Our Story

The Militia of the Immaculata was founded in Rome on 16 October 1917 by Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, OFM Conv. and six of his Conventual Franciscan confreres. St. Maximilian envisioned the M.I. as ‘a global vision of Catholic life in a new form, consisting in the bond with the Immaculata, our universal Mediatrix before Jesus’ (Kolbe Writings 1220).

More than a century later, the M.I. is a thriving International Public Association of the Faithful under the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life. It unites laity, clergy, and consecrated persons in giving themselves completely to the Immaculata for their own sanctification and in collaboration with Mary’s maternal mission to direct the hearts of all towards Jesus Christ.

Our Spirituality

At the heart of the M.I. is simply an invitation to Marian consecration: entrusting oneself completely to the Immaculata for one’s sanctification and for the salvation of others. Once consecrated to Mary, members follow the Immaculata and the Holy Spirit’s inspiration on how to live out this gift of consecration.

All members of the M.I. are missionaries for Christ after the example of Mary. In recognizing that the true missionary is committed to the way of holiness, the M.I. spirituality affirms the pre-eminence of the interior life, according to a principle dear to St. Maximilian: ‘Dedicate yourself completely to your own spiritual life, so that you may give yourself completely to all by way of overabundance’ (Kolbe Writings 980).

M.I. members live out their mission through their ordinary activities and in the various sectors of society in which they are immersed. Everywhere they are called to promote the protection of life from conception to natural death, to offer themselves in service to the integral dignity of the person, and to set forth the values of fraternity, justice and solidarity.

For information on how to enrol in the M.I., click here.

Knights at the Foot of the Cross

M.I. members who especially carry a cross of suffering in body, mind, or spirit can also join the Knights at the Foot of the Cross, a spiritual powerhouse of prayer within the Association. Like Mary suffering with Jesus at the foot of His Cross, the Knights offer some of their daily prayers and trials to Christ for the success of the M.I. and for wherever else the Lord wills that these graces be applied.

The Knights’ other role model is St. Maximilian himself, who persevered in charity towards his Nazi captors and his fellow prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War. St. Maximilian endured profound suffering and eventually died to save another prisoner, thereby imitating the example of Jesus Christ, who laid down His life for all people.

Through the Knights’ consecration to the Immaculata, their offering up of their own suffering draws the entire Association into the redemptive mystery of Christ and renews its missionary thrust.

For information on how to join the Knights at the Foot of the Cross, click here.