Maximilian was born in January 1894 in Poland
and was one of 5 sons to his devout parents. He contracted tuberculosis and,
though he recovered, he remained frail all his life. In 1907 Kolbe and his
elder brother Francis decided to join the Conventual Franciscans. During his
time as a student, he witnessed vehement demonstrations against Popes St. Pius
X and Benedict XV in Rome and was inspired to organize the Militia Immaculata,
or Army of Mary, to work for conversion of sinners and the enemies of the Catholic
Church through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. The Immaculata friars
utilized the most modern printing and administrative techniques in publishing
catechetical and devotional leaflets, a daily newspaper with a circulation of
230,000 and a monthly magazine with a circulation of over one million. After
receiving a doctorate in theology, he spread the Movement through a magazine
entitled "The Knight of the Immaculata" and helped form a community
of 800 men.
Maximilian went to Japan where he built a monastery
and then on to India where he furthered the Movement. In 1936 he returned home
because of ill health. After the Nazi invasion in 1939, he was imprisoned and
released for a time. He provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland,
including 2,000 Jews whom he hid from Nazi persecution in his friary in
Niepokalanów. He was also active as a radio amateur, with Polish call letters
SP3RN, vilifying Nazi activities through his reports. On February 17, 1941 he was arrested again by
the German Gestapo and imprisoned in the Pawiak prison, and on May 25 was
transferred to Auschwitz as prisoner #16670. In July 1941 a man from Kolbe's
barracks vanished, prompting the deputy camp commander to pick 10 men from the
same barracks to be starved to death in Block 13 (notorious for torture), in
order to deter further escape attempts. One of the selected men, Franciszek
Gajowniczek, cried out, lamenting his family, and Kolbe volunteered to take his
place. The guards accepted this move, and Francizek was spared and eventually
lived until the late 1990s. During the time in the cell St Maximilian led the
men in songs and prayer. After three weeks of dehydration and starvation, only
Kolbe and three others were still alive. Finally he was murdered with an
injection of carbolic acid. Father Kolbe was beatified as a confessor by Pope
Paul VI in 1971 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982 in
the presence of Franciszek Gajowniczek and his family.
Saturday 14 August 2021
St Maximilian Kolbe
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