Maximilian Kolbe and the Immaculate Conception
This was the first time ever that Pentecost celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church are back to back. For this reason we reflect today on the relationship of the Holy Spirit and Mary according to Maximilian Kolbe with this reflection from our archive.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe and his insights to Mary
St. Maximilian Kolbe gave the Church one of the greatest insights to Mary as the Immaculate Conception. He dictated this to Br. Arnold in his office on the morning of February 17, 1941; around noon St. Maximilian was arrested by the Gestapo and ultimately taken to Auschwitz where he gave his life for another man. I’ve had the privilege of talking, praying and working with Fr. Gregorz Bartosik, the greatest living Kolbe scholar in that very room. We were also privileged to record the Rosary on the Road there and place was supernaturally electric.
Br. Arnold relates, “Generally, Fr. Maximilian would dictate the text to me while pacing back and forth in his little cell. He often paused for reflection, or rather raised his thought toward the Immaculata, because in those instants he would stop and seemed to be staring into the distance. He often clutched the rosary beads on his heart with his right hand. Every now and then, we stopped to recite three Hail Marys and Glory Be’s, kneeling on the floor with our heads bowed, because he often said: We are only writing what the Immaculata herself wishes. That is why we need to pray to her for that purpose.”
Saint Maximilian Kolbe and Lourdes
St Maximilian was captivated by the fact that at Lourdes, in 1858, Mary stated her name in a unique way saying: I am the Immaculate Conception! For Kolbe, since these words came out of the mouth of Mary, they must indicate accurately and in the most essential manner who she is. This left Kolbe with a burning Question: Who are you, O Immaculate Conception? To answer this, Kolbe began with the Trinity. Who is the Father? What is his essence? Because He begets the Son from eternity…the Father’s essential attribute is begetting. Who is the Son? He is the begotten One; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father. And who is the Spirit? He is the fruit of the love between the Father and the Son. Now, the fruit of created love is a created conception. Therefore, the fruit of divine love, the prototype of all love, is the first conception. The Holy Spirit is, therefore, the Divine Uncreated Immaculate Conception.
Mary and the Holy Spirit
From the first moment of her existence, Mary was perfectly filled and transformed by the Holy Spirit. Kolbe says: It is the union of her being with the being of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in her from the first instance of her existence, and he will reside within her eternally. What does this life of the Holy Spirit in her consist? The Spirit is love in her, the love of the Father and the Son, the entire love of the Most Holy Trinity, a fruitful love, a conception. The Holy Spirit’s union with Mary represents the total love of the Holy Trinity, while Mary’s love represents the entire love of creation. Thus is created the union of heaven and earth, Uncreated Love with created love; it is the highest expression of love.
At Lourdes, Mary did not define herself as “Conceived without sin,” but, as St. Bernadette related…She said in a voice in which you could notice a slight tremor…I am the Immaculate Conception.” If, among humans, a bride takes the name of her husband by the fact that she belongs to him, unites herself to him, is made similar to him and, together with him engenders new life, how much more should the name of the Holy Spirit, the Uncreated Immaculate Conception, be the name of Mary with whom the Spirit is united in supernatural love.
Mary, the Holy Spirit, and the Immaculate Conception
Mary is the Immaculate Conception because the Holy Spirit who is the Uncreated Immaculate Conception, filled her with himself from the first moment of her existence and that is the reality we celebrate today, December 8. Fr. Gregorz Bartosik According to Kolbe, Mary and the Holy Spirit are two separate persons, but their union is so close, that though Kolbe called Mary the “Spouse of the Spirit” it was not adequate. In fact, Kolbe preferred to call Mary the “Quasi-Incarnation” of the Holy Spirit. Kolbe said the Son became manifest in Jesus and the Holy Spirit became manifest in Mary.
That is when I said to Fr Bartosik, what would Kolbe think of this: If the Holy Spirit is the Uncreated Immaculate Conception and Mary is the created Immaculate Conception, then Mary is the visible sign that makes the maternal mission of the Spirit present and effective to form Christ in Christians Mary is the Perfect Human Expression of the Spirit Mary is the Sacrament of the Holy Spirit Bartosik became excited, sprung forward in his seat and said – that is exactly how Kolbe understood it.
Mary, the sacrament of the Holy Spirit
Mary is the sacrament of the Holy Spirit The Catechism 1131 defines the sacrament as having Three essential parts Sacraments are Efficacious signs Instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church By which divine life is dispensed to us.” Mary is an efficacious sign of the Holy Spirit Mary is the perfect human expression of the maternal and educational mission of the Spirit to conceive and form Jesus in us Mary is also a sign that makes the maternal mission of the Spirit effective; the presence of Mary makes the mission of the Spirit happen to form Jesus in us When we consecrate ourselves to Mary or turn to her in prayer, as we do in the Rosary, the mission of the Holy Spirit to bring Jesus to us and form him within us is made present and effective. Mary’s presence makes the mission of the Spirit present John Paul II: Rosarium Virginis Mariae “The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary’s side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is fully formed in us (cf. Gal 4:19).” RVM 15