In 1917, St. Maximilian Kolbe, one of our Franciscan Friars Conventual, founded the Militia of the Immaculate, an association that promotes consecration or entrustment to Mary, the Immaculate Conception, so that She might use us as instruments in Her hands to draw all people to Christ, including those who have fallen away from the Church. In the beginning, the Militia of the Immaculate was meant to fight two main evils in the world: World War I and the Free Masonry movement. However, as Pope St. John II said in 1982 in canonizing St. Maximilian that he was a saint for a difficult century, the 21st century is not much better and we need to enlist St. Maximilian and Mary, the Immaculate Conception, even more today as a defense where evil is present in the world. That is why the Franciscan Province of Our Lady of the Angels has been sponsoring an Initiative to promote consecration to the Immaculate Conception and membership in the Militia of the Immaculate. Since 2019, Friar Jobe Abbass, the Province's M.I. Assistant and Delegate for the Marian Apostolate has brought this Initiative to all of our 36 parish sites and gained over 5,000 new members for the Militia of the Immaculate. He will conclude the tour of the Province, here at the Shrine of St. Anthony on Sunday, February 27th. Please join us for the Mass and Fr. Jobe's timely message.