a biography of Masimilian Kolbe, franciscan apostle and marty at Auschwitz

1. SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE

2. Maximilian Kolbe was born in Poland on January 8, 1894 in the city of Zdunska Wola, which was
then occupied by Russia. He was baptized with the name of Raymund in the parish church.

3. He was the second son of
Julius Kolbe (of German origin) and
Maria Dabrowska (of Polish origin).
He had four brothers:
Francis, Joseph, Walenty (who
lived one year) and Andrew
(who lived to four year old).
His parents moved to Pabianice
(Poland) for work reasons.

4. His mother tells – “We had a small
altar hidden between two
wardrobes, before which he
often knelt without being
noticed and prayed while crying.
In general, his behavior was
superior to his age, always
recollected and serious”

5. Once after being correced
by his mother, he said:
"Mom, when you scolded me,
I asked Our Lady to tell me
what would become of me.
I begged her again in church.
Then the Virgin appeared to
me, holding two crowns:
one white and the other red.
She looked at me fondly and
asked if I wanted those two
crowns. The white one meant
that I would be always pure
and the red one that I would
be a martyr. I answered that
I accepted them ... [both].
Then the Virgin looked at me
lovingly and disappeared.

6. He entered the
Franciscan seminary
when he was 13
years old, in the
Polish city of Lvov,
which in turn was
occupied by Austria

7. He entered the Seminary of the Franciscan Fathers together
with Francis, his older brother. It was in the seminary that he
adopted the new name Maximilian in stead of Raymond.

8. Kolbe was sent to Rome in 1912, where he attended
the Pontifical Gregorian University. There he
received his doctorate in philosophy in 1915.

9. He was very devoted to the Immaculate Conception. He thought that
the Church should be militant in its collaboration with divine Grace in
order to promote the Catholic faith. Moved by this devotion and
conviction, he founded in 1917 a movement called “the Militia of the
Inmaculate" whose members consecrated themselves to the blessed
Virgin Mary and would fight by all morally valid means, for the
construction of the Kingdom of God throughout the world.

10. He finished his
studies in Rome
and in 1918 he was
ordained a priest.

11. He continued his studies at the Pontifical University
of Saint Buenaventure in Rome, where he did a
doctorate in theology between 1919 and 1922

12. From his stay in Rome he was strongly
impressed by the public Masonic
demonstrations. The Catholic Church
and the Pope were harshly attacked.

13. From 1919 to 1922 he taught
at the Krakow seminary.
He suffered from
tuberculosis.
From 1922 to 1926 he ran
a religious publishing
house in Grodno

14. He started the publication of the monthly
magazine "Knight of the Immaculate", aimed at
promoting knowledge, love and service to the
Virgin Mary and the task of converting souls for
Christ. With a circulation of 500 copies in 1922,
in 1939 it would reach close to a million copies.
Blessing of their first printing press

15. In 1929 he founded the first "City of the Immaculate" in the
Franciscan convent of Niepokalanów 40 kilometers from Warsaw,
which in time would become a city consecrated to the Virgin.

16. It was dedicated to "conquer the whole world, all souls, for Christ,
for Immaculate Mary, using all lawful means, and all technological
discoveries, especially in the field of communications."

17. In 1928, Kolbe
gathered the friars
and told them:
"We have received
all this from the
people, it is not
ours, so we have
to make sure that
it is not destroyed."
Soon they got
down to work
and organized
a fire brigade.

18. In 1929 a youth seminary was founded here. It was soon
blessed with such a wealth of vocations that it became
the largest monastery of the time and one of the most
numerous in the entire history of the Church

19. In 1930 he arrived as a missionary in Shanghai,
China, but did not achieve much success there.

20. In 1931, after the Pope requested
missionaries, he volunteered and
traveled to Japan where he
founded a new city of the
Immaculate Conception
("Mugenzai No Sono") and
published the magazine
"Caballero of the Immaculate
"in Japanese ("Seibo No Kishi").

21. In mid-1932
Kolbe left
Japan and
went to
Malabar,
India, where
he founded
another
monastery.

22. In 1933 he
returned to Poland
for a general
chapter of the
order in Krakow.
Afterwards he
returned to Japan.

23. In 1936 he returned to Poland as director of Niepokalanów, the City of the
Immaculate, and a daily newspaper, the "Little Daily" ("Mały Dziennik").
He had begun to publish this in agreement with a political group, the National
Radical Camp (Obóz Narodowo Radykalny). This publication reached
a circulation of 137,000 daily, and almost double, 225,000, on weekends.

24. In 1938 the City of the Immaculate
began its own radio station

25. After the German
invasion of
Poland, Kolbe
was one of the
friars who
remained in the
monastery, where
he organized a
temporary
hospital

26. He refused to join the list of German
people (volksliste), which would have given
him the same rights as German citizens,
because he was of German origin.

27. He and other friars provided refuge for people from Greater
Poland, including 2,000 Jews whom he hid from German
persecution in the monastery of the City of the Immaculate.
With the Nazi
occupation, they
welcomed thousands
of displaced people
from Poznań, they
sheltered and assisted
them spiritually.

28. In February 1939 the
Gestapo arrested him
and interned him in the
concentration camps of
Amtlitz and Ostrzeszów

29. When released, he got permission
to continue publishing religious works,
but with significantly less circulation.
He also published several works
critical of Nazi Germany.

30. He was arrested again in February 1941 and sent to
Pawiak prison, to be later transferred to the Auschwitz
concentration camp, where despite the terrible
living conditions he continued his ministry.

31. He always showed generosity and
concern for others, and fought to
uphold the dignity of his companions

32. HIS LAST LETTER
TO HIS MOTHER
“Dear mother, towards the
end of May I arrived together
with a train convoy at the
Auschwitz concentration
camp. As for me, all is well,
dear mother. You can be calm
for me and for my health,
because the good Lord is
everywhere and thinks with
great love in everyone and in
everything. You better not
write to me before I send you
another letter because I don't
know how long I'll be here.
With kind regards and kisses,
Raimundo Kolbe ».

33. a prisoner from the same section at Auschwitz
where Maximilian was, escaped.

34. Among the
chosen men
was Sergeant
Franciszek
Gajowniczek,
married with
children, Polish
like Maximilian,
in retaliation,
the camp
commander
ordered ten
prisoners to be
chosen at
random and
executed

35. Maximilian, who was not among the ten chosen
prisoners, offered to die in his place. «I am a Polish
Catholic priest, I am already old. I would like to take
the place of that man who has a wife and children. "

36. The camp
commander
accepted the
exchange, and
Maximilian was
condemned to
starve along
with the other
nine prisoners.

37. Even in prison and in the hunger cell, he celebrated Holy Mass every
day when he could, giving Communion to other prisoners: the bread
given to the prisoners was unleavened , used many times for the
Eucharist; guards who sympathized with him brought him the wine.

38. Ten days after
his confinment
and finding
him still alive,
the Nazis
administer a
lethal injection
on August 14,
1941.

39. Kolbe had said - «To suffer, to work and to die as knights, not
with a normal death but, for example, by a bullet in the head,
sealing our love for the Immaculate, like a true knight spilling
our own blood to the last drop, to hasten the conquest of the
whole world for Her. I don't know anything more sublime »

40. On October 17, 1973,
Paul VI beatified him
and on October 10,
1982 John Paul II
canonized him as a
Martyr of Charity.

41. Currently there are still
alive works inspired by
him, such as: the religious
institutes of the
Franciscan friars of the
Immaculate Conception,
the Franciscan Sisters
of the Immaculate
Conception, as well as
other movements
consecrated to the
Immaculate Conception.

42. In August 1945, at the
end of World War II, the
city of Nagasaki, where
Kolbe had one of his
printing presses, was
destroyed by the atomic
bomb. All the workers
later died; the printing
press was unscathed.

43. "Grant me, Immaculate Virgin, that I can praise you
with all my work and with my personal sacrifice.
Grant me to contribute to exalting you more and more.
Make me worthy of praising you, oh Immaculate Virgin."

44. Images of
Father Kolbe

45. Fr. Kolbe, devoted to
Mary Immaculate

47. LIST OF PRESENTATIONS IN ENGLISH
Revised 27-5-2020
Advent and Christmas – time of hope and peace
Amoris Laetitia – ch 1 – In the Light of the Word
Amoris Laetitia – ch 2 – The Experiences and Challenges of Families
Amoris Laetitia – ch 3 - Looking to Jesus, the Vocation of the Family
Amoris Laetitia – ch 4 - Love in Marriage
Amoris Laetitia – ch 5 – Love made Fruitfuol
Amoris Laetitia – ch 6 – Some Pastoral Perspectives
Amoris Laetitia – ch 7 – Towards a better education of children
Amoris Laetitia – ch 8 – Accompanying, discerning and integrating weaknwss
Amoris Laetitia – ch 9 – The Spirituality of Marriage and the Family
Beloved Amazon 1ª – A Social Dream
Beloved Amazon 2 - A Cultural Dream
Beloved Amazon 3 – An Ecological Dream
Beloved Amazon 4 - An Ecclesiastical Dream
Carnival
Christ is Alive
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 1 – Church and Family today
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 2 - God’s plan for the family
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 1 – family as a Community
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 2 – serving life and education
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 3 – mission of the family in society
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 4 - Family in the Church
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 4 Pastoral familiar
Football in Spain
Haurietis aquas – devotion to the Sacred Heart by Pius XII
Holidays and Holy Days
Holy Spirit
Holy Week – drawings for children
Holy Week – glmjpses of the last hours of JC
Inauguration of President Donald Trump
Juno explores Jupiter
Laudato si 1 – care for the common home
Laudato si 2 – Gospel of creation
Laudato si 3 – Human roots of the ecological crisis
Laudato si 4 – integral ecology
Laudato si 5 – lines of approach and action
Laudato si 6 – Education y Ecological Spirituality
Love and Marriage 1-
Love and Marriage 2 – growing up to sexual maturity
Love and Marriage 3 – psychological differences and complimentarity
Love and Marriage 4- causes of sexual attraction
Love and Marriage 5- freedom and intimacy
Love and Marriage 6 - human love
Love and Marriage 7 - destiny of human love
Love and Marriage 8- marriage between Christian believers
Love and Marriage 9 – sacrament of marriage
Lumen Fidei – ch 1,2,3,4
Medjugore Pilgrimage
Misericordiae Vultus in English
Mother Teresa of Calcuta – Saint
Pope Franciss in Thailand
Pope Francis in Japan
Pope Francis in Sweden
Pope Francis in America
Pope Francis in the WYD in Poland 2016
Querida Amazonia
Resurrection of Jesus Christ –according to the Gospels
Russian Revolution and Communismo 1,2,3
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Saint Joseph
Saint Maria Gorettii
Saint Maximiliano Kolbe
Saint Patrick and Ireland
Sunday – day of the Lord
Thanksgiving – History and Customs
The Body, the cult – (Eucharist)
Valentine
Vocation – mconnor@legionaries.org
Way of the Cross – drawings for children
For commentaries – email – mflynn@legionaries.org
Fb – Martin M Flynn
Donations to - Congregación Legionarios de Cristo
IBAN: ES3700491749852910000635
Swift Code (BIC): BSCHESMMXXX
Dirección banco: Plaza de Parma, 8, Montequinto. CP 41700 Dos Hermanas,
Sevilla. España.

48. LISTA DE PRESENTACIONES EN ESPAÑOL
Revisado 27-5-2020
Abuelos
Adviento y Navidad, tiempo de esperanza
Amor y Matrimonio 1 - 9
Amoris Laetitia – ch 1 – A la luz de la Palabre
Amoris Laetitia – ch 2 – Realidad y Desafíos de las Familias
Amoris Laetitia – ch 3 La mirada puesta en Jesús: Vocación de la Familia
Amoris Laetitia – ch 4 - El Amor en el Matrimonio
Amoris Laetitia – ch 5 – Amor que se vuelve fecundo
Amoris Laetitia – ch 6 – Algunas Perspectivas Pastorales
Amoris Laetitia – ch 7 – Fortalecer la educacion de los hijos
Amoris Laetitia – ch 8 – Acompañar, discernir e integrar la fragilidad
Amoris Laetitia – ch 9 – Espiritualidad Matrimonial y Familiar
Carnaval
Cristo Vive
Domingo – día del Señor
El camino de la cruz de JC en dibujos para niños
El Cuerpo, el culto – (eucarisía)
Espíritu Santo
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 1 – iglesia y familia hoy
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 2 - el plan de Dios para la familia
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 1 – familia como comunidad
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 2 – servicio a la vida y educación
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 3 – misión de la familia en la sociedad
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 4 - participación de la familia en la iglesia
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 4 Pastoral familiar
Fátima – Historia de las Apariciones de la Virgen
Feria de Sevilla
Haurietis aquas – el culto al Sagrado Corazón
Hermandades y cofradías
Hispanidad
Laudato si 1 – cuidado del hogar común
Laudato si 2 – evangelio de creación
Laudato si 3 – La raíz de la crisis ecológica
Laudato si 4 – ecología integral
Laudato si 5 – líneas de acción
Laudato si 6 – Educación y Espiritualidad Ecológica
Lumen Fidei – cap 1,2,3,4
Madre Teresa de Calcuta – Santa
María y la Biblia
Medjugore peregrinación
Misericordiae Vultus en Español
Papa Francisco en Bulgaria
Papa Francisco en Rumania
Papa Francisco en Marruecos
Papa Francisco en México
Papa Francisco – mensaje para la Jornada Mundial Juventud 2016
Papa Francisco – visita a Chile
Papa Francisco – visita a Perú
Papa Francisco en Colombia 1 + 2
Papa Francisco en Cuba
Papa Francisco en Fátima
Papa Francisco en la JMJ 2016 – Polonia
Queridas Amazoznia 1 ,2,3,4
Resurrección de Jesucristo – según los Evangelios
Revolución Rusa y Comunismo 1,2,3
San Ignacio de Loyola
Santa Maria Goretti
San Maximiliano Kolbe
San José
Santiago Apóstol
Semana santa – Vistas de las últimas horas de JC
Vacaciones Cristianas
Valentín
Vocación – www.vocación.org
Para comentarios – email – mflynn@lcegionaries.org
fb – martin m. flynn
Donativos a - Congregación Legionarios de Cristo
IBAN: ES3700491749852910000635
Swift Code (BIC): BSCHESMMXXX
Dirección banco: Plaza de Parma, 8, Montequinto. CP 41700 Dos
Hermanas, Sevilla. España.