St. Maximilian at the age of seven

Only a saint can make a generous choice. Saints are ones who desire to do great things for God. Saints have magnanimous ambition, not because they trust in themselves, but because God and Our Lady offer the occasion.

St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe
PRIEST AND MARTYR
Feast: August 14

Fr. Maximilian is a saint. We had Fr. Maximilian with us." Surviving prisoners of Auswitchz concentration camp recall with confidence the presence of a man who was later proclaimed to be a saint and martyr of the Church by His Holiness John Paul II in October 10, 1982. A shattering sense of hopelessness pervaded the camp when the Nazis took over Poland in this Calvary of the modern times. Anger and hatred filled the heart of every prisoner until one man stepped his way among the prisoners of Block 14 where ten of them were destined to take the place of an escapee. Not selected though he was to be one of them, he took the place of a father of a family. He was a Catholic priest. He was Fr. Maximilian-- a saint.

Going out of St. Peter's Basilica for his canonization, with red vestments, the Holy Father with his concelebrants proclaimed the servant of God a martyr--a martyr of faith animated by love: "No greater love than this that a man lays down his life for a friend (Jn. 15: 12). That love which is very dear to Franciscan life was the summary of the life of the Poverello of Assisi. That is why some years before during St. Maximilian's beatification on October 17, 1971, Pope Paul VI called the saint,the "St. Francis come alive in our time."

The Childhood of a Saint

Saints are not born; they were made. A careful look at St. Maximilian Kolbe's early years indicate some of the factors that lead him to the summit of saintly love. Born January 8, 1894 in Zdunska-Wola, Poland, Maximilian lamented the fact of the existence of hatred and political disunity of the partitioned Poland. His father Julius Kolbe, a working class citizen, struggled under the effects of this disunity where there was the absence of the bond of love and understanding among the citizens of Poland which was being occupied by Russia, Prussia and Austria. His three sons Francis, Raymond (later will become Friar Maximilian in religion) and Joseph would experience the same social effects. Raymond would dream of a political unity of their Motherland under the works of noble knights of Our lady of Czestochowa. The nobility and magnanimity of his soul to do great things for his country was intensified by his ardent devotion to Our Lady of Czestochowa as his early years were formed by Maria Dabrowska with the daily recitation of the Angelus, of the Holy Rosary and litany. Having the frivolity of the youth of his age, the young Raymond Kolbe was reprimanded by his mother wondering what would become of him if he continued in his naughtiness. Brought before the feet of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with tearful mistrust and humility, he asked our Lady himself the same question. Our Lady, in an apparition, responded by showing him two crowns: one red, the other white. He was asked to choose which he preferred. He chose both: he chose to remain pure and undivided in his love for God and the Blessed Virgin, and he chose to be a martyr. Only a saint can make a generous choice. Saints are ones who desire to do great things for God. Saints have magnanimous ambition, not because they trust in themselves, but because God and Our Lady offer the occasion.