He is most famous for his martyrdom in the concentration camp, where he offered his life in place of another prisoner who was to be executed. The man had a wife and children, so St Maximilian stepped in and offered to die in his place. This heroic act and death, is why Pope St Paul VI called him a “Martyr of Charity” at his beatification, and this was restated by Pope St John Paul II at his canonisation.
He founded an association called the Militia Immaculata as a way to combat the influence of Freemasonry which he saw while studying in Rome. This was combined with a regular magazine to be published that was called the “Knight”. For St Maximilian, he understood that Our Lady being free from original sin, made her unique and special in spiritual warfare and so she had particular a role in sanctifying souls and providing graces to combat evil. Basing himself on the Franciscan Scotist theological tradition from Blessed Duns Scotus, he believed that devotion to Mary gives glory to God and therefore is a necessity in the spiritual life and needed to be promoted to all people.
The mystery of the Immaculate Conception, became the entire focus of St Maximilian’s theology. He understood that not only was Our Lady immaculately conceived without original sin, but that it was also her identity to be the Immaculata. This led him to also develop a pneumatology where he understood that the Holy Spirit and the Immaculata are so interconnected and unified, that as Spouses of eachother they had a joint mission in the Church. He developed the Augustinian Trinitarian theology of the Holy Spirit as the Love between the Father and the Son, so that by analogy it could be said that the Holy Spirit is the eternal uncreated immaculate conception within the Trinity - and thus Mary is the created Immaculate Conception on earth. So Mary Immaculate chosen to be Mother of God and free from sin, is the perfection of creation not under the control of Satan or sin. So she is the enemy of evil, and the antithesis of the devil who is also a creation of God but rebelled, whereas she obeyed and through her obedience we have salvation. So just as her purity in the Immaculate Conception was necessary in becoming the Mother of God, the fullness of grace she possessed throughout her entire life meant that Jesus is truly the “fruit” of her womb physically and spiritually. By the Immaculate Conception, Mary was so full of grace that she was the Spouse of the Holy Spirit and their union was so intimate and real, that she conceived Jesus and gave birth to the Saviour. So now too, the Immaculata and the Holy Spirit work together in sanctifying souls and rebirthing Jesus in them too.
This spirituality of the Immaculata is the basis for St Maximilian’s teaching on consecration to Nary. For him, our aim spiritually should be to imitate Mary and to be united to her, to be her total property - so that by totally being hers, she protects us, fashions/moulds us and uses as according to the Will of God. By belonging to Mary, she is able to do the work in our sanctification needed for the salvation of souls and for the glory of God. She protects us from evil, because she was never stained by sin or infected with original sin. Her purity makes her not only free from the control of Satan, but it also made them enemies and so she is able to defeat him too. Satan hates her and is scared of her, because he had no control over her. So in the cosmic spiritual battle of salvation, Mary as the Immaculate Mother of God tramples Satan under her foot, and is the means by which God used to humiliate Satan and bring glory to His plan of creation. She becomes our commander in the spiritual warfare that Jesus has already won for us, but is still being implemented in the world through the ministry of the Church.
This is the framework and motivation for St Maximilian’s missionary zeal in founding the Militia Immaculata, as well as his personal spiritual life. As knights in the medieval period protected and served noble ladies, he developed this same venerable Franciscan theme within his Marian theology of the Immaculate Conception. He wanted to be the Knight who fights for the honour and glory of his chosen lady - Our Lady, the Immaculata. He wanted to inspire others to follow him in this ideal and also strengthen the Church from within, because of all the ways the Church is weakened by sin and indifference. But also by how the Church is attacked and persecuted externally through regimes and the influence of Freemasonry.
Jesus Christ is King and Conqueror, the supreme victory of His love for us on the cross defeated Satan and established His Kingdom, the Church. Jesus as God, from all eternity chose and created his own beautiful mother to be preserved from sin, and to be the apex of creation that would shine for all to see. He applied His own merits to her in advance, so that she could freely live the beauty of salvation that He would gain for us all. She is the spotless one without stain or wrinkle, who stands over Satan without fear and crushes his head through the fullness of grace she possesses from her son Jesus, and her Spouse the Holy Spirit. As Mediatrix of grace and Victrix, the Immaculata seeks to protect us and help us as her children, so she can claim us for her Son’s Kingdom and simultaneously use us according to the Will of God for the greater glory of God. She recreates us in the image of her Son, in love and grace, reforming us to the image that we lost because of original sin. She works together with the Holy Spirit in us and through us, to transform us into Christ and live a life of grace. She shares her purity with us so that we can share in her trampling and stomping of Satan under her foot, and then together with her, victoriously stand at the foot of the Cross and be transformed in divine love as the new creation.
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
If you’d like to learn more about the Militia Immaculata founded by St Maximilian Kolbe and to join it, you can follow this link. They have resources explaining how to understand what it means to be consecrated to Mary, and the graces from it. You can enrol through the website if you’re in America, or for those in Australia can be done through here.
The Franciscans of the Immaculate are an offshoot of the Conventual Franciscans, who were founded to live the ideals of St Maximilian Kolbe and total consecration to Mary. They have their own separate Mission of the Immaculata, that is canonically and juridically separate from the Militia Immaculata (but same spiritually and insoiration), you can find it here.
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