The Martyrdom of Maximilian Kolbe
one
Maximilian Kolbe’s Martyrdom
In 1936, he was recalled to Poland, and left Japan for the last time.
WWII broke out on Sept 1 1939
· When Hitler invaded Poland
Sept 5 almost all the Franciscans were ordered to leave the monastery.
· Before letting them leave for unknown destinations
· For some exile
· For others prison or death
· Maximilian Kolbe said to them: Do not forget love.
On September 12, 1939,
· the City of Mary had been occupied by the Nazi’s
On Sept 19, the SS men came to arrest Kolbe and the remaining Franciscans
To the frightened brothers Kolbe said,
“Courage, my sons. Don’t you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then, tell the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us anything she wishes”
two
Amtitz
They were taken to the concentration camp Amtitz
Kolbe showed no fear of the Nazis
· He tried to speak to them of the state of their soul
· He even distributed the Miraculous Medal
December 8 (the feast of the Immaculate Conception)
· For some unknown reason
· Kolbe and the brothers were set free
Mary was showing them that even in the midst of this trial
· God was with them
· Mary was with them
· Everything was in Their hands
o God works all things for good
They went back to the City of Mary
· And they turned it into a refugee camp
· Caring for 4000 people
· 1500 Jews
Early in 1941, Kolbe printed the last edition of the Knight of Mary
No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?
About 11:00 A.M. on February 17, 1941,
· The Nazi’s came again the arrest Kolbe
· He greeted them with, “Praised be Jesus Christ.
Taken to Paviak prison in Warsaw
A eye-witness tells us
· An SS guard, seeing Kolbe in his habit girdled with a rosary,
At the sight of the Crucifix the guard became enraged:
Do you believe in Christ?
· Yes I do believe
· The guard struck Kolbe in the face
Do you still believe?
· Yes I do believe.
· The guard struck him so violently he knocked Kolbe down
And you still believe in that?
· Yes, I do believe!
· The guard beat Kolbe senseless
When one of the eyewitnesses began to threaten the guard
· Kolbe turned to him and said,
· Please so not get excited
· For you have plenty of troubles of your own.
· What happened is not important
· Because it is all for the Immaculate Mother.
three
On May 28, 1941,
· Fr Maximilian was taken to Auschwitz.
In Aushcwitz the rule was
· Every man for himself – survival of the fittest
· Kolbe lived sacrificial love
He seemed never to think of himself.
When food was brought in
· everyone struggled to get his place
· to be sure of a share,
· Fr Maximilian stood aside,
· so that frequently there was none left for him.
He was once asked whether such self-denial made sense in a place
· where every man was engaged in a struggle or survival, and he answered:
· "Every man has an aim in life. For most men it is to return home to their wives and families, or to their mothers. For my part, I give my life for the good of all men."
four
Prisoners recounted that they would come to Kolbe with their fears,
· “Father, I can’t endure this place any longer.”
Place yourself under the protection of Mary just a child trustingly holds his mother’s hand, so you, too, must be calm and peaceful, for the Virgin Mary has you under her protection.
Kolbe had to urge his fellow prisoners to ward off hatred.
Hatred is not a creative force. Love alone creates. Suffering will not prevail over us, it will only melt us down and strengthen us.
The last act in the drama.
July of 1941 a prisoner escaped
As a deterrent to further escape attempts
· The commandant ordered that for every escapee, 10 co-prisoners would die
· The guard Fritsch lined up all of the prisoners
· and picked ten men at random to be placed in the starvation bunker
· “This one.”
five
Kolbe was not chosen,
· the last man was picked for execution, he began to cry,
· "Oh, my poor wife, my poor children. I shall never see them again."
It was then that the unexpected happened
· Kolbe stepped out of the ranks
· Approached the guard
· And requested to take the place of the married man
· Francis Guy-ov-nee-check
“Why?”
I am a Catholic Priest
The guard consented gladly to the exchange for the opportunity to kill a priest
· so Kolbe joined the others in the starvation bunker
As each day passed Kolbe encouraged and consoled his dying comrades
Finally on August 14 they gave him a lethal injection and he died
The next day he was cremated and his ashes ascended to heaven on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary
The Nazi’s created the evil of Auschwitz
· God and St. Maximilian Kolbe transformed this evil and suffering into
· the triumph of love
Jesus said, Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends
St. Maximilian Kolbe’s love was brought to perfection
· through the evil of the death camp
· where he laid down his life for another man.
Kolbe Belonged entirely to Mary
· As Her little child
· As her property, possession and instrument
If God and Mary had allowed him into this situration
· Then, it was for
1. his transformation in love
2. salvation of souls
This trust made Kolbe
· Free, calm, peaceful
· He possessed a deep joy
· that allowed him to give himself for others
Kolbe was the Freest man in the camp
Kolbe was a light in the midst of darkness
· He radiated Light
The demands for his beatification became insistent, and at last on 12 August 1947 proceedings started.
Seventy-five witnesses were questioned.
"Greater love hath no man than this ..." were the opening words of the papal decree introducing the process of beatification.
Pope Paul VI beatified Kolbe,
· declaring he was a “Confessor of the Faith
When John Paul II declared Kolbe a saint in 1982
· He declared him a martyr
Never in the history of the Church has there been a change in category between beatification and canonization.
There are our two crowns.
1. The proclamation of a confessor of the Faith is celebrated in white
2. That of the martyr in red
St Maximilian Kolbe's feast day is 14 August.