Today is the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar.
He was known for his promotion of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and sought to convert sinners through her intercession. Kolbe earned a doctorate in philosophy and theology and published many religious texts. He opened monasteries in India and Japan, but his declining health made him return to Poland. There he was captured by the German Gestapo during World War II and was eventually taken to Auschwitz. He prayed with many prisoners to Our Lady and died via lethal injection after taking the place of another prisoner who had a wife and children.
Kolbe is the patron of journalists, families, prisoners, and the pro-life movement. St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!
