Maximilian Kolbe

Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe was born Raymund Kolbe on January 8, 1894, in Zduńska Wola, in what was then the Kingdom of Poland. As a boy he experienced a profound vision of the Virgin Mary, and he would later devote his whole life to her with fearless trust. Entering the Conventual Franciscans, he took the name Maximilian and was ordained a priest in 1918 after studies in Rome. Burning with zeal for the Gospel, he founded the Militia Immaculatae and used modern means of communication to spread devotion to Mary, including the widely read Knight of the Immaculata and the great friary at Niepokalanów near Warsaw. He also served as a missionary in Asia, establishing a monastery and Catholic publishing work near Nagasaki. During World War II, he sheltered refugees, including Jews, and continued his priestly ministry under Nazi occupation. Imprisoned and sent to Auschwitz, he offered his life in place of another prisoner, dying as a martyr of charity on August 14, 1941. He is a patron of SS Cyril and Methodius Parish and of blood donors. His feast day is August 14.