Saint of Auschwitz

Yesterday was the memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe who was canonized by Bl. John Paul the Great on Oct. 10, 1982.  This guy was holy.  He was a Polish Franciscan priest and missionary travelling in Asia spreading the faith as well as utilizing print media to evangelize which is why he is considered a patron of journalists.  He had a deep love for Our Lady and was a strong advocate of consecrating oneself to Jesus through Mary.  He founded the Militia of the Immaculata to encourage devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Bl. John Paul the Great in 1979
placing a vigil candle in the block
where St. Maximillian Kolbe died.

He is mostly known for his martyrdom on August 14, 1941 at Auschwitz.  As you'll learn in the video below: After the escape of a prisoner, the commandant ordered 10 men from the escapee's bunker to be selected and thrown into a cell block to be starved until they died.  One of the men selected expressed sorrow for what would happen to his wife and children were he to die.  Hearing this, Fr. Kolbe stepped up to the commandant, told him he was a Catholic priest and offered to take the man's place.  The commandant agreed and the man's life was spared.  Fr. Kolbe along with the other nine chosen men were taken to the block where they would be starved for several days.  Fr. Kolbe was a great spiritual support to the other men.  Most of them died from starvation but Fr. Kolbe continued to live along with three others. It was decided that the block was needed for other purposes, so on August 14, the vigil of the Solemnity of the Assumption (very fitting considering Fr. Kolbe's devotion to the Immaculate), the four men were injected with carbolic acid. 

"No one in the world can change truth. What we can do and and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it." -- St. Maximilian Kolbe