Father Maximilian Kolbe

I don't know why, but this week I have selected Father Maximilian Kolbe.


He died in 1941, and is already a saint.


He was a polish priest who published a catholic paper.Naturally, the Nazis picked him up and put him into prison.; While he was there, a prisoner escaped, so the soldiers picked some prisoners at random to make an example of. One guy who was picked cried for the wife and children that he would leave behind.Father Kolbe asked to die in his place. The soldiers of course, did not care. He and the others that were chosen were put into a cell where they were given nothing, and supposed to die of thirst and hunger.


Imagine what a slow and painful death that would be?They had to drink their own urine.Father Kolbe prayed as each one perished. He and another were left at the end of the week.They were injected with carbolic acid. . And died.


When he was canonized in 1982, the prisoner that Father Kolbe had replaced was present. . . I wonder what he was thinking or feeling. . .


I like this story, because this man lived in our century. My parents or grandparents could have (but did not of course) known him. Who are our saints today?