Saint of the day - August 14
The sublime sacrifice of Maximilian Kolbe has become perfect example of the Christian love that Jesus Christ had proclaimed, as he volunteered to die in place of another prisoner in the German concentration camp of Auschwitz, during World War II. This courageous act of Maximilian Kolbe had become the subject of great reverence and inspiration for generations.
He was born as Raymund Kolbe on January 8, 1894, in the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. He was very active in promoting the Immaculate Virgin Mary and was known as the Apostle of Consecration to Mary. Much of his life was strongly influenced by a vision he had of the Virgin Mary when he was 12.
He described this incident as follows:
“That night I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both”.
One year after his vision, Kolbe and his elder brother, Francis joined the Conventual Franciscans. In 1910, Kolbe was given the religious name Maximilian, after being allowed to enter the novitiate, and in 1911, he professed his first vows.
After witnessing demonstrations against Pope St. Pius X and Benedict XV by the Freemasons, Maximilian Kolbe organized the Militia Immaculata (Army of the Immaculate One). His goal was to work for the conversion of sinners and enemies of the Church, specifically, the Freemasons, with the intercession of Mary.
In 1918, he was ordained a priest and continued his work of promoting Mary throughout Poland. He founded a monthly periodical titled, "Rycerz Niepokalanej" (Knight of the Immaculate). He also operated a religious publishing press and founded a new Conventual Franciscan monastery at Niepokalanow, which became a major religious publishing centre.
Kolbe also founded monasteries in both Japan and India. To this day, the monastery in Japan remains prominent in the Roman Catholic Church in Japan.
In 1936, Kolbe's poor health forced him to return home to Poland, and once the WWII invasion by Germany began, he became one of the only brothers to remain in the monastery. He opened up a temporary hospital to aid those in need. When his town was captured, Kolbe was sent to prison but released three months later.
Kolbe refused to sign a document that would recognize him as a German citizen with his German ancestry, which could have saved him from persecution. He continued to work in his monastery, providing shelter for refugees - including hiding 2,000 Jews from the German army. After receiving permission to continue his religious publishing, Kolbe's monastery acted as a publishing house again, and issued many anti-Nazi German publications.
On February 17, 1941, the monastery was shut down; Kolbe was arrested by the German Gestapo and taken to the Pawiak prison. Three months later, he was transferred to Auschwitz.
Continuing to act as a priest, Kolbe was subjected to violent harassment, including beatings and lashings. At the end of July 1941, one prisoner escaped from the camp, prompting Karl Fritzsch, the deputy camp commander, to pick ten men to be starved to death in an underground bunker to deter further escape attempts.
When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, "My wife! My children!" Kolbe volunteered to take his place. It is said during the last days of his life Kolbe led prayers to Our Lady with the prisoners and remained calm. He was the last of the group to remain alive, after two weeks of dehydration and starvation. The guards gave him a lethal injection of carbolic acid.
Maximilian Kolbe died on August 14, 1941, and his remains were cremated on August 15, the same day as the Assumption of Mary feast day.
Recognized as the Servant of God, Kolbe was beatified as a "Confessor of the Faith" on October 17, 1971, by Pope Paul VI. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982, and was declared as a martyr.
Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Anastasius
2. Saint Anthony Primaldi
3. Saint Eusebius of Rome
4. Saint Demetrius
5. Saint Ursicius
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