When we think of the saints, it can be easy to picture them as distant figures from another time…people whose holiness feels almost impossible to relate to. But visiting the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Libertyville, Illinois, reminded me yet again that the saints were real people who lived, worked, suffered, and chose to love God in the circumstances of their everyday lives.
One of the moments that stayed with me most during my recent visit was seeing the actual chasuble St. Maximilian wore as a priest, along with his prison uniform and shoes from Auschwitz. Standing before these items, I found myself reflecting on the life they represented. The chasuble embodied the life of a priest who had given himself completely to Christ and the Immaculate. The prison uniform told the story of that same love remaining steadfast when everything else had been taken away. Together, they seemed to tell the story of one vocation and one “yes” to God, whether St. Maximilian stood at the altar or endured suffering in a prison camp.
Getting To Know St. Maximilian Kolbe
St. Maximilian Kolbe was born Raymund Kolbe on January 8, 1894, in Zduńska Wola, Poland. When he entered the Franciscan order as a young man, he took the religious name Maximilian Maria Kolbe. As a priest and friar, he devoted his life to Christ through prayer, ministry, and service to others. His deep love for the Immaculate Virgin Mary led him to found the Militia Immaculata, an apostolic movement dedicated to Mary and the conversion and sanctification of souls.
In 1941, Fr. Kolbe was imprisoned at Auschwitz. When a prisoner escaped, the Nazis selected ten men to die of starvation as punishment. One of the chosen men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out for his wife and children. Hearing him, Fr. Kolbe stepped forward and offered to take his place. In doing this, he lived Christ’s words: “Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
Fr. Kolbe was sent to the starvation bunker with the other prisoners and after surviving for two weeks, was killed by a lethal injection on August 14, 1941. His final act of love became a powerful witness to the self-giving love of Christ.
Yet St. Maximilian’s witness did not begin at Auschwitz. It was formed over a lifetime of prayer, sacrifice, work, and service. His profound love for Jesus was rooted in an equally profound love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom he called the Immaculata. Through the Militia Immaculatae and his publishing apostolate, he devoted himself to leading souls to Christ through Mary’s intercession.
St. Maximilian’s entire life was centered on the Immaculate. Pope St. John Paul II said that “Jesus, Mary, and Francis were his three great loves,” and pointed to this love as the secret of his heroic charity. He also highlighted a phrase St. Maximilian often repeated: “Only love creates.” (Vatican)
That love was expressed in the ordinary responsibilities of each day, through prayer, work, service, and his apostolic mission. Pope St. John Paul II later said that St. Maximilian’s “entire life was inspired by the Immaculate” and described his witness as one of love for Christ and his brothers. (Vatican)
Seen in this light, his sacrifice at Auschwitz takes on an even deeper meaning. When Fr. Kolbe stepped forward for the young man, he was responding to suffering with the same love he had spent his life cultivating. As Pope Benedict XVI reflected, his final offering was a “heroic proof of his love.” (Vatican)
Although we may never be called to make the same sacrifice St. Maximilian did, we are each invited to love as he loved. Whether forgiving those who have hurt us, serving others with humility, remaining faithful in prayer or choosing Christ in both joyful and challenging moments, every small “yes” to God shapes us into the saints He calls us to be.
As we celebrate the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe on August 14, may we ask for the grace to imitate his courage, his love for Our Lady, and his unwavering trust in Jesus. May his example remind us that holiness is found not only in extraordinary moments, but in faithfully saying “yes” to God one day at a time. St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!
Learn More About St. Maximilian Kolbe
Saint Maximilian Kolbe: A Hero of the Holocaust (Vision Books)
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