CHAPTER 3
THE PRESSES ROLL

            Fr. Maximilian was only twenty-five years old.  Although he was not cured, his Superiors allowed him to return to Cracow and carry on with his work.  He continued with the meetings for the Knights of the Immaculata, and soon the room they were using became far too small to hold all the members!  Also, the people who lived just outside the city were not able to attend the meetings.   A central meeting place was needed as soon as possible.  There was also need of a little bulletin, explaining about their organization.  The problem was partially solved when the Superiors told the Knights that they could publish a bulletin, provided that they raise the money themselves, because the monastery did not have enough money. 

            Fr. Maximilian decided to beg for money to help the cause.  But it was not easy.  Before knocking at the very first door, he turned back three times!  He had to force himself to beg for money, because he was too ashamed.  He succeeded and a priest was his first supporter. 

            The first issue of the bulletin, called “The Knight of the Immaculata,” was put out in January, 1922.  Fr. Maximilian had many difficulties in putting out the first issue of the Knight.  However, Our Lady helped him and somehow they succeeded.

            The second issue was also a problem.  It was sent to press, and when it was time to pay the printer, the Knights did not have a single penny to pay for it.  The Guardian of the monastery was not pleased and told Fr. Maximilian he would still have to come up with the money somehow, without putting the monastery in debt!  What was poor Fr. Maximilian to do? 

                As usual the holy priest prayed to the Blessed Virgin.  She would not let him down.  After Mass, Fr. Maximilian found an envelope on the altar of Our Lady.  It contained the exact amount of money needed to pay the printing bill.  On the outside of the envelope was written, “For my dear Mother, the Immaculata.”  Fr. Maxamilian hurried to see his Superior.  The Superior was very surprised to see the money, and realizing that Our Lady had helped out, he gave permission to Fr. Maximilian to use the money to pay his printing bill.  How the Blessed Virgin looks after those who love her!

            The little blue bulletin, continued to be put out, and somehow Our Lady always came up with enough money to pay the printer; she would not let Her Knights down!  Fr. Maximilian named Blessed Joseph Cottolengo as his cashier, and placed a picture of him in the little cardboard box he was using to hold money.  The Knights depended on God to look after them one day at a time.  They did not worry about tomorrow because they knew that God would always look after them. 

A lot of the monks in the monastery did not agree with the work that Fr. Maximilian was doing.  They thought he had gone too far by putting out a magazine.  But the holy priest did not let these things bother him.  He let the storm pass, and then went to ask the Superior’s permission to buy a printing press. It was getting too costly to pay the printers all the time.  Again, permission was granted, provided he find the money to pay for the press. 

Well, he did get the money, but he had to pay a special price.  That price was Humiliation!  An American priest was then visiting the monastery.  During recreation, some of the monks made fun of Fr. Maximilian, for printing his magazine and wanting to set up his own print shop. The visiting priest surprised the other monks by supporting good Fr. Maximilian.  After listening to their uncharitable comments he said, “My dear Fathers, instead of making fun of him, would it not be better to help him pay for the printing press?”  Then turning to Fr. Maximilian he said, “As a start, here is one hundred dollars to help you buy a printing press!”  The holy monk was grateful, as usual and thanked the priest and Our Lady for the generous donation.  He then used the money to buy a printing press from the Sisters of Divine Mercy.

Because of all the printing Fr. Maximilian was doing in the monastery, the Superiors decided to send him to a monastery far away in Grodno, Poland.  So on October 20^th, 1922, he arrived in Grodno, but the monastery was in terrible condition and there were only a few old Friars living there that were very poor.

At Grodno, Fr. Maximilian continued to give all his work, actions and love to Our Lady as before.  His main desire was to be a useful instrument to the Blessed Virgin Mary until his death.

The Friars continued to live in poverty at Grodno and the money gained from the Immaculata magazine, was used only to increase the printing, and to build up the stock of tools.  Like Fr. Maximilian, the Knights wanted to be generous and sacrifice their energy totally for Our Lady.  The saintly priest taught his Friars mostly by example and would correct them only when necessary.  They loved his example and his humility, and wanted to be heroic like him.

As the Friars continued printing, the Polish economy kept falling, and money continued losing value.  More and more people became

bankrupt and lost their businesses and their jobs.  But even though the outside world was suffering financially, more and more copies of the Immaculata magazine, continued to be printed.  Fr. Maximilian even sent the magazines out for free, but encouraged in writing, “We joyfully offer free subscriptions to anyone who is unable to offer anything for the work of the Immaculata, even by depriving himself a little.”

When the people read these words, many of them were moved to make the little sacrifice of not smoking, not buying new clothes, or not drinking, and used the money instead to help promote the Immaculata magazine.

Fr. Maximilian struck upon an excellent idea of publishing reports with photos of the Brothers in their habits, printing up the Immaculata magazine.  As a result, many men applied at the monastery, on the condition that they be able to work with the saintly priest.  The “City of the Immaculata” grew to have at least seven hundred Brothers! 

Fr. Maximilian had a great love for all the Brothers.  He looked upon them as his “little children”.  The Friars would knock on his door, at any hour of the night, and he was always glad to help and encourage them.  He insisted that all the Brothers who worked for the Immaculata, love Our Lady, and be Consecrated to Her.  He wanted all to love and honour Mary as Queen of their hearts.  Nothing else would do!

The Brothers worked with great joy, even though they were very poor.  From time to time, Fr. Maximilian would bring tools and supplies for printing, and the Brothers would run like children to meet the holy priest and take the items from him.

In 1925, a Jubilee Year of the Catholic Church, the Brothers at Grodno, decided to print up a beautiful calendar, which would give great honour and glory to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Because they wanted to print up 1200 copies, they had to work for three months, sleeping fewer hours and taking no recreation.

Fr. Maximilian would send the young Brothers to bed at night and then stay alone with Br. Albert to continue the work on the calendar.  The holy priest did not spare himself, working from morning till night; losing much needed sleep.  He and the Brothers worked hard to put out the best calendar possible.  In the end, Fr. Maximilian did not charge for the calendar, but on it he had printed, “Dear readers, if you believe that this calendar can help others to love Our Lady even a tiny bit more, kindly spread it around you.”  Enough was said, and the famous calendar brought in unexpected amounts of money!

One day the Provincial came to visit the monastery.  When he found out the great progress of the Immaculata magazine, he blessed it and asked to become one of the “Knights of the Immaculata”!  He also asked Fr. Fordon, the Guardian of the monastery, to provide a part of the building for a printing shop and the workers.  After Fr. Fordon told the Knights which room they could use for their printing, the grateful Brothers went to work that very night with picks and axes, tearing down useless walls and making a larger printing area.

Amazingly, Fr. Maximilian also bought new equipment for the new printing room.  Nobody knew where he got the money from, but God provides!  Suddenly one day, a bunch of mysterious crates arrived at the monastery.  There were beautiful printing machines in them and the Brothers were just itching to use them.

On starting up some of the machines, some motors could not be stopped, and one began to explode like a machine gun!  Even though Fr. Maximilian and the other Knights put their heads together, they could not figure out how to tone down the noisy machines.

Our Lady was watching Her Knights.  She smiled upon them, and at that very moment, a special machinist applied at the monastery to help the printers.  This man known as Br. Francis de Sales, calmed the thundering machines and everything went tremendously well.

The choicest Crosses are always given to those whom the good God loves most.  In 1926, Fr. Maximilian became very sick again.  His Superiors sent him at once to Zakopane, where he stayed for six months.  His brother Fr. Alphonse Kolbe, replaced him, but although he was not as intelligent as Fr. Maximilian, he was truly humble.  He had to solve all the problems with the other Knights, but mostly he relied on the help of Jesus and Mary.

At Zakopane, Fr. Maximilian suffered and prayed.  He spent his whole day in prayer.  He wrote to his brother, “When I am sometimes tempted to worry, I say to myself, ‘Foolish one, why do you worry?  Is this your work or Our Lady’s work?  If all belongs to Mary, then She will look after all!’”  And Mary did look after all, the Immaculata magazine continued to spread more and more!

During his illness, Fr. Maximilian also suffered darkness of soul.  He could not see what was happening in his soul and had to live by Faith, not feelings. He wrote to the novices at Grodno warning them, “Do not be attached to sensible graces.  You must expect periods of darkness, anxiety, fears, temptations, and sometimes physical or mental suffering. These crosses will help you become saints!”

                            to be continued

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