Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Maximilian Kolbe

I wonder how many people know about this man. He was a priest who lived in Germany when the Nazis came to power. He was sent to a concentration camp where he eventually died.

A story from his youth is rather touching.

Apparently he was a rather uncontrollable child and his mother didn't know what to do with him. (If he was anything like my brother, I can understand his mother's frustration.)

At any rate, he was worried about how his mother was worrying and went to a small altar of Our Lady of Czestochowa (I dare you to pronounce that). After a couple days of this Our Lady actually appeared to him holding two crowns. One was white, representing purity, and the other red, representing martyrdom. Our Lady asked young Kolbe which he would choose. Kolbe picked both.

A somewhat more complete account of this incident, and the rest of his life, can be found at Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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