Today, we celebrate the memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, priest and martyr.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar. He was born on January 8, 1894, in Zduńska Wola, in the Kingdom of Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire.

At the age of 12, he had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, bearing two crowns symbolizing purity and martyrdom. The Blessed Virgin asked him if he is willing to accept both crowns. Saint Maximilian Kolbe replied that he will accept both.

When Saint Maximilian Kolbe was ordained to the priesthood, he returned to Poland and was active in n promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. He strongly opposed the leftist – in particular, communist – movements.

After the outbreak of World War II, the monastery in Germany was shut down and Kolbe was imprisoned. At the end of July 1941, one prisoner escaped from the camp, prompting the deputy camp commander, to pick ten men to be starved to death in an underground bunker to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, “My wife! My children!”, Kolbe volunteered to take his place.
According to an eyewitness, Kolbe led the prisoners in prayer. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. After they had been starved and deprived of water for two weeks, only Kolbe remained alive. Since the officers desired that the bunkers be emptied they injected Kolbe with a lethal injection of carbolic acid. He died on 14 August.

He was beatified by Pope Paul VI and canonized by Pope John Paul II.