St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, our Patron Saint
EARLY YEARS
St. Maximilian Kolbe was born in Poland and, at birth, given the name Raymond Kolbe. Besides Raymond, there were two other brothers; Francis, who was the oldest and Joseph, the youngest. When all the boys were out of the house, his mother and her husband dedicated their lives to God in a religious order. Mrs. Kolbe became a nun and Mr. Kolbe went to live with the Franciscan Order. 
But Mr. Kolbe later left for WWI, where he was mistakenly executed as a traitor in 1917 or 1918. According to his mother, Raymond was obedient, humble and submissive. When he was punished for minor offense, he would bring the whip and bend over the chair unhesitatingly; then, after he had been chastised, he would thank his parents and would return the whip to its place. But he did try the patience of his mother with boyish pranks. One occasion, she shouted in a fit of excitement: “I do not know what will become of you!” This so upset Raymond that he asked the Blessed Virgin “just what would I become.”
At the age of 10, the Blessed Mother appeared to him, holding two crowns, a white one and a red one, and asked him which one of these he wanted. The white crown signified that he would strive for purity and the red crown signified that he would die a martyr. He replied to Mary: “I choose both!” She smiled and disappeared. At the age of 13, he and his older brother entered a local commercial school in preparation for the priesthood. Raymond entered as a novice in the Franciscan Order and became Friar Maximilian Kolbe. His vision and love of Our Lady never left him. It was during this era that he promised to be a Knight of Our Lady –to win souls for her as a soldier on a field of battle. But this “fixed idea” brought about a crisis in his life. As he was about to enter the novitiate order of the Franciscans, he suffered a diabolic temptation. He was being persuaded that he could better fulfill his dedication to the Blessed Virgin by a military career than in the religious life. He even persuaded his brother to do the same. About that time, his mother came to visit to tell both sons that the youngest brother had also decided to become a religious. At this information, St. Maximilian and the older brother decided to continue with their formation to priesthood. Maximilian Kolbe was ordained as a Franciscan Priest in 1918, at the age of 24. A year later, he received his doctor’s degree in theology.
THE MILITIA OF MARY IMMACULATE
From an early age, St Maximilian suffered from tuberculosis. But this didn’t stop him in his quest for the love of our Blessed Mother. In 1917, the same year that the Blessed Mother appeared to the children at Fatima, St Maximilian started the Militia of Mary Immaculate, called the “Knight of the Immaculata”. Immaculata is Latin for “Immaculate” (as in Immaculate Conception). Before being ordained a priest, Friar Maximilian read from a small sheet of paper the program of the Militia. Six Franciscan seminarians and one priest signed the pledged. Their mission: To conquer for Christ all souls in the entire world to the end of time, through the Immaculate Mother. By the end of 1917, there were 25 members. The numbers grew to 450 by 1920, 84,000 by 1926, over half a million by 1939. Today, the membership is in the millions. In 1927, St. Maximilian was able to obtain property in a Polish village called Niepokalanow, which is located about an hour’s drive from Warsaw. This is where he started a religious community called the “The City of the Immaculata”. In less than 11 years, the religious community grew from 2 priests and 17 lay-brothers to over 700 lay-brothers and 13 priests. After Friar Maximilian was ordained, he wanted to publish a bulletin of the Militia, but he had no funds for the purchased of a printing press. So he had a printer print the publication. When it was time to pay the printer, he had not a penny in his pocket. Instinctively, he wandered down to the altar of the Madonna in the Church. Throwing himself upon his knees, he told his “Immaculate One” the tale of his distress. He prayed long and confidently. As he was about to leave, his eyes spotted an object on the altar cloth. It was an envelope, which read: “For thee, O Immaculate Mother.” In it was the exact sum of the debt which was to be paid to the printers. Eventually, St Maximilian was able to obtain a printing press and by 1926, the publication of the Knight of the Immaculata was 45,000 copies. By 1939, the publication grew to almost a million copies. In 1930, St Maximilian and four others missionaries left the city for Japan, to “conquer the entire world for all souls for Christ through the Immaculata.” The city of the Immaculata was built on a small hill north of Nagasaki. In August of 1945, Nagasaki was leveled in the atomic bombing. But the Blessed Virgin protected her beloved City of the Immaculata from even the slightest damage whatsoever!
THE FIRST ARREST
September 1, 1939, the German Army launched an attack on Poland. Fr. Maximilian saw that this was the beginning of the end. Soon the Nazis would be marching into the City of the Immaculata. He decided that the Brothers should leave. Only six remained, five of whom were priests. By September 19, they were arrested. Fr. Maximilian was sent to a concentration camp, called Amtitz, a place of isolation for prisoners who were considered possible trouble-makers. The prisoners were faced with hunger and sleeping outdoors. But by December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, he was back at the City. But his heart bled at the sight of destruction. Even the statue of Our Lady which stood at the entrance of the city was gone. The city had been turned into a concentration camp, approximately 2000 prisoners were sent there. But by 1940, many of the 600 Brothers that had disbursed were now back living in the community.
LIFE AT AUSCHWITZ
The section head of Block 17 at Auschwitz, where Fr. Maximilian was assigned, was known as “Bloody Krott” because of his blood-thirsty cruelty. Fr. Maximilian, still weak and sick from pneumonia and his bouts with TB was made to dig sand and stones for the construction of a wall around a crematory. He was also made to cut tree trunks and then carry loads three times his normal weight over rough and rutted ground. If he slackened on the way, he was beaten so badly that his fellow priests were ready to help. But he simply replied: “Do not expose yourself to the same treatment. The Immaculata is helping me. I will manage.” Even at the camp, he would console his fellow prisoners by telling them how God tries souls by suffering and thus prepares them for a better life. “They may kill our bodies, but they cannot kill our souls.. if we die, we shall die peacefully, resigned to the Divine Will.” Fr. Maximilian was burdened with an extra heavy load of wood and then ordered to run. When he tripped and fell to the ground, he was kicked in the face and stomach and struck with a club. Almost unconscious, he could hear ringing in his ears: “you do not want to work, you lazy creature! I’ll teach you what it means to work!” Krott ordered the priest extended on the trunk of a tree and given fifty blows. He could not move, so he was thrown into the mud and covered with brushwood. He was then loaded onto a cart and pushed home. The next morning, it was impossible for him to get out of his bunk for work. He was brought to the hospital and there his condition was diagnosed as “pneumonia with general exhaustion.” As he became well, he began to hear Confessions in secret, frequently during the quiet of the night. When he was ready to be sent back to camp, he was assigned to Block 12. But since he was still running a fever, he was restricted to invalids. Because of this leniency, his food ration was reduced to half the normal amount. While in Block 12, Fr. Maximilian assisted the dying. Soon after, he was moved to Block 14, where Fr. Maximilian would make the greatest sacrifice one man can make for another. It was well known at Auschwitz, that when a prisoner escaped, 20 men would be sentenced to slow starvation. Around July 31, just 5 days of Fr. Maximilian’s arrival at Block 14, a prisoner did escape. The men from block 14 were made to stand at attention all day in the broiling hot sun, waiting for the return of the prisoner. At around 3 pm they were allowed to rest for half an hour. They were given a cup of soup. For some, this would be their last meal. The next morning, the prisoners again assembled in the square, standing at attention. Since the fugitive had not been found, the commandant announced “in his place ten of you will die in the starvation cell. The next time, twenty will be condemned.” As he selected the ten, the Commandant’s assistant wrote down the number of each victim. As the ten men stepped forward, Fr. Maximilian was not among the group. Suddenly, one of the victims began to sob in broken words: “My poor wife and my children, I shall never see them again.” The condemned were then ordered to remove their shoes. The young man still wept for his wife and children. The Commandant gave another command, “left face!” When the men turned, they could see the place of their death, Block 13. They were ready to march when suddenly a figure stepped forward from the ranks. The man walked directly to the Commandant, stopping just in front of him. It was Fr. Maximilian. Calmly and very softly, he said: “I want to die in place of that father who has a family. I beg you to accept the offer of my life.” And why asked the Commandant, “Because I am old and useless. My life is not worth anything.” The Commandant asked: “Who are you? The Franciscan solemnly answered: “I am a Catholic Priest.” The Commandant did not speak, but simply motioned with his hand, signifying that he accepted the offer. Fr. Maximilian stepped up to the ranks of the condemned. The assistant jotted down this number, 16670.
THE DEATH HOUSE
Block 13, the death chamber of Auschwitz, was underground. It was July 31, 1941. When Fr. Maximilian and his nine companions arrived, they passed by a cell which housed twenty other victims of previous starvation sentence. From this point on, the ten were denied food and drink. There were no tears and pleas coming from their cell, but rather sweet prayers of the Rosary and hymns to the Blessed Virgin. The death cell seemed more like a chapel. Sometimes the victims were so engrossed in their prayers that when the SS guard opened the cell for check-up to see who had died, the prisoners did not know he was there until he shouted for silence. Only four prisoners survived the second week, including Fr. Maximilian. However, this group had lasted too long. The cell was needed for other victims. So the prison infirmary was called to end their lives with an injection of carbolic acid. He approached Fr. Maximilian, who was seated on the floor with his back resting against the wall. The Priest saw him come, and with the words “Ave Maria” on his lips, he submitted his left arm to the executioner. In a moment it was all over. The date was August 14th, the vigil of the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption.
SAINTHOOD
Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was beatified in 1971 and was canonized on October 10, 1982 as a martyr. The man who St. Kolbe laid down his life for was at the canonization. The work of St. Maximilian Kolbe is ongoing throughout the world and in the U.S. through the efforts of the Franciscans at Franciscan Marytown in Illinois where the Knights of the Immaculata are headquartered in America.
But Mr. Kolbe later left for WWI, where he was mistakenly executed as a traitor in 1917 or 1918. According to his mother, Raymond was obedient, humble and submissive. When he was punished for minor offense, he would bring the whip and bend over the chair unhesitatingly; then, after he had been chastised, he would thank his parents and would return the whip to its place. But he did try the patience of his mother with boyish pranks. One occasion, she shouted in a fit of excitement: “I do not know what will become of you!” This so upset Raymond that he asked the Blessed Virgin “just what would I become.”
The white crown signified that he would strive for purity and the red crown signified that he would die a martyr. He replied to Mary: “I choose both!” She smiled and disappeared. At the age of 13, he and his older brother entered a local commercial school in preparation for the priesthood. Raymond entered as a novice in the Franciscan Order and became Friar Maximilian Kolbe. His vision and love of Our Lady never left him. It was during this era that he promised to be a Knight of Our Lady –to win souls for her as a soldier on a field of battle. But this “fixed idea” brought about a crisis in his life. As he was about to enter the novitiate order of the Franciscans, he suffered a diabolic temptation. He was being persuaded that he could better fulfill his dedication to the Blessed Virgin by a military career than in the religious life. He even persuaded his brother to do the same. About that time, his mother came to visit to tell both sons that the youngest brother had also decided to become a religious. At this information, St. Maximilian and the older brother decided to continue with their formation to priesthood. Maximilian Kolbe was ordained as a Franciscan Priest in 1918, at the age of 24. A year later, he received his doctor’s degree in theology.
It was an envelope, which read: “For thee, O Immaculate Mother.” In it was the exact sum of the debt which was to be paid to the printers. Eventually, St Maximilian was able to obtain a printing press and by 1926, the publication of the Knight of the Immaculata was 45,000 copies. By 1939, the publication grew to almost a million copies. In 1930, St Maximilian and four others missionaries left the city for Japan, to “conquer the entire world for all souls for Christ through the Immaculata.” The city of the Immaculata was built on a small hill north of Nagasaki. In August of 1945, Nagasaki was leveled in the atomic bombing. But the Blessed Virgin protected her beloved City of the Immaculata from even the slightest damage whatsoever!
Even at the camp, he would console his fellow prisoners by telling them how God tries souls by suffering and thus prepares them for a better life. “They may kill our bodies, but they cannot kill our souls.. if we die, we shall die peacefully, resigned to the Divine Will.” Fr. Maximilian was burdened with an extra heavy load of wood and then ordered to run. When he tripped and fell to the ground, he was kicked in the face and stomach and struck with a club. Almost unconscious, he could hear ringing in his ears: “you do not want to work, you lazy creature! I’ll teach you what it means to work!” Krott ordered the priest extended on the trunk of a tree and given fifty blows. He could not move, so he was thrown into the mud and covered with brushwood. He was then loaded onto a cart and pushed home. The next morning, it was impossible for him to get out of his bunk for work. He was brought to the hospital and there his condition was diagnosed as “pneumonia with general exhaustion.” As he became well, he began to hear Confessions in secret, frequently during the quiet of the night. When he was ready to be sent back to camp, he was assigned to Block 12. But since he was still running a fever, he was restricted to invalids. Because of this leniency, his food ration was reduced to half the normal amount. While in Block 12, Fr. Maximilian assisted the dying. Soon after, he was moved to Block 14, where Fr. Maximilian would make the greatest sacrifice one man can make for another. It was well known at Auschwitz, that when a prisoner escaped, 20 men would be sentenced to slow starvation. Around July 31, just 5 days of Fr. Maximilian’s arrival at Block 14, a prisoner did escape. The men from block 14 were made to stand at attention all day in the broiling hot sun, waiting for the return of the prisoner. At around 3 pm they were allowed to rest for half an hour. They were given a cup of soup. For some, this would be their last meal. The next morning, the prisoners again assembled in the square, standing at attention. Since the fugitive had not been found, the commandant announced “in his place ten of you will die in the starvation cell. The next time, twenty will be condemned.” As he selected the ten, the Commandant’s assistant wrote down the number of each victim. As the ten men stepped forward, Fr. Maximilian was not among the group. Suddenly, one of the victims began to sob in broken words: “My poor wife and my children, I shall never see them again.” The condemned were then ordered to remove their shoes. The young man still wept for his wife and children. The Commandant gave another command, “left face!” When the men turned, they could see the place of their death, Block 13. They were ready to march when suddenly a figure stepped forward from the ranks. The man walked directly to the Commandant, stopping just in front of him. It was Fr. Maximilian. Calmly and very softly, he said: “I want to die in place of that father who has a family. I beg you to accept the offer of my life.” And why asked the Commandant, “Because I am old and useless. My life is not worth anything.” The Commandant asked: “Who are you? The Franciscan solemnly answered: “I am a Catholic Priest.” The Commandant did not speak, but simply motioned with his hand, signifying that he accepted the offer. Fr. Maximilian stepped up to the ranks of the condemned. The assistant jotted down this number, 16670.
