Today, on the Christian History Almanac, we remember the “patron of our difficult century,” Maximilian Kolbe.
It is the 14th of August 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.
This weekend, you will be getting the third part of a three-part series (but each can stand alone) on the three centuries that I think, to some extent, “mattered the most” for the church. This Saturday, we will be getting to the 20th century- one that is not only closest in our memory but also particularly brutal concerning wars and cases of human extermination. Pope John Paul II- the Polish Pope with a front-row seat to it all, named, of all people, a fellow Pole- Maximilian Kolbe, the “patron for our troubled century”.
He thus fits into our summer of the biggest names- and as is often the case with martyrs and heroes, they can be very well known in certain parts of the church while virtually unheard of in other corners…. It’s part of what we are here for.
Kolbe is to Catholics what Bonhoeffer is to many Lutherans—a martyr whose theology was, at times, questionable, but whose heroic actions made up for any other deficiencies.
Kolbe was born to a Polish mother and a German father in Central Poland- then part of Russia. The family was catholic, and the young boy who would become Maximilian- then called Raymund- was fond of the church and a side chapel devoted to Mary as victor over evil. There is a legend that he had a vision of Mary, who, at a young age, offered him either a crown of purity or martyrdom. The story goes that he asked for both.
Kolbe would be especially energetic about issues surrounding the Blessed Virgin. He lived in the era of the Catholic Church, which was doubling down against a hostile culture. The doctrines of Papal Infallibility and the Immaculate Conception were Catholic responses to modernism.
Kolbe especially saw his youth's “victorious” Mary as the champion of all things Godly after he and his brother joined the Franciscan order.
In 1917—the same year Mary was conceived in Fatima in Portugal—Raymund, now Maximilian Maria Kolbe, founded the Militia Immaculatae, or “Knights of the Immaculata,” to evangelize the world as quickly as possible.
Part of what made Maximilian and his order of Knights unique was their use of whatever modern media was available. Maximilian would use early radio technology as well as modern presses to spread his word—which, for some… was a little heavy on Mary, but such was the age with the new doctrines, the vision, and the general tumult of the messy century.
Kolbe would travel to China, Japan, and India. He had the most success in Nagasaki, Japan, where he began a monastery and newspaper.
Having been called back to his native Poland in the late 30s, he returned to his former compound- now called the City of Mary, which became a publishing center that would oppose Nazi ideology and would come to house hundreds if not thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing arrest.
Eventually, the clock ran out, and Kolbe was arrested. He could have signed onto a register of Germans as his father was German, but he refused.
Once taken to Auschwitz, he would minister to the other prisoners, smuggle bread, and say masses and was- as is often the story with a certain type at this time- the angel of Auschwitz to many. But none more than Francis Gajowniczek- a fellow inmate; they were told that if anyone escaped, 10 would be sent to a starvation bunker to die.
One morning, after one person had escaped, the guards selected 10 victims. The final one selected, Francis, cried out for his wife and children. Hearing this, Maximilian asked to take his place. We have two stories as to what happened: one is that the guard said he didn’t care which “pig” died and took Maximilian. Another claimed that the guard replied, “But aren’t you a priest?” to which he is supposed to have said, “Yes, this is what we do.”
Nevertheless, Maximilian died a martyr. Some have argued that, technically, he wasn’t “martyred” because he chose to step in front of someone. I guess we could have an argument as to whether Jesus was a martyr then, as Maximilian seemed to be imitating his savior.
Pope John Paul II canonized Kolbe in 1982 and was there to witness the activities. Francis Gajowniczek, who was reunited with his family until their deaths, would live until 1995.
Some have found it fitting that Maximilian would be put to death on this, the 14th of August, the eve of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary- in 1941. Born in 1894, Maximilian Kolbe was 45 years old.
The last word for today is from the daily lectionary from John 6:
35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 14th of August 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.
The show is produced by a man who loves that Kolbe beef… they massage the cows something about marbling… he is Christopher Gillespie.
The show is written and read by a man reminding his friend that every Kolbe is Wagyu, but not all Wagyu is Kolbe… Dan van Voorhis.
You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.
