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Also known as: Apostle of
Consecration to Mary; Massimiliano Maria Kolbe; Maximilian Mary Kolbe;
Raymond Kolbe
Profile
Second of three sons born to a poor but pious Catholic family in Russian
occupied Poland. His parents, both Franciscan lay tertiaries, worked at
home as weavers. His father, Julius, later ran a religious book store,
then enlisted in Pilsudski's army, fought for Polish independence from
Russia, and was hanged by the Russians as a traitor in 1914. His mother,
Marianne Dabrowska, later became a Benedictine nun. His brother Alphonse
became a priest.
Raymond was known as a mischievous child, sometimes considered wild, and a
trial to his parents. However, in 1906 at Pabianice, at age twelve and
around the time of his first Communion, he received a vision of the Virgin
Mary that changed his life.
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 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. -Saint Maximilian
He entered the Franciscan junior seminary in Lwow, Poland in 1907 where he
excelled in mathematics and physics. For a while he wanted to abandon the
priesthood for the military, but eventually relented to the call to
religious life, and on 4 September 1910 he became a novice in the
Conventual Franciscan Order at age 16. He took the name Maximilian, made
his first vows on 5 September 1911, his final vows on 1 November 1914.
Studied philosophy at the Jesuit Gregorian College in Rome from 1912 to
1915, and theology at the Franciscan Collegio Serafico in Rome from 1915
to 1919. On 16 October 1917, while still in seminary, he and six friends
founded the Immaculata Movement (Militia Immaculatae, Crusade of Mary
Immaculate) devoted to the conversion of sinners, opposition to
freemasonry (which was extremely anti-Catholic at the time), spread of the
Miraculous Medal (which they wore as their habit), and devotion to Our
Lady and the path to Christ. Stricken with tuberculosis which nearly
killed him, and left him in frail health the rest of his life. Ordained on
28 April 1918 in Rome at age 24. Received his Doctor of Theology on 22
July 1922; his insights into Marian theology echo today through their
influence on Vatican II.
Maximilian returned to Poland on 29 July 1919 to teach history in the
Crakow seminary. He had to take a medical leave from 10 August 1920 to 28
April 1921 to be treated for tuberculosis at the hospital at Zakpane in
the Tatra Mountains. In January 1922 he began publication of the magazine
Knight of the Immaculate to fight religious apathy; by 1927 the magazine
had a press run of 70,000 issues. He was forced to take another medical
leave from 18 September 1926 to 13 April 1927, but the work continued. The
friaries from which he had worked were not large enough for his work, and
in 1927 Polish Prince Jan Drucko-Lubecki gave him land at Teresin near
Warsaw. There he founded a new monastery of Niepokalanow, the City of the
Immaculate which was consecrated on 8 December 1927. At its peak the
Knight of the Immaculate had a press run of 750,000 copies a month. A
junior seminary was started on the grounds in 1929. In 1935 the house
began printing a daily Catholic newspaper, The Little Daily with a press
run of 137,000 on work days, 225,000 on Sundays and holy days.
Not content with his work in Poland, Maximilian and four brothers left for
Japan in 1930. Within a month of their arrival, penniless and knowing no
Japanese, Maximilian was printing a Japanese version of the Knight; the
magazine, Seibo no Kishi grew to a circulation of 65,000 by 1936. In 1931
he founded a monastery in Nagasaki, Japan comparable to Niepokalanow. It
survived the war, including the nuclear bombing, and serves today as a
center of Franciscan work in Japan.
In mid-1932 he left Japan for Malabar, India where he founded a third
Niepokalanow house. However, due to a lack of manpower, it did not
survive.
Poor health forced him to curtail his missionary work and return to Poland
in 1936. On 8 December 1938 the monastery started its own radio station.
By 1939 the monastery housed a religious community of nearly 800 men, the
largest in the world in its day, and was completely self-sufficient
including medical facilities and a fire brigade staffed by the religious
brothers.
Arrested with several of his brothers on 19 September 1939 following the
Nazi invasion of Poland. Others at the monastery were briefly exiled, but
the prisoners were released on 8 December 1939, and the men returned to
their work. Back at Niepokalanow he continued his priestly ministry, The
brothers housed 3,000 Polish refugees, two-thirds of whom were Jewish, and
continued their publication work, including materials considered
anti-Nazi. For this work the presses were shut down, the congregation
suppressed, the brothers dispersed, and Maximilian was imprisoned in
Pawiak prison, Warsaw, Poland on 17 February 1941.
On 28 May 1941 he was transferred to Auschwitz and branded as prisoner
16670. He was assigned to a special work group staffed by priests and
supervised by especially vicious and abusive guards. His calm dedication
to the faith brought him the worst jobs available, and more beatings than
anyone else. At one point he was beaten, lashed, and left for dead. The
prisoners managed to smuggle him into the camp hospital where he spent his
recovery time hearing confessions. When he returned to the camp,
Maximilian ministered to other prisoners, including conducting Mass and
delivering communion using smuggled bread and wine.
In July 1941 there was an escape from the camp. Camp protocol, designed to
make the prisoners guard each other, required that ten men be slaughtered
in retribution for each escaped prisoner. Francis Gajowniczek, a married
man with young children was chosen to die for the escape. Maximilian
volunteered to take his place, and died as he had always wished - in
service.
Born
7 January 1894 at Zdunska Wola, Poland as Raymond Kolbe
Died
14 August 1941 by lethal carbonic acid injection after three weeks of
starvation and dehydration at Auschwitz; body burned in the ovens and
ashes scattered
Beatified
17 October 1971 by Pope Paul VI; his beatification miracles include the
July 1948 cure of intestinal tuberculosis of Angela Testoni, and August
1950 cure of calcification of the arteries/sclerosis of Francis Ranier
Canonized
10 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II; declared a martyr of charity
Patronage
drug addiction, drug addicts, families, imprisoned people, journalists,
political prisoners, prisoners, pro-life movement
Readings
Kolbe is the patron saint of our difficult century.
-Pope John Paul II
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Courage, my sons, Don't you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay
our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is
to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then, tell
the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us
anything she wishes.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
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The most deadly poison of our times is indifference. And this happens,
although the praise of God should know no limits. Let us strive,
therefore, to praise Him to the greatest extent of our powers.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
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For Jesus Christ I am prepared to suffer still more.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
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No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to
seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the
inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of
extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of
every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on
the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal
selves?
Saint Maximilian Kolbe in the last issue of the Knight
source:
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm01.htm
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