St. Maximilian Kolbe
Feast day: August 14
Born in Poland in 1894, Raymund Kolbe joined the Conventual Franciscans, taking the name Maximilian. In 1917, he founded the Militia of Mary Immaculate in Rome for the purpose of advancing Marian devotion. He was ordained a priest in 1918 and returned to Poland. He went on to operate a religious publishing press and founded a monastery at Niepokalanow. He also founded monasteries in both Japan and India. In 1941, Maximilian was arrested by the Gestapo when the Germans invaded Poland and was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He volunteered for martyrdom, taking the place of a married man chosen for execution. Maximilian was canonized in 1982. He is patron of prisoners, journalists and drug addicts.
Collect
O God, who filled the Priest and Martyr Saint Maximilian Kolbe
with a burning love for the Immaculate Virgin Mary
and with zeal for souls and love of neighbor,
graciously grant, through his intercession,
that, striving for your glory by eagerly serving others,
we may be conformed, even until death, to your Son.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
