Saint Anne Line: The Safe House Keeper - English Martyr, as seen on EWTN, Mary's Dowry Presents

Saint Anne Line: The Safe House Keeper

A film about an English Martyr

The Safe House Keeper: Saint Anne Line:
Saint Anne Line was a young Catholic woman, a convert from Calvinism, in Elizabethan England. With her brother and her husband Roger Line, she assisted the Catholic Church’s survival during the great persecutions during Penal Times. Saint Anne Line devoted her free time to developing a profound spiritual life, meditating often upon the Passion of Christ with a deep love of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (outlawed in England at that time) and for prayer.

Roger Line and Saint Anne Line
© Mary's Dowry Productions 2010

Saint Anne Line loved to shelter the many priests who were hunted throughout England by the government. When her brother and husband were arrested, and Roger Line exiled, Saint Anne Line found herself alone. Her father, still a Calvinist, had rejected her and she was unable to see Roger who eventually died in exile. Saint Anne Line found her calling though by dedicated her life to keeping safe houses for the missionary priests under the direction of Father John Gerard.

Saint Anne Line and a Safe House
© 2010 Mary's Dowry Productions

Saint Anne Line preparing a secret room for Mass
© 2010 Mary's Dowry Productions

 Her reputation as a gentle, pious, reliable, devout Catholic woman was known among the recusant Catholics. She was an important part of the Catholic underground movement in England that worked to keep the outlawed Catholic Faith alive and provide the illegal Sacraments and the Mass for the English people.

Roger Line in prison - later exiled from England
© 2010 Mary's Dowry Productions

Saint Anne Line and Fr Thompson at a secret Mass before her arrest
© 2010 Mary's Dowry Productions

Saint Anne Line - a devout Catholic during a time of great persecution of the Catholic Church in Elizabethan England
© 2010 Mary's Dowry Productions

  Saint Anne Line was eventually arrested during the celebration of an illegal Mass with several others. She refused to deny her Faith or give up the locations of safe houses, priest holes or details regarding the Catholic network and priests. Saint Anne Line bravely offered her life in defence of the Catholic Church in England at the triple Tyburn gallows and is one of three women in a group known as the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales.

Saint Anne Line in prison
© 2010 Mary's Dowry Productions

Saint Anne Line at the Triple Tyburn gallows
© 2010 Mary's Dowry Productions

Saint Anne Line at the gallows of Tyburn, London
© 2010 Mary's Dowry Productions

  William Shakespeare admired Saint Anne Line and it is believed that he references her in several plays and poems, in particular his poem ‘The Phoenix and the Turtle’ which is believed to be a tribute to Saint Anne and Roger Line.


 Learn about Saint Anne Line: The Safe House Keeper, in a film that has been internationally praised for not only presenting details, information and facts but a prayerful and spiritual film experience. As seen on EWTN.

 Length and Format: The Safe House Keeper: Saint Anne Line runs for 30 minutes and is available worldwide on Region Free DVD.

www.marysdowryproductions.org

Mary's Dowry Productions, website update, DVD descriptions, lives of the Saints and the English Martyrs

WEBSITE UPDATE

Today's post - 30th December 2017

As we prepare to enter a new year, we have been busy refreshing and updating our website content over the last few weeks.
We shall be posting about many of our films with screenshots and information and links to get as much content on the web as possible to help share the lives of the English Martyrs.

Screenshot of Mary's Dowry Productions website - DVD catagory

On our website each of our films is listed in our DVD category. By clicking on a chosen DVD the reader will be given more information about the Saint or English Martyr or historical figure that the film is about. We also have a CD section for the music from our films as well as a section for fridge magnets with images of the Saints and English Martyrs.

We have our blogs, twitter and facebook links as well as our Youtube link available on the website too. All of our films on DVD are priced at £10 each, ship worldwide and are available in all region formats.

To browse our films visit:
www.marysdowryproductions.org

The Shining Pearl of York, a film about Saint Margaret Clitherow, English Martyr

THE SHINING PEARL OF YORK

A FILM ABOUT SAINT MARGARET CLITHEROW - ENGLISH MARTYR

AVAILABLE ON DVD - SHIPS WORLDWIDE FROM

MARY'S DOWRY PRODUCTIONS ORG

The Shining Pearl of York

One of our great English Martyrs, Saint Margaret Clitherow, has been known in history since her death, as the Shining Pearl of York. She was a Catholic convert at a time when it was illegal to be a member of the outlawed Catholic Church in Elizabethan England, yet she showed no fear for standing close to the Pope, the Church and the Truths of the Faith even at the risk of her own life. She worked in her husband's butcher shop in York down a popular street called 'The Shambles'. It was here that she shone as an example of kindness, piety and devotion, taking the opportunities of her contact with customers, neighbours and friends to defend the persecuted Catholic Church as well as encourage those who were terrorized by the anti-Catholic government to hold firm to the Faith.

Not only did Saint Margaret Clitherow live and breathe the Catholic Faith, devotions and piety in her daily life, but she determinedly organised and kept secret rooms, holes and safe locations, even in her own home, for hunted Catholic missionary priests. She hid sacred vessels used in the celebration of the illegal Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, educated her beloved children and the children of her neighbours in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, lit devotional candles, prayed the rosary and other illegal activities, which saw her arrested numerous times.

Saint Margaret Clitherow also adamantly refused to attend the Protestant Services which were legally required by the State Church and Protestant Government. Her husband, although he never converted himself, allowed his beloved wife to remain loyal to the True Church and many times paid her fines.

Eventually, the law caught up with Saint Margaret who was betrayed by one of her little students into revealing the location of sacred Mass vessels and the hiding place of a priest. She was arrested, imprisoned and subjected to a trial where she refused to defend herself so as to protect her family and friends. She was sentenced to death and suffered a rare and unusual execution by law. It is believed that she was expecting a child when she was crushed to death for her Catholic Faith in Elizabethan York.

Learn about the inspiring life of this great Elizabethan Catholic wife, mother and Saint in a film that has been internationally praised for not only presenting information, details and facts but a prayerful and spiritual film experience. As seen on EWTN.

www.marysdowryproductions.org

SAINT FAUSTINA AND THE DIVINE MERCY - A Catholic film on the life and mission of the Apostle of the Divine Mercy

SAINT FAUSTINA AND THE DIVINE MERCY

2017 NEW FILM

If you have not already taken a look at our new film 'SAINT FAUSTINA AND THE DIVINE MERCY' it can be viewed through Mary's Dowry Productions online shops.

Although there are many important and thorough resources on the life of Saint Faustina and the Divine Mercy devotion available on DVD or in book form, we wanted to produce a film that would present Saint Faustina's mystical and supernatural encounters with Our Lord, the Holy Souls in Purgatory, the Devil and the many important things she recorded in her diary 'Divine Mercy in my Soul', in a way that would be informative, factual and detailed but also a prayerful and spiritual film encounter.

We were fortunate to be able to film footage of a Divine Mercy painting in progress for the film section explaining the significance and undertaking of the image of the Divine Mercy. 

We also recreated moments from the life of Saint Faustina including the visuals of her writing her diary, praying and walking and working.

Saint Faustina's life as a nun remains an inspiration in itself; her deep humility, her love of the Passion of Christ and her obedience to Our Lord's specific call for her; her simply yet profound prayer life, her many deeply Catholic devotions, her battle against her self will and weaknesses and her profound devotion to Our Lady.

Saint Faustina experienced the power of presenting the Passion of Christ to God as a means of deflecting the Justice humanity deserves for its countless offences and sins. She was given an additional tool to be prayed alongside the Holy Rosary, specifically for the dying and for the conversion of sinners, but effective for any intention - known as the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy.

An image of Our Lord with two rays flowing from his Sacred Heart was painted and offered to specific souls as a means of coming to Jesus with deep trust especially for our times.

Saint Faustina had a particular concern for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and for the dying. The emphasis on God's Mercy is especially relevant for people burdened with the great sins committed so easily in our culture, leading many back to confession through trust and a firm purpose of amendment and conversion.

Not only a biography of the first Saint to be canonized in the new Millennium, but a presentation of the main details of the Divine Mercy devotion and its significance for today, our film 'SAINT FAUSTINA AND THE DIVINE MERCY' runs for 40 minutes and is available on DVD worldwide through our online shops:

www.marysdowryproductions.org

and

www.marysdowryproductions.co.uk

Saint Faustina and the Divine Mercy DVD

by

Mary's Dowry Productions

At the beginning of the 20th century, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ revealed to a polish nun the abyss of His Divine Mercy. The nun was Saint Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament. Beatified and Canonised by a fellow countryman and Saint, Pope John Paul II, Saint Faustina has left us a striking witness of hope and trust in the Divine Mercy. This new film looks at the life of Saint Faustina, her diary and the message of Divine Mercy, specifically at the Chaplet, the painting and the Feast of the Divine Mercy as given to humanity by Our Lord, especially for our times. It is a message of hope, a warning and a call to trust. This journey into early 20th century Poland also looks at prophesies given by Saint Faustina, her special devotions, how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and the benefits and importance of trusting in Jesus under the title of the Divine Mercy.

New gripping Catholic novel - sharing the Catholic Faith through as many means as possible - literature, novels, fiction

NEW CATHOLIC NOVEL

Spreading the Catholic Faith in as many means as possible
Post by Emily Jane Bevans

Yesterday was the feast of Blessed James Alberione, a great Evangelist of the Rosary and a Catholic media apostle. He was ahead of his time in his ardour for using social communication as a means of spreading the Gospel and was one of the greatest pioneers in the field of Catholic media.
I happened to come across his biography while reading a book 'Champions of the Rosary' on the evening of 25th November. I actually opened the page on his biography in the book and saw that his feast day was 26th November. I looked at my bedside clock and saw that it was 12:08 am - the 26th November, so naturally I felt a connection to him even though that was the first time he had specifically come onto my radar.

Last week I had a break from editing our films having completed the editing for our new film 'SAINT PADRE PIO: PRAY, HOPE AND DON'T WORRY' which is now ready for its music score. I planned to go straight on to editing our film about 'Saint Margaret Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus' (I am especially excited abut this because we cover a lot of information about the introduction of the Sacred Heart devotion in England by Saint Margaret Mary's spiritual director, St. Claude de la Colombiere) but I needed a break from film editing so spent some time preparing my book for publication in paperback.

My book 'House of Villains' has been written over a long time during recreational breaks from Mary's Dowry Productions and 'paid' work. Having worked full time for ten years running a chain of second hand and antiquarian bookshops in Arundel, Worthing and Chichester on the south coast of England, I encountered the power of the written word on a daily basis. So many people read and there is a great opportunity to place many elements and Truths of the Faith within the literature of our current culture, especially for younger people and avid novel readers. This is a great field of warfare considering the shocking amount of anti-moral and anti-Christian literature encountered on a daily basis and popularized within the secular media. I enjoy to read and like an absorbing novel from time to time and, having always liked to write, I saw the appeal of authoring a contemporary novel that, as well as being a contemporary read, would include many elements of our wonderful Catholic faith, understanding and teaching throughout.
The contemporary woven with the timeless, relevant on so many levels.

My novel 'House of Villains' is part of a trilogy, with a prequel to 'follow', and this first volume is available to read on Kindle with the paperback edition in progress as of this week. I write for myself, the kind of story I would enjoy, with elements of the crime, romance and thriller genres.
Here is the blurb followed by the link to the book currently available in E-Format through Amazon:

HOUSE OF VILLAINS

 In this new gripping Catholic novel from award winning Catholic screenwriter and Co-Founder of internationally acclaimed Catholic film apostolate Mary's Dowry Productions, we enter a contemporary literary world teeming with everything a Catholic reader will enjoy. Rich with elements of the Catholic Faith, this is a journey with a young woman who lives in a fallen world, where the realities of the spiritual struggle against human frailty test her to her limits, where the war against vice and corruption, of holding firm to trust, virtue and hope has captured many hearts, unfolding in the setting of a journey praised for its absorbing literary style, details and realism, for the celebration of English heritage, human relationships and imagination. This is a story about Faith, a story of courage in a world of corruption; a journey of fierce hope, of stark grief, of the power of Catholic Truths, of Catholic men and women, and of heroic forgiveness. A young woman lives in virtual seclusion in her late mother's magnificent estate on the south coast of England. Controlled by her family, she is only weeks away from gaining freedom from the dark, oppressive tyranny she exists in. The faith of her childhood sustains her, as does the belief that soon, everything will change. And it does. In ways that even she could not have imagined. Dark forces are at work but so are the workings of grace. Villains, heroes and ordinary people combine in this new fictional novel. House of Villains is the first volume in a new literary trilogy especially aimed at an audience that enjoys a long, contemporary read woven with elements of the Catholic Faith, careful details and descriptions, an unfolding gripping plot and unforgettable characters.

More information on the UK Amazon site here:

HOUSE OF VILLAINS

House of Villains can be purchased through AMAZON COM and many more Amazon shops.
The paperback version of House of Villains will be published by Mary's Dowry Productions and also available through Amazon.

I was especially struck by the life of Blessed James Alberione over the last few days, including many of his quotes on the power of the Rosary. He had several defining moments in his Catholic media mission. Our Lord’s light revealed him the direction of his whole life. During a nocturnal adoration on January 1, 1901, when he was just sixteen years old, he placed his life before God, and “a particular illumination came from the Host” (AD15). At that moment Blessed James Alberione understood Jesus’ invitation, “Come to me, all of you…” (Mt 11, 28). With this call, he sensed a clarification of his vocation to priesthood and felt a need of an organized undertaking to which others would be associated. On June 29, 1907 James Alberione was ordained a priest. In the following year he was appointed by his bishop to become the spiritual director of the diocesan minor and major seminarians and also be part of the seminary’s teaching faculty.

In the year 1910, amidst an ongoing discernment on how and what could be done to Jesus’ call, “Come to me, all of you..,” to be heard and welcomed by others, Blessed James had an idea of
 “… an organization of writers, technicians, book-sellers and retailers, Catholics whom he would give direction, work and a spirit of apostolate…” (AD 23).
 The young priest envisioned a “society of persons who would love God with all their mind, all their strength, all their heart; persons who would offer to work for the Church, happy with the wages God pays” (AD 23-24).

One of his favorite titles for Our Lady was “Queen of the Apostles.”

For a full listing of our Catholic films on the lives of the Saints and English Martyrs available worldwide on DVD visit

www.marysdowryproductions.org
and
www.marysdowryproductions.co.uk

Emily Jane Bevans lives on the south coast of England. For ten years she worked in, and helped to manage, a family chain of antiquarian bookshops in Worthing, Arundel and Chichester in West Sussex. She is the co-founder and co-director of a UK based Catholic film production apostolate ‘Mary’s Dowry Productions’. She writes, edits, produces, directs, narrates and sometimes acts for the company’s numerous historical and religious films on the lives of the Saints and English Martyrs. She also likes to write contemporary and historical Catholic fiction for women. She is the daughter of internationally renowned Catholic artist, Gary Bevans, who is most famous for painting an exact replica of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling in Goring-by-Sea, England. Her love for English history, stately historic houses, adventure films and her Christian faith is the foundation of her writing. In 2010, Emily Jane Bevans and her sister Bernadette Bevans were awarded Catholic Women of the Year 2010 for their work in Catholic Media Evangelization.

Jacinta of Fatima and Francisco of Fatima - two Catholic films about two of the Fatima seers

'JACINTA OF FATIMA'

AND

'FRANCISCO OF FATIMA'
DVDs

“[There] appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun”.

So the seer of Patmos tells us in the Book of Revelation (12:1), adding that she was about to give birth to a son. Then, in the Gospel, we hear Jesus say to his disciple,

“Here is your mother” (Jn 19:27).

We have a Mother! “So beautiful a Lady”, as the seers of Fatima said to one another as they returned home on that blessed day of 13 May a hundred years ago. That evening, Jacinta could not restrain herself and told the secret to her mother: “Today I saw Our Lady”. 

 They had seen the Mother of Heaven. Many others sought to share that vision, but… they did not see her. The Virgin Mother did not come here so that we could see her. We will have all eternity for that, provided, of course, that we go to heaven. Our Lady foretold, and warned us about, a way of life that is godless and indeed profanes God in his creatures. 

Such a life – frequently proposed and imposed – risks leading to hell.

Mary came to remind us that God’s light dwells within us and protects us, for, as we heard in the first reading, “the child [of the woman] was snatched away and taken to God” (Rev 12:5).

In Lucia’s account, the three chosen children found themselves surrounded by God’s light as it radiated from Our Lady. She enveloped them in the mantle of Light that God had given her.

According to the belief and experience of many pilgrims, if not of all, Fatima is more than anything this mantle of Light that protects us, here as in almost no other place on earth. We need but take refuge under the protection of the Virgin Mary and to ask her, as the Salve Regina teaches: “show unto us… Jesus”. 

We have a Mother! Clinging to her like children, we live in the hope that rests on Jesus. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he brought to the Heavenly Father our humanity, which he assumed in the womb of the Virgin Mary and will never forsake. Like an anchor, let us fix our hope on that humanity, seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father (cf. Eph 2:6). May this hope guide our lives! It is a hope that sustains us always, to our dying breath.

Confirmed in this hope, we give thanks for the countless graces bestowed over these past hundred years. All of them passed beneath the mantle of light that Our Lady has spread over the four corners of the earth so rich in hope. We can take as our examples Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta, whom the Virgin Mary introduced into the immense ocean of God’s light and taught to adore him. 

 That was the source of their strength in overcoming opposition and suffering.

God’s presence became constant in their lives, as is evident from their insistent prayers for sinners and their desire to remain ever near “the hidden Jesus” in the tabernacle.

 In her Memoirs (III, 6), Sister Lucia quotes Jacinta who had just been granted a vision: “Do you not see all those streets, all those paths and fields full of people crying out for food, yet have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a church, praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And all those people praying with him?” 

God created us to be a source of hope for others, a true and attainable hope, in accordance with each person’s state of life. In “asking” and “demanding” of each of us the fulfillment of the duties of our proper state (Letters of Sister Lucia, 28 February 1943), God effects a general mobilization against the indifference that chills the heart and worsens our myopia. 

We do not mount the cross to find Jesus.

Instead it was he who, in his self-abasement, descended even to the cross, in order to find us, to dispel the darkness of evil within us, and to bring us back to the light."

(Words of Pope Francis at the Canonization Mass of Saint Jacinta and Saint Francisco, May 13th 2017 © Libreria Editrice Vaticana) Screenshots © Mary's Dowry Productions from 'Jacinta of Fatima' and 'Francisco of Fatima' DVDs available through Mary's Dowry Productions:

www.marysdowryproductions.org

and

www.marysdowryproductions.co.uk

What was Thomas Cromwell's role in the Protestant Reformation of England? A film for Catholics - Thomas Cromwell: The King's Architect

THOMAS CROMWELL

THE KING'S ARCHITECT

A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE

NEWLY released and available now is our film about Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII's collaborator and architect - A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE.

This film was previously available as The King's Collaborator which also proved very popular with secular viewers, but many secular viewers complained that it was very 'biased towards Catholicism' since it was not the usual production they encountered...

So, new cover, clear content description, same film.

If you have not seen our film production about Thomas Cromwell, which looks at the Protestant Reformation in England, King Henry VIII's break with Rome, the Martyrdoms of St Thomas More and St John Fisher, England's Catholic heritage, history and more, it is available through our online shop here:

www.marysdowryproductions.org

We also have a NEW shorter version of the life of Thomas Cromwell under the previous title of The King's Collaborator which is specifically targeted for a more secular audience but with many Catholic Truths and facts in the history of England throughout.

Also from:

www.marysdowryproductions.co.uk

We ship worldwide in all region formats.

If you buy our DVDs through AMAZON be sure only to use our Mary's Dowry Productions Seller shop - there are other sellers on there claiming to sell our DVDs NEW at higher prices - they order through us while adding their own profit and people unnecessarily pay extra money through a third party seller.

One of history's powerful PRAYER WARRIORS - SAINT JOAN OF ARC - A Catholic Presentation

SAINT JOAN OF ARC

PRAYER WARRIOR

“Joan of Arc is like a shooting star across the landscape of French and English history, amid the stories of the Church’s saints and into our consciousness. Women identify with her; men admire her courage. She challenges us in fundamental ways. Despite the fact that more than 500 years have passed since she lived, her issues of mysticism, calling, identity, trust and betrayal, conflict and focus are our issues still.” (Joan of Arc: God’s Warrior, by Barbara Beckwith)

In 2016 Mary's Dowry Productions decided to produce a film about Saint Joan of Arc.

We were not too familiar with the intricate details of her life so set about researching and planning the visuals of her story that we would like to see. This meant that we needed armour and suitable clothing for Saint Joan as a young French woman. The costumes worked out very well, giving us lovely visuals that work perfectly with the narrative of her journey.

Saint Joan of Arc was a power house of prayer. She absolutely adored the Blessed Sacrament and made her soldiers pray before and after their battles. With her beloved sword she drove prostitutes from the camps and refused to tolerate offensive behaviour or language. Most of all she was renowned for her purity, not only purity of body, heart and mind, but purity of intention - her entire focus was upon pleasing God and bringing about the triumph of the French in the war for His Glory and in His Name, that all would come to love Him and remember Him and trust Him.

Making our films about the Saints can sometimes be tricky and we often come up against great obstacles, oftentimes with photographs of Saints we would like to use, such as the photograph of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face dressed as Saint Joan. From the beginning of our apostolate we wanted to recreate imagery of the Saints, particularly where there is literally only one portrait in existence (such as in the case of the English Martyrs). With Saints such as Saint Padre Pio and Saint Therese of Lisieux there are numerous photographs but there are copyrights attached. With Saint Therese the requirement for use by those holding the copyright was 100 Euros per minute per photograph which was a shame because we work on the smallest budget in the history of film-making - but not being able to use it directed us towards recreating our own imagery of Saint Therese dressed as her beloved Patron Saint Joan of Arc, so it worked out well in the end.

We love to share the imagery we recreate of the Saints with people who are equally as enthusiastic about the lives of the Saints and hope that our film about Saint Joan of Arc is able to inspire and touch many, especially by her amazing and heroic story, witness and example.

Our films have been internationally praised for not only presenting facts and biographical information but an authentically Catholic and prayerful film experience.

Our film SAINT JOAN OF ARC is available on DVD and promised exactly that.

Visit our website for SAINT JOAN OF ARC and a full listing of our films:

www.marysdowryproductions.co.uk

and

www.marysdowryproductions.org

Saint Thomas More - Catholic Film, DVD, Tudor, Mary's Dowry Productions

SAINT THOMAS MORE

CATHOLIC FILM

“I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” 

These were among the last words of Saint Thomas More, one of the greatest Statesmen that England has ever seen. He was a Tudor lawyer who thought for a time that he was called to be a Carthusian. Instead, he followed his vocation to the married state where he raised a family in love of God and the Catholic Church. Renowned throughout Christendom for his great mind and deep humility, King Henry VIII appointed him Chancellor of England and hoped Sir Thomas More would support the King’s schism from the Church. When Saint Thomas More refused, the King stripped him of his position and titles and eventually had him incarcerated in the Tower of London. After an unjust trial and to the horror of the country and indeed beyond, Saint Thomas More was beheaded at Tower Hill in 1535. He was canonized a Saint and English Martyr. Saint Thomas More has left the Catholic Church not only a brave witness to the Faith but several notable works and prayers. 

 Mary’s Dowry Productions’ unique film style has been internationally praised for not only presenting facts and biographical information but a prayerful, spiritual film experience.

Length and Format: The film runs for 66 minutes and is available on Region Free DVD worldwide from:

www.marysdowryproductions.org

and

www.marysdowryproductions.co.uk

SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE - Martyr of Charity, founder of the Militia of the Immaculata - FILM, DVD

SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE

A FILM BY MARY'S DOWRY PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE ON

DVD

It has been two years now since we filmed for three DVDs on the lives of three Catholic Martyrs during World War II; Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Saint Edith Stein and Blessed Titus Brandsma.

Our film about Saint Maximilian Kolbe presents his life with facts and biographical information as well as an authentically Catholic and prayerful film experience. Saint Maximilian Kolbe was baptized Raymond at the Parish Church. Already proficient in virtue with a devotion to Our Lady, the Mother of God appeared to him in 1906 near the time of his first holy Communion. Our Lady offered Saint Maximilian two crowns representing the graces of virginity and martyrdom and asked  which he desired. Saint Maximilian asked for both, and was filled thereafter with the most ardent desire to love and serve this Immaculate Queen.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe joined the Order of Friars Minor Conventual at Lvov in Austrian occupied Poland, where he took the name Maximilian. After finishing his preliminary studies he was sent to the International Seraphic College in Rome to pursue doctorates in philosophy and theology. It was while in Rome that Saint Maximilian Kolbe encounter Freemason among the people, including protests against the Pope led by the Freemasons. Horrified by this Society and yearning for the salvation of souls, on the 200th anniversary of the founding of Freemasonry, 1917,  St. Maximilian was moved by divine grace to found a pious association of the faithful known as the Militia of the Immaculate. This beautiful association would include the conversion of Freemasons among their daily prayer intentions. Members consecrated themselves daily to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Maximilian made it his life mission to encourage devotion to Our Lady among the people.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1918, St. Maximilian returned to Poland to teach Church History in Cracow, where he organised the first group of the Militia outside of Italy. Because of ill health he was freed to devote his time exclusively to the promotion of the Militia, whereupon he founded the "Knight of the Immaculate," a monthly Roman Catholic Magazine promoting the knowledge, love and service of the Immaculate Virgin, in the conversion of all souls to Christ Our Lord.

St. Maximilian, heeding the call of the Holy Father to all religious, to come to the aid of the missionary efforts of the universal Church, volunteered to go to the Orient to found another city of the Immaculate, Mugenzai No Sono. He chose to build the city on a particularly difficult part of a mountain, despite advice to the contrary. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, the City of Mary was spared destruction due to its location.

St. Maximilian returned to Niepokalanow, as it spiritual father, in 1936. The number of the friars there grew above 900 in the months preceding World War II. His publishing apostolate was producing 1,000,000 magazines monthly as well all 125,000 copies of a daily paper for the 1,000,000 members of the Militia worldwide. Saint Maximilian Kolbe is invoked by those working in the Catholic media due to his own zeal and use of media to spread the Truths of the Catholic Faith and love of Our Lord and Our Lady.

After the invasion of Poland by the German Wermacht in September of 1939, the friars dispersed and Niepokalanow was ransacked. St. Maximilian and about 40 others were taken to holding camps, first in Germany, and later in Poland. By the mercy of the Immaculate they were released and allow to return home on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the same year. However, to incriminate St. Maximilian, the Gestapo permitted one final printing of the "Knight of the Immaculte" in December of 1940. In February of 1941, they came to Niepokalanow and arrested St. Maximlian. He was taken to Pawiak Prision in German Occupied Warsaw, Poland, and later was transferred to Auschwitz.

In the concentration camp, Saint Maximilian Kolbe gave counsel to all his fellow prisoners telling them,"Trust in the Immaculate!" "Forgive!" "Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors!" 

He was noted for his generosity in surrendering his food despite the ravages of starvation that he suffered and for always going to the end of the line of the infirmary, despite the acute tuberculosis afflicting him.

In the end, by the maternal mediation of the Virgin Mary, he received the grace to be intimately conformed to Christ in death. For on the night of August 3, 1941 a prisoner successfully escaped from the same section of the came in which St. Maximilian was detained. In reprisal, the commandant ordered death by starvation for 10 men chosen at random from the same section.

One of the condemned, Seargent Franciszek Gajowniczek, shouted out, lamenting that he would never see his wife and children again. In his stead, St. Maximilian Mary, who had remained standing all night long during the selection of the condemned, stepped forward and offered his own life in exchange for this man. 

Ten days later, having led the other 9 in prayers and hymns, St. Maximilian was given a lethal injection of carbolic acid, and passed into eternal glory.

Pope Paul VI beatified St. Maximilian in 1973 and Pope John Paul II canonised him in 1982 as a martyr of charity.

Our film about Saint Maximilian Kolbe not only presents facts and information but has been praised for its authentically Catholic and prayerful film experience.

SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE

by Mary's Dowry Productions

is available from our online shops:

www.marysdowryproductions.org

and

www.marysdowryproductions.co.uk

Images used in this post are from our film © 2015 Mary's Dowry Productions

Some text used in this post is from part of the Home Page of St. Francis of Assisi maintained by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.