Saint of the Day: St. Maximilian Kolbe

Conventual Franciscan Priest and Martyr (1894-1942)

His life

+ Born in Poland, Maximilian became a Conventual Franciscan in 1910 and was ordained a priest in 1918. 

+ His devotion to the Blessed Virgin inspired him to establish a sodality which he called the Militia of Mary Immaculate and he promoted its growth throughout Poland and other parts of the world, including Japan where he served as a missionary.

+ Returning to Poland, Maximilian was imprisoned in 1941 for his opposition to the Nazis. Subjected to severe physical and psychological abuse, he was eventually transferred to Auschwitz in May 1942. 

+ Despite the harsh conditions, he was able to continue to priestly ministry of hearing confessions and saying Mass (with smuggled bread and wine).

+ His life of sacrifice was brought to completion when he volunteered to take the place of a condemned man—a husband and father—who was to be executed. Honored a “martyr of charity,” Maximilian was executed by lethal injection on August 14, 1942. 

+ Saint Maximilian Kolbe was canonized in 1982. He is honored as the patron saint of media communications and of drug addicts. 

For prayer and reflection

“What gives us freedom is the Spirit. We read about it in the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, there is a creativity there and there is the Spirit. For this reason, please, we must not allow ourselves to stifle missionary creative freedom! Second, as Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, the Franciscan missionary in Japan and martyr of charity, said: “only love creates”. Let us remember that evangelical creativity stems from divine love, and that all missionary activity is creative to the extent that Christ’s charity is its origin, form and end.”—Pope Francis

Spiritual bonus

On August 14, we also remember Blessed Alberto Pandoni. A member of the Hermits of St. Augustine, he was later named bishop of Piacenza, Italy. Appointed bishop of Ferrara in 1257, he worked to combat the evils of simony and lay investiture, defending the rights of the Church against secular rulers. Blessed Alberto died in 1274. 

Prayer

O God, who filled the Priest and Martyr Saint Maximilian Kolbe
with a burning love for the Immaculate Virgin Mary
and with zeal for souls and love of neighbor,
graciously grant, through his intercession,
that, striving for your glory by eagerly serving others,
we may be conformed, even until death, to your Son.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Fr. Silas Henderson, S.D.S.