MILIZIA DELL'IMMACOLATA. - An association of prayer and Catholic-Marian apostolate, under the ideal of the Immaculate Conception, founded in Rome, in the international Seraphic College of the Friars Minor Conventual at St. Theodore, on 17 Oct. 1917, by the servant of God Fr. Maximilian M. Kolbe (v.), a Pole, together with 6 other confreres, as a reaction against the Freemasonry and socialism then dominant and against all the enemies of the Church, of every age. Encouraged by Benedict XV on 4 Apr. 1918 and canonically approved as a "Pia Unione" by the vicariate of Rome on 2 Jan. 1922, it was enriched with indulgences and privileges and erected as "primary" by Pius XI (briefs of 18 Dec. 1926 and 23 Apr. 1927); praised by Pius XII on 12 March 1942, it enlarged its organization with the new statute, approved by the vicariate of Rome on 24 March 1942.
The purpose of the M. of the I., as an active and militant devotion of apostolate (such is the meaning of its name and its spirit of "Marian chivalry"), is to promote the personal sanctification of the members ("militiamen" or "knights of the Immaculate," distinguished in 3 grades: simple militiamen, activists and organized zealots, apostles and missionaries; all, as an external sign, wear the miraculous medal [v.]) through perfect consecration and devotion to the Immaculate, and the conversion of sinners and of all the enemies of the Church, by every means of apostolate. The dogmatic foundations of the M. of the I. are the Mysteries, or Marian Offices, of the Immaculate Conception, of the spiritual maternity, of the mediation and of the universal queenship. Its spirituality is based on the concept of chivalrous love and service to the Virgin Immaculate, understood as perfect interior consecration and consecration of personal activities, in explicit function of the widest Catholic and social apostolate, for the conquest of souls for the Immaculate and for Christ.
According to the "statute," the M. of the I. is organized with a supreme moderator (who is always the minister general O.F.M. Conv.), a general direction (in Rome), national and regional centers, local Marian centers, simple branch seats and propaganda centers (seats in formation). At the death of the founder (1941), it was spread in various nations, with 70 seats, of which 39 in Italy, and with important centers in Poland and in Japan. It counts today (8 Dec. 1949) 4 national centers (Italy, Romania, Poland, Hungary), a special regional center in the United States of America (Carey, Ohio), and others elsewhere; it is spread in 12 nations of Europe, and counts ca. 2,100,000 enrolled members.
Of particular importance for the M. of the I., in these thirty years, has been the press apostolate. To be mentioned are the two "cities of the Immaculate," or great publishing centers founded by Fr. Kolbe in Poland (Niepokalanów, 1927) and in Japan (Mugenzai-no-Bono, near Nagasaki, 1930).
Among the most recent activities, mention should be made of the First National Convention of the directors of the M. of the I. of Italy (Assisi, Sept. 1948) and various regional Congresses; Marian preaching and missions, catechetical apostolate, visits to hospitals and prisons, various cultural and welfare activities of the Marian circles and "recreation centers," workshops and schools of tailoring, embroidery, etc.; works of the consecration of families to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and of the "Visit of Mary" in families, schools, institutes and workshops; of the "living
Rosary"; Day of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (13 May, with a special "supplication" to the B. V. of Fátima); the "Blue International," a work of fraternity and social assistance (founded in the centenary of the "manifesto" of C. Marx, 1948), with the two periodicals: L'Immacolata e il suo Cuore, from 1945, for consecrated families (12,000 monthly copies), and l'Internazionale Azzurra, from 1947 (Center of Genoa, with its own "Tipografia dell'Immacolata").
Aggregated to the M. of the I. are the two sodalities of the Little militiamen and Little knights of the Immaculate, founded in 1932 and 1934, for the Marian formation of little ones, from about 7 to 15 years of age. - See pl. LXVI.
Bibliography11 works
Lorenzo Di Fonzo