Saint Maximilian Kolbe, born as Raymund Kolbe in 1894, was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who died a martyr during World War II. He is also known as the “Apostle of Consecration to Mary” given his profound veneration of the Blessed Mother inspired by a childhood vision of Our Lady. When he was twelve, he saw the Mother of God come to him, holding two crowns, one colored white which symbolized purity and the other red which meant martyrdom. When asked if he would accept either of the crowns, he answered both.
His widely known act of martyrdom was that of volunteering to die in place of a stranger in the German death camp in Auschwitz. That man for whom Friar Kolbe gave up his life for was Franciszek Gajowniczek, a Polish police officer and a family man, who went on to survive the horrors of the Nazi regime and died at age ninety-three. He said that Saint Maximilian gave not only him but all of us a “witness of heroic charity.”
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who selflessly offered his life for his brother in Christ and consecrated himself to Our Blessed Mother, pray for us!
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