Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Praise be Jesus Christ.
When we talk about Marian chivalry,
there's really no need to go back to the Middle Ages
to look for an example,
because we have a perfect example of Marian chivalry,
of what it means to be a knight of Our Lady,
a knight of the Immaculate, in St. Maximilian Kolbe.
He demonstrates in his life all of the virtues of chivalry.
He demonstrates the virtue of fidelity
and love for his queen, the Immaculate.
In August of 1939,
as Germany was making its advances into Poland,
the Franciscan Provincial of Poland
called up Niepokalanov, the city of the Immaculate,
where St. Maximilian lived with 700 other friars.
And he said, it's time to evacuate Niepokalanov.
And so St. Maximilian,
and so St. Maximilian,
and so St. Maximilian,
and so St. Maximilian,
and so St. Maximilian,
and so St. Maximilian,
St. Maximilian gathered his friars together and explained to them the situation.
And he said, you know, you are free to go, you know, to those of you who have family,
to those of you who have friends who you can stay with, you're all free to go.
He said, I'll be staying and anyone who wants to stay with me is welcome to.
But just be ready for every possible sacrifice.
And so almost the entire community left.
There's no problem with that.
There were a few who stayed.
I think there were a total of 35 in number.
They went from 700 down to 35.
And St. Maximilian also had the opportunity himself to leave.
In fact, he was a primary target for the Germans.
The Germans coming in.
Along with the same mindset as the Russians, wanted to destroy the Polish people, their culture.
And so who were the targets?
Political leaders, religious leaders, those who were leaders in education, and the media.
And so St. Maximilian was a primary target.
Because he was...
The religious leader, not just of any convent or friary.
But he was the religious leader of the most populated friary in the world at that time.
As I said, with over 700 friars.
Moreover, St. Maximilian was the chief editor of the most popular magazine in Poland.
The Night of the Immaculate.
Which at that time was publishing more than one magazine.
Which at that time was publishing more than one magazine.
Which at that time was publishing more than one magazine.
Which at that time was publishing more than one magazine.
He had 1 million copies on a monthly basis.
So he was a primary target.
But St. Maximilian decided to stay.
Again, we see in this example, his virtue of fidelity.
He said the shepherd needs to be with his flock.
And so I'm staying.
And it wasn't long after, less than a month later, that the Germans arrived in Neopokalanov.
And they marched.
those 40 or so friars, down to the train tracks.
They got on board, and they headed toward the first concentration camp
that St. Maximilian would be placed in, called Amtiz.
And so they arrived there, and conditions were grave.
There were about 3,000 prisoners held in 60 tents, 50 prisoners to a tent.
So in St. Maximilian's tent, there were his friars,
and there were a few other of his countrymen.
And they were just large canvas tents with hay strewn on the ground,
which served as their bedding.
And when it rained, the canvas of the tents got soaked.
And in turn, the hay that they slept on also got soaked and moldy,
and eventually it became lice-infested.
The food they had to eat, they were given a cup of coffee in the morning,
a bowl of soup for lunch, and then again a cup of coffee in the evening.
They were all starving all of the time.
But St. Maximilian, notwithstanding these dire conditions,
continued to think about his queen, how he could serve his lady.
And so he...
He had one of the friars, who was gifted artistically,
he had him sculpt an image of Our Lady out of clay.
They put this little statue of Our Lady up on a wood post in the middle of their tent.
And St. Maximilian started the practice of the daily rosary.
His tent would pray out loud the rosary every day at the same time.
And pretty soon, that example caught on to the other tents.
And eventually, every tent in that camp was praying the rosary on a daily basis.
The guards didn't do anything about it.
They didn't have any problem with everybody praying the rosary.
Why?
Because they said it helped to keep order.
They said, this is an orderly camp.
You can pray as much as you want.
And they were actually favorable towards St. Maximilian,
because they saw the example that he was...
He was setting the order that he set, the discipline that he maintained.
And St. Maximilian, in turn, sought to exercise the apostolate also among the German guards,
giving those who were disposed a miraculous medal here and there.
Again, seeing the will of the Immaculate, his queen, having placed him there.
And he understood that to be his mission field.
And he did whatever he...
He could.
Then one day, there broke out a fight within his tent.
Again, the soup came in a large steel pot.
And the last prisoner to get his share was taking his ladle of soup.
And he saw there stuck to the side a sliver of potato.
And now that meant a lot to these prisoners.
So he saw that sliver and he went to reach for it.
And a prisoner...
Who was bigger and stronger than he was, also saw at the same time.
Grabbed the pot from him and took it and ate that piece of potato.
And so then, this other prisoner yelled at him.
And he said,
I hope you choke on it, you son of a...
And St. Maximilian heard.
And when St. Maximilian heard those words, notwithstanding he was already sickly,
he had to walk with a cane.
He shot up and got in the middle of those prisoners.
And he said,
How dare you?
The friars who saw what happened said they had never seen St. Maximilian act like this.
He was almost out of control.
That's how angry he was.
He said,
How dare you insult somebody's mother?
He said,
Don't you realize...
That every mother is an image of our Heavenly Mother?
And that when you speak badly of somebody's mother,
you defame motherhood in and of itself and you insult the Blessed Mother.
He said,
Don't let me ever hear that out of your mouth again.
And then he quietly went back to a corner of the tent and began to pray.
And after that, there was never another moment of contention within that tent.
So again, we see St. Maximilian having his priorities straight, seeking to serve his queen,
fidelity to his vocation, love for the Immaculate.
Now each and every one of you boys here, do you view your own mothers in that regard?
Do you see in your mothers an image of Our Lady?
Do you honor her?
Do you respect her?
Do you obey her as you would our Blessed Mother?
Again, St. Maximilian is presented to each and every one of you as an example to follow,
an example of Marian chivalry, an example of what it means to be a Knight of Our Lady,
an example of fidelity, an example of a true son of the Immaculate.
May we follow his example and arrive at glory in heaven with him.
In the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.