Maximilian Monday: On Suffering.

There are times in life where we feel sorrow and pain, suffering and loss. It has been a part of us ever since sin entered into the world. Though times may get bad, and trials come our way, it is always important to remember that we are called to pick up our own cross and follow the path set before us by Our Blessed Lord. We have an opportunity to take the crosses presented to us in life, and unite them to that ultimate sacrifice at Calvary, where a fountain was opened to purify us from sin and uncleanness. This is a topic many shy away from, but not St. Maximilian Kolbe. This is what he says about suffering, in union with Our Lady:

"Notwithstanding its being paved at times with crosses and sufferings, the way of the Immaculata is not so difficult, so dark, so unclear that we can always feel her motherly warmth.

A cross consists of two pieces of wood, crossed at one point. In every day life our cross consists in our will crossing the will of God. In order to remove it, it is necessary to conform ourselves to the will of God. In practice it is necessary that we put off our own will.

The saints did not understand life without suffering.

Suffering for love nourishes love.

Let us not always wish to feel the sweetness of devotion to the Immaculata, for this would be spiritual greed. Let us permit her to direct us as it pleases her. It is not always time for sweet caresses, be they ever so holy. We also need the trials of dryness, abandonment and the like. Let her fit the means to our sanctification according to her will. We must have one quality, continually deepening it: allowing ourselves to be led by her, reconciling ourselves to her will ever more perfectly, giving obedience to her will.

Whoever in life strives to avoid crosses as much as possible and does not mortify himself in anything does not know what happiness is.

Whoever is capable of suffering much for love can be happy that his love is deep.

As the harvest is a period of the farmer's greatest efforts in gathering crops into barns and storerooms, so also the soul's harvest is the time in which it can gather for itself as many priceless merits as possible; these are the moments pregnant with suffering and the cross.

If God visits us with a painful suffering and our soul walks the thorny path, it behooves us to rejoice that God destines us for high perfection.

God exhibits a special love for those whom He chastises in this life, because the punishment of purgatory is both long and severe. In this life the voluntary acceptance of crosses merits us an even greater glory in Heaven. Hence the saying, "Whom God loves He chastises."

The more powerful and courageous a soul becomes with the help of God's grace, the greater the cross God places on its shoulders, so that it might mirror as closely as possible the image of the crucified in its own life.

We will lay up so many more graces if, while in external and internal darkness, full of sadness, overworked, suffering, without consolation, persecuted at every step, amidst continual failures, abandoned by everyone, ridiculed, alone- just as Jesus was on the Cross- we shall pray for everyone and strive in all ways to draw everyone to God through the Immaculata and unite them to him as intimately as possible.

If a sailor wants to sail against a current, he must continually row, otherwise the current will push him back. When we become tired, when it is hard for us, let us go to the Mother of God with greater confidence so that she will help us. And always, always forward, so as to fulfill the will of the Immaculata better and better.


Suffering and sacrifice are the proofs of love, although suffering itself is not the essence of love.

Without sacrifice there is no love.

In case of difficulties, confide them to the Immaculata, that she do with them what she pleases: remove them, lessen them, increase them, or leave them without change.

Difficulties, no matter how great, ought never disturb us, but they should on the contrary strengthen and steel our will in the direction to overcome these same difficulties.

When the most varied temptations, trials befall the soul; when it is abandoned and plunged into spiritual darkness; when it as it were hangs upon the cross without respite and consolation, after the pattern of Jesus crucified, and in spite of this, with the help of God's grace peacefully and joyously received and bears this cross even for a long time: this is true perfection. A soul cannot imagine to what great heights it rises and what a great glory God is preparing for it in heaven.

When love encompasses and penetrates us, sacrifices become necessary for the soul.

Spiritual joy is born of sacrifice.

Let us remember that love lives and nourishes itself on sacrifices. Let us thank the Immaculata for interior peace and for the exaltation of love, but let us not forget that all this, however good and beautiful, is not as it were the essence of love. Without all of this love can exist, and even a perfect love. Love's summit is the state in which Jesus on the cross said, "My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?"

Although storms rage around us often and thunder resounds, if we are unreservedly dedicated to the Immaculata we can be sure that nothing will happen to us as long as our best and dearest mother will not allow it. We shall rest sweetly as we labor and suffer for the salvation of souls.

Crosses may overwhelm us, but the grace of God, having warmed our hearts, will inflame them with such love that we will burn with the desire of suffering, of suffering without bounds, of humiliations, mockery, abandonment. Thus we will show how we love the Father and our best friend Jesus and His dearest Immaculate Mother. For suffering is the school of love.


What peace and happiness will penetrate us on our deathbed to know that we have much, very much toiled and suffered for the Immaculata."

As St. Maximilian Kolbe once said, "For Jesus Christ I am prepared to suffer still more."

Maximilian Monday: The love of the Immaculata

On this Maximilian Monday we would like to take a look at the love of the Immaculata. In this, we examine both Our Lady's love for God and also the duty we have to love the Immaculata as Our Mother, which she most definitely is. In the words of St. Maximilian Kolbe:

"The love of the Immaculata is the most perfect love which a creature can love God. With her heart then let us strive to love the Heart of Jesus more and more. Let this be our greatest stimulus.

Let us try to win not only many, but all souls for the Immaculata, and unite them as closely as possible to the most sweet Heart of Jesus through her. But first subdue your own heart and then the hearts of others.

Every thought, action, suffering of the Immaculata were most perfect acts of love of God, love of Jesus.

It is necessary to tell all souls, both collectively and individually, those who are living now and who will live until the end of the world; it is necessary to tell them by example, by the spoken, written and printed word, by radio, painting, sculpture and so on. We must tell them what and how the Immaculata would think, speak and act in the concrete circumstances of daily living in the various states of life, so that the most perfect love, a love reaching even to that of the Immaculata towards the heart of God, would be enkindled all over the earth.

The essence of the love of God consists exclusively in fulfilling the will of God at every moment. The more difficult that fulfillment, the more horror and aversion it entails, the greater will be the manifestation of love. But even these difficulties do not belong to the essence of love. And, in fact, there can be love without them. They serve only to display that love.

Let us emulate one another when it concerns the Immaculata. May every increase of love towards her in one person result in the greater strengthening of love in others. Our hearts are so small, so weak. We will never render her the love that she deserves, the love with which she loves us.

Let us all endeavor to deepen our love more and more towards the Immaculata, and always to have recourse to her as children towards their mother.

One act of perfect love regenerates the soul. Let us make use of this means often. It really is not so difficult, because the essence of this act is sacrificial love: to try to give pleasure to the Immaculata at one's own expense without regard to reward or punishment.

The essence of the love of God does not lie in affections or in sweet words, but solely in the will. If the soul perseveres decisively with its will fixed on holiness and love of God, although it does not experience the least feeling in its heart, let it be wholly convinced that it continually tends with rapid pace forward and ever pushes upward.

Love, which is a "bond of perfection," nourishes and satisfies itself solely by suffering, sacrifice and the cross.

We will show the greatest love towards the Immaculata when we share our love for her with others.

How can we prove the Immaculata loves us? If we love her, then she loves us incomparably more.

What is unrestricted love of the Immaculata?

The Immaculata is so joined with God by love that she rises not only above all the saints, but also above the angels and archangels, the Cherubim and Seraphim. Therefore, unrestricted love of the Immaculata raises us up even to her and unites us in a love above that of all the angels and saints.

She is the nearest to God, and we the nearest to her, and hence through her the nearest to God  Himself. God has given us that white ladder and desires that we climb up upon it to reach Him. Or rather she, holding us close to her maternal breast, brings us up to God.

But these are only pictures, resemblances, analogies. Reality is incomparably more beautiful, more sublime, divine."

Truly wise words, as always. The depths of wisdom that St. Maximilian Kolbe had is inspiring. One part that resonates with me greatly is this, "We will show the greatest love towards the Immaculata when we share our love for her with others." I think it is fair to say many people do not know of Our Blessed Mother, most have misconceptions about our love for her, and some even revile or disrespect her. It is up to us to go out into the world and set the record straight, to present the Truth of the Catholic Church and bring the love of the Immaculata to all people. In doing so we show love for Our Mother, and we also give great glory to God by spreading Marian devotion. Thus, we cooperate with His plan for the salvation of souls as we climb the white ladder to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Let us pray that the Immaculata gives us the strength to continue our mission.

Maximilian Monday: Our Lady - Mediatrix of All Graces

Today we look into the intimate role between the Holy Spirit and the Immaculata. As the spouse of the Holy Spirit, it is the Immaculata who dispenses all graces from God to His people, whether they explicitly know it or not. As I cannot hope to explain it better than St. Maximilian Kolbe, let us turn to his rumination on this topic:

"An absolute and irrefutable sentiment in the Catholic Church, although it is not yet declared a dogma, is that the Mother of God is the Mediatrix of All Graces. During the first centuries of Christianity this truth was already known.

The work of the Militia Immaculatae and of the Knight depends precisely upon the truth that the Immaculata is the Mediatrix of All Graces. If it were not so, our whole activity of the MI would be illogical. The Holy Spirit does not act except through the Immaculata, His spouse. Hence she is the Mediatrix of all the graces of the Holy Spirit.

If we were to look into the interior of our souls, we would see how much activity of the Immaculata there is and has been in our souls from the dawn of our lives to the present moment, and how much assurance of her benefits for the future. These are for the most part mysteries of each individual soul. It is enough to mention that every grace received each day, hour, and moment of our life is her grace, flowing from her motherly heart that loves us.

In her womb the soul must be regenerated according to the form of Jesus Christ. She must nourish the soul with the milk of her grace, caress and rear us in the manner in which she nourished and brought up Jesus. The soul must learn to know and to love Jesus at her knees. Let us draw love for Him from her heart. Yes, love Him with her heart, and through love become like Him.

It is incredible that anyone should approach Jesus without Mary. Why? For, omitting the very fact that she brought forth Jesus and raised Him for us, the approach to Jesus is without doubt a grace in itself. But all graces come to us through her in the way that Jesus himself came. Is it then permitted to converse directly with Jesus, if I do not think of Mary? It is not a question of feeling or thinking, but of the fact itself that it is so, even though the thought of her intercession would never cross your mind. If you really love Jesus, then above all you desire to do His will in all things, and receive graces in the way that He ordained. When you have such a disposition you can and ought freely turn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus being confident that you will obtain everything. If someone however were to tell himself, "I do not need any medication, I do not need the Blessed Mother, I myself am able to praise and honor the most Sacred Heart of God and ask for what I need"- would Jesus not cast him justly aside for such insufferable pride?"

Through the Immaculata we can become great saints, and what is more, in an easy way. The Immaculata as the Mediatrix of All Graces, not only can and desires to give the grace of conversion and sanctity at certain times and places, but she wants to regenerate all souls, and moreover, our [Franciscan] Order.

What does conversion and sanctification through the Immaculata mean? It means that the grace needed for conversion and sanctification comes through the Immaculata. "I am able to do all things in him who strengthens me" through the Immaculata. And why through the Immaculata?

God in His infinite goodness, not wishing to punish us for our failings, pledged Himself by the Blessed Mother. The Holy Fathers say that God divided His Kingdom in two parts: He left justice for Himself, and to His Blessed Mother He gave mercy. Thus we have the right to add "through the Immaculata"

Whatever happens for the cause of conversion and sanctification is a work of the grace of God. But the Mediatrix of that grace is the Mother of God. As Jesus is the sole Mediator with God the Father, so the only Mediatrix with Jesus is the Mother of God. Therefore, conversion and sanctification come through her.

Our gifts become immaculate in the hands of the Immaculata. In Jesus Christ they become divine, infinite, worthy of the majesty of God the Father. What Mary gives to Jesus is unsoiled, and Jesus then renders it to God the Father in an infinite way. The honor, then, which we give to Jesus through Mary is unsoiled and infinite.

Our life on this earth is to be the prolongation of the life of Jesus through Mary. With the help of the Immaculata we are capable of everything.

The nearer we come to the Immaculata, the more we become holy. The Mother of God is the Mediatrix of All Graces, and holiness is the work of the grace of God. The devil knows that the nearer we are to the Immaculata, the more graces we receive from her hands. That is why he tries at all costs to draw the soul away from the Blessed Mother, even under the guise of devotion to Jesus. He knows that God established such a way through the Immaculata, and he likewise knows that when the soul departs from this way, it will not receive as many graces. Therefore whether we feel aversion, whether we are in darkness or in light, let us always advance by way of the Immaculata. It is very important matter that our life be lived through her, with her, and in her.

The Immaculata is the ladder upon which we climb to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Whoever removes this ladder will not reach the top and will crash to the ground. We strongly believe that she leads us to Jesus. Let whoever teaches otherwise be anathema! Let him be anathema!

If we wish to love Jesus with the heart of the Immaculata, receive Him with her heart, praise Him with her acts, make reparation and at the same time give thanks through her. Even if we were not to feel and understand this way, nevertheless it is so. Then with her heart, with her acts we praise Jesus, or actually, it is she who loves and praises Jesus through us. We are then her instruments."

The union between the Holy Spirit and the Immaculata is far greater than our minds can understand, and probably will ever understand until we stand before the throne of Almighty God. In the meantime, let us fly to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with child like trust, pleading with her to teach us how to imitate her virtues, so that we may do all things through her, with her, and in her - to better do them through Christ, with Christ, in Christ for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Take it to the streets!!

Last Sunday our Holy Father Pope Francis led the Universal Church in worldwide Eucharistic processions and adoration, and it was beautiful. In my corner of the world, we exited the Church and stepped into the heat of Texas. Catholic processions are a great way to honor Our Blessed Lord, and give witness to Him in our cities.

They are important for us too, as they help remind us of our Catholic identity, and strengthen it as well. We should undertake processions more often, and not just limit them to the boundaries of Church grounds, but go into the streets!

The secular world wants us to stay within Church property, secluded away; ‘out of sight, out of mind’. If we give into their mentality, we have already given up on the effort to let the beauty of the One True Faith shine through to them.

Think of what it would be like to step out of your house and see a line of people walking through your neighborhood carrying flags and banners in honor of Christ the King and the Virgin of Guadalupe, reverently chanting prayers with Rosaries in hand. At the very heart of this group a beautiful canopy covers Our Eucharistic Lord Who is carried by a Holy Priest within a monstrance, and an Altar Boy continually swings a thurible as incense rises up to Heaven.

A great number of people participate in a procession from Christendom College

I have had the opportunity to take part in a couple of processions that went out into the streets, and the results were awesome. Men and women came out of their homes and made the Sign of the Cross, kids stopped playing basketball and watched as we passed. People driving by stopped and asked why we were doing such a thing. Also, those participating were edified tremendously. Processions fascinate people, and open their hearts to eternal things.

Why would we make such processions? One reason is to make pilgrimage to a holy site, and another is to offer the procession for a specific intention, as we did this past Sunday. (The first intention was for the obedience of the Church so that she appear before the world as “beautiful, without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish.” The second intention was for victims of violence, drugs, human trafficking, economic insecurity and social marginalization.)

When we look at it in this way, the reasons for having Catholic processions are many: for an end to abortion, or an increase in vocations; for all the poor souls in purgatory, conversion of the world, and increasing the belief in the True Presence; even for the end of liturgical abuse. The list goes on and on.

Too often we stand by and let the secular culture influence our actions. The Bride of Christ holds the Truth, but we often do not bring it to society for fear of being hated or persecuted. Take comfort in this: though many will hate us, and we will most assuredly be persecuted - if just one person feels the call of the Holy Ghost to conversion by witnessing the beauty of Catholic culture through a procession, it is all worth it, and it brings great glory to God. In the end, isn't that what it’s all about?

Let us venture out into the neighborhoods and bring Christ to His people as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter does in this picture from Scranton, Pennsylvania

What Else Is There?!?!?

We, you and I, were created to be saints. It is our destiny. It is the fulfillment of our happiness. It's being the best version of ourselves.

It's not about halos and serious stone faces. It's about being real- the realist version of yourself. Being a saint isn't boring, no - it's actually the definition of "living life"- a JOY filled life. Saints are people FULL of joy because a saint is simply a friend of God.

Meaning they are constantly in God's friendship (in this life and in the next) and would rather die than to hurt and/or end their friendship with God (by sinning or falling into heresy). And God being a perfect friend makes them whole (in this life and in the next). 

Sin hurts our friendships and our true selves. There is only one way to be a failure in this life and that is not to become a saint. 

June has SOO many great saints. Learn about them all. Imitate just ONE! 

As I look at this calendar and see the pictures of June's celebrated saints, I have to ask myself, "What's hurting my friendship with God?" 

And then I must act on the answer. 

Here are some daily tips to help your OUR personal sanctity:

• Get up at a fixed time, as early as possible. Eight hours of sleep should be enough. More than this or less than six hours of sleep is usually not healthy.

• Make your first priority to offer your day to God through the intercession of Our Lady.

• Work with order and intensity during the day as a way of serving God. Set goals and establish priorities in order to develop a practical schedule. Sanctifying ordinary work is the goal of our life. 

• Try to attend daily Mass, receiving Holy Communion, as often as possible. This is the best sacrifice we can offer to God.  Prepare yourself for Mass by spending some time in prayer.

• Spend some time in mental prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Even it's for only 5 minutes. 

• Foster traditional daily devotions: The Little Office, The Liturgy of the  Hours, the Rosary, the Angelus. 

• Make use of sacramentals- wear scapulars,  Miraculous Medals, Holy Water etc. 

• Do some other spiritual reading. Start with the New Testament or some well-known traditional spiritual book. 10 to 15 minutes is sufficient.  

• Nightly examinations of conscience. And if need be daily confession.

As Patrick Coffin often exclaims, "Be a saint- what else is there?"

Maximilian Monday: It is the will of the Immaculata!

In today's edition of Maximilian Monday, we explore the union between the will of God, and that of Our Lady. Here is how St. Maximilian Kolbe explains it:

"Christian perfection consists in the union of our will with the will of God. The will of the Immaculata is closely united with the will of God, so that it seems as if there were but one will. Since we are speaking of doing the will of God, we can at the same time boldly say that we are doing the will of the Immaculata.

And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word

By this we do not detract from the glory of God, but rather we add to it. When we so act, we make manifest the perfection of Mary as the most perfect creature of God and the complete union of her will with the will of God. Do not be afraid, dear children, to say, "It is the will of the Immaculata," because it is the same as the will of God.

There is no doubt that the will of the Immaculata is wholly united to the will of God. The problem is only to unite our will with her will so that through her we might be united with
God.

Whoever would say that he does not wish to serve the Mother of God is obedient to the devil, for it is the will of God that we do not exclude the Mother of God.
We accomplish the most for the happiness of souls when we perfectly perform the will of the Immaculata, our commandress.

Whatever does not depend on our will is surely the will of the Immaculata. Whatever should come even from evil and perverse people is certainly the will of God, certainly permitted by God, and therefore the will of the Immaculata.

If we say, "It is the will of the Immaculata," besides the fact that we acknowledge the will of God by this phrase, we also honor the Blessed Mother, inasmuch as we acknowledge that her will is so fused with the will of God that it constitutes one intimate union. In addition, we give more honor to God by recognizing His perfection in creating such a great, powerful, good and holy being as the Blessed Mother.

I would be altogether happy a the moment of death if all those at the City of the Immaculata would in all things recognize the Immaculata. When this is brought about everything will be done; when it is absent all will fall apart."

May we strive forward as instruments in the hands of the Immaculata, for bringing Our Blessed Lord the greatest glory we possibly can. It is the will of the Immaculata!