One of the Saints for who I have developed a great devotion over
the years, is Saint Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast day falls on
August 14. Part of the reason for this devotion comes from the
Jewish side of my family, that is, on my Mother's side. She, and
two of her sisters, one brother and her mother, had been in a
Concentration Camp in Germany/Poland, and only my Mother
survived. As a baby, I spent a little time in such a camp in the
Netherlands in 1942. Aside from this dark history of my family,
I am also a professed member of the Secular Franciscans, the
same Franciscan lay tertiary Order to which is made reference
below. I'm also a member of the Militia Immaculata.
"Raymond (Maximilian) was the 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 in 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."
"St. Maximilian Kolbe, was born on January 7, 1892 at Zdunska
Wola, Poland as Raymond Kolbe. He died August 14, 1941 by
lethal carbonic acid injection after three weeks of starvation
and dehydration at the Auschwitz, Poland death camp. His body
burned in the ovens and ashes scattered. He was declared
Venerated on January 30, 1969 by Pope Paul VI, was Beatified on
October 17, 1971 by Pope Paul VI and 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. He was Canonized on
October 10, 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."
The portion in Quotes
from: Patron Saint Index
Fred Schaeffer, SFO
9/9/2008