St. Maximilian Kolbe (8/14/05)
Today is the feast day in honor of St. Maximilian Kolbe, my patron saint.
Commonly, patron saints are decided by parents upon the birth of their children. As a convert, I was allowed to choose. While Eastern rite Catholics normally choose an Eastern saint, often one from the early days of the church (before the Catholic/Orthodox split), Kolbe is a Western saint. This caused a few questions, but was ultimately allowed.
Like Pope John Paul, Kolbe was a Polish priest during World War II. He was sent to the notorious Auschwitz death camp for his unwillingness to compromise his faith in his occupied homeland. There, he continued to minister to prisoners, and conduct Mass. In 1941, he offered to take the place for a prisoner who was to be executed, in hopes that he would survive the war to return to his wife and children.
Locked away, starved, and tortured, he survived a prolonged period of torment, leading others locked up with him in prayer. Frustrated at the failure of their efforts to kill him, Kolbe was finally put to death via an injection of acid.
Maximilian Kolbe was a courageous man who acted in accordance to hos conscience and principles, even at the cost of his own life. Facing the most horrible atrocities known to man, he refused to back down, and never gave up. He never surrendered, and went down fighting for what he believed, the best way he knew how.
Wondering if I could be so steadfast in my faith, and as willing to put it on the line as he was, Kolbe earned this place in my life as my patron saint.
LINX TO CZECH OUT:
1 comments:
I celebrated my Patron Saint's feast day just the other day - St. Thomas Aquinas.
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