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St. Maximilian Kolbe

St. Maximilian Kolbe

St. Maximilian Kolbe

Feastday: August 14
1894 - 1941
Canonized By: Pope John Paul II

Maximilian was born in 1894 in Poland and became a Franciscan. He contracted tuberculosis and, though he recovered, he remained frail all his life. Before his ordination as a priest, Maximilian founded the Immaculata Movement devoted to Our Lady. After receiving a doctorate in theology, he spread the Movement through a magazine entitled "The Knight of the Immaculata" and helped form a community of 800 men, the largest in the world.

Maximilian went to Japan where he built a comparable monastery and then on to India where he furthered the Movement. In 1936 he returned home because of ill health. After the Nazi invasion in 1939, he was imprisoned and released for a time. But in 1941 he was arrested again and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

On July 31, 1941, in reprisal for one prisoner's escape, ten men were chosen to die. Father Kolbe offered himself in place of a young husband and father. And he was the last to die, enduring two weeks of starvation, thirst, and neglect. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982. His feast day is August 14th.

 
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1 - 20 of 82 Comments

  1. paul lear
    2 weeks ago

    what a man/priest and lover of humanity/

  2. Kit
    1 month ago

    St. Maximiliam Kolbe, pray for my son that he is freed from the holds of addictions and accepts the love and mercy of our Lord.

  3. tlh
    1 month ago

    Dear Saint Maximillian,
    Please please pray for my family. Deliver our prayers to God, Almighty, Our Creator, we ask of thee.
    Amen

  4. Vincent
    2 months ago

    Dear st.Maximilian i love you Please protect my Vocation from evil cause i'd like to be BRO & Please ask our Lady Immaculate conception to be with me & to do God's Will & for all the people on the world to be Protect from all evil ,Especially Lebanon & all the world God bless you & Thank you for ur Prayer .

  5. Melissa
    2 months ago

    My dear St. Maximillon Kolbe. Please help my daughter to overcome her addiction. She has been lost in the world of drugs. Please help her to heal and to learn how to live in God. She has a little boy she needs to take care of. I beech you and our Holy Mother Mary. To lift her from her addiction and make her a good Mother.

  6. Robert .
    3 months ago

    Please help me with my petitions - help ease stress involved.

  7. Paul Shaw
    5 months ago

    GOD BLESS!!!!

  8. Csanchez
    5 months ago

    Please help my son break his addiction and pray for his Heath again I am glad that I have found you at this time of need.

  9. Jill
    6 months ago

    Thank you, Saint Maximilian, for answered prayers.

  10. Maresy
    6 months ago

    St. Maximillian Kolbe, Please heal my sister-in-law who has suffered so much and has gone through numerous surgeries and treatments. Her family needs her. Please spare her life.
    Please heal my sister and soften her heart. Give my mother peace and soften her heart.
    Protection please for my family, return to faith for my son, bring us closer to God. We love you St. Maximillian Kolbe.

  11. GRAHAM
    7 months ago

    ST Kolbe, please prey on my behalf to out lord God that I will remain clean off drugs, that have so ruined my life. "PLEASE PLEASE PREY FOR ME"

  12. mitchelmagante
    7 months ago

    maximillian pray for my family please.

  13. Joanne Maria
    10 months ago

    I have been trying to find my way back to the church. Although I attend mass with my husband, my faith was fading away. I was channel surfing tonight and there on a channel was a young man talking to his mother. It the story of Father Kolbe. As I was watching, tears fell from my eyes. Thank you St. Maximilian Kolbe. You helped me find my way back to God, through your good example and your love for Mary, the Mother of God.

  14. Annie
    10 months ago

    St Maximilian Kolbe is i.a. a patron saint of drug addicts because he was killed by the Nazis in the German concentration camp of Auschwitz by an injection of carbolic acid when he failed to die after two weeks of being starved. He died on August 14, 1941, on the eve of the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom he had totally consecrated himself so that She could use him to bring souls to Her Son.

  15. Joseph Mathew
    10 months ago

    St. Maximillian Kolbe, please pray for me and my family, to lead a virtuous life pleasing to God.

  16. Emmanuel Tio
    10 months ago

    St. Maximilian has the spirit I've needed to die for Christ through priesthood. I never knew him while I'm in the seminary but I am surely dead if I didn't give up priesthood. I started suffering from deadly lung disorders due to following Christ in the seminary but I should have chosen to die earlier if God will it to happen. I am now suffering from lung infection and bronchial asthma and I choose to live than die without God's grace of martyrdom and sanctity. I will not sacrifice my life just for requirements in the seminary or in any government institution. I will die like my Master Christ and only God knows where and how. Thanks to St. Max since I have an idea what to do in the seminary/monastery later. I hope I survive lung disorders later on inside my parents' house. May God bless us all. Forgive us all our sins and lead us to everlasting life. So be it!

    Please pray for me! I am dying little by little...

  17. JUSTIN AFU
    10 months ago

    He lived and died for mankind in following the footsteps of CHRIST.May He continue to intercide for us at this difficult times.Amen.

  18. chet bas
    10 months ago

    happy feast day St. Kolbe. thank you for being a great role model

  19. ATSUA
    10 months ago

    st maximilian,convey my prayers to God our creator.yuo are my pathron saint as i was born in the year you were canonized a saint. even though iam stephen.

  20. carol
    1 year ago

    Why his St. Kolbe called the patron saint of addicts??


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