Saint Maximilian Kolbe said, "Every heart which beats upon the earth and which shall beat, until the end of the world, must be prey for the Immaculate: this is our purpose. And this as soon as possible."
By Gene Zanetti
On the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe (Aug. 14), I am humbled and reminded of the story of my deeper conversion to the Catholic faith.
I was born and raised Catholic, but practiced the faith only when it was convenient for me. I never truly let Christ into my heart until my younger brother announced he would be applying to the seminary. I could not believe it. He wanted to become a priest. I asked him what was the defining moment, and he told me he had completed a 33-day consecration to Mary.
I didn't know what this was. He took the time to explain the act of giving oneself totally to Our Lady after a period of preparation. I thought, here my brother is ready to give his entire life to Christ, and look how little I give to God.
Fewer than three months later, I began my preparation for consecration, which was completed on the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (July 16).
Zeal for Our Lady
While on this journey, I was introduced for the first time to St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941), and was awestruck by his zeal for Our Lady. He was inspired to organize the Militia Immaculatae and build an entire city (Niepokalanow in Poland) dedicated to Mary, just three days after the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima.
I always loved Our Lady, but did not know much about her, and was a little reluctant to speak about her out of fear of offending Protestants. And then I looked at this great saint who was unapologetically forthright about his devotion to Mary and wanted the same zeal for myself.
This also sparked in me a deeper interest in Our Lady of Fatima that has become the central focus of my apostolate Spiritual Strength, and is especially timely given the upcoming 105th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun on Oct. 13, 1917, the most widely witnessed recorded public miracle since Moses parted the Red Sea, with over 70,000 viewers!
Five requests
I thought about it. There would be no reason for Our Lady to appear as she did at Fatima if not to deliver a greater message for the whole world. During her apparitions, Our Lady warned that the world needs to stop offending God and made five requests of all of the faithful with a promise: When enough people (in the state of grace) fulfill Her requests, there will follow the glorious Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart. It became immediately clear to me that this deserves much more of my attention.
I have heard many people ask, "What do I do after I am consecrated to Mary? What is next?" As Mary said when speaking of our Lord at the wedding feast in Cana, so too could be said about Our Lady: "Do whatever (S)he tells you."
Roman Catholic S.O.S.
I believe we should be diligent in responding to Mary's requests at Fatima if we love her, and if we truly desire peace and the Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart. It would be prudent to keep Her words in the forefront of our minds. I find this simple yet meaningful mnemonic, the "Roman Catholic S.O.S.," helpful to remember what we ought do:
R.osary (daily)
C.onsecrate (yourself to Mary)
S.capular (wear the Brown Scapular)
O.ffer your sufferings to Mary
S.aturdays (First Saturday devotion)
The stakes are high. We ought to make every effort we can to not only fulfill these requests as soon as we can, but to enlist as many other souls as possible in the fulfillment of Mary's desires. As St. Maximilian Kolbe said, "Every heart which beats upon the earth and which shall beat, until the end of the world, must be prey for the Immaculate: this is our purpose. And this as soon as possible."
Triumph of the Immaculate Heart
I was consoled to learn that Our Lady of Fatima promised, "In the end, [Her] Immaculate Heart will Triumph." The question is when. How devastating will the state of affairs become before we take this seriously?
On the feast of St. Maximilian and the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, I would encourage every Catholic to apply the zeal, love, and devotion of St. Maximilian Kolbe had for Our Lady to fulfilling and spreading the message of Fatima.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!
Gene Zanetti is a guest contributor to Marian.org.
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