Dear Friends of the Kolbe Center,
Glory to Jesus Christ!
It is fitting that I am writing this letter to you just a few days before the beginning of the ecclesiastical year, according to the Byzantine Catholic liturgical tradition which perpetuates the ancient Jewish practice of commemorating the creation of the world in September. As Archimandrite Job Getcha explains in The Typikon Decoded:
The ecclesiastical year begins on September 1. This is an ancient Constantinopolitan custom. In ancient times, the year in Constantinople began on September 23. This date marked, from its institution by the Emperor Constantine (in 313), the beginning of the indiction, i.e., the establishment of the annual land tax. This date was chosen because it commemorated the birth of Augustus which, already before Constantine, marked the beginning of the year in a large part of the Orient. With the adoption of the Roman calendar in Constantinople and the suppression of the cult of Augustus, September 23 was stripped of all civil significance. As a result, the beginning of the indiction was shifted to a more convenient date, September 1. It is estimated that this change was made on September 1, 1462.
As the website of the New Liturgical Movement further explains:
In the Byzantine tradition . . . the Creation of the world is considered to have taken place on the Indiction, a fact to which the liturgical texts of the day refer repeatedly. For example, the tropar at the Divine Liturgy reads as follows:
Maker of all creation, Who settest times and seasons in Thy power, bless the crown of the year of Thy goodness, o Lord, keeping in peace Thy kings and Thy city, by the prayers of the Mother of God, and save us.
And likewise these two kontakia:
Maker and Master of the ages, God of all things, and truly greater than all, bless this year, saving in Thy boundless mercy, o Compassionate One, all that serve Thee, the only Master, and cry out in reverence: o Redeemer, grant a bountiful year to all.
O Thou that created all things in unspoken wisdom, and settest the seasons in Thy power, grant victory to Thy people that loveth Christ, blessing the going and coming of the year, and guiding our works towards Thy will.
The New Liturgical Movement website notes that the liturgical tradition in the West developed differently and that medieval liturgical calendars frequently marked March 18, close to the beginning of spring, as the beginning of Creation:
Theologically, this indicates that the old Creation was completed on the same day that its renewal began in the Incarnation, and for the same reason, many calendars mark the Passion of Christ on that day, with the Resurrection on the 27th, even though the liturgical celebration of these events is movable.
Scoffers might argue that these liturgical traditions are in contradiction, but a good case can be made that they are complementary, like the various images of the Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ that have received some kind of Church sanction. One could argue that the liturgical celebration of creation at the threshold of spring highlights the “new creation” in Christ through the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, while the Byzantine celebration of creation at the threshold of autumn highlights what St. Thomas Aquinas calls “the first perfection of the universe” which he defines in the Summa Theologica as “the completeness the world at its first founding.” In other words, the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” speaks to the fact that God created a fully-functioning universe for man in the six days of fiat creation, not a world evolving towards completeness through a slow and leisurely natural process. This interpretation finds support in the ancient calendar of the Sarum Missal for March which places the celebration of Noah’s Entrance into the Ark on March 17, just one day before the beginning of Creation, and ten days before the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord on the 27th of March. These feasts speak to “new creations,” beginning with Noah’s Flood when, according to St. Peter, our first Pope, “the world that then was perished in the Flood,” so that the world that emerged from the Flood waters was truly a “new creation.”
The First Perfection of the Universe and the Blessed Virgin Mary
In previous newsletters and publications, we have explained how great Saints, like St. Bridget of Sweden, saw in the beauty and perfection of the first created world on the First Saturday of creation a foreshadowing of the beauty and perfection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The website Byzantinela.com explains how the sacred liturgy confirms this identification by corresponding with the life of the Holy Theotokos.
We commemorate the birth of the Theotokos on Sept. 8th, and her death on August 15th, so the year begins just before her birth and ends just after her death. In this way, the Theotokos is revealed as a guide. In many icons she is seen pointing at her Son, Our Lord, in a gesture of guidance. Since liturgical time is also guided by her life, we trust Her to be a worthy guide to and within the life of faith in Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.
As we approach the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Kolbe Center on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in the Jubilee Year 2000, we would like to pray a special novena to St. Joseph the Most Chaste Spouse of Our Lady, in thanksgiving for all of the blessings that Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother have poured out upon the Kolbe Center since Our Lord created us “from nothing” almost 25 years ago, and to ask for the spiritual and material support that we need to complete our mission. We will begin the Novena to St. Joseph today, Saturday, August 30, and end it on the morning of Monday, September 7, the vigil of the Nativity of Our Lady. Then we will begin the Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows on the evening of Monday, September 7, the vigil of the Feast of Our Lady’s Nativity and end it on Tuesday, September 15, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
“Give Unto the Lord the Glory Due His Name”
From the beginning of our apostolate our primary motive has been to “give unto the Lord the glory due His Name.” After experiencing in our own lives the transformative power of believing in the true Catholic doctrine of creation as the foundation of our Faith and as the only firm foundation for an intimate relationship with Our Lord, we have proclaimed that truth wherever we could find an open door. To that end, we have embraced the Franciscan spirit of our secondary patron, St. Maximilian Kolbe, so that we could reach as many souls as possible—as quickly as possible. Thus, we have always offered our books and materials on a “suggested donation” basis. When we travel, we ask to stay in rectories or homes, rather than in hotels. We have accepted invitations to go to every continent except Antarctica, often without even being offered reimbursement for our travel expenses. We offer our materials at no cost to bishops, priests and laity in poor circumstances; and the testimonies we receive from clergy and laity all over the world confirm that Our Lord and the Blessed Mother are granting tremendous graces to those who study our materials and embrace the traditional Catholic doctrine of creation. For example, a priest in a remote parish in Australia sent us this testimony:
I would like to thank the Kolbe Center for making available the live streaming of Foundations Restored. While I’m extremely grateful for your generosity, I am in absolute awe of what you and your collaborators have been able to produce. I have watched every minute of it. Words escape me!
I was talking to a friend about it and said, without realizing the significance of my words immediately, that I had realized I had been in a war, and that I was quite wounded, but I hadn’t realized until now, that I had actually been a prisoner of war. Only after being released did I start to understand the full extent of the situation. It seemed the best description I could come up with to explain to him how I felt. A few moments later I realized just who is your patron saint. I was left a bit breathless. St Maximilian Kolbe is now entrenched in my prayer life!
I have been a priest for nearly 25 years and before that a nurse and scientist (I have a PhD in reproductive physiology). Hence, I’m not a spring chicken. Never did I hear an interpretation of Genesis that the earth was the centre of the universe. Obviously, I wouldn’t have at school or university but I don’t even recall us ever studying Genesis and creation in the seminary (surprise, surprise). Even reading commentaries didn’t hint at the possibility. Your documentary of Day One changed my whole way of thinking immediately. I don’t think anything has had such an immediate and transforming impact on me. It just made perfect sense! Deep in my being it was like a light being switched on. Now seeing the earth as the altar at the centre of the universe everything seems so much clearer. As mentioned, it has certainly helped my prayer life. My gratitude is impossible to express. It even cleared up the lingering doubts about the age of the earth that seemed so hard to sort out. If I ever believed in evolution as such, it was only very briefly, if at all, as it never sat right. However, the extended time frame for creation and old universe that has been the ruling scenario was hard to deal with so I always put it in the ‘too hard’ basket. I feel that I’m free and happy now, the truth certainly sets us free!
Can you imagine what a transformation would take place if every young Catholic, including every future seminarian, were given the opportunity to view and study our DVD series “Foundations Restored” and “How the World Was Made in Six Days”?
Priorities For 2026
As we complete our first quarter century as an apostolate, with the help of your prayers and financial support we want to ensure that every young Catholic has the opportunity to hear at least one good defense of the true Catholic doctrine of creation in his or her formative years. To that end, we would like to invite every one of our readers to join us in praying a powerful Novena to St. Joseph, that he will obtain the spiritual and financial support that we need to achieve this goal. Then we will pray a novena to Our Lady for this intention, beginning on the Feast of her Nativity and ending on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, asking Her to help us to raise $100,000 through a Give Send Go fundraiser.
Among our top priorities for 2026 are the following:
- To establish a leadership team and a network to reach millions of Spanish-speaking Catholics
- To complete and publish a greatly revised and expanded version of Pamela Acker’s monumental book on vaccination
- To complete the rest of the DVD series “How the World Was Made in Six Days”
- To prepare for an orderly transition to new leadership so that after I retire at the appropriate time the Kolbe Center will be able continue its work without interruption until the advent of the Era of Peace and the complete restoration of the Church promised by Our Lady of Fatima
- To complete and publish books, articles, and presentations that fill in any remaining gaps in our defense of the traditional reading of the sacred history of Genesis
A Powerful Novena to Saint Joseph
(Today, August 30, to the morning of Sunday, September 7, the vigil of the Nativity of Our Lady)
To achieve these goals by God’s grace, we invite you to join us in praying a powerful novena to St. Joseph. This novena was originally devised by the celebrated Fr. Louis Lallemant, S. J. [1587-1633], at the very time when Rene’ Descartes, having received an outstanding Jesuit education, abandoned the devout practice of the Faith, dabbled in the occult, and developed the false system of naturalism that St. Maximilian identified as the “wound” of the twentieth century. In a biography of this saintly priest, we learn that St. Joseph never refused him anything that he asked. On one occasion Fr. Lallemant urged two young priests to make this novena, promising that they would obtain everything they asked through the intercession of St. Joseph if, in turn, they would show him special honor and spread devotion to him. Both did as Fr. Lallemant suggested, and one of them asked for the grace to speak and write worthily of Our Lord. The next day he came to Fr. Lallemant to tell him that, upon reflection, he wished to ask for a different grace, which he considered more conducive to his perfection. Fr. Lallemant replied, “It is too late now to ask for another grace. The first one has already been granted.” And, indeed, this grace was conspicuously displayed throughout the whole course of the priest’s life, as he became one of the most noted preachers and writers of his day.
HOW TO MAKE THIS NOVENA
NO PARTICULAR PRAYERS NEED BE SAID FOR THIS NOVENA.
EVERY DAY FOR NINE DAYS, TURN TO ST. JOSEPH IN SPIRIT FOUR TIMES (CALLED A “VISIT”)
DURING THE DAY AND HONOR HIM IN THE FOLLOWING FOUR POINTS:
1. During the first visit, consider ST. JOSEPH’S FIDELITY TO GRACE.
Reflect upon the action of the Holy Ghost in his soul. At the conclusion of this brief meditation, thank God for so honoring St. Joseph, and ask, through his intercession for a similar grace.
2. Later in the day, consider ST. JOSEPH’S FIDELITY TO THE INTERIOR LIFE.
Study his spirit of recollection. Think, thank God, and ask.
3. Later still, consider ST. JOSEPH’S LOVE FOR OUR LADY.
Think, thank God, and ask.
4. Finally, in a fourth visit, reflect upon ST. JOSEPH’S LOVE FOR THE DIVINE CHILD.
Think, thank God, and ask.
PRAYER WHICH MAY BE SAID AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE VISITS EACH DAY
O MY GOD, I thank Thee and bless Thee for St. Joseph’s great faithfulness to grace. Grant that, through his loving intercession and the power of his example. I too may be faithful to grace. O St. Joseph, intercede for me, and obtain for me this favor I ask. [Name your request.]
O MY GOD, I thank Thee and bless Thee for St. Joseph’s great faithfulness to the interior life. Grant that, through his loving intercession and the power of his example. I too may be faithful to the interior life. O St. Joseph, intercede for me, and obtain for me this favor I ask. [Name your request.]
O MY GOD, I thank Thee and bless Thee for St. Joseph’s great love of Our Lady. Grant that, through his loving intercession and the power of his example. I too may truly love the Blessed Virgin Mary. O St. Joseph, intercede for me, and obtain for me this favor I ask. [Name your request.]
O MY GOD, I thank Thee and bless Thee for St. Joseph’s great love for the Divine Child. Grant that, through his loving intercession and the power of his example. I too may truly love the Child Jesus. O St. Joseph, intercede for me, and obtain for me this favor I ask. [Name your request.]
Through the prayers of the Mother of God, of St. Joseph, and of all the Saints, may the Holy Ghost guide us all into all the Truth!
In Domino,
Hugh Owen
P.S. The Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows will begin on the evening of Monday, September 7, the vigil of the Feast of Our Lady’s Nativity, and end on Tuesday, September 15, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
