Saint Maximilian Kolbe
Feast day: August 14
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Polish priest who offered to die in place of a father at Auschwitz (14/08)
Who is he?
Saint Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Conventual Franciscan priest. He loved Mary Immaculate, used newspapers to spread the Gospel, and gave his life to save a fellow prisoner. On 10 October 1982, Pope John Paul II canonized him and called him a martyr of charity.
Life story
He was born on 8 January 1894 in Zduńska Wola, Poland, and his birth name was Raymund. As a little boy, Raymund was rather naughty. Once his mother sadly asked: “What will become of you?” He went into the church to pray. He later told how Mary showed him two crowns, one white and one red, and asked him which one he wanted. He answered: I will take both.
He joined the Franciscans, took the name Maximilian, and studied in Rome. In 1917, while still a seminarian, he founded the “Militia of the Immaculata” to pray and bring everyone to God. In 1918, he was ordained a priest. He printed newspapers and magazines, and in 1927 he founded a large friary near Warsaw called Niepokalanów, which means “City of the Immaculata.” He also went to Japan as a missionary and founded a friary in Nagasaki.
In 1941, when Poland was occupied by German forces, he was arrested and taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp. One day, a prisoner escaped from the camp. As punishment, the commander chose ten men to be starved to death. One of them, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out for his wife and children. Father Kolbe immediately stepped forward and asked to die in his place. The commander agreed.
In the dark bunker, Father Kolbe comforted his fellow prisoners, prayed with them and sang hymns to Mary. On 14 August 1941, he died. Mr. Gajowniczek survived and was later present at Father Kolbe’s beatification and canonization.
Why is he a saint?
Jesus taught: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). Father Kolbe lived exactly by those words. His whole life belonged to Mary and to God, so even at the hardest moment, he still chose love.
A lesson for you
- Practice giving the better share to others: your seat, the tastiest food, the first turn in a game.
- Every day, entrust yourself to Mary with a Hail Mary.
- When you see someone who is sad or left out, go to them, comfort them and pray for them.
Identifying marks
- Two crowns, one white and one red: when he was a boy, he said Mary offered him the choice of a white crown (a pure life) and a red crown (dying for the faith); he asked for both.
- A black habit with a white cord: the habit of the Conventual Franciscans, his order.
- Round glasses and a short beard: the way he looks in real photographs.
- A blue-and-white striped prison uniform (*): the clothes he wore at Auschwitz; our card does not show it.
(*) Only in some pictures and statues.
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