St Maximilian Kolbe Speaks to Us
Aug
17
Written by:
Sunday, August 17, 2008
20th Sunday Ordinary Time
August 17, 2008
St. Maximilian Kolbe is one of the greatest saints of the 20th century. I am writing this on his feast day, August 14. He was a Franciscan friar who was arrested by the Nazi regime in Poland toward the beginning of World War II. Because he was a priest, he received harsher treatment than most. Yet he never complained. He is most famous for offering his life in exchange for another prisoner who had been randomly sentenced to death because of the escape of someone else in the unit.
Two years ago, I and a number of parishioners were able to venerate the cell where St Kolbe was starved to death in Auschwitz in 1941. Pope Benedict had been there the week before and had left a large Easter candle there, which was still burning when we arrived. Here are a few of St Maximilian Kolbe's words:
· "Give yourself entirely to God in service to Mary. It is this alignment of your will with his that is the pressing business of your life."
· "Accept all that happens as his will, including the sufferings he permits (not causes) you to undergo at the hands of evil men, knowing that even these will enrich you."
· Father Kolbe used to say that "there are three branches of the Christian apostolate: prayer, work, and suffering. And suffering is best because it gives egotism no occasion to grow.
· "I don't fear death. I fear sin."
· "The essence of sanctity consists in our being one with the will of God. Before acting, ask the Virgin Mary, whose will is always one with the will of God, what she would do in the situation, and then proceed as our conscience directs."
· "There are 3 stages of life: first stage, the preparation for activity; second, the activity itself; third, suffering. The third stage of life, that of suffering, I think will be my lot shortly. But by whom, where, how, and it what form this suffering will come is still unknown. Christ himself said, 'Greater love than this no one has, than to lay down his life for his friends.'"