Marian Movement of Priests and Laity

All for Jesus through Mary, after the example of Saint Joseph and with the help of the holy Angels.
Motto of the MPL

One of the deepest and most beautiful mysteries of our faith is the intimate union of the Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Just as in Adam and Eve two wills united in disobedience and brought guilt upon the whole human race, so in Jesus and Mary two wills united in perfect obedience and brought salvation to humanity.

Little Jacinta of Fatima said shortly before her death to her cousin Lúcia:

“Tell everyone that God gives us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that people must ask for them, that the Heart of Jesus wills that the Heart of our Heavenly Mother be venerated at His side. One should ask for peace from our Heavenly Mother, for God has entrusted it to her.”

The apparition of the Angel promised the three children that the Hearts of Jesus and Mary would heed their prayers. Thus the devotion to the Heart of Jesus our Lord and His Immaculate Mother complements the veneration of the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, to thereby prepare their triumph throughout the whole world.

I rejoice with all my heart at the newly founded Marian Movement of Priests and Laity, which has set for its lofty goal participation in this triumph. May God grant this small community the grace to grow steadily and to remain faithful to its founding charism through all storms and tribulations.

Especially amid the ever-growing confusion within the Church, due to the disastrous efforts to conform to the spirit of this world, the instruction of St. Cyril of Alexandria should be our inviolable principle:

“If out of fear of inconvenience we shrank from speaking the truth for the glory of God, how could we dare to celebrate the struggles and triumphs of the martyrs in the presence of the Christian people, whose glory is founded precisely on having realized in their lives the word: ‘Fight to the death for the truth.’”
(Sir 4,28 | Epistula 9)

19 March 2022, on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph

• Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana

Our Marian Movement of Priests and Laity for the Triumph of the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary (MPL), founded on December 8, 2021, orients itself entirely in its spiritual direction to the original form of the Militia of the Immaculata founded by St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe. Therefore, we have chosen this great apostle of Mary and fighter against all heresies, alongside the Mother of God Mary, Mother of the Church, and St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, as special patrons of our new apostolate movement.

“O Immaculata, when at last will You reign in the hearts of all and each one?
When at last will all the inhabitants of the earth acknowledge You as Mother and the Heavenly Father as Father?”
– St. Maximilian M. Kolbe

“Whoever does the will of My Father is My brother and sister and mother.”
(Mt 12,50)

The Goals of the MPL

1. Courageous confession of the true Catholic faith

2. The veneration of the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the promotion of their triumph throughout the whole world

3. Imitation of the Holy Family of Nazareth through a life in the Divine Will, in order thereby to contribute to the renewal of the Church

4. Mutual strengthening and support on the common path of faith, in order to resist the great temptation to conform to the world and its principles (cf. Rom 12,2; 2 Tim 4,3-5)

5. To give support and orientation to all who are searching for the truth

6. Catechesis

7. Apostolate and mission work

Concrete Means

The following points show us how we can concretely participate in the apostolate for the triumph of the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary:

• Anchor one’s own life entirely in the will of God and cultivate an intimate relationship with God

• Regular reception of the holy sacraments

• Total consecration to the Immaculata according to the MI Rule (see pages 10 and 11)

• Consecration to the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary

• Vicarious prayer, sacrifice, and suffering
  (We pray especially for the Holy Father, bishops, priests, all consecrated persons, and the sanctification of families. Likewise, the protection of life as well as the conversion of all who err, all unbelievers, and all enemies of the holy Church should be a special prayer intention for us.)

• Daily practice of the Rosary

• Proclamation and distribution of writings

• Distribution of the Miraculous Medal

• Works of charity and donations

St. Maximilian M. Kolbe was ordained a priest on April 28, 1918. Deeply permeated by the dignity of his state, he took refuge in the Immaculata. She introduced him to the Mystery of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist. His love for Jesus in these mysteries touched the innermost fibers of his heart.

On September 8, 1932, Fr. Maximilian writes to a fellow friar:

“How often I dream that in the City of the Immaculata the Savior is adored day and night in the monstrance. How much blessing would the worshippers call down from heaven upon every newly printed copy of our ‘Knight’, upon every soul that somewhere in the world joins the Militia ...”
And to every “Knight” he calls out:
“Love the Immaculata with all your heart, turn to her often with ejaculatory prayers and she will teach you to repay the love of the Savior, which He shows you on the Cross and in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, with boundless love.”

During a cure stay in Nieszawa he often passed by a Protestant church. He writes to his brother how he prays fervently for the conversion of the pastor and ardently longs for the church to become a Catholic house of God, so that the Eucharistic Savior might be adored day and night.

In the informative process, Fr. Lukas Kuszba OFMConv reports:

“When one observed him during the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, one could not take one’s eyes off him, so fascinating was his face. During adoration he usually knelt before the altar steps. I observed Fr. Maximilian several times while he celebrated Holy Mass: He seemed to shine with a light that is not of this earth. He was full of gentleness, devotion, and recollection.”

The last days of his life in the concentration camp were the culmination of his priesthood. Even though he was no longer allowed to celebrate Holy Mass, he was in his whole bearing the “shepherd of souls.” The witnesses repeatedly reported about his apostolic zeal, his spirit of faith, his life sacrifice, and the joy in that sacrifice.

The source of this joy and dedication, he said himself, is:

“The Immaculata and the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament.”
And he shared this joy with all around him. He was like a magnet drawing us to God and to the Mother of God. He often spoke to us of divine mercy. He wanted to convert the whole camp ... He prayed unceasingly for sinners, for enemies. When he could, he gave his food rations to other hungry people and took on the heaviest work in place of others.
(Die Immaculata unser Ideal, p. 87-89)

“To conquer the whole world and every single soul, present today or until the end of the world, for the Immaculata, and through her for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
– St. Maximilian M. Kolbe

After the heroic death of Maximilian M. Kolbe, the Knighthood of the Immaculata spread in a wonderful way throughout the world. On the eve of the Second Vatican Council, it numbered over 4 million members and exercised its blessing on all continents. Then came the Council with the great revolution and with it the “Aggiornamento”, the opening to the modern, godless world, to which the Militia Immaculatae also fell victim. After various modifications, the definitive new statutes approved by the Holy See were published in 1997, which, unfortunately, no longer correspond to the original ideal of St. Maximilian.
(Cf. Die Immaculata unser Ideal p. 219)

At the source of life,
by the wayside of time,
there flow the graces
from the sea of eternity.

The graces that flow
in countless hours
are bound to the decree
of the Father.

They do not return,
they hurry past.
Even lamenting and weeping
will not bring them back.

If you squander them
with foolish mind,
then they are lost
and gone forever.

So let them not flow,
the graces of life,
like water past you only
in vain.

Like fish in water
you should always swim
in the Divine Will,
with all your senses.

Through faith and hope,
prayer and love,
and despising sin
with roots and shoots.

This Mary teaches you,
the Mother of the Lord,
through whom He grants graces
in streams so gladly.

(Capuchin Sisters of Perpetual Adoration,
St. Maria Loreto, Salzburg)

Prayer

Just as the sun reflects in the sea, so the glory of God shines back upon us as a reflection when we live and pray in His presence. Therefore, sincere prayer is the most powerful means to bring to fruition the divine radiance implanted in us. Prayer is the highest achievement of which man is capable. So St. Edith Stein expresses it.
When we speak with God in prayer, He transforms our praying and all our actions, which we offer to Him through our good intention, into graces for us and for all whom God wants to bless through us.

Let us pray, let us carry the Cross, and let us love all souls without exception, friend and enemy, very much …
I fear neither hunger nor suffering. For Mary I am ready for anything …
From heaven we will then work on our executioners with both hands. We want their hearts.
Whoever is truly consecrated to the Mother of God reaches without hesitation, wherever he may be, into the hearts of people, even the worst, and saves innumerable souls.
(St. Maximilian M. Kolbe)

Especially in today’s hectic world, the apostolate of ejaculatory prayers, to which the Saint encourages us, is the best way to stay connected with God and also to do much for the salvation of souls. Ejaculatory prayers are like bullets from a machine gun with which we fight the enemy. Without knowing it, the grace of the Lord and the mercy of the Immaculata are called down upon our neighbor until one day he is overwhelmed and prostrates himself before his Creator and Redeemer.

In the MI the following ejaculatory prayer is especially recommended:
Jesus, Mary, I love You, save souls!
It is especially valuable, since it expresses both the two holy names of Jesus and Mary and the love for them, as well as the love for souls. In this sense Fr. Maximilian writes in a letter:

The best devotion to the Immaculata is not reciting many prayers, but the simple intimate relationship of the child to the Mother, which finds its best expression in short but very intimate and very often repeated ejaculatory prayers.

God attaches special graces to the Rosary, for which the Mother of God so urgently asks us. This often mocked prayer is the chain that binds Satan. Today it is said: The Holy Rosary is a contemplative prayer. But it is far more: it is a spiritual weapon. Its beads are “ammunition”! No wonder the enemies of the holy Church fear this prayer more than all physical weapons of Christians! Sr. Lucia even said in 1957 in her interview with Fr. Fuentes:

There is no problem, of whatever kind and however great, that cannot be solved with the Rosary!
(Das Reich des Göttlichen Willens kommt durch Maria, p. 14)

Submissive to the Lady
Mary is the way of God to man and of man to God. So has Divine Wisdom decreed. As Jesus came to men through His Mother, so men come to God through her. In St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673–1716) and in St. Maximilian M. Kolbe (1894–1941) she chose zealous apostles of Mary to open to men the spiritual wealth of total consecration to Jesus through Mary. Through this consecration all graces that were planted in us like a seed at Baptism can come to full fruition. Therefore, lived consecration to Mary is as it were the express train to holiness (10). And holiness is one of the mightiest weapons, against which every spiritual power of hell is utterly powerless, because it anchors us entirely in the Divine Will.

In this sense Luisa Piccarreta explains:

This is the whole essence of holiness: Conformity of our entire will with the will of God. The soul that has resolved to conform its own will to the will of God feels inexpressibly happy. In it is peace and serenity, it possesses an unshakable foundation: God. (…) Let us not lose peace when feelings cool. What matters is the will, and only the will. On the contrary: The more nature rebels, the greater will be the merits we accumulate.
(Das Reich des Göttlichen Willens kommt durch Maria, p. 137, 140)

Thus Mary can through the souls consecrated to her crush the head of the serpent by erasing all errors throughout the world. She can do this to the extent that each one lets himself be transformed by her. This transformation happens through the many small acts we do daily. Of them Fr. Maximilian says:

Life has as much value as the acts of love of God that fill it. When the soul gives its acts to the Immaculata as her own, then she gives them on to God as her own. In this way our acts of love toward God receive their whole beauty.
(Konferencje Świętego Maksymiliana Marii Kolbego, Niepokalanów 1990)

Footnotes:
10 When we consecrate ourselves to the Mother of God in order to do everything with Mary, in Mary, through Mary and for Mary, she leads us surely to total consecration to Jesus. At the same time, through this consecration we place our inner and outer possessions, yes even the value of all our good works, into the hands of Mary, that she may preserve, increase and beautify them. What we thus entrust to Mary cannot be taken from us by any human being, nor by the evil enemy, nor by our own frailty. Moreover, we thereby practice Christian charity to a high degree, because we allow Mary to dispose of our spiritual goods for the benefit of the living and the dead. (Cf. St. L. M. Grignion de Montfort, Das Goldene Buch, Feldkirch 1987, p. 233–238)

Sacrifice
As gold in fire, so must love be purified in sacrifice. Fr. Maximilian confirms this from his own experience:

Nothing unites us so much with the Immaculata and strengthens us in love as love combined with suffering for love. On exactly this path of suffering we can convince ourselves whether we really belong to her without any reservations. Let us remember that love lives and nourishes itself with sacrifices.
(Source: Die Immaculata unser Ideal, p. 149, 150, 151, 153)

And what does the Mother of God tell us on August 19, 1917 in Fatima?

Pray and sacrifice, for so many souls go to perdition because there is no one to pray and offer sacrifices for them.
(Source: Das Reich des Göttlichen Willens kommt durch Maria, p. 137, 140)

The Miraculous Medal of the Immaculate

In 1830 Mary appeared to St. Catherine Labouré in the Rue du Bac and revealed herself as Mediatrix of all graces. From the jeweled rings with which the hands of the Most Blessed Virgin were adorned, such luminous rays went forth that the whole figure of the Mother of God was enveloped in bright light. The most holy Virgin explained to St. Catherine:

The rays are a symbol of the graces I pour out upon those who ask me for them. Thereby she gave me to understand how merciful she is towards all who beseech her, how many graces she grants to all who ask for them, and what joy it is for her when she can give us these graces. I also saw that from some of these jewels no rays emanated. I wondered greatly at this. Then I heard the most blessed Virgin say:
The jewels that send forth no rays symbolize those graces that people neglect to ask of me. [...] Around the apparition of the most blessed Virgin an oval frame formed, on which these words could be read in golden letters:

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Thereupon I heard clearly and distinctly a voice that said to me:
Have a medal struck after this model. All persons who wear it will obtain great graces. Graces will be abundant for those who wear it confidently around their neck. At that moment the image seemed to turn, and I saw the reverse of the medal. There I saw the letter M, surmounted by a cross resting on a bar. Beneath the M I saw the Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the first surrounded by a crown of thorns, the second pierced by a sword.
(Die Heilige Katharina Labouré und die Wunderbare Medaille der Unbefleckten by Dr. Maria Cuylen, p. 31, 32)

After a two-year examination of all these events, the Archbishop of Paris gave permission for the medal to be struck. Thereupon a stream of grace began to spread over the whole world, for everywhere the medal was desired. This triumph of the Mother of God was shown through countless miracles of grace, conversions and healings, so that it was soon spoken of only as the “Miraculous” or “Wonderful” Medal.

But even today the stream of graces does not cease, but grows stronger than ever. We human beings are not only spirit but also body. Therefore, we need outward signs that bring the inner disposition to light. Fr. Maximilian explains:

The Miraculous Medal is the outward sign of inner total consecration to the Immaculata.
(Flugblatt über die MI 1938)

He often told his brothers rather extraordinary occurrences that he himself had experienced with the Miraculous Medal. For example, during one of his cure stays in Zakopane he tried to convert a young freethinker who proudly called himself a “heretic”:

All arguments were in vain. However, out of politeness he accepted the Miraculous Medal. Then I suggested he go to confession. “I am not prepared. Absolutely not!”, was the answer. But in the same moment he fell to his knees, as if compelled by a higher power. The confession began, the young man wept like a child. The Immaculata had won.

Of course it was not the medal as a physical object that was the cause of this wonderful change in the human heart, but the Immaculata, who attaches her special graces to the wearing of the Miraculous Medal. And there were very many such events in the life of St. Maximilian. Therefore:

Distribute the medal wherever possible: to children, that they may always wear it around their neck, to old and young, that they may have sufficient strength under her protection to resist the temptations and traps that assail them especially in our times. And also to those who do not go to church, who are afraid to confess, who make fun of religious practices, who laugh at the truths of faith, who are sunk in the moral swamp or live in heresy outside the Church – offer the medal of the Immaculata to all of these and ask them to wear it, but then also fervently implore the Immaculata for their conversion.
(Die Immaculata unser Ideal, p. 155-157)

Total Consecration to Mary

O Immaculata, Queen of heaven and earth, Refuge of sinners and our Mother, who love us so much and to whom God has entrusted the whole order of mercy!
I, N., a faithless sinner, cast myself at Your feet and implore You from the depths of my heart: Deign to accept me wholly and entirely as Your possession and Your property. Do with me as You please, with all the faculties of my soul and body, with my whole life, my death and my eternity. Dispose entirely of me as You will, that what is said of You may be fulfilled: “She will crush the head of the serpent.” – and likewise: “You alone have conquered all heresies throughout the world.”
Make me an instrument in Your hands to serve You, to increase Your glory as much as possible in so many fallen and lukewarm souls. Thus the gentle kingdom of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus will spread ever more. For wherever You enter, You obtain the grace of conversion and sanctification, for all graces come to us from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus only through Your hands.
Grant me to praise You, O most holy Virgin, and give me power against Your enemies. Amen.

(St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, 17 Das Reich des Göttlichen Willens kommt durch Maria, p. 145.)

The Prayer of the Militia of the Immaculata

O Mary,
conceived without sin,
pray for us
who have
recourse to thee
and for all
who do not
have recourse to thee,
especially for the
Freemasons.

Consecration to the United Hearts

Eternal Father, You have received the highest glorification from the Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Your divine Son made man, united with His Mother in the spirit of loving reparation, has perfectly fulfilled Your will. We offer You this glorification anew, that You may bless and heal us through these Hearts and send the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth.

Divine Redeemer, we acknowledge You as the Son of the Eternal Father, the only Mediator before God. According to the Father’s good pleasure, You have united Your holy Mother as Mediatrix and helper in the work of redemption with Your mission. In this spirit of living trust, we desire to consecrate ourselves, our families, and especially the Marian Movement of Priests and Laity to the united Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

We thereby pledge ourselves to live in this spirit of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and to work that the petitions of the prayer You Yourself taught us may be fulfilled: We desire to strive that everywhere we have influence, Your name may be hallowed, Your kingdom come to us, and all be done according to Your Divine Will. Then You will also bless the earth with daily bread for all. You will forgive us our trespasses and incline our hearts to peace. You will mercifully preserve us from new offenses and finally deliver us from all evil.

This we ask through our beloved Mother and Lady, whom we invoke with confidence with the greeting of the Angel:
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Prayer of Offering

Heavenly Father, we entrust and offer unto You the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the victorious, bleeding wounds of Jesus, and the tears of our Heavenly Mother.
Lord, Thy will be done!

Just as the sick at the pool of Bethesda hoped for healing as soon as the angel had troubled the water, so this prayer offering is like an angel that stirs up the force field of the helping love of the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary – for the two wings of this prayer are trust and conformity of will with God. From Die Vereinigten Herzen Jesu und Mariens by Fr. Joh. Ev. Gehrer OFMCap, Imprimatur: Episcopal Ordinariate Feldkirch, September 17, 1981

Prayer to St. Joseph

Loving Saint Joseph, mighty protector of the holy Church, behold the great tribulation of the Bride of Jesus Christ and the terrible distress of so many souls. O come to their aid with Jesus and Mary, the holy angels and saints. Confound the plans of the wicked and enkindle the hearts of the faithful with the fire of the Holy Spirit, so that they may confess Jesus freely and openly, fight for the causes of the Kingdom of God, and triumph. Amen.

Powerful Guardian Angel Prayer

Holy Guardian Angel, I ask you for your help. Guide, direct, lead, sanctify, bless, protect and govern me, pray and intercede for me.

Destroy in the name of the Most Holy Trinity all satanic curses, maledictions, enchantments and diabolical assaults against me. Consecrate me to the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, immerse me in the Precious Blood of Jesus, place me in the holy wounds of Jesus, set up a protective wall with the Precious Blood of Jesus all around me, and cover me with the shield of the Immaculate Conception.

Cast down in the name of the Most Holy Trinity all demons that wish to harm me into the infernal abyss, and bind them for time and eternity through our crucified and gloriously risen Redeemer. May the Almighty and Triune God, the † Father, the † Son and the † Holy Spirit, grant me this from now until eternity, and may the maternal protection of the Queen of Heaven come down upon me and remain with me always. Amen.

Remain aware of the fact that from the cradle to the grave there is a heavenly spirit beside us who never leaves us for a moment, who leads and protects us like a friend or a brother, who is always there to comfort us, especially in our saddest hours. You must know that this good angel prays for you. He offers to God all the good works you perform, as well as your pure and holy desires. In the hours when you feel alone and forsaken, do not complain that you have no friendly soul to whom you could open yourself and confide your sufferings. For heaven’s sake, do not forget this heavenly companion, who is always there and ready to listen to you, always ready to comfort you. O precious intimacy! O blessed company!
(From a letter of St. Pio of April 20, 1920, in: Die Engel by Rene Lejeune, Hauteville/Switzerland, 1999)

Renew all things in Christ through the Immaculata.
(St. Maximilian M. Kolbe)

I will put an end to the reign of godlessness. In place of the throne of the “beast” two glorious thrones will rise: that of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and that of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Take heart! The kingdom of God is near. It will begin through an act as sudden as it is unexpected.
(Source: Jesus to Marthe Robin)