March 2011 Print


St. Maximilian Kolbe: In His Own Words

Part 2

Introduction

Many good books have been written about the life and the doctrine of Fr. Kolbe but unfortunately access to his very own words is not easy for Anglophones who do not know Italian or Polish. This is a great shame because these words have a profound simplicity and power about them that only the Holy Ghost can give. What is more, we have a large volume of his personal writings and conferences from very sure sources which provide texts that are furnished with all the guarantees of authenticity that even the most severe critic could require, especially in what concerns his writings. The monumental Scritti Kolbiani of Fr. Cristoforo Zambelli provide an excellent Italian translation of the entire corpus of Fr. Kolbe’s writings, including all his articles and letters and even the journals he kept and personal notes of his retreats and other matters. There exists also in Polish a collection of notes taken by his Brothers of spiritual conferences that he gave to them in Poland and also in Japan. It is in order to enable English speakers to have immediate access to some of this immense treasure that this little selection of his words has been compiled. A Dominican Friar

 

1 Scritti di Massimiliano Kolbe, Editrice Nazionale M.I., Rome, 1997. References to this work will be made by the initials SK followed by a number corresponding to the number used in this edition to identify all the various writings of Fr. Kolbe.

2 Konferencje Swietego Maksymiliana Marii Kolbego, Wydwnictwo OO. Franciszkanów, Niepokalanów, 1990. References will be made to this work by the simple initial K followed by the number of the conference. Critics generally question the absolute reliability of these notes, but even though it is certain that they are not always complete and perhaps sometimes not precisely accurate, they were obviously prepared with great effort and a scrupulous care not to attribute to him things he did not say. They remain an invaluable source of his doctrine that must not be neglected, for they are a precious witness of his personal teaching to his closest disciples.

Instrument

Let us imagine ourselves to be a little brush in the hand of an infinitely perfect painter. What must the little brush do so that the painting will be as beautiful as possible? It must let itself be directed most perfectly. A little brush could still advance pretexts to improve the painting done by an earthly, limited, fallible painter, but when God, the eternal Wisdom, uses us as instruments, then we will do the most, in the most perfect way, when we will let ourselves be guided most perfectly and totally.

By the act of consecration we have offered ourselves to the Immaculate as Her absolute property. Without doubt She is the most perfect instrument in the hands of God, while we, for our part, must be instruments in Her immaculate hands.

When, therefore, will we destroy most rapidly and most perfectly the evil that exists in the whole world? When we will let ourselves be guided by Her in the most perfect way. This is the most important thing, the unique thing.

I said unique. In fact, each one of us must occupy himself solely in harmonizing, conforming, fusing, as it were, completely his own will with the Will of the Immaculate, just as Her Will is completely united to the Will of God, Her heart with the Heart of Her Son Jesus.

That is the unique thing we have to do. Whatever we do, even if it were the most heroic act, capable of overthrowing the foundations of all existing evil on earth, it has a certain value uniquely if, in performing this act, our will puts itself in harmony with the Will of the Immaculate and, through Her, with the Will of God. One thing alone, therefore, that is, the fusion of our will with Hers, has a certain value, or rather a total value. This is the essence of the love (not sentiment, although that be beautiful too) that must transform us, through the Immaculate, in God, that must burn us and, through us, set the world on fire and destroy and consume in it all evil. It is the fire of which the Savior spoke: “I have come to bring fire on the earth: and how I would wish that it be already lit!” (Lk. 12:49).

After having been inflamed ourselves by this divine love (I repeat that it is not a question here of sweet tears or sentiments, but of the will, even amidst aversion and repugnance), we will set on fire the whole world.

Nonetheless, it is we who must inflame ourselves, we who must not let ourselves grow cold, but burn ever more intensely; we must fuse ourselves with, become one sole thing with God, through the Immaculate.

We must, therefore, concentrate all our attention on this, uniquely on this: to unite ourselves most closely with the hand of our Mistress, our Leader, to melt ourselves into it, so that She might do with us what She wills. This is the essential condition for belonging to the M.I. : “Consecrate oneself totally to the Immaculate as an instrument in Her immaculate hands.”

Then and only then will we subject to the Immaculate, and through Her, unite, fuse the whole world and every single soul with the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through the fire of love. (SK 1160, Rycerz Niepokalanej, May 1932)

 

We are an instrument in the most loving hands of the Immaculate and only in this way can we attain our ultimate end: the glory of God, not just a greater glory but the greatest glory possible. All our solicitude, therefore, must be: let ourselves be led, so that we do nothing according to our own ideas, but everything that She desires and as She pleases. (SK 1248, Conference to clerics, O.F.M. Conv., at Cracow, Nov. 15, 1919)

It is necessary for us, as quickly as possible, to renounce ourselves. It is necessary that we have nothing, but nothing of our own, that She act, that we be Her instrument. How easy it is for each of us to let ourselves fall into wanting to work with great zeal, but often according to our own opinions. But here it is necessary that the Immaculate act through us, and it is a matter of being an instrument in Her hands and not of doing the greatest things possible according to our own ideas. She is the most perfectly capable of making everything turn to the glory of God. Often we just ruin things for Her. Everything depends on this, on how much we are Her instruments. Nothing else is left for us other than just to conform our will to Hers. There is no higher summit of perfection than this—the most perfect union of our will with Her will. (K 131, Feb. 17, 1938)

I will say something more and I will say it boldly: if we are given up entirely to the Immaculate, if we constantly strive to be so, then our bad works—although perhaps not done with bad will, but still bad—She will repair them and even more: She will turn them into a greater good. And She will even work miracles, if it be necessary, because for the Immaculate to work a miracle is not something great. And then our works and efforts will not be ours but Hers, and they will have a value that is not our own but of the Immaculate. We will just be her instruments, like a shovel in the hands of a gardener. The shovel digs, but it isn’t its work, but the gardener’s alone. What a great consolation this is for us, then, already in this world but all that much more in the next. (K 62, Jan. 20, 1937)

Obedience

How can we know that the Holy Mother is asking something from us ?…How must we know, where is revealed to us the divine will, the will of the Immaculate?

In holy obedience.

Our Lord Himself, although He was infinite Wisdom, did not choose for Himself any other way but obedience. He, being God, knew much better than the Holy Mother how to do this or that thing, but nevertheless He was obedient, because He saw in this the will of the Father.…

Obedience, then—this is the consecration to the Immaculate—accomplish it as She Herself desires of us.…Let us deepen in ourselves every day (the knowledge) of this truth by spiritual reading, by mediation, by conversations during recreation and especially in practice in our lives, in order to unite our will to the will of the Immaculate and by Her will sanctify our will.…

We must execute our obedience willingly and with joy, in order to prove that we have truly consecrated ourselves to the Immaculate, and not be like “one who has to be pushed”: [who says,] “There where they put me, there will I stay.” Rather we must add energy and effort on our part in order to execute in the best way the task confided to us. (K 31, Aug. 28, 1933)

But from what source will we know the Will of our Queen, of our Leader? On this earth there is only one sure way: holy obedience to the representatives of God, whose will is everything that the Immaculate desires, with this difference, however (if humanly we can express ourselves in this way); namely, that God directs everything according to justice, while the Most Holy Virgin, precisely because of the fact that She has been given to us as a Mother, can shelter us, nullifying the blows of justice under Her maternal mantle of mercy. This is why St. Bernard also affirms that God has reserved for Himself the economy of justice, while He has confided mercy to the Most Holy Virgin Mary. (SK 1248, Nov. 15, 1919)

I underline repeatedly the “Will of the Immaculate” because we are consecrated to her without limits, therefore She directs us. But, if one can put it thus, the Will of God and the Will of the Immaculate are not exactly the same thing, because the Will of the Immaculate is the will, not of the justice, but of the mercy of God, of which the Immaculate is the personification. We, then, in so far as we are instruments in her hand, are at the service not of the justice that punishes, but of conversion and sanctification, which are the effect of grace—and therefore of the mercy of God—and they pass through the hands of the Mediatrix of all graces. Consequently, as She is a most perfect instrument in the hand of God, in the hand of divine mercy, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, thus we are an instrument in Her hand. And thus, through Her, we are an instrument of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that is of the mercy of God. Therefore our motto is: “through the Immaculate to the Heart of Jesus.” (SK 339, Apr. 29, 1931)

The fulfillment of the will of God is love, and love is the essence of sanctity. Merit and the essence of sanctity, then, is not in mortification, nor in prayer, nor in work, nor in rest but only in obedience. (K 35, Apr. 23, 1936)

One of the brothers wrote me and asked me to write back to him and tell him how I love the Immaculate because he wants to love Her in the same way.… I (recently) said that the perfection of obedience is the essence of love. What does that depend on? On sentiment perhaps ? Sentiment isn’t the essential thing. Sentiment is a passing thing. It can even be or not be. Love does not depend on sentiment. We mustn’t be worried if it is absent.… Often sentiment is taken for love. If it is a matter of love for the Immaculate one can permit oneself a lot (of sentiment). Sentiment, then, also is good. However, above all is the perfection of obedience, the fusion of our will with Her will.

It is necessary to deepen always this supernatural obedience. We easily confound supernatural obedience and natural obedience. Often a soul is persuaded that she is supernaturally obedient when in fact it is shown that she is naturally obedient.

How can we know when obedience is supernatural? Let us consider some examples: a Jew will obey when what is said is wise and to his profit; an infidel, when what is said is in accord with his convictions; another, again, will obey because he will be praised for doing so. To obey in this way, even a pagan can do.

In order that obedience be supernatural it must not proceed from reason but from faith. Holy Scripture says: “My just one shall live by faith” (Rm. 1:17). The distance between faith and reason is infinite. The supernatural order is founded on faith. The soul, then, that bases itself on faith does infinitely more than a soul based on reason. It follows then that if we want our work for the conquest of souls to bear fruit, we must conform ourselves more to the Will of God, or, in our language, to the Will of the Immaculate.

When can we be sure that our obedience is supernatural? When in our obedience there are fewer natural motives. When our superior isn’t perfect and perhaps is even disagreeable, and if then we accomplish the order with the same contentment as if it proceeded from a virtuous and wise man, then our obedience is supernatural. If, instead, the opposite is true, then there is room for much improvement.…

The perfection of obedience, then, is the perfection of love for the Immaculate. If in spite of disagreeable feelings or a lack of sentiment we receive the order with the same contentment, then our obedience is perfect and one can say that it is supernatural obedience. If one thinks otherwise, if one is of another opinion, but one goes against this, then there is supernatural obedience. This doesn’t mean that one must not give one’s reasons when there is a need. If someone neglected to give his reasons that would not be a perfection. On the contrary, then, one can and must give one’s reasons. It is simply a matter of the fact that both on the side of the inferior and on the side of the superior there be the liberty to speak. The fact of giving one’s reason from one’s side is not an imperfection of obedience. Nevertheless, if the superior considers the reasons and nonetheless commands that the order be accomplished, one must leave aside one’s reasons and do what obedience commands.

The more we follow this road of supernatural obedience, the more the Immaculate will be able to direct us. Let us deepen, then, the perfection of supernatural obedience. (K 169, May 7, 1938)

In your letter you write that the Japanese were displeased to know that “Fr. Korube” didn’t come back. Reassure them, dear Father, that it was the Immaculate Herself who disposed things in this way because I had no desire at all to leave Mugenzai no Sono; on the contrary, I desired to leave my bones there at the foundation of the mission, but… my will was not done but that of the Immaculate.… From the beginning, in fact, even before the Chapter, I had manifested to Most Reverend Father Provincial my availability to return to Mugenzai no Sono; nonetheless, the Immaculate had other plans. I still don’t understand them completely, but little by little, according as it is necessary for me to act. (SK 687, Nov. 11, 1936)

When in 1939 the Conventual Franciscans of Poland divided into two provinces and our authority took up residence in Warsaw, Fr. Maximilian rejoiced saying that now it would be easier to know the Will of God because Father Provincial would reside so near Niepokalanów. I heard from the Brothers in Niepokalanów that in 1940 it was already practically certain that Fr. Maximilian would be arrested by the Gestapo. In the beginning, Fr. Maximilian wanted to hide somewhere in order to let the danger pass, but he didn’t want to decide alone. He addressed himself to Warsaw to the Father Provincial, asking him his opinion. Father Provincial responded that it would be better if he stayed at Niepokalanów. This sufficed so that Fr. Maximilian abandoned any idea of leaving, although shortly afterward he was, indeed, arrested. (Positio Super Virtutibus II, p. 152)

If it is permitted to add some words, I would propose two things: 1) obedience, which is the easiest, shortest and surest way to sanctity; moreover, supernatural obedience, the union of our will with the divine will, constitutes the very essence of sanctity, that is to say, perfect love; and 2) filial love, devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary. She will teach you perfect supernatural obedience; She Herself will obtain and give you the strength to advance on this road; moreover, as the best of mothers, She will carry you most securely in her arms, pressing you lovingly to Her Immaculate Heart in the most difficult passages of the way. These are just some words, imperfect, but you will succeed in understanding much more by personal experience. Always your brother in the Heart of the Immaculate, Maximilian Maria Kolbe (SK 428, May 30, 1932)