Day 8
Mary’s Gift of Mercy
As we begin Week Two of the retreat, we turn our hearts toward St. Maximilian Kolbe, a powerful witness of Marian consecration and heroic love. Fr. Gaitley introduces us to Kolbe as “the saint of Auschwitz,” a man whose devotion to Mary shaped every aspect of his life — especially his capacity to love without limits.
Kolbe’s consecration to Mary was total and absolute. He called it becoming her “possession and property” — not as a form of slavery, but as a complete surrender rooted in love. His entire mission, through the movement he founded (the Militia Immaculata), was to bring souls to God through Mary, trusting in her perfect intercession and maternal care.
Fr. Gaitley emphasizes Kolbe’s deep understanding of Mary as the “mediatrix of grace” — the one through whom all graces flow, because God has chosen her to distribute His mercy. Kolbe believed that the closer we are to Mary, the more effectively we become instruments of divine mercy in the world.
Kolbe didn’t just believe this in theory — he lived it in the most radical way, offering his life in place of another man at Auschwitz. That act of love sprang from a heart totally united to Mary and filled with the fire of her love for Jesus.
Today’s invitation: let Mary possess your heart as she did Kolbe’s, so she can lead you to a life poured out in love.
