St Maximilian Kolbe. With an incredible story, his most well known being him giving his life in place of another man at Auchwitz. After a group of prisoners had escaped, the Nazi Guards wanted to send prisoners to starve in a cell as retribution.
One man cried out for his family, then came forward a man saying “please spare him, I’m only a poor priest”.
After a long period of starvation in a dark cramped cell – Maximilian Kolbe was among the last alive and on this day in 1941 was injected with Phenol by a Nazi Doctor. Some accounts suggest that during the imprisonment, this Polish Priest converted other prisoners and prayed with them.
The man whom Maximilian had saved with this selfless act of love and humility survived and was present at the Canonisation of Maximilian Kolbe by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1982 at the Vatican. Upon canonization, the Pope declared Maximilian Kolbe as a confessor and a martyr of charity
His Patronages include: Pro Life Causes, Families, Prisoners and Addicts and more.
St Maximilian Kolbe – Pray For Us!