Militia of the Immaculate

In 1917, Saint Maximilian Kolbe founded a worldwide Catholic evangelization movement known as the Militia of the Immaculate. Essentially, this was an “army” devoted to the consecration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I was captivated by this idea when first learning of it, mainly because Mary is usually portrayed as such a docile person. Although I was intrigued by the concept, I never completely explored the possibility that I might actually enlist in Mary’s army.

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, everything began shutting down and everyone was confined to their houses, so a small group of friends and I sought to find community. We came together and agreed to meet every week virtually on Zoom to check up on each other and make sure we were all surviving the crisis. We ended each meeting by saying the rosary. As time went on, we decided we could meet twice a week and finished both meetings with the rosary.

Unbeknownst to us, Mary was beginning her recruitment. With every meeting, we found ourselves bringing personal prayer intentions for the rosary, and one member in our group wrote these intentions down. We still continue to pray for these intentions even now. There were many days when it was a struggle to find the motivation to log in and say these rosaries, but once we said the rosary, the burdens I had been carrying completely fell away. Today, we are continuing to come together and pray the rosary and have even added more participants to the group. Each member brings a new spirit and energy to invigorate our community even more.

This past weekend the Catholic church celebrated the feast of the Assumption of Mary, and in honor of this special day, our group met in person to attend Mass and then say the rosary together. Most members of the group live in New Jersey, so they met at a local church. I could not attend because I currently reside in South Carolina.

I have to admit this hurt me, knowing that all the other members of my group were gathering together without me. The fear of being left out or left behind plagued my mind. I even allowed this fear to seep so far into my consciousness that I began to regret moving to South Carolina, a decision which was so affirmed by the Lord when I first came to this state. I found myself questioning everything to a point that I wondered whether I was following the Lord’s call. Perhaps what I thought had been His voice was really my own, telling me what I wanted to hear.

In the midst of this downward spiral into depression, I received a phone call from one of the members of the prayer group. She wanted to tell me about the meeting after Mass on the Feast of the Assumption. I could feel my fear setting in, but I wanted to hear about it. I’m not sure what I was afraid of, perhaps just that I was not needed or missed at the gathering.

The first words my friend spoke were to assure me that I was missed. In the adoration chapel where the group said the rosary, there were eight open seats and seven members were present. The eighth seat was meant for me. My heart softened, and in an instant, the Lord removed all my fear and doubt. The fear that had manipulated my ability to see clearly disappeared, and that one reminder from my friend of the strength this group had built, I was reassured. That strength was rooted in Mary and her son Jesus Christ.

At this moment, I fully realized the call to the Militia. My friend recognized it too. She spoke with such authority in describing the way the group said the rosary in the chapel. We had been saying the rosary together for so long we could recite it in perfect synchronicity. We have come so far because we have bonded together in our faith. I can honestly say that we are indeed warriors, an army squad. We were brought together through God’s divine providence as part of His divine plan.

It is a true miracle that after worrying about losing my place in a small group of friends, I wound up enlisting to fight with them in Mary’s army. I no longer fear going into battle because I have my squad, formed before any of us could even imagine it. From this day on, we will be eternally united in Christ, no matter how many miles lie between us.

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Originally published at Kitty in the City.
Photo: Grant Whitty, Unsplash / PD-US