Rite marks martyrdom of Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Friday, Aug. 26, 2016

WEST HAVEN — St. Mary Catholic Church in West Heaven was one of the five places in the United States that celebrated the closing of the 75th anniversary of the death of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who was martyred in a Nazi concentration camp after he volunteered to take the place of another prisoner who was among 10 others sentenced to be starved to death in retaliation for an escaped prisoner. The man for whom St. Maximilian sacrificed himself was married and had children.

On Aug. 14, as part of the celebrations, the Rite of Consecration to the Immaculata and the 6th annual men’s retreat, with its emphasis on the book Walking With Mary, by Edward Sri, took place. Approximately 36 men participated.

The Rite of Total Consecration to the Immaculata for Individuals and Families was celebrated after the 11:30 a.m. Mass.

“Whoever you are, whatever you have, or are able to do, you receive it at any moment from the hands of Divine Mercy through the Immaculata,” said St. Maximilian Kolbe.

The Militia of the Immaculata is a worldwide ecclesial movement founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe in 1917. The MI has the full approval of the Vatican and canonical statutes, and is dedicated to bringing the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through consecration to the Immaculate Virgin Mary.

Aug. 14 officially marked the 75th anniversary of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s martyrdom.

“From last August until today the Church has been recognizing his 75th year of giving up his life for another gentleman,” said Donna Masek, who directs both the Immaculata and the prolife ministry at St. Mary Parish.

Masek said that the yearlong celebration included weekly reflections by the MI on different aspects of St. Maximilian’s life, and the release of the first English edition of his writing.

“Today there are celebrations happening on the East Coast, on the West Coast with the Father Kolbe Missionaries of the Immaculata, at the National Shrine St. Maximilian in Chicago in the Midwest, and here in Utah,” said Masek.

After the Mass individuals and families gathered to pray a rosary honoring the Immaculata.

Then the Rite started in front of the baptism font in the parish, led by Deacon Jack Clark.

The Consecration started with the renewal of the baptismal promise and then Deacon Clark blessed the medals and gave them one by one to the now consecrated parishioners.

 In Poland during both world wars, “St. Maximilian saw this Miraculous Medal as ‘silver bullets for souls,’” said Masek.

Initially this medal was named after the Immaculate Conception, but because so many people were wearing it and so many people were having healings emotionally, physically and spiritually it came to the point that it started being called the Miraculous Medal, she said. 

At the end of the men’s retreat they also celebrated the Rite of Consecration to the Immaculata.