Tag: Maximilian Kolbe

When the odds aren’t in your favour…

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MaxToday is Feast Day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, one of my all-time favourite Saints, as well as one of the requested members of my welcoming party.

If you’ve never heard of St. Maximilian, he was a priest and martyr during World War II. I’d invite you to click on my link and read the short summary I wrote of his life several years ago.

St. Max was one of the first Saints I really investigated. I was kinda blown-away. I think you’ll find the story of his martyrdom, in particular, incredibly moving and Christ-like.

If that post piques your interest, I’d suggest you check out Fr. Robert Barron’s more extensive article which he recently posted over at his website, Word On Fire…

Living life like the Max

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Today is the feast day of one of my favourite Saints, the great St. Maximilian Kolbe.

I’m not really sure why, but I can’t recall hearing stories of the lives of the Saints whilst I was growing up, despite being in Catholic education for most of my schooling.  I actually first heard the story of Maximilian Kolbe whilst visiting a Protestant church.  For me, this was an often-repeated irony, having actually been introduced as an adult to the Saints by a Baptist Pastor!

When I first heard his story in that Protestant church, Maximilian was quite-rightly held up as a model of Christ-like behaviour.  Unfortunately, I also remember it was in a sermon where he was contrasted with another figure who was specifically identified as Catholic, whereas Maximilian’s background was not mentioned.

It was only when I started to read more about him and his story that I discovered that he was not only Catholic, but a priest and at that time, to my horror, someone with a very strong Marian devotion.

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