Upon graduating from Boston College, Fr. James McCurry entered the Conventual branch of the Franciscan Order in 1970. Ordained to the Holy Priesthood in 1977, he taught on the faculty of St. Hyacinth College and Seminary, Granby, Massachusetts for 20 years. Since 1979 he has curated the Maximilian Kolbe Archives in the United States, and directed the Marian Apostolate of St. Anthony Province, USA. He is past-President of the Mariological Society of America, and a member of the Pontifical International Marian Academy, headquartered in Rome. Since 1982, he has organized and directed his Province's Franciscan Pilgrimage ministry.

Having preached in all 50 states of the United States and over 40 countries of the world, he has also authored articles in numerous publications, recorded audio and video programs, and hosted a 13-part series on the Eternal Word Television network entitled Mariology: The Blessed Virgin Mary's Place in Our Lives. Fr. James is currently the guardian of St. Joseph Cupertino Friary in Ellicott City, Maryland, where he continues to write and to minister at the Shrine of St. Anthony.

This series Kolbe's Marian Spirituality for Our Time was given by Fr. McCurry to the members of the Militia of the Immaculata in the 1980's. He has captured in a very lucid way Kolbe's spirituality for a global applicability in our time.