| Saint Maximillian Kolbe |
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MAXIMILIAN KOLBE
Also known as
Apostle of Consecration to Mary; Massimiliano Maria Kolbe; Maximilian Mary Kolbe;
Raymond Kolbe
Memorial
14 August
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 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.
Born
January 7, 1894 at Zdunska Wola, Poland as Raymond Kolbe
Died
August 14, 1941 by lethal carbonic acid injection after three weeks of starvation
and dehydration at Auschwitz; body burned in the ovens and ashes scattered
Beatified
October 17, 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
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
Also known as
Apostle of Consecration to Mary; Massimiliano Maria Kolbe; Maximilian Mary Kolbe;
Raymond Kolbe
Memorial
14 August
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 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.
Born
January 7, 1894 at Zdunska Wola, Poland as Raymond Kolbe
Died
August 14, 1941 by lethal carbonic acid injection after three weeks of starvation
and dehydration at Auschwitz; body burned in the ovens and ashes scattered
Beatified
October 17, 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
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
