Saint Maximilian Kolbe:

Feast day : 14 August

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who lived during the period 1894-1941. He was greatly devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and was inspired during his seminarian days to carry out a mission of converting the whole world through the intercession of the Immaculate. Towards this mission, he founded a monastery in Niepokalanow called ‘the City of the Immaculate Mother of God’ where he printed a magazine called The Knight of the Immaculate. The magazine became very popular and printed millions of copies. He carried his missions to the Far East too. During the World War II, his monastery served as a hospital and shelter for many Jews. In 1941 his monastery was shut down and he was arrested and sent to the Auschwitz camp. When the Nazis selected ten prisioners to be starved to death, Saint Maximilian volunteered to be executed in place of one of them who cried for mercy. After two weeks of starvation, when the Nazis found him still alive, they gave him a lethal injection that ended his life on August 14, 1941. His heroic act was recognised by the Church as an act of charity. He was canonized on 10 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II and declared a martyr of charity. He is the patron saint of imprisoned people, amateur radio operators, political prisoners and the Militia Immaculate which he founded. His feast day is celebrated by the Church on August 14.

Early life:

Saint Maximilian was born in Zdunska Wola in Poland to Julius Kolbe and Maria Dabrowska. He was their second son and was named Rajmund Kolbe. His life was marked to be an extraordinary one from early childhood. When he was a boy, one night he had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary which he described as “That night I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white and the other red. She asked if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should preserve in purity and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.” He soon joined the Conventual Franciscans in 1910 as a novitiate and took the name Maximilian. He was sent to Rome for higher studies, where he earned a doctorate in Philosophy in 1915 and a doctorate in Theology in 1919. He was ordained as a priest in 1918. During his time as a student in Rome he witnessed demonstrations against Pope St. Pius X and Pope Benedict XV by the Freemasons. He was greatly moved by this and organised the Militia Immaculate to work for the conversion of sinners especially the Freemasons. He also added the Miraculous Medal prayer to this mission.

Vocational life:

After his ordination he remained committed to his mission of converting the world through the intercession of the Immaculata. He soon printed a magazine called The Knight of the Immaculate which was so successful that the printing presses were inadequate. He eventually set up his own monastery at Niepokalanow near Warsaw where he could have the magazine printed. Soon more than 700 friars were engaged in the monastery and more than 750000 copies were printed. His next mission was to circulate the magazine to the Far East. Though he did not know the languages of the East, he was driven by his zeal to publish writings for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. He was not very successful in China but in Japan he founded a monastery which continues till date. He returned to Poland due to poor health in 1936. His monastery in Niepokalanow began publishing a daily newspaper Maly Dzienik which also was widely popular and printed millions of copies. In 1938 he started a radio station and held an amateur radio license too.

Death and Canonization:

During the World War II, his monastery gave shelter to several Jews who were being persecuted by the Germans. He opened a hospital for the sick in his monastery and continued working there. He also continued his publishing house till he was arrested in 1941. The monastery was shut down by the German authorities and he was taken as a prisoner to the extermination camp in Auschwitz. When one prisoner escaped from the camp, the Nazis had selected ten prisoners to be starved to death in an underground bunker as a deterrent for the other prisoners. Out of the ten selected prisoners, when one cried for mercy, Saint Maximilian volunteered to take his place. He was put in the underground bunker alongwith the other nine people and left to starve to death. He continued to pray and was often found kneeling in prayer. After two weeks of starvation, he was the only surviving prisoner. The guards wanted to empty the bunker and decided to get rid of him by giving him a lethal injection on 14 August 1941.

On 12 May 1955, Kolbe was recognized by the Vatican as a Servant of God. He was declared venerable by Pope Paul VI on 30 January 1969, beatified as a Confessor of the Faith by the same Pope in 1971, and canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II on 10 October 1982.Upon canonization, the Pope declared St. Maximilian Kolbe as a confessor, and a martyr of charity.The miracles that were used to confirm his beatification were the July 1948 cure of intestinal tuberculosis in Angela Testoni, and in August 1950, the cure of calcification of the arteries/sclerosis of Francis Ranier; both attributed to Kolbe's intercession by their prayers to him. His feast day is celebrated on 14 August every year.