"True love alone has the power to unite the wills of men.."

Pope St. Pius X, a member of the Third Order of St. Francis:

"For to be right and good, worship of the Mother of God ought to spring from the heart; acts of the body have here neither utility nor value if the
acts of the soul have no part in them. Now these latter can only have one object, which is that we should fully carry out what the divine Son of
Mary commands. For if true love alone has the power to unite the wills of men, it is of the first necessity that we should have one will with Mary to
serve Jesus our Lord. What this most prudent Virgin said to the servants at the marriage feast of Cana she addresses also to us: "Whatsoever he shall
say to you, do ye" (John ii., 5). Now here is the word of Jesus Christ: "If you would enter into life, keep the commandments" (Mt. xix., 17). Let
them each one fully convince himself of this, that if his piety towards the Blessed Virgin does not hinder him from sinning, or does not move his
will to amend an evil life, it is a piety deceptive and lying, wanting as it is in proper effect and its natural fruit." (Ad diem illum laetissimum, Feb 2, 1904:  para. 17)  Ad diem illum laetissimum

YMI

Thw Young Militia of the Immaculate group in Kellyville, Sydney, with Fr James McCurrie OFMConv and Br Louis Scmid OFMConv.

The Month of the Two Crowns.

Dear Friends, 

The Feast of St Maximilian Kolbe and the solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady have passed and I had hoped to write a few words before then. But  nevertheless we can look back and reflect on both for our meditation . St Maximilan we know as young boy had a vision of the Blessed Virgin in his local Church, after going there to find consolation.

 Our Lady offered him the crowns of sacrifice and purity. Young Raymond at the time accepted both. We know how  through his death in  the cell at Auschwitz,  St Maximilian Kolbe had lived the two crowns as a Conventual Franciscan priest . He had offered his life in union with Christ the Divine Victim on Calvary  to save the life of another. This offering of Kolbe's life was completed on the vigil of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary 1941.

Today as MI s we are called as St Maximilian to  follow the Divine Master in union with the Immaculata. Christ calls us to carry the cross and to give our hearts totally to Him. This task can be so diffcult in our daily lives and it risks unpopularity and being misunderstood often by those who are closest to us whether at work, in family and  community. Though we may not be called as Kolbe to give our life for another, It might mean sacrificing our aspirations or legtimate desire for a  higher yet more painfull good. Being misunderstood can be painful especially in the pursuit of what is seemingly good and just. St Maximilian knew this as a friar living in his religious community. May Our Lady and St Maximilain gives us the strength,( when  we are misunderstood or suffer being unpopular), to give  ourselves  to Christ Crucified,through the Immaculata, so Christ  may  live and work through u.

Br Louis Mary OFM Conv

Entrustment to Mary

Entrusting himself to Mary in a filial manner, the Christian, like the Apostle John, "welcomes" the Mother of Christ "into his own home" and brings her into everything that makes up his inner life, that is to say into his human and Christian "I": he "took her to his own home." Thus the Christian seeks to be taken into that "maternal charity" with which the Redeemer's Mother "cares for the brethren of her Son," "in whose birth and development she cooperates" in the measure of the gift proper to each one through the power of Christ's Spirit. Thus also is exercised that motherhood in the Spirit which became Mary's role at the foot of the Cross and in the Upper Room.

Blessed Pope John Paul II: Redemptoris Mater 

Maternal Mediation

From 33 Days to Morning Glory  by Fr Michael E. Gaitley, MIC:

One can find the main Marian teachings of Vatican II in the last chapter of the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, known by its Latin title, Lumen Gentium. The heart of these teachings has to do with what's usually called Mary's "maternal mediation". Maternal mediation basically means that Mary is our spiritual mother who assists us from heaven with her prayers and motherly care to help bring us to God.....

" ....the Blessed Virgin was on this earth the virgin Mother of the Redeemer, and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord. She conceived, brought forth and nourished Christ. She presented Him to the Father in the temple, and was united with Him by compassion as He died on the Cross. In this singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Saviour in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace.
This maternity of Mary in the order of grace began with the consent which she gave in faith at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, and lasts until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continued to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cultics, until they are led into the happiness of their true home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix. This, however, is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator."
Lumen Gentium 61, 62.