Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Franciscan Priest and Martyr

 Lectionary: 416

"This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends.

Pope Saint John Paul II altered the rules when he canonized his compatriot Friar Maximilian Kolbe as a saint and martyr. The priest had volunteered to take the place of Franciszek Gajowniczek, in the starvation bunker of Auschwitz. He was not challenged about his belief in Jesus; nor was he executed because he was a Catholic priest. He died in the place of a man who, because of the friar's sacrifice, survived the internment and the war. 

The Pope recognized a new form of martyrdom appearing in an entirely new circumstance. The Nazi Regime may have despised the Church and Christians in general, but they did not overtly persecute Christians. Many Nazi party members had been baptized and saw no conflict between their membership in various churches and their allegiance to Hitler. So long as a citizen paid obeisance to the Nazi ideals and agreed with the party line, the party had no quarrel with their ideas about God, Jesus, or the Church. These religious principles obviously meant nothing; they were vague notions about a god and an afterlife which make no difference to anyone. 

However, faith in God meant everything to Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, and Catholicism demanded that he make sacrifices -- both routine and extraordinary -- for others. He had entered the Franciscan seminary as a young man; and cultivated an enormous devotion to the Eucharist throughout his life. He had worked to promote devotion to the Immaculate Conception both in Poland and Japan before the Nazi occupation of Poland shut down that ministry. And then he had pivoted his ministry, which included several hundred friars, their buildings, and equipment, to care for the sick and wounded of the war. 

After his arrest, although he had suffered with tuberculosis before the war, he was as strong as any of the prisoners and might have survived the brutal camp. But he knew Mr. Gajowniczek as a devout father, husband, and Catholic; and when the young man pleaded for his life, Fr. Kolbe stepped forward to replace him. The Holy Spirit had prompted him and he acted without hesitation. And the astonished camp hauptsturmführer agreed to the switch.

The Saint died on this day, August 14, 1941, the day before the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. He had spent his best energies up until that time promoting devotion to her under that title; and brought a new, deeper appreciation of its significance to the Catholic Church. 

He remembered her gift as immaculation, that is the continuing miracle of cleansing and purifying Mary's human heart. The Church had recognized her freedom from Original Sin at her birth, but this Polish friar appreciated her growth in grace throughout her life. If she alone was worthy to be the Mother of God as a young woman, she was all the more worthy of our gratitude and devotion as she offered her Son to the Father on Calvary, and worshiped him when he rose on Easter Sunday. 

Although we are not given that particular grace of immaculation, we do enjoy the blessings of penance, purification, and enlightenment as we follow the Lord throughout our lives. By our continual growth in holiness we become more worthy to call her our Blessed Mother. 

Saint Maximilian Kolbe's life and martyrdom reflected his doctrine of immaculation, especially through the challenges of tuberculosis, missionary work in Japan, establishing a Catholic press, care for the sick and wounded during the war, and his ministry in the death camp. Martyrdom was God's seal, a proof of his sanctity. As we live in an increasingly dangerous, secular society which cannot take us or our faith seriously, we remember his example and teaching. We also take up the cross and follow.