Aug-14 Feast of St Maximillian Kolbe
August 14: Feast of the martyr St Maximillian Kolbe Today August 14th, is the feast of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe - Polish Franciscan priest who was martyred at Auschwitz 80 years ago on August 14, 1941. He is the patron saint of journalists, families, prisoners, the pro-life movement, the chemically addicted and those with eating disorders. He recounts an early childhood vision of the Virgin Mary. This vision was significant because he chose both the path of sanctity and also to follow the path of a martyr. “That night, I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me, a Child of Faith. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.” Born Raymund Kolbe, on 8 January 1894, he was given the religious name Maximillian when he was admitted as an initia...