Consecration to the Immaculata - Preparation Day 11
Day Eleven
Extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the Most
Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is the love of God toward
mankind. His Kingdom is the domain of this love in
the hearts of men, the love that Jesus manifested in the manger,
throughout His life, on the Cross, in the Eucharist, and
in giving us His own Mother as our Mother; and He wants
to kindle this love in the hearts of men. To infuse and to enhance
the glory of the Immaculate, to conquer souls over to
her, means to win souls over to the Mother of Jesus, who introduces
the Kingdom of Jesus into them.
Explanation:
The goal of all Marian veneration is adoration of God,
expansion of the kingdom of Christ, triumph of eternal
truth, triumph of God's eternal love that has manifested
itself in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. We should meditate
often on St. Maximilian's commentary in order to experience
His majesty. The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus IS love
of God for mankind. You cannot sum up the essence and
significance of the Sacred Heart devotion more succinctly.
Thus we will never make the mistake of playing off
46
Marian veneration against worship of Our Saviour.
'Through Mary to Jesus!' Whoever utters the word
'Mary', receives the word 'Jesus' as an echo in return. These
words invite us to join the Immaculata in contemplation of
Our Saviour's every word that falls from His lips, of each
of His miracles, but above all of His suffering and death on
the Cross. And all Christ's miracles and glories make up
HIS MOST SACRED HEART!
Spiritual reading:
Chapter: For the Greatest Glory of God, p.78
**********
CHAPTER ONE
For the Greatest Glory of God
THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS, the fight against the devil,
consecration to the Mother of God: all these are in their turn only
means of attaining an ultimate goal, namely, the one for which man
and all other things were created in the first place: the glorification
of God.
God stands in the center. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end, to whom all honor and glory belongs. For
St. Maximilian, man has only one meaning, inasmuch as he is ordered
to God. Working for the salvation of mankind is in his view nothing
other than the best way of giving God the greatest glory that a human
being is capable of on earth:
St. Ignatius did everything for the greater glory of God; we
must do everything for the greatest possible glory of God, for
God deserves this.
The final purpose of every creature is the extrinsic glory of
God. Rational living beings give Him this glory in the most
perfect way, for they are images of the divine perfections,
they recognize and acknowledge Him, hence the worship,
79
thanksgiving, praise and love of the creature for the Creator.
However, because God has loved us infinitely and has proved
this love by His coming to earth to raise up fallen man, to
enlighten and strengthen him and to redeem him through
a most shameful death amid the most horrible sufferings;
and because He now remains forever with us over all the
earth, although ungrateful men still abandon and despise
Him; finally, because He gives Himself to us as food, so as
to divinize us with His divinity — for these reasons we must
love Him without limit. On the other hand, as finite creatures
we are not capable of giving God infinite glory. So let us give
Him at least as much as we can.1
It follows that, for the M.I., “human autonomy” is a myth; man has
no meaning in himself, and nothing is done merely for man and his
dignity.
Opposed to this is today’s idolization of man and his rights, which
in all issues becomes the most important consideration. The fruit of
this is religious indifference, the most virulent poison of our time. One
might think that the Saint had experienced our period of history with
us, when he wrote to his Brother Alphonsus in the year 1919:
I am very glad that you are filled with zeal for the increase
of God’s glory; in our time the greatest plague is indifference,
to which not only lay people but also [consecrated] religious
fall victim. And yet God is worthy of honor, indeed, of the
greatest possible glory. We poor, limited creatures, who are
incapable of giving Him the great honor that He deserves,
1 Conference for the M.I. in Krakow on September 18, 1919, BMK, pp. 477–478.
80
must at least try to contribute as much as possible to God’s
glory.2
The contemporary cult of humanity, which sees in man the
meaning of all things, is utterly foreign and contrary to the founder
of the M.I. He sees in it a lack of faith in God, a complete reversal of
values, which ultimately leads to atheism and sin. For this reason the
Knight must defend God’s rights, must be able to prove to men that
God exists:
When I look at a flower, a plain, ordinary wildflower,
I cannot comprehend how someone can thoughtlessly doubt
the existence of the One Who created it, Who designed it and
purposefully ordered all its parts, so that it might blossom
and bring forth fruit.3
Maximilian Kolbe devoted a significant portion of his periodical,
Knight of the Immaculata to apologetic subjects that prove the existence
of God, His truth and His rights; the reason for this surely was because
he loved God with his whole heart and wanted everyone to know and
love Him.
Anyone who is filled with the sense of God’s greatness and majesty,
however, also knows about his own emptiness. The recognition of
one’s own nothingness is the most important requirement for drawing
near to God’s majesty.
2 Letter to Br. Alphonsus Kolbe, April 21, 1919, BMK, p. 41.
3 Article, “The Life of God”, in: P. J. Domański, op. cit., p. 20.
81
When man is able to draw near to God in all, he must
necessarily discover that all that we are, all that we have and
can do, we have from God and receive from Him at every
moment of our lives, for continuing in being is nothing other
than an ongoing reception of this being. Of ourselves alone
we can do nothing, or at most evil, which consists precisely in
the lack of good, orderliness and strength. When we acknowledge
this truth and look up to God, from Whom we receive
at every moment all that we have, then we see immediately
that He, the Lord, is capable of giving still more and, being
a most loving Father, would like to give us all that we need.4
Again and again Father Kolbe pointed out that the greatest evil in
the life of a human being was to rely on his own powers, to see himself
as the center of things, to be focused entirely on himself, in keeping
with the original temptation of the serpent: You will become like God.
This spiritual pride, which glorifies one’s own ego at the expense of
God’s majesty, is the real sickness of our time, which can be healed
only through true humility. Humility gives God all the glory, it
teaches the human person to regard himself only as an instrument in
the service of God.
Mary’s Knight is a broom in her immaculate hands. The
Mother of God, instead of using a suitable brush to paint the
pictures which are her works, used a simple broom.5
4 RN 4 (1925), p. 226.
5 Letter to Fr. Justin Nazima, Nagasaki, February 21, 1935.
82
If we try to defend God’s honor by our own power, then we will
only do harm to God’s cause.
All of us, without any exception, only squander God’s
graces and are in fact worthless servants.6
Furthermore he was always very worried that he might besmirch
the honor of the Immaculata by his own unworthiness, and therefore
he asked again and again for prayers for his own conversion.
Knowledge about one’s own inability, however, does not in any
way paralyze the Knight in his zeal; rather, he will try to forget himself
entirely and to rely only on God’s grace and the help of the Immaculata.
Then she will do good through him, despite his wretchedness,
weakness, stupidity and unworthiness.7
Anyone who in this way completely and utterly keeps the glory of
God and of the Immaculata in view will be beset by no fear of men.
The world’s opinion no longer matters. People called St. Maximilian
a madman, an incompetent, stupid and naïve, and often he was
ridiculed by his confreres on account of his crazy ideas. Especially in
the early days of the mission in Japan he was burdened by calumnies
and suspicions on the part of the hierarchy. Although he took it all
very much to heart, his sights were always set on the higher regions:
after all, he was not there for his own sake, but for the glory of God
and for the honor of the Immaculata.
6 Letter to his brother, Alphonsus Kolbe, Nagasaki, November 30, 1930.
7 Letter to his confreres in Japan, Shanghai, April 9, 1933.
Extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the Most
Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is the love of God toward
mankind. His Kingdom is the domain of this love in
the hearts of men, the love that Jesus manifested in the manger,
throughout His life, on the Cross, in the Eucharist, and
in giving us His own Mother as our Mother; and He wants
to kindle this love in the hearts of men. To infuse and to enhance
the glory of the Immaculate, to conquer souls over to
her, means to win souls over to the Mother of Jesus, who introduces
the Kingdom of Jesus into them.
Explanation:
The goal of all Marian veneration is adoration of God,
expansion of the kingdom of Christ, triumph of eternal
truth, triumph of God's eternal love that has manifested
itself in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. We should meditate
often on St. Maximilian's commentary in order to experience
His majesty. The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus IS love
of God for mankind. You cannot sum up the essence and
significance of the Sacred Heart devotion more succinctly.
Thus we will never make the mistake of playing off
46
Marian veneration against worship of Our Saviour.
'Through Mary to Jesus!' Whoever utters the word
'Mary', receives the word 'Jesus' as an echo in return. These
words invite us to join the Immaculata in contemplation of
Our Saviour's every word that falls from His lips, of each
of His miracles, but above all of His suffering and death on
the Cross. And all Christ's miracles and glories make up
HIS MOST SACRED HEART!
Spiritual reading:
Chapter: For the Greatest Glory of God, p.78
**********
CHAPTER ONE
For the Greatest Glory of God
THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS, the fight against the devil,
consecration to the Mother of God: all these are in their turn only
means of attaining an ultimate goal, namely, the one for which man
and all other things were created in the first place: the glorification
of God.
God stands in the center. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end, to whom all honor and glory belongs. For
St. Maximilian, man has only one meaning, inasmuch as he is ordered
to God. Working for the salvation of mankind is in his view nothing
other than the best way of giving God the greatest glory that a human
being is capable of on earth:
St. Ignatius did everything for the greater glory of God; we
must do everything for the greatest possible glory of God, for
God deserves this.
The final purpose of every creature is the extrinsic glory of
God. Rational living beings give Him this glory in the most
perfect way, for they are images of the divine perfections,
they recognize and acknowledge Him, hence the worship,
79
thanksgiving, praise and love of the creature for the Creator.
However, because God has loved us infinitely and has proved
this love by His coming to earth to raise up fallen man, to
enlighten and strengthen him and to redeem him through
a most shameful death amid the most horrible sufferings;
and because He now remains forever with us over all the
earth, although ungrateful men still abandon and despise
Him; finally, because He gives Himself to us as food, so as
to divinize us with His divinity — for these reasons we must
love Him without limit. On the other hand, as finite creatures
we are not capable of giving God infinite glory. So let us give
Him at least as much as we can.1
It follows that, for the M.I., “human autonomy” is a myth; man has
no meaning in himself, and nothing is done merely for man and his
dignity.
Opposed to this is today’s idolization of man and his rights, which
in all issues becomes the most important consideration. The fruit of
this is religious indifference, the most virulent poison of our time. One
might think that the Saint had experienced our period of history with
us, when he wrote to his Brother Alphonsus in the year 1919:
I am very glad that you are filled with zeal for the increase
of God’s glory; in our time the greatest plague is indifference,
to which not only lay people but also [consecrated] religious
fall victim. And yet God is worthy of honor, indeed, of the
greatest possible glory. We poor, limited creatures, who are
incapable of giving Him the great honor that He deserves,
1 Conference for the M.I. in Krakow on September 18, 1919, BMK, pp. 477–478.
80
must at least try to contribute as much as possible to God’s
glory.2
The contemporary cult of humanity, which sees in man the
meaning of all things, is utterly foreign and contrary to the founder
of the M.I. He sees in it a lack of faith in God, a complete reversal of
values, which ultimately leads to atheism and sin. For this reason the
Knight must defend God’s rights, must be able to prove to men that
God exists:
When I look at a flower, a plain, ordinary wildflower,
I cannot comprehend how someone can thoughtlessly doubt
the existence of the One Who created it, Who designed it and
purposefully ordered all its parts, so that it might blossom
and bring forth fruit.3
Maximilian Kolbe devoted a significant portion of his periodical,
Knight of the Immaculata to apologetic subjects that prove the existence
of God, His truth and His rights; the reason for this surely was because
he loved God with his whole heart and wanted everyone to know and
love Him.
Anyone who is filled with the sense of God’s greatness and majesty,
however, also knows about his own emptiness. The recognition of
one’s own nothingness is the most important requirement for drawing
near to God’s majesty.
2 Letter to Br. Alphonsus Kolbe, April 21, 1919, BMK, p. 41.
3 Article, “The Life of God”, in: P. J. Domański, op. cit., p. 20.
81
When man is able to draw near to God in all, he must
necessarily discover that all that we are, all that we have and
can do, we have from God and receive from Him at every
moment of our lives, for continuing in being is nothing other
than an ongoing reception of this being. Of ourselves alone
we can do nothing, or at most evil, which consists precisely in
the lack of good, orderliness and strength. When we acknowledge
this truth and look up to God, from Whom we receive
at every moment all that we have, then we see immediately
that He, the Lord, is capable of giving still more and, being
a most loving Father, would like to give us all that we need.4
Again and again Father Kolbe pointed out that the greatest evil in
the life of a human being was to rely on his own powers, to see himself
as the center of things, to be focused entirely on himself, in keeping
with the original temptation of the serpent: You will become like God.
This spiritual pride, which glorifies one’s own ego at the expense of
God’s majesty, is the real sickness of our time, which can be healed
only through true humility. Humility gives God all the glory, it
teaches the human person to regard himself only as an instrument in
the service of God.
Mary’s Knight is a broom in her immaculate hands. The
Mother of God, instead of using a suitable brush to paint the
pictures which are her works, used a simple broom.5
4 RN 4 (1925), p. 226.
5 Letter to Fr. Justin Nazima, Nagasaki, February 21, 1935.
82
If we try to defend God’s honor by our own power, then we will
only do harm to God’s cause.
All of us, without any exception, only squander God’s
graces and are in fact worthless servants.6
Furthermore he was always very worried that he might besmirch
the honor of the Immaculata by his own unworthiness, and therefore
he asked again and again for prayers for his own conversion.
Knowledge about one’s own inability, however, does not in any
way paralyze the Knight in his zeal; rather, he will try to forget himself
entirely and to rely only on God’s grace and the help of the Immaculata.
Then she will do good through him, despite his wretchedness,
weakness, stupidity and unworthiness.7
Anyone who in this way completely and utterly keeps the glory of
God and of the Immaculata in view will be beset by no fear of men.
The world’s opinion no longer matters. People called St. Maximilian
a madman, an incompetent, stupid and naïve, and often he was
ridiculed by his confreres on account of his crazy ideas. Especially in
the early days of the mission in Japan he was burdened by calumnies
and suspicions on the part of the hierarchy. Although he took it all
very much to heart, his sights were always set on the higher regions:
after all, he was not there for his own sake, but for the glory of God
and for the honor of the Immaculata.
6 Letter to his brother, Alphonsus Kolbe, Nagasaki, November 30, 1930.
7 Letter to his confreres in Japan, Shanghai, April 9, 1933.