What Greater Love

70 million people died during the years of World War II. This was a tough time for every country. The fight for freedom, justice, love, money, and power left no prisoners.

In the midst of so much pain, there were models of faith. One such model was born January 8^th, 1894. Raymond Kolbe grew up to be a Franciscan Friar and joyful lover of our Blessed Mother from of a vision he had as a child. In 1910 he took the name of Maximilian and built a friary near Warsaw, beginning his Immaculata Movement. This movement was furthered in Japan and India, bringing the love of Mary and Jesus wherever it went. Kolbe even published a pamphlet read by more than 800 friars around the world.

Soon after Kolbe returned home due to sickness, he became a prisoner of the German’s largest concentration network; Auschwitz. At this camp there was a very strict law in place for any people that escaped. If anyone ever found freedom then ten prisoners at random would be chosen to be put to death as an example in order to discourage other escapes. During Kolbe’s time in Auschwitz, he spent his time moving about the cells giving aid and reconciliation to anyone who wanted it. Kolbe was a true example of a servant-leader in the name of Jesus Christ.

In July of 1941 somebody escaped the Auschwitz camp, so as rules dictated; ten prisoners were chosen at random to be put to death in the starvation room. But in August of 1941, Franciszek Gajowniczek, prisoner of Auschwitz, was spared his life by a stranger.

“My poor wife! My poor children! What will they do?” cried Gajowniczek. At this time Kolbe stepped forward to the commandant giving orders and requested to replace Gajowniczek in the starvation bunkers. Since the concentration camps required the labor of young men, the commandant agreed to Kolbe’s request and threw him and nine others into the starvation bunkers for two weeks.

While in the starvation bunkers, Kolbe continued to encourage his fellow prisoners to keep faith in God and look forward to heaven. As the days came to an end, Kolbe was injected with a lethal shot because his strong faith in Jesus had kept him alive.

Let it be known that on August 14, 1941, Maximilian Kolbe died a martyr of charity. Forty one years later, Pope John Paul II declared Kolbe a saint, with Gajowniczek in attendance. As patron saint of drug addicts, political prisoners, and the pro-life movement, St. Maximilian Kolbe continues today to be an outstanding example to all young men in living a self-sacrificial life that Jesus calls us all to.

I personally kept a small image of Kolbe in my wallet to remind me daily what it takes to be a man of Christ. John 15:13 speaks, “Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”