Background:
Last August, my mother had a minor stroke after having recovered from the coronavirus. Thanks be to God that she has been recovering well with no serious side effects other than physical weakness. It was truly a difficult experience but God got us through it through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Maximilian Kolbe. I thought would be good to share this on the blog (originally, it was posted on Facebook).
What happened to my mom on Tuesday was frightening. In spite of my self, I was not scared. That night I prayed that all things would be well, that my mother would be okay and come back home soon and in good health. The peace and joy was out of this world. Can I share with you all the secret of my peace and calm? Tuesday night, I told Our Lady to take care of everything and I asked her to be my mother as never before. I entrusted my mother to the Blessed Virgin Mary, “because you [Mary] are her mother and she is your child. Please watch over us and take care of us. I know that you are there in the hospital holding her hand.” All week, before and after Tuesday, I have been praying a novena to Our Lady of the Assumption, and another one to St. Maximilian Kolbe. I would like to share part of it quote from St. Maximilian that helps express what I want to say:
“Let us give every difficulty, every sorrow to Mary, & have confidence that she will take care of it better than we could. Peace then, peace, much peace in an unlimited confidence in her. Above all, never let yourselves be troubled, never be frightened, never fear anything.”
I’ve given everything I have and am to her so many times and I surrendered everything to her once again. She has never let me down and she will never let me down. In fact, I believe that my mom is coming home tomorrow on the feast day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Because she, that is the Immaculata, is the best of mothers. She is the mother of Jesus and of all creatures, she resembles Jesus the most. You could say that she has been transformed into him. St. Maximilian, whose feast day is today, would say that the Immaculata did the will of God most perfectly as a fitting instrument in his hands. For our part we must become instruments in her hands and thereby accomplish the will of God by letting her accomplish it by us as docile instruments in her hands. We have to win, we must – – we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. How did St. Maximilian come to give his life for a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz? Because he had the heart of Mary, which is the heart of Jesus himself. Trust me on this, if you have confidence in her, she will never let you down, and even if you don’t have confidence in her, she still loves you and wants you to know that you are her precious child (and she wants you to have confidence in her).
To learn about how you can give yourself to Jesus through Mary, watch this awesome video about a movement called the Militia Immaculata, which St. Maximilian founded – — it is a spiritual army that seeks to win hearts for Mary and through her, Jesus, so as to expand his kingdom throughout the earth. Interestingly, St. Maximilian had wanted to be a soldier growing up. Grace builds on nature.
The MI is so very powerful. It consists of being totally consecrated to Mary, as her very property and possession– to give oneself completely to her an instrument In her hands for the salvation and sanctification of souls. It’s not just about personal holiness but about helping others become holy as well, becoming more and more like the Immaculata so as to become more and more like unto Christ. As a result of being an MI member, a Knight of the Immaculata, I have learned to have a greater trust and dependence on Mother Mary… thus, this post.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.
