On the eve of the Feast of Christ the King, the former District Superior of Asia — now the District Superior of Eastern Europe — Fr. Karl Stehlin gave a Militia Immaculatae recollection at Our Lady of Victories Church, Quezon City. The inclement weather, strong typhoon winds, and blowing rain may have influenced people’s plans to come, but the recollection held on its course and reached far and wide audiences through live-streaming due to the great demand of the faithful. Neither storm nor uncertainty could stop people from supporting the recollection.
MANILA
At the first stroke of the first hour of the rainy afternoon, the church was quiet and full of anticipation as Fr. Stehlin knelt in preparation in the sanctuary. When he climbed the sermon podium, the echoes of his words rang across the hundreds of pews. The talk revolved around devotion to Mary and observation of the growing godlessness of society since the pandemic lockdowns. In between the conferences, Fr. Stehlin and the faithful prayed the Holy Rosary. Meanwhile, the M.I. volunteers assisted at the back of the church, inviting the enlistment of old and new Knights. A sense of urgency to re-animate each one’s disposition towards the Blessed Virgin Mary was palpable. Some recruits were even relatively new to attending the Traditional Latin Mass. Their thirst for truth was evident; the power of Our Lady’s intercession was manifest.
“There is one power which makes us never fail, never fall, never go astray — which helps us everywhere and always! This is Our Lady,” echoed Fr. Stehlin.
This visit of Fr. Stehlin was his first visit after 4 years and after the launching of Mary’s Mission Tour that covered 2000 km of Philippine roads and brought over 35,000 souls to the M.I. This initial movement of the M.I. has been maintained by the Legion of Mary in the Philippines, and by Domus Mariæ, the M.I. house of Community life devoted entirely to the Marian Apostolate.
In Manila, 20 new people joined the M.I. and 51 Knights renewed their act of consecration to the Immaculate. All received special packages: the new ones a Welcome Packet and the existing Knights a Renewal Packet.
ILOILO
In the following days, Fr. Karl Stehlin visited the Society Brothers at the Brothers’ Novitiate in Santa Barbara Iloilo, giving the Brothers a deep conference on the M.I. in the latter times. From the Novitiate he travelled 20 km to the Society Parish in Jaro, giving an evening Mission to 50 people, some of whom had crossed the seas from a remote mission in heavy rain to avail of the graces of renewal in the M.I. The ceremony took place on Sunday, the 6th of November 2022.
MINDANAO – DAVAO – DOMUS MARIAE
Finally, Fr. Stehlin ended in the Southern-most Priory of the Philippines, Davao City. There, he was extremely happy to visit Domus Mariae, the M.I. Community Life of Consecrated Apostolate which has 5 ladies dedicating themselves to the work of the Immaculata. These servants of Mary were animated and inspired by Father’s spiritual conference on the importance of complete consecration to Mary and the incredible importance of such consecration for the M.I. worldwide. At the evening Mission of November 2, Fr. Stehlin preached an M.I. Mission to over 80 people. The final tally of Fr. Director’s trip was the renewal of 175 Knights in the Militia Immaculatae and the enrolment of 44 new Knights.
OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES
The following countries, on the other hand, enriched themselves with many Knights:
— Singapore — 62,
— Malaysia: 56 in Kuala Lumpur and 29 in Kota Kinabalu (on the island of Borneo).
