Hello all, Happy feast day to all born, baptized and married today. Happy feast day to all Priests, Deacons, Seminarians, Monks, Nuns, Rev Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus Happy feast day to all devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially all who recite Her Holy Rosary with true devotion Happy feast day to all named Maximilian and parents of all named Maximilian. Happy feast day to all Catholic Missionaries Happy feast day to all Martyrs Today (14th of August) marks the liturgical memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe He is also known as Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe He was born on the 8th of January 1894 His name at birth was Rajmund Kolbe His name is also referred to as Maximilian Mary Kolbe In Italian he is known as San Massimiliano Maria Kolbe His given name in Polish is Maksymilian His name in French is Maximilien. He was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz in Poland. Catholic History tells us that he was the second son of Julius Kolbe and Maria Dabrowska. His father (Julius Kolbe) was an ethnic German and his mother of Polish origins. He had four brothers, Francis, Joseph, Walenty (who lived a year) and Andrew (who lived four years). In 1914, Julius joined Józef Piłsudskis Polish Legions and was captured by the Russians and hanged for fighting for the independence of a partitioned Poland. --------------------------------------------------- History tells us that Saint Kolbes life was strongly influenced by a childhood vision of the Virgin Mary that he later described: ‘’.....That night, I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.....’’ ---------------------------------------------------- In 1907, Kolbe and his elder brother Francis decided to join the Conventual Franciscans. They illegally crossed the border between Russia and Austria-Hungary and joined the Conventual Franciscan junior seminary in Lwów. In 1910, Kolbe was allowed to enter the novitiate. He professed his first vows in 1911, adopting the name Maximilian, and the final vows in 1914, in Rome, adopting the names Maximilian Maria, to show his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Saint Kolbe, later sang hymns to the Virgin Mary in the concentration camp. In 1912, he was sent to Kraków, and in the same year to a college in Rome, where he studied philosophy, theology, mathematics, and physics. He earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1915 at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and the doctorate in theology in 1919 at the Pontifical University of Saint Bonaventure. During his time as a student, he witnessed vehement demonstrations against Pope Saint Pius X and Pope Benedict XV in Rome and was inspired to organize the Militia Immaculata, or Army of Mary, to work for conversion of sinners and enemies of the Catholic Church through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. The Immaculata friars utilized the most modern printing and administrative techniques in publishing catechetical and devotional tracts, a daily newspaper with a circulation of 230,000 and a monthly magazine with a circulation of over one million. In 1918, Kolbe was ordained a Catholic Priest. In 1919, he returned to the newly independent Poland, where he was very active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of Niepokalanów near Warsaw, a seminary, a radio station, and several other organizations and publications. Between 1930 and 1936, he took a series of missions to Japan, where he founded a monastery at the outskirts of Nagasaki, a Japanese paper, and a seminary. The monastery he founded remains prominent in the Roman Catholic Church in Japan. Saint Kolbe decided to build the monastery on a mountainside that, according to Shinto beliefs, was not the side best suited to be in harmony with nature. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Kolbes monastery was saved. In July 1941, a man from Saint Kolbes barracks vanished, prompting SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch, the deputy camp commander, to pick 10 men from the same barracks to be starved to death in Block 13 (notorious for torture) in order to deter further escape attempts. The man who had disappeared was later found drowned in the camp latrine. One of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, My wife! My children! Saint Kolbe volunteered to take his place. In the starvation cell, he celebrated Holy Mass each day for as long as he was able and gave Holy Communion to the prisoners covertly during the course of the day; the bread given to prisoners was unleavened and so could be used in the Eucharist, and sympathetic guards gave him materials, including wine that he could use. He led the other condemned men in song and prayer. After three weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe and three others remained alive. He encouraged others by telling them that they would soon be with Mary in Heaven. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. When Saint Kolbe was the last survivor, he was killed with an injection of carbolic acid. Some who were present at the injection say that he raised his left arm and calmly waited for the injection. His remains were cremated on August 15, the feast of the Assumption of Mary. He was martyred on the14th of August 1941 (aged 47) He was given the degree of heroic virtues and beatified given the degree of heroic virtues on the 17th of October 1971,in Saint Peter Basilica, Rome, Italy by Venerable Pope Paul VI (who was the 262nd Bishop of Rome since the pontificate of Saint Peter the Apostle) He was canonized and pronounced as Saint Maximilian Kolbe on the 10th of October 1982 in Rome , Italy by Pope Saint John Paul II (who was the 264th Vicar of Christ since the pontificate of Saint Peter the Apostle) Upon canonization, the Pope declared Saint Maximilian Kolbe not a confessor, but a martyr. Saint Maximilians beatification miracle was the July 1948 cure of intestinal tuberculosis in Angela Testoni, and in August 1950, the cure of calcification of the arteries/sclerosis of Francis Ranier was attributed to the intercession of Saint Maximilian. ------------------------------------------------ Let us pray Dear Christ, Saint Maximilian was imprisoned in Auschwitz where he ministered to the captives and celebrated Mass by consecrating bread and wine that had been smuggled in. He was martyred after he voluntarily took the place of a young married prisoner condemned to die. Since hes the patron saint of drug addicts and people in prison, we ask him to intercede for the inmates in our jails. O Lord, heal their hearts and protect them from the evil that surrounds them. We also ask him to pray for the addicts in our family and our friends families. O Lord, set them free from the prison of their addictions. Saint Maximilian, pray for us.Amen. ------------------------------------------------------ Let us pray (Oremus) O Lord Jesus Christ, who said, greater love than this no man has that a man lay down his life for his friends, through the intercession of Saint Maximilian Kolbe whose life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petitions... (State your intention here.) Through the Militia Immaculata movement, which Maximilian founded, he spread a fervent devotion to Our Lady throughout the world. He gave up his life for a total stranger and loved his persecutors, giving us an example of unselfish love for all men - a love that was inspired by true devotion to Mary. Grant, O Lord Jesus, that we too may give ourselves entirely without reserve to the love and service of our Heavenly Queen in order to better love and serve our fellowman in imitation of your humble servant, Maximilian. Amen. Recite the following prayers... 3 Hail Mary... 1 Glory Be... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRAYER FOR THE ADDICTED God of mercy, we bless You in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who ministered to all who come to Him. Give Your strength to (Name) Your servant, bound by the chains of addiction. Enfold (him/her) in Your love and restore him/her to the freedom of Gods children. Lord, look with compassion on all those who have lost their health and freedom. Restore to them the assurance of Your unfailing mercy, and strengthen them in the work of recovery. To those who care for them, grant patient understanding and a love that perseveres. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. ---------------------------------------------------- Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe was declared a martyr of charity He is also the patron saint of drug addicts and political prisoners He is the patron saint of families He is also the patron saint of journalists and prisoners He was also declared The Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century by Pope Saint John Paul II ---------------------------------------------------------------- Let us pray that by the works, spiritual direction, spiritual maturity, intercession and martyrdom of Saint Maximilian Kolbe we may in this group find the spiritual motivation to win our souls for God. Amen Summary of the life history and martyrdom of Saint Maximilian Kolbe can be viewed by clicking the photo of the Saint in our groups photo section Saint of the day, would be communicated to you as promptly and consistently as humanly possible, by Gods grace. May we all in this group and beyond this group, Christians and non Christians alike, Catholics and non Catholics alike, be saved from the fires of hell and lifted up into heaven after our stay here on this exile. Amen May our Lord Jesus Christ, through the intercession of Saint Maximilian Kolbe and other Saints and Martyrs before and after him and through Gods Divine Mercy strengthen our souls, open out the way for us all, and above all, intoxicate us with HIS love. Amen May Christ make us into blazing fires to enkindle the earth with the heavenly fire HE brought us. Amen. God bless you and grant your hearts desire. Amen Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Pray for us. Amen
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 15:48:30 +0000
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