Priest and Martyr: 1908-1942
His life:
+ Maksymilian was born in Zarnowiec, Poland.
+ As a young man, he studied in the archdiocesan seminary in Czestochowa, Poland, and later attended at the Jagiellonian University. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Czestochowa in 1931.
+ The young priest was remembered as being intelligent, pious, and able to minister to parishioners of all walks of life.
+ At the time of the Nazi occupation, Father Maksymilian was deported with thousands of other priests and eventually imprisoned in the concentration camp at Dachau. He died from torture at Dachau on June 24, 1942.
+Blessed Maksymilian Binkiewicz was beatified with 107 other Polish martyrs of World War II in 1999. The 108 martyrs are honored with the a common celebration on June 12
Worth knowing
More than 2,700 priests and religious were imprisoned at Dachau (this number doesn’t include those imprisoned in other places), the majority for nothing more than the “crime” of being a priest or religious; the majority being priests who had been removed from Poland. Dozens of the priests and religious who lost their lives at Dachau have been honored as martyrs by the Church.
Quote
“The blessed martyrs cry to our hearts: Believe in God who is love! Believe in him in good times and bad! Awaken hope! May it produce in you the fruit of fidelity to God in every trial!”—Pope Saint John Paul II at the beatification of the 108 Polish Martyrs of World War II
Prayer
Almighty and merciful God, who brought your Martyr blessed Maksymilian to overcome the torments of his passion, grant that we, who celebrate the day of his triumph, may remain invincible under your protection against the snares of the enemy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Common of Martyrs)
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Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...