Knight of the Immaculata: No. 40

Dear Knights
of the Immaculata!

During my first year in the seminary (1981), I came to know the Knight-
hood of the Immaculata when the traditional German Katholische Jugendbe-
wegung (a young Catholic's movement) published a bulletin dedicated to the life and apostolic work of St. Maximilian Kolbe. We, the seminarians, were
fascinated by the discovery of this saint who was traditional in his deep faith
and apostolic zeal, and at the same time benefited from modern technological
achievements. A saint who fascinated young people also in our time.
 

The question of the conversion of young people returned in 1986, when I was assigned to work in Africa. Father Loic Duverger, inspired by the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima (three volumes by Br. Michael of the Holy Trinity) and the biography of St. Maximilian Kolbe, entitled Le Fou de Notre-Dame.
Le père Maximilien Kolbe (written by Maria Winiowska), founded in 1988 an
organization for girls called Compagnie de L’Immaculata.
 

The most miraculous fruit was the inner transformation of many young girls who lived a deep inner life and often defended the faith with heroic cour-
age in pagan environments, and sometimes even in their families. Some of them led to the conversion of their parents, brothers, and sisters. Among
the girls who died prematurely from various tropical diseases, we observed
a rarely encountered degree of virtue and even holiness. These incredible
events confirmed our conviction of the power of the Immaculata in our times,
of the enormous significance of Fatima and the necessity of our apostolic work with her and through her. However, it was not until 1994, when I was called to begin the work of Catholic Tradition in Poland, that I discovered who St. Maximilian Kolbe and his Militia really were. As I read his letters and conferences in his native language, I discovered a universal genius, both contemplative and very active, a theologian of the deepest mysteries of Mary and a master of organization. A theologian who additionally used modern means of technology to make Our Queen known and loved by millions of people.

This terminally ill monk founded one of the most important Marian move-
ments in the world, the third after the Legion of Mary and the Blue Army of
Our Lady of Fatima. He opened without any material resources a monastery
called Niepokalanów (in Poland), which within 15 years became the largest monastery in the world since the Middle Ages, with almost a thousand inhabitants. Not content with kindling the flame of love for the Immaculata only in his own homeland, he set out on a mission to Asia with the desire to bring
"billions of souls" to her. Ultimately, his fearless life ended with a heroic death
in a starvation bunker in the German Auschwitz camp, where he gave his life
for the life of a fellow prisoner.
When the priory in Warsaw was established in 1998, it was obvious that
I would often visit the nearby Niepokalanów. It was as if the saint himself were meeting with us, when we were reflecting upon the remains of a gigantic apostolate (the museum; the original chapel and rooms where the saint lived; the cemetery where his heroic companions were buried, etc.). Long conversations with older brothers who remembered him were an extraordinary experience.
At that time, a group of young believers asked if we could reactivate theKnighthood of the Immaculata exactly according to the principles of St. Maxi-
milian, as Catholic Poland had remained under the powerful influence of the M.I. since the 1920s, and also to restore its original spirit given by the
holy Founder... This request required an analysis of whether this idea made
sense, because there were other Marian movements in the Catholic Tradition.
Creating a new movement could cause a split in the number and strength of
those already existing. We therefore organized a small rosary crusade, so that the Immaculate would reveal her will to us.

Then we acquired a deeper understanding of the essence of the Militia and
its Founder and realised that this movement is the only one of its kind in the
world and perfectly suited to our times.
The then Superior General allowed the establishment of the M.I. of theTraditional Observance in Poland. He did this in accordance with the principles of substitute jurisdiction. On the 6th of May 2000, about 50 Catholics became the first Knights of the Immaculate. They received a Diploma with a copy of St. Maximilian's signature. The fruit was immediate: an increase in
generosity among the Knights, a regular life of prayer and an apostolic spirit
expressed especially in the intensive growth of publications of the Catholic
Tradition in Poland (magazines, books, booklets, flyers).

Fr. Karl Stehlin
Warsaw, on the 19th of March 2025
Feast of St. Joseph