Our age is a difficult age, and so today we honor the memory of Saint Maximilian Mary
Colby, who was made by Pope Paul VI the patron of our difficult age, and so perhaps we can
understand most best how difficult our age is when we see that in some environmental movements
mankind is considered a parasite on the earth, that is, the one whom for the universe was created,
that is, man, and ultimately the God-man Jesus Christ, is the cause for all the problems of the
earth. It is perhaps a sign that we could go no further in our distance from God, and into this
age came Raymond Colby, a precocious child who often gave his mother much difficulty,
not in the way of sin, but in the way of his precociousness, and so as a good mother she would
one day ask Raymond, Raymond, I worry about what will become of you, and so Saint Maximilian Mary
Colby, who was made by Pope Paul VI the patron of our difficult age, and so perhaps we can
because he learned piety from his poor, pious parents, took that to the mother of God in prayer,
and unbeknownst to him he would receive an extraordinary grace, for the mother of God
would appear to him during that prayer, and ask him, she would present two crowns, a white crown
for purity, and a red crown for martyrdom, and would ask the child which one he would like to
choose, and the mother of God was using that mother of God, and she would ask him, and he would
say, I will take both of them, and indeed in his life he would receive both of them, because he
understood so well what his mission was in the mystical body of Christ, and so he would enter
into religious life, and there be ordained a priest, and he would choose one of them, and he would
ultimately form the statutes that would govern the militia of the Immaculata, that is, a militia of
the Immaculata, to conquer all souls for the kingdom of Christ, the cornerstone of his militia,
and the cornerstone of his spirituality, was total consecration to the mother of God, that we
cannot establish the presence, the maternal presence of Mary, unless we are totally given to
her as her property and possession, for he saw the blessed Virgin Mary, and most particularly,
under the title of the Immaculate Conception, as the ideal for all society, and that it was that
maternal love that must be given to mankind, and so, by the act of total consecration, one would
give himself entirely to the mother of God as her property and possession, that is, all the faculties
of their body and soul, to be given to the mother of God, in order that she may use them in the
conquest of souls for the kingdom of Christ, and so,
Maximilian understood full well that the majority of mankind was involved in this apostasy from God,
and that he understood full well that such a movement is led not by man himself, but by the
enemy of our souls, Satan himself, and so, he would seek to declare war on Satan and his minions,
who seek to lead the human family astray, and so, under this gift of total consecration,
Saint Maximilian would begin to conquer souls, first in his native land of Poland, then in Japan,
and then in India, but more especially, it was not merely those physical places in which he was
present in order to try to cooperate with the Immaculate in the conquest of souls, but Saint
Maximilian Mary Colby has given to the Church a most marvelous gift that continues the conquest
of souls, and will continue that conquest of souls until the end of time.
By giving ourselves generously to the Immaculate, we come under her banner, and under her
protection, and so, we strive with every fiber of our being to conquer all souls for the
kingdom of Christ, that is, to manifest that presence of the mother of God.
For the essence of total consecration is the personal sanctification of each individual who
takes the mother of God as their exemplar, the one they strive to imitate, and Saint
Maximilian explains that it is only then that the presence of Mary can come into the world for it
is only through those who have consecrated themselves and given themselves entirely to her
who strive to give her example to the world that her presence comes to the world and once that
presence is established it is only a matter of time before the reign of Christ the King
re-establishes itself over human society and over the human family and so he would give to this
world this marvelous gift and as a religious priest he would strive through every fiber of his being
most especially to the apostolate of the media to explain the mystery of Mary most holy to explain
her immaculate conception and what it means to society and indeed without the maternal presence
of Mary in society society he would not be able to live.
he explains, would ultimately crumble, and so he would ultimately strive to do everything he could
through the apostolate at the friaries, but most especially, St. Maximilian's light burns most
brightly when he had nothing else to give, for during his life, he gave everything back to the
mother of God, so much so that he had, even despite the fact that he had physical ailments, he worked
tirelessly in the apostolate, and indeed, he shows himself this most extraordinary understanding
of the act of consecration that he compiled, because he truly gave to the mother of God
all the gifts of body and soul, and so when his body was run down, and when the presses at
Neapokalana were taken into the possession of the Nazis, St. Maximilian would be arrested.
Ultimately, he would be placed
in prison.
In two concentration camps, once released, but taken again, and ultimately, he would come to Auschwitz,
and there, humanly speaking, St. Maximilian, Mary Colby, had nothing further to give, but it was at that
point that he had everything to give, for he saw very clearly that what he gave up to that time
paled in comparison to what the mother of God would ultimately ask him to give, that is, his very life,
and so,
when that faithful day in which a prisoner escaped from that quadrant and was not captured,
ten men from that quadrant would have to be executed as an example to the others not to try to do it.
When Mr. Gajanicek was chosen, he would sob, for he was a father, and he would sob for his wife and his children.
At that point, St. Maximilian would step forward, because the ten had already been chosen,
and ask,
to take the place of Mr. Gajanicek, and there was no human hope that such a request would be honored by the Nazi
persecutors, but he did not ever live by human hope, he always lived by supernatural hope, and so,
his proposition was accepted, Mr. Gajanicek was allowed to live, and St. Maximilian would go to the bunker
with the nine other souls, and ultimately there, he would give his life, but he would not give his life merely for the
nine souls, whom he cooperated with the Mother of God, in seeing that they did not despair in their affliction,
but he would give his life for the all of humanity, and so, he shows very clearly the power of total consecration,
for it is rewarded with the conversion of souls, and ultimately, it is rewarded with the conversion of those souls
who seem at some times to be most estranged from God, for St. Maximilian Mary Colby,
did not see the act of total consecration merely as a gift for those in the church, but he saw it as a gift
for the members of the church to accept, in order that the Mother of God would use them for the conquest of all souls
until the end of time, and so, St. Maximilian's goal was to conquer all souls for the kingdom of Christ,
he would lay the foundation stone, and it is up to us until the end of the time,
to respond to the commandment of the Holy Spirit, and so, he did not see the act of total consecration,
he would lay the foundation stone, and it is up to us until the end of the time,
to respond to this most wonderful gift, by which we, giving ourselves entirely to her,
will come and establish her maternal presence in the world, and once the Blessed Virgin is present,
as we learn from Scripture, whence came the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son, so it is,
whenever the Virgin Mary is present in the mind and heart of the believers,
then it is not too far before Christ reestablishes kingship, and so society becomes,
what God has intended it to be, and man, the pinnacle of that, journeys to that safe abode
for which he was created, for in the Church we understand that mankind was given this life
in order to prove himself worthy of the life that God wishes him to receive when he passes from this life.
St. Maximilian would have his body scattered to the four corners of the earth
when it was placed in the furnaces of Auschwitz,
and reduced to ashes, but St. Maximilian Mary Colby did not fear the destruction of his body,
for he knew that when he gave his mortal life up for the sake of the world,
he would gain that eternal life for which he constantly longed,
and for which he gave himself entirely to the Immaculate in order to acquire,
and so we too must accept this most extraordinary gift,
knowing that the Mother of God will ask each and every one of us
to pay the same price.
It may not be by a modest death, but ultimately the Mother of God will ask each and every one of us
to give our lives for the sake of the Kingdom of God,
whether it be by natural death, a body ravaged by illnesses, or a modest death.
It must be a death endured for the Kingdom of Christ.
It must be a sacrificial death by which we cooperate with that sacrifice of our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
so that His love is truly established, so that the reign of Christ truly comes to society in so much desperate need.
When we see mankind declaring that the very purpose of creation is the problem with creation,
that is man, there is no human hope for a change.
There is no human hope to turn such thinking around,
and it is then when the Christian hope burns most brightly,
because he has a superhuman hope,
a supernatural hope,
that under the influence of the Mother of God,
she can bring about that conversion of souls and that conversion of society,
by which they truly again see the purpose of their creation and come to love again
He whom they have taken both their natural life and from Him whom they receive their supernatural life,
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And so, let us be grateful this day,
that we honor this most extraordinary saint,
who is truly a patron of our difficult ages,
and he will be a patron of the age until the end of time,
because he has given to the Church a most marvelous gift,
an answer to all that afflicts mankind,
all that afflicts society,
total consecration to the Mother of God,
in order to establish the Kingdom of God in the surest, safest, quickest possible manner.
And so,
let us do that,
and ultimately,
we will receive what Saint Maximilian,
and all the saints who have gone before him,
and all the saints who have come and will come after him,
have received,
that eternal reward for which alone the human heart can be happy,
that gift for which we were created,
and that gift that if we do not acquire,
we will not acquire that happiness for which we were created.
To dwell for all eternity,
with the Blessed Trinity,
in the presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
and all the other saints,
praising our good God for all that he has done for us,
as Saint Maximilian does now,
and as we hope someday to do.
.