ISSN 2719-454X Knight No. 21 July — September 2020 of the Immaculata Heaven is my Homeland Militia Immaculatæ Traditional Observance Index 6 My journey to Catholicism through the Immaculata 11 Heaven is my Homeland 18 The M.I. in France 20 The uninterrupted M.I. Apostolate in Poland 21 New Knights in Poland 21 The establishment of the M.I. 2 — Mary's Kraków 22 Work of the M.I. Headquarters 23 The M.I. Apostolate in Dublin 24 New Polish publications 26 Booklet “My Daily Bread” in Russian 27 Request to the Pope 28 The M.I. in GB&Scandinavia District 29 A special present from the M.I. Headquarters 30 Renewal act of Consecration in Davao 32 The M.I. Apostolate in Central America 34 The M.I. Apostolate in South America 35 About the Militia Immaculatæ Publisher: Fundacja Militia Immaculatae, ul. Garncarska 34, 04-886 Warsaw, Poland Editors: Neville Philip (India), Howard Toon (Great Britain), Ibeth María Cárdenas Vallejo (Colombia), Ewa Tobiasz (Poland), Alicja Walszyńska-Jaworska (Great Britain), Sylwia Giermaz (redaktor naczelny) If you want to cooperate, please write to: [email protected] English Publications Books • Flyers • Booklets Books Booklets Flyers Order: www.kolbepublications.com Editorial Dear Knights of the Immaculata! "Scapular, Rosary and Miraculous Medal — here are three things that the Immaculata herself has deigned to offer for the salvation of mankind." With these words St. Maximilian Kolbe gives the shortest possible summary of our heavenly Mother’s immense love towards her children on earth. Be- cause she wants the very best for us, she gives us the necessary means to obtain this “best”. The more attacks there are from the enemy and the more oppression from his innumerable armies, the more she gives from the abun- dance of her Immaculate Heart all we need to vanquish them. We have the privilege of living in times about which St. Therese of the Child Jesus only dreamt: we are stepping into the “great tribulation”. Dur- ing past years we have witnessed evils surpassing all that has ever been seen in the world of wickedness, evil, apostasy, blasphemy, terror etc. Behind this apocalyptic scenery we need to re-read the above mentioned sentence of the holy founder of the M.I. Many Catholics have been and are still unjustly deprived of the possibility of receiving the Sacraments, attend- ing Holy Mass or even visiting the church. However, Our Lady did not per- mit that we be totally abandoned, and even if her spiritual weapons are secondary (they are sacramentals) in comparison with the primary means (sacraments), we must thank her on our knees, that she at least left us these. Is this not the echo of what she said to Sr. Lucy, that now Our Lord gives the world the last means of salvation: the devotion to her Immaculate Heart and the Rosary? If we consider the essence of the Brown Scapular and the Miraculous Medal, we easily recognise that both are a perfect expression not only of the Love of her Immaculate Heart but also of our Devotion to her Immaculate Heart. 4 July — September 2020 (No. 21) Maybe we can go so far as to say: wherever people hold in true esteem the Brown Scapular, the Rosary and the Medal, they will be preserved from the worst, they will overcome temptation and not be lost in the devil’s final battle. But who will give them these means, if the churches and the priests are literally “locked down”? Who will introduce them into the spirit and veritable devotion of Our Lady clothing her children (Scapular), bestowing them with innumerable graces (Medal), giving them the chain which anchors them securely to heaven (Rosary)? Who will teach them to use these weapons properly to wear Our Lady’s uniform (Scapular), to attack with Our Lady’s bullets, and to shoot with Our Lady’s machine gun (Rosary)? Here you have the reason for this issue of the “Knight”! Never before in the history of the apostolate of the Knights has it been so important for the salvation of souls. It is as if we were among the last to provide the soldiers in the battlefield with ammunition, and essential supplies, without which they would simply starve. On the other hand, in times of trouble and emergency many hearts look for help. If all is suddenly shaken and insecure, and the “paradise on earth” is being crushed, then at least some finally send their sighs to Heaven. Blessed be them, if they find a Knight to feed them with flyers, booklets, little movies (our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/c/MilitiaImmaculataeTraditional), pictures and devotionals, but above all, with Medals and Rosaries! Please be the instrument of Our Lady NOW! Even if you are also ‘locked down’, then at least send the links of our websites (www.militia-immaculatae.org; www.m-i.info), good articles and films etc. out into the whole world. Look, in Nigeria there is just ONE KNIGHT, who every day sends spiritual food, won- derful prayers etc. to thousands. Do the same in the name of Our Lady! Then you will not only overcome these terrible trials, you will be amongst those whom Our Lady chooses to win in the devil’s final battle! Fr. Karl Stehlin Warsaw, on the Feast of Saint Anthony, the 13th of June 2020 5 My journey to Catholicism through the Immaculata My journey to Catholicism through the Immaculata The testimony of one woman from Turkey It is over seven years ago. That cold Sunday morning on which I found myself on my way to church. It felt surreal. I, raised a Muslim, got up early in the morning to go to church. It felt wrong, but something inside me made me step into the building nonetheless. Nothing could have prepared me for what happened that day. For the first time in my life I heard the Gospel and had an encounter with God. This encounter shook me to the core, and changed me forever. I converted on the spot. I did not know anything about Christianity but this: I have found the true God. How did this happen? Let me introduce myself. I am a 32 year old woman of Turkish descent. This means that I was raised Islamic. At a young age I started to doubt the truth of this religion and when I grew up I decided after much research that I could not believe in Islam. I did vaguely believe there had to be a God, Someone who took care of man, and I started researching many religions to find the truth. The only reli- gion that I did not want to research was Christianity, because I believed that I certainly could not believe that God had become a man and paid for our sins, it seemed very illogical to me. After several conversations on faith with my best friend I did decide to read about Christianity. I found that Christianity was not at all what I thought it was. It was not illogical, it was a well-thought-out and logical 6 July — September 2020 (No. 21) system. However, this did not mean that I believed it to be true. Eventually, out of pure curiosity, I went to a (Protestant, evangelical) church for the first time, with this friend, and during that service God intervened in my life in such a way that I could no longer deny His existence and His truth. Thanks to this experience, I understood not only with the mind but also with the heart that Christianity is the true religion. I studied the Bible every day and read many books to learn more about this God and I under- stood more and more that there was no other religion in which God has more compassion and love for man than in Christianity. I did not only learn this from books, but I experienced it strongly in my life. God's love carried me through the many difficult moments that followed my conversion. Soon after my conversion I tried to study and understand the many differences between all the denominations. My knowledge of Christianity was so limited that I did not even know what evangelicalism was. I tried The southwestern entrance mosaics in Hagia Sophia 7 My journey to Catholicism through the Immaculata to find my way through the many churches and denominations. I ended up in a strict Reformed (Calvinist) church because I thought that to be the most traditional church. After about a year, I began to question certain doctrines of Calvinism. For example, the practice that anyone with a Bible in their hand could in- terpret the Word of God for themselves frustrated me. I believed that God is a God of order, clarity and truth, but this practice created chaos and ambiguity. How could anyone claim to be led by the Holy Spirit and ad- here to such conflicting doctrines? God does not contradict himself! The divisions between the many denominations hurt me, especially because Jesus himself prayed for unity in His Church! I also found out that some Protestant practices were not biblical, while some biblical practices were not practised in Protestant churches. I started thinking about the first Christians, how did they live? What did they believe? What were their practices? Where can I find the truth among the ruins of 2000 years of Christian history? After speaking to some Catholics online, I gradually discovered that Catholicism might have the answers to my questions. This was a big shock to me. I had always been taught that Catholicism was ‘unbiblical’, and I struggled with its teachings and doctrines.