"The Militia of the Immaculata" suggests its real nature.
THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE of being shines forth for each person: to belong to God through Jesus our intercessor with the Father, and to belong to Jesus through the conciliatrix of all Graces, the Immaculata. Persons who love the Immaculata use different expressions at different times to set forth in words both publicly and privately their devotion to the Mother of God. All these seek to express their absolutely dedicated spirit, although among the meanings of the words and their proper force there are differences. For example, "servant of Mary, servant of the Immaculata," can call attention to the rewards which the servant by his works usually merits. Also the term: "son or daughter of Mary" emphasizes some of the responsibilities a mother has by law in regards to her children. The title "slave of love" absolutely does not allow someone disunited to our way of thinking to become a slave and then unwillingly remain a slave. Likewise others prefer the term: "possession and property." All these and other terms signify one and the same thing, and all who use them in speech want to declare themselves most devotedly dedicated to our Heavenly Mother. The inner force of the Militia of the Immaculata likewise is to belong emphatically to the Immaculata in every thing under every aspect. And so it is that those who wish to join the Militia of the Immaculata, pray thus in their acts of giving themselves to her: "Please take all of me totally as your possession and property, and according to your will use me with all my faculties of soul and body, with my whole life, death and eternity." Thus the person who has joined the Militia of the Immaculata ceases to be too much concerned about his own eternity. For he is persuaded that everything which does not depend on his own will comes from the hand of God through the Immaculata. Nevertheless on his own part he tries to perfect the powers he is capable of to know the mind of the Immaculata ever more subtly and to follow it ever more accurately, even if this happens to cause him much pain or the spilling of blood itself. A person giving himself to the Immaculata daily to be used in this manner cannot fail to move others even though he himself is unaware of it. Nevertheless he is not satisfied with this. He, in fact, makes it his business to concentrate as diligently as he can on gaining others for the Immaculata, so that they too may become like him. For this reason he prays thus in his act of consecration to the Immaculata: "Make use of all of me totally, if you like, for pursuing what was said of you, `she will crush your head,' and `you alone have destroyed all the heresies in the whole world.' Make me an apt instrument in your immaculate and most merciful hands for introducing your glory into so many strayed and indifferent persons, and for building it up as much as possible. Thus I will be an instrument for extending the kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus as far as possible. This is because you obtain the grace of conversion and sanctification wherever you enter; for through your hands all the graces from the Sacred Heart of Jesus come to us." And this he strives to achieve almost at his own loss, by his very own work, by offering what he possesses, by offering himself, even if it means that he must pour out the last of his blood. And so he keeps himself ready so that he seizes on and uses whatever is right, as long as dignity, good fortune and the other opportunities of life open the possibility to him. Something which makes our efforts and their fruits grow greatly, is the banding together of like-minded persons in order to pool their capabilities to work for a common goal. This is why the society of the Militia of the Immaculata arose. It has the simplest possible legal form. It is not made up of parts and sections, and divisions and subdivisions, that have to be very exactly coordinated, orchestrated and integrated. Rather its simple form permits it not only to enjoy indulgences from the Holy See but through the magazine, "The Knight" (among other means), which is published in many languages, it can deeply understand the spirit of the Militia of the Immaculata as most important, embrace it and put it to work in daily living. Moreover through the structure of the society the members are able to communicate with one another what they feel and perceive, and what they feel they should do. Look, therefore, what the knight of the Immaculata must seek: to belong to the Immaculata more decisively; to commit ourselves to becoming hers in a more perfect way under every aspectnothing excepted; to seek to become more and more and more hers to such a degree that we will enlighten, warm, and inflame other persons, make them like ourselves, acquire them for the Immaculata, so that they also become emphatically hers; to win over more and more persons in this manner; to win the whole world; to win it in the shortest possible time, as quickly as possible and even more quickly; to implant this spirit more and more within persons, those who are now and those who are yet to come and not to permit that anyoneeven for a very short timebe drawn away from under the banner of the Immaculata. When a person becomes more and more the property of the Immaculata so that in the manner of a knight he captures a greater and greater mass of persons, and when through the Immaculata he is given to Jesus, and through Jesus himself he belongs more effectively to the Father, then he is becoming more and more the knight of the Immaculata. He is penetrating more deeply into the work and the nature of the Militia of the Immaculata. Signed: Fr. Maximilian Kolbe Translated From the Latin by Fr. Bernard M. Geiger, OFM. CONV.