How Do I Enroll in the MI?
A. SELECT the date on which you want your name recorded in the official register of the MI, preferably a Marian feast day, and enroll online at our website at MilitiaoftheImmaculata.com
- January 1 Solemnity of the Mother of God
- February 11 Our Lady of Lourdes
- March 25 Annunciation
- May 13 Our Lady of Fatima
- May 31 Visitation
- Monday after Pentecost Sunday: Mary Mother of the Church
- Saturday after the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart: Immaculate Heart of Mary
- June 27 Our Lady of Perpetual Help
- July 16 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
- August 15 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- August 22 Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- September 8 Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- September 15 Our Lady of Sorrows
- October 7 Our Lady of the Rosary
- November 21 Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- December 8 Immaculate Conception
- December 12 Our Lady of Guadalupe
B. PREPARE for your consecration and enrollment by spiritual reading, the Rosary and the reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation on or shortly before the day of your enrollment.
Preparation for consecration resources Click Here.
C. ON THE DAY of your MI enrollment, attend Mass, if possible, and recite the official MI Act of Consecration, composed by St. Maximilian. Give yourself wholeheartedly to Our Lady so as to let the Holy Spirit guide you on the path to holiness with her! Subject to the usual conditions, a plenary indulgence is granted by the Church for enrollment in the MI. This special gift was bestowed on the MI by Pope Pius XI in 1926.
Implore Our Lady and St. Maximilian to show you how you may serve the Lord as an instrument of love and mercy in your life and be ready to share with everyone the gift you have received.
Enjoy being part of the MI Family and stay in touch by prayer and regularly visiting the MI websites.
Wear a Miraculous Medal and pass it on to others! Get involved and attend MI local events, if possible.
D. FINALLY, ask Our Lady and St. Maximilian to show you how you can best serve the Lord from this moment on.
THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL owes its origins to the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the chapel of the Rue du Bac, Paris, in 1830. She appeared to Catherine of Labouré, showing the young nun and future canonized saint the design of a medal that serves as a mini-catechism of the Church’s teaching on Our Lady.
In a vision, Mary stood on a globe with brilliant light streaming from her jeweled fingers. “Behold the symbol of graces shed upon those who ask for them,” she said, representing herself as Mediatrix of All Graces. Surrounding her a banner read, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you,” symbolizing her Immaculate Conception. The vision reversed, showing the letter “M” entwined with a cross above the Sacred Hearts. This image represents Mary as Co-redemptrix, a unique participator in Jesus’ saving act of redemption.
Millions of medals have been distributed and untold graces given “to those who wear it around the neck” as the Virgin promised to St. Catherine. Hearing of the miraculous conversion of the agnostic Alphonse Ratisbonne through the medal, St. Maximilian made wearing it and giving it away an integral part of his movement. He called the Miraculous Medal “a ‘bullet’ with which the faithful soldier hits the enemy, that is evil, and thus rescues souls.”
Those who join the MI movement receive a complimentary medal from the National Center along with a membership certificate.
Daily Miraculous Medal Prayer
O MARY, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you, and for all who do not have recourse to you, especially the enemies of the Church and those recommended to you.
MI Prayer of Marian Consecration
(Composed by St. Maximilian Kolbe)
O IMMACULATA, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you. I, (name), a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet, humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases you. If it pleases you, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of you: “She will crush your head,” and “You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world.” Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing your glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever you enter you obtain the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
V. Allow me to praise you, O Sacred Virgin.
R. Give me strength against your enemies.
Gaining a Plenary Indulgence Upon Joining the MI
A PLENARY INDULGENCE – the complete remission of temporal punishment in purgatory due to sin – is granted by the Church for enrollment in the MI. This great honor was bestowed on the Movement by Pope Pius XI in 1926.
According to the Apostolic Penitentiary (The Gift of the Indulgence, January 29, 2000), in order to obtain it, the faithful must, in addition to being in the state of grace:
— have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin;
— have sacramentally confessed their sins;
— receive the Holy Eucharist (it is certainly better to receive it while participating in Holy Mass, but for the indulgence only Holy Communion is required);
— pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.It is appropriate, but not necessary, that the sacramental Confession and especially Holy Communion and the prayer for the Pope’s intentions take place on the same day that the indulgenced work is performed; but it is sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act. Prayer for the Pope’s intentions is left to the choice of the faithful, but an “Our Father” and a “Hail Mary” are suggested. One sacramental Confession suffices for several plenary indulgences, but a separate Holy Communion and a separate prayer for the Holy Father’s intentions are required for each plenary indulgence.
