Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe – 14th August 2023

Born near Lodz, Poland, Raymond Kolbe became a Franciscan priest and took the name Maximilian. He was intensely devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and established an organisation called the Militia of Mary Immaculate. He began publishing a monthly magazine that soon had a circulation of over one million copies. After the Nazis invaded Poland, Maximilian was arrested and sent to Auschwitz. He heroically offered his life in place of another man who had been selected for execution. After starving him for to weeks, the Nazis killed him with a lethal injection. St Maximilian Kolbe is the Patron Saint of Families, recovery from drug addiction, ...