong to Her just as She belongs to God.” (Letter, April 12, 1933).
Is the Act of Total Consecration sufficient?
“Love for the Immaculata does not consist solely in the Act of Consecration, even when it is carried out with great zeal, but also in taking on many privations and constantly working for Her cause.” (Letter, February 10, 1937).
Is this Consecration really irrevocable?
“In the MI we must distinguish two things very carefully: its essence and its additional features. The essential thing is not this or that form of organization, but rather the unconditional and unrestricted consecration of oneself to the Immaculata: love for the Immaculata, which shines forth to such a degree that the souls around us are enkindled by this fire.” (Letter, December 13, 1938).
What effect does this Consecration have on our actions and our work?
“This Consecration by no means requires that we leave the world and family behind and enter a cloister. No, one can continue to devote himself to all his previous respectable activities in his previous state of life. Now, however, we ourselves do not offer up these daily activities, but rather the Immaculata, whose property we have become, offers them up Herself. And She offers them up, not as our feeble works, which are fraught will all sorts of imperfections, but rather as Her own. For we belong to Her with everything that is ours. Therefore all of our activities belong to Her as well. The Spotless Virgin, however, cannot offer up to God anything that is spotted or stained. In Her immaculate hands our imperfect works also become immaculate, pure, and hence incomparably more valuable.”” (First circular letter in German, June 10, 1938).
Do our works belong to the Immaculata only when we think about Her as we are performing them?
“The essence of devotion to the Immaculata does not consist of thinking about Her constantly, but rather in willing. Thus the soul that is completely occupied in performing its duties does not cease being the property of the Immaculata, and its thoughts, words, and deed do not cease belonging to the Immaculata, even when the person himself is not thinking about it.” (First circular letter in German, June 10, 1938).
Why should we wear the Miraculous Medal and propagate it?
“In this work that the MI sets before us, we must use every possible legitimate means. In particular, however, we must select those means which the Immaculata Herself gives to us, and one of these is the Miraculous Medal.” (Knight of the Immaculata, 1937).
“Let us distribute the Miraculous Medal everywhere that we possibly can, to good people and to the wicked as well, to Catholics and to unbelievers. For if someone gives Her even the least bit of honor, She will not give up on him, but will bring him to the faith and to repentance. Therefore we must propagate Her Medal and at the same time fervently implore Her to obtain our own conversion and that of others.” (Knight, December 1927).
Are there other methods of carrying on the apostolate?
“We must not only defend the faith and collaborate in the salvation of souls, but we must also courageously and unselfishly go on the offensive and win souls for the Immaculata, one after the other, and push on from one outpost to the next: through publishing houses, daily newspapers, periodicals, books, press agencies, radio stations, artistic and literary institutes, theater, film, legislative bodies. In short, we must present souls to the Immaculata everywhere, as far as the earth extends, and with all imaginable honorable means that we have at our disposal.” (Letter, December 21, 1928).
What is the special character of the MI?
“The Militia of the Immaculata exists not only as a defensive force, but especially as an offensive. For us it is not enough just to defend religion. With all our might, and trusting in our Queen, we advance even into the enemy camp, in order to hunt down souls and to win them for the Immaculata…. Every heart that is beating somewhere on the world and every one that shall beat until the end of the world, must be captured for the Immaculata: that is our goal! And we want to accomplish this as quickly as possible.” (Letter, April 23, 1929).
“The Knight is haunted by the very thought that so many souls have not even heard the name of Mary. He would like to win the whole world for Her. To bring Her to every beating heart under the sun and to every heart that shall ever beat, so that She may enlighten these hearts with abundant graces and warm them with the love of Her maternal Heart, and enkindle in them and fan the flames of love for God, for the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” (First circular letter in German, June 10, 1938).
Is the MI, then, a real militia, an army equipped for battle?
“Faced with such powerful deeds perpetrated by the enemies of God’s Church, are we allowed to stand about idle? Is it permissible merely to complain and shed tears? No! Consider that at the last judgment we will not only give an accounting of what we have done, but God will also count up all those good deeds that we could have done but failed to do.” (Knight 1923).
“And so we must suffer, work, and die as Knights, but not an ordinary death. Why not by a bullet in the brain, in order to seal our love for the Immaculata? Why not shed our last drop of blood as a true Knight in order to hasten the conquest of the whole world for her?!” (Knight 1939).
Who and what are the greatest enemies in this battle?
“All over the globe a battle is being waged against the Church and the salvation of souls. The enemy manifests himself in various guises and under different names. It is no secret that socialism exploits the misery of the workers, so as to inject them with the poison of unbelief. We see how the Bolsheviks trample on religion. We hear the teachings of materialists, who narrow down the universe to what is immediately perceptible to the senses, and so they persuade each other that neither God nor the immortal soul exists. Theosophy spreads religious indifference, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other Protestants use fat wads of dollar bills to recruit more and more adherents. All these camps join to form a front line against the Church.” (Knight 1923).
“But the enemy’s most important troops are to be found behind these front lines: the preeminent, mightiest and deadliest enemy of the Church is Freemasonry.” (Manuscript, “The Enemies of the Church Today”).
How does the MI view ecumenism?
” ‘Thou alone hast vanquished all heresies throughout the world!’ How are we to understand that? She destroys heresies, not heretics, for she loves the latter and desires their conversion. Precisely because she loves them, she frees them from heresy and destroys their false opinions and convictions.
“She VANQUISHES heresies, that is to say, she does not only lessen or weaken them, but completely and utterly destroys them, so that no trace of them remains.
“All? All of them without exception! Where? Through all the earth. Not just in this country or that, therefore, but in all the countries in the world. She alone! Nothing more is needed, therefore, since she is capable of accomplishing this alone.” (Knight 1933).
Why the ejaculatory prayers?
“We are among those souls that are destined to keep their hands uplifted in prayer; the future depends to a large extent on these souls. Besides our daily prayers in common, we say many additional ejaculatory prayers. The slightest prayer and the most insignificant deed have their effect. God wills that we rule the world through prayer.” (Conference, March 10, 1940).
Are there also gatherings and meetings in the MI?
“A second-degree MI group can be formed in any place, and its significance will not depend so much on the number of members as on their zeal. These groups, which vary according to social differences, conditions and the circumstances in which the members live and work, look together for ways of reaching their great goal; they examine the results and improve their work methods as they gain more experience.” (Letter, December 2, 1931).
Is such an organization necessary for the apostolate?
“External activity is good, but it goes without saying that it is secondary, and even less than secondary in comparison with the interior life, the life of recollection and prayer, the life of personal love for God. To the extent that we ourselves burn more and more with divine love, we will be able to kindle the hearts of others with this love.” (Letter, September 10, 1940).
Doesn’t the Mother of God ask us to do penance as well?
“In supernatural matters, the means at our disposal are prayer and suffering. If we have worked much without sacrificing ourselves, then all that effort has no value.” (Conference, March 5, 1938).
“We must accept from the hands of the Immaculata everything that She sees fit to send to us, when and in the manner that She wills it, whether it be pleasant or unpleasant. Crosses are necessary, for the Immaculata, too, experienced crosses here on earth, and Jesus Himself chose no other way.” (Letter, December 28, 1934).
How can this ideal be summed up?
“Isn’t it beautiful, this ideal in life? The battle to conquer the whole world, the hearts of all men and of each one in particular, beginning with oneself…. Our strength consists of recognizing our own stupidity, weakness and misery, and entrusting ourselves entirely to the goodness and power of the Immaculata.” (Letter, December 11, 1930).
“Under the banner of the Immaculata we march to the great battle, and we will set up our flags on the bastions of the princes of this world. Then the Immaculata will be the Queen of the whole world and of every individual person….” (Letter, May 30, 1931).
