Born: January 8, 1894, Zduńska Wola, Russian-occupied Poland

Died: August 14, 1941, Auschwitz concentration camp (modern-day Poland)

Nationality: Polish

Vocation: priest, Conventual Franciscan Friar

Attributes: habit, rosary, concentration camp badge, Rycerz Niepokalanej magazine

Patronage: journalists, political prisoners, the pro-life movement, recovery from addiction, ham radio operators

Canonization: 1982, by Pope John Paul II

For Jesus Christ, I am prepared to suffer still more.

St. Maximilian was born Raymond Kolbe in late 19th-century Poland. His mother was Polish, and his father, a humble weaver, was of German descent.

Growing up in a poor family, Raymund was an impulsive and misbehaving child. However, one day after he had acted up, his mother’s words of discipline inspired the future saint to seek spiritual guidance to change his ways. He asked the Blessed Mother what was to become of him, only to see her before him holding two crowns, one white, the other red. Our Lady told him, the two colors represented the virtues to which she wanted him to dedicate his life: white for purity and red for martyrdom. Without hesitation, the young boy accepted both crowns.

At the tender age of 13, Raymund entered a junior seminary which was run by the Franciscans. There he demonstrated a gift for thinking strategically, causing several of his instructors to say that he would have a future as a military commander. Although he had debated serving in the Polish military, he instead chose to become a soldier for Christ.

During the midst of World War I, Kolbe witnessed several anti-Catholic protests. This, combined with his passion for spiritual warfare, led him to co-found the Militia of the Immaculata in 1917, shortly before his ordination the following year. The Militia is active to this day in encouraging Catholics all around the world to seek the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Despite constant health issues, Fr. Kolbe did not let this distract from his mission of spreading the love of Jesus through Mary. In 1922, the young priest founded a monthly Catholic magazine called Rycerz Niepokalanej, which is Polish for “Knight of the Immaculate.” Kolbe served as the magazine’s editor and publisher.

Father Kolbe helped found a monastery in Teresin, Poland, called Niepokalanow, which is Polish for “city of the Immaculate.” Owing to its name, the massive building would go on to house hundreds of Franciscan Brothers. In 1930, he traveled to Japan where he succeeded in publishing not only a Japanese version of his magazine but also building another city-like monastery.

After the Nazis invaded Poland, Fr. Kolbe spoke openly of the regime’s evils through the content he published. He was soon arrested by the Gestapo, although he was temporarily freed from his imprisonment one year later. However, his continual publication of the Rycerz Niepokalanej eventually led to his sentence to the infamous concentration camp Auschwitz. 

Nazi “policy” was if one prisoner at a concentration camp escaped, ten other prisoners would be sentenced to brutal death by forced starvation. This happened in the summer of 1942 when one of Fr. Kolbe’s cell mates escaped. While the priest was not selected to die, he observed one of the men who was, Franciszek Gajowniczek, who cried out in distress over the welfare of his wife and children if he should be killed. Fr. Kolbe stepped out of the line of prisoners and declared, “I am a Catholic priest. I wish to die for that man. I am old;  he has a wife and children.”

The Nazis accepted his request to take Gajowniczek’s place, and Fr. Kolbe served the remainder of his life ministering to the nine other condemned men. After three weeks of torture in the starvation bunker, Fr. Kolbe was killed by a lethal injection of carbolic acid. 

St. Maximilian was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982. Due to his founding and publishing of a magazine, St. Maximilian is regarded as the patron saint of journalists. His intercession is also often invoked when praying for political prisoners and the recovery of addicts, and he is one of the patron saints of the worldwide pro-life movement. 

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.