9. The Knights of the Immaculate is a sodality (combined lay/ordained Catholic organization of both sexes) founded in New York in 1921 by Blessed Raymond Kolbe (1893-1949), a Polish emigrant and Franciscan priest, with the assistance of the nun and mystic Venerable Theodosia Kowalska (1899-1934). Its members dedicate themselves to Christ through the Blessed Virgin and manifest this "Total Consecration" through social service in the world. Associated with the Franciscans, it is based at a monastery in Marytown, Indiana (near Michigan City) but has many branches outside the CNA including "The Garden of the Immaculate" in Hiroshima, Japan. Blessed Raymond was a leading figure in 20th-century CNA Catholicism, with a vitavision ministry similar to that of Fulton Sheen IOW. The Knights of the Immaculata IOW, also known as the Militia Immaculata, were founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe (birth name Raymond) in Poland in 1917. They exist today and number among their lay members Matt Alderman of South Bend, Indiana, to whom I am indebted for this footnote. (DAMB)
(Return to Ferdinand the Bull.)