"Apostle of a New Marian Era"

Who is this "apostle of a new Marian era?" You may know this saint, so what I thought might be fun is to give you a few hints and then announce who he is. I will also provide a little reflection on the life of this saint, beloved of our community and very much of me personally.
 

When you first hear this title, you might think of one of our most recent saints in the church, also a happy devotion of our community and its patron, Pope St. John Paul II.  Although he lived his life out of great love for Mary and his entire episcopate "Totus tuus Maria," the saint mentioned here is another.

 
A few hints: lover of Mary, evangelizer, priest, Franciscan, studied in Rome, martyr of charity. Now these last ones will probably give it away: founded the Militia of the Immaculata and was martyred in place of a family man in Auschwitz who in turn attended his canonization.

 When I went on pilgrimage to Poland in 2007, I was able to visit Auschwitz just before visiting the Divine Mercy Shrine where St. Faustina lived.  You could still literally feel in the air immense pain, suffering and death at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Many of the buildings are gone from the blast caused by the Natzis at the end of the war, and the train tracks end directly where the building of incineration stood during the war. My heart was wrenched while praying the rosary up those railroad tracks on an extremely frigid morning in February. There was one spot in Auschwitz that gave me peace in the midst of the pain that rests upon that sight, and the heart piercing sorrow that was overwhelming my soul to tears. That place was a tiny cell. I was able to stand in that cell with about 5 people.  It was quite cramped. And here in this spot, for two weeks and with 13 others, stood this saint until he was martyred by lethal injection.

 

Ok- so who is this saint finally??? St. Maximilian Kolbe! A Marian Martyr.

 

Many of the great saints who were martyred for their faith (I would dare say all) had a great devotion to Our Lady prior to the struggle or event leading to their martyrdom. For St. Maximilian, his love for Mary was present throughout his life.

 

While studying in Rome, he was inspired to found the Militia of the Immaculata to bring as many souls as possible to Jesus through Mary. This fire to spread devotion to Mary came from his pierced heart when seeing free masons in front of the Vatican. He established many daily periodicals and was very in touch with the media of his day.  He was involved with the radio and also founded some foreign missions.

 

It is the spirituality and discernment of St Maximilian Kolbe that the 4th Marian Vow of total consecration that our community will one day make (God willing) comes from. To St. Maximilian, any religious who takes the 4th Marian Vow is given a special grace and perseverance to live the evangelical counsels (vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience) to perfection. This expression of total consecration or dedication to Jesus first through Mary is very similar to that of St. Louis de Montfort, whom our community also draws Marian devotion from.

 

St Maximilian Kolbe is the patron saint of journalists, prisoners, the prolife movement, and because of the way he died, of those struggling with chemical addictions. His feast day is August 14th.

 
Some Maxims of St Maximilian Kolbe:

"The purpose is to win the world for the Immaculata"
 
"To give one’s life for the Immaculata is the summit of love"

"When a storm strikes a ship out at sea, the ship does not stop, does not struggle, but peacefully sails onward. Similarly, when the storm in our soul rages, we should not struggle, we should not lose our peace, but turn toward the Immaculata and then go forward with absolute confidence."

Written by Nicolette