August 14: Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, Martyr
The Knight of the Immaculata
A disciple of Saint Francis of Assisi, he dedicated his entire life to the Immaculata and remained faithful to Christ until the very end, offering his life to save a man condemned to death in the Auschwitz extermination camp.
This is Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe, born Raymond Kolbe in Poland on January 8, 1894, in the town of Zduńska Wola, near Łódź. From an early age, he showed himself to be lively, intelligent, and deeply drawn to the faith and love of Mary Immaculate.
On November 4, 1910, he entered the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, taking the name Maximilian. Two years later, in 1912, he left for Rome to begin his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University. While in Rome, on October 16, 1917, together with six confreres, he founded the Militia of the Immaculata, a Marian apostolic movement created to spread devotion to the Virgin Mary and to combat religious indifference.
On April 28, 1918, he was ordained a priest in the Church of Sant’Andrea della Valle.
After completing his studies, he returned to Poland, where he began an intense missionary work through Catholic publications. Among his most important initiatives was the launch of the magazine The Knight of the Immaculata, which gained wide circulation.
In 1927, he founded Niepokalanów, also known as the “City of the Immaculata,” a large friary with a printing press and publishing center, entirely dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
In 1930, he left for Japan where, teaching himself Japanese in a short time, he founded another friary with a printing press in Nagasaki, called Mugenzai no Sono (“Garden of the Immaculata”). He returned to Poland in 1936 and continued expanding Niepokalanów, which became one of the largest religious and publishing centers in Europe.
With the Nazi occupation of Poland, he became the target of persecution. On May 28, 1941, he was arrested and deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was tattooed with the number 16670.
A few months later, following the escape of a prisoner, the Nazis decided to punish the entire block: ten men were selected to die in the starvation bunker. One of them, Franciszek Gajowniczek, broke down in tears, thinking of his wife and children. At that moment, Father Maximilian stepped forward and said:
“I am a Polish Catholic priest. I want to die in place of this man.”
His gesture left everyone speechless. In the bunker, he turned those days of agony into a time of grace, leading prayers, hymns, and encouraging his fellow prisoners until the very end. After two weeks of torment, when he was the last survivor, a lethal injection ended his life. The SS found him seated, with a serene face and open eyes. Until his final breath, he had continued to repeat: “Only love creates!”