{"id":53734,"date":"2023-01-14T22:55:10","date_gmt":"2023-01-14T20:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.floracantabrica.com\/?p=53734"},"modified":"2023-03-05T14:51:41","modified_gmt":"2023-03-05T12:51:41","slug":"maximilian-kolbe-1-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.floracantabrica.com\/?p=53734","title":{"rendered":"Maximilian Kolbe.1.English,,,,"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tweet<\/a><\/p>

Maximilian Kolbe<\/span><\/p>\n

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Around 1906, an event occurs that marks a fundamental milestone in Maximiliano’s life, and leaves his mother worried and disconcerted. She tells it herself, a few months after the martyrdom of her son. \u00abI knew in advance, based on an extraordinary case that happened to him in his childhood years, that Maximilian would die a martyr. I just don’t remember if it happened before or after his first confession. Once I didn’t like a prank at all, and I reproached him: My child, who knows what will become of you! Afterwards, I didn’t think any more, but I noticed that the boy had changed so radically, that he couldn’t recognize himself anymore. We had a small altar hidden between two wardrobes, before which he would often withdraw without being noticed and pray while crying. In general, he had a superior demeanor for his age, always collected and serious, and when he prayed, he would burst into tears. I was worried, thinking about some illness, and I asked him: is something wrong with you? You have to tell your mom everything!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Trembling with emotion and with his eyes flooded with tears, he told me: \u00abMom, when you reproached me, I asked the Virgin a lot to tell me what would become of me. The same in the church, I begged him again. Then the Virgin appeared to me, holding two crowns in her hands: one white and one red. She looked at me fondly and wondered if she wanted those two crowns. The white one meant that she would persevere in purity and the red one that she would be a martyr. I answered that she accepted them\u2026 (both). Then the Virgin looked at me sweetly and she disappeared<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the fall of 1912, the Fr. Provincial, taking into account the excellent intellectual qualities of Fray Maximiliano, ordered that, along with others, he continue his studies in philosophy and theology in Rome. The Roman years will be very fruitful and decisive in the life of Maximilian. The Virgin awaits you to inspire you to found the Militia of the Immaculate<\/span><\/p>\n

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THE YEARS OF STUDY IN ROME<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1917, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbon, a well-known anti-Catholic agnostic of Jewish lineage, Saint Maximilian was inspired to found a pious association of the faithful known as \u00abThe Militia of the Immaculate.\u00bb Its purpose is to promote love and service to the Immaculata, the conversion of souls to Christ<\/span><\/p>\n

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For seven years (1912-1919) he was fundamentally absorbed by study. Maximilian finishes his Roman studies with two doctorates. The first in philosophy, 1915 at the famous Gregorian University. Second in theology in 1919 at the International Seraphic College<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Militia of the Immaculate is the whole ideal of my life\u00bb. He spoke of her and extolled her mission. He insisted on the need to organize; he invited to join the M.I. His \u00abfixed idea\u00bb haunted him. And he wanted to spread his enthusiasm to everyone<\/span><\/p>\n

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THE KNIGHT OF THE IMMACULATE<\/span><\/p>\n

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Love for the Immaculda demands a means to communicate it and to save souls<\/span><\/p>\n

He had to \u201cbring the Immaculate to the houses, so that the souls, approaching Mary, receive the grace of conversion<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fr. Maximiliano had the brothers photographed, in Franciscan habit, engaged in the different phases of work in the workshop, and published the photos. They caused tremendous commotion. Everyone, particularly the young people, was impressed to see friars and nuns full of joy in serving the Virgin through printing. The desire to consecrate life to the Virgin spread, more vocations came. A call to evangelize with all one’s might with the press but from a base of consecrated life and without diluting the demands of the vows. This is the profound innovation of Fr. Maximilian<\/span><\/p>\n

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NIEPOKALANOW: CITY OF THE IMMACULATE<\/span><\/p>\n

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In 1929, between illness and difficulties, Fr. Kolbe launched his new foundation on land that was miraculously obtained for him: his Marian city. NIEPOKALANOW, or city of the Immaculate, or better, \u00abhouse, property and kingdom of the Immaculate.\u00bb He said that he, the M.I., and each gentleman, are things and property of the Virgin. In Niepokalanow Maria is everything: she is the heart and the goal; she is the ideal and the force. For Her one works, one lives, one suffers, as for Her one dies. Knights are the happy children and faithful servants of Heavenly Mother. \u00ab!All to the greater glory of the Immaculate<\/span><\/p>\n

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It consisted of a convent of Franciscan priests and brothers committed to promoting the Militia everywhere through the use of all means of communication within their reach.<\/span><\/p>\n

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First of all, the chapel was built. Later the machinery and all the elements of the printing press were brought. Maximiliano’s aspiration was that Niepokalanow be a school of holiness. \u201cNot only for the greater glory of God, but for the Greater glory of God<\/span><\/p>\n

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THE IMMACULATE IN JAPAN<\/span><\/p>\n

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Two years later Saint Maximilian, in response to the call of the Holy Father to the religious in favor of the missionary needs of the Church, wishes to go to the East to found another city of the Immaculate in Mugenzai No Sono, Japan<\/span><\/p>\n

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LAST PERIOD IN THE CITY OF THE IMMACULATE IN POLAND<\/span><\/p>\n

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He returns to Niepokalanow in 1936 and under his direction the number of friars grows to exceed 900 in the months following World War II. The publishing apostolate produced in excess of one million magazines monthly and 125,000 copies of a daily newspaper. destined for the million members of the Militia in the world<\/span><\/p>\n

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THE CALVARY OF WAR<\/span><\/p>\n

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A few days later, the Wermach, or occupation army, arrives, which without hesitation commits all kinds of outrages, looting and vandalism in the Marian city: they destroy images, light bonfires with sacred ornaments, remove and take away a good part of the machinery typographic. Kolbe, the founder, is present before these sacrilegious destruction. He does not allow himself to be dominated by hatred or cry out for revenge. He just prays, cries and comforts…<\/span><\/p>\n

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On September 19, the German Wermacht appeared in Niepokalanow with shouts: \u00abEveryone out!… Everyone on the march!… All the friars were cornered in the courtyard, lined up in columns and loaded onto trucks heading west. They went from one concentration camp to another: from Lamsdorf to Amtitz, from here to Ostrzeszow. The later horrors of the concentration camps had not yet been reached; however, sufferings were not lacking. There was enough pain to test even the strongest: abuse, arrogance, contempt, violence, disgusting dirt, hunger, cold, promiscuity, lice.<\/span><\/p>\n

PRESIDIO<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kolbe is on the blacklist of the Secret Police. Why? Father Kolbe is the superior of Niepokalanow, whose Marian activities have such an influence throughout Poland. The Nazis want to destroy that influence and at the same time want to take revenge for the fact that \u201cEl Pequeno Diario\u201d came out of those workshops, whose patriotic and Catholic preaching had so infuriated them. Even worse, because of his priesthood, culture and position, Fr. Kolbe was a remarkable leader. The occupation program included the extermination of intellectuals and leaders. In addition, in Niepokalanow asylum was provided to Jews. In the anti-Semitic eyes of the Nazis, this was a crime that deserved the punishment of concentration camps.<\/span><\/p>\n

One morning in February 1941, two black Gestapo cars stop in front of Niepokalanow. The policemen ask to speak with Fr. Kolbe, who upon learning of his arrival, tremblingly replies to the doorman brother: \u00abWell, well, my son! Mary!\u00bb They gather all the friars in the courtyard, meanwhile they rudely inspect the entire convent. Around noon, Father Maximiliano and five other fathers are forced to get into the cars. They leave for a journey of no return. Fr. Maximiliano begins his way of the cross serene and calm, as always. He left his beloved Niepokalanow, his favorite Marian city, never to return.<\/span><\/p>\n

AUSCHWITZ<\/span><\/p>\n

The Auschwitz concentration camp is called by the Poles: \u00abdeath camp\u00bb, because in its fields, blocks and cellars, more than five million people have perished miserably and tragically. Built on the rubble of some barracks and farms, it is located in southern Poland, in a marshy, unhealthy area, so that there would be no indiscreet witnesses to that factory of death. Surrounded by high electrified wire fences and control towers. There all cruelty and infamy, all bestiality and aberration, all atrocity and all the horrors had come together to transform it into a true hell. Continued deaths from disease and starvation, cold, exhausting fatigue, scurvy, dysentery, trauma and infection. The firing squad was firing dozens at a time against a rubber-lined wall to muffle the noise of the shot. In the main square, five people climbed onto the sidewalk. The executioner placed the noose around their necks. With a kick to the sidewalk, the victims were suspended. Auschwitz had become famous for the installation of the first gas chamber. What he feared most were not the bullets, nor the gallows, nor the gas chambers, but the cellars of death, or \u00abBunkers\u00bb, of slow agony, of the maddening martyrdom of hunger and thirst.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fr. Maximilian enters Auschwitz on the afternoon of May 28, 1941 with a transport of 320 other prisoners<\/span><\/p>\n

On the morning of May 29, he woke up at 320 to a dehumanizing program. Naked, they were subjected to a collective shower of violent jets of cold water. After they were beaten and mocked obscenely for their nudity, they were dressed in threadbare coats, many of them still stained with blood. Each coat has a number. From now on, each prisoner will be nothing more than a number. That of Father Maximilian Maria Kolbe and<\/span><\/p>\n

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THE FINAL MARTYRDOM<\/span><\/p>\n

Block 14 had left for the harvest of some plots of wheat. Taking advantage of some carelessness of the guards, a prisoner escaped. In the afternoon, at roll call, the fact was discovered. Terror froze the hearts of those men. Everyone knew the boss’s terrible threat: \u00abFor every escapee, 10 of his co-workers, chosen at random, would be sentenced to starve to death in the bunker or cellar of death.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone was terrified of the slow torment of the body, the torture of hunger, the agony of thirst. The next day, the other blocks continue their daily tasks. Those in block 14 have to remain in a position of attention on the esplanade under the scorching summer sun, without eating or drinking. Three hours go by like eternity. Father Maximiliano, the one with his lungs pierced by tuberculosis, the one who has just left the hospital, always weak and sickly, resists on his feet, does not faint or fall. He used to repeat: \u00abIn the Immaculate I can do everything\u00bb. At 9:00 p.m. the food was distributed. But not for block 14. These poor people watched as their rations were thrown from the pots into the drain. When they break ranks, they all go to cots knowing that the next day ten of them will be chosen for the bunker of death. It had already happened twice.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next day, at 6:00 p.m., Fritsch, the camp commander, stands idly by in front of his victims. A grave silence on the immense esplanade, crowded with dirty and emaciated prisoners. \u00abThe fugitive has not been found… Ten of you will be sentenced to the death bunker… Next time it will be twenty.\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

With total disregard for human life, the condemned are chosen at random. This one!\u2026 That one!\u2026 shouts the commander. Deputy Palitsch marks the numbers of the convicts in his diary. Terrified, each condemned leaves the ranks, knowing it’s the end<\/span><\/p>\n

Goodbye, goodbye, my poor wife! Goodbye, my children, orphan children! says Sergeant Francisco Gajownieczek sobbing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sergeant’s words undoubtedly touch the hearts of many prisoners, but in the heart of Father Kolbe they do more. While the ten condemned respond to the cry: \u00abTake off your shoes!\u00bb<\/span>
\natos!\u00bb, because they must go barefoot to the place of torture; Suddenly, what no one could have imagined happens.<\/span>
\nHere are the testimonies of those who were present:<\/span><\/p>\n

After the selection of the ten prisoners, Dr. Niceto F. Wlodarski, the commander Ma, testifies. This surprised, addressing the Father, said: \u00abWhat does this Polish pig want?\u00bb. \u00abFather Maximilian, pointing his hand towards F. Gajownieczek, already selected for death, answered: \u00abI am a Polish Catholic priest; I am old; I want to take his place, because he has a wife and children\u2026 \u00bb.Ximiliano left the ranks and taking off his cap, stood firm! before him<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00abThe astonished commander seemed unable to find the strength to speak. After a moment, with a wave of his hand, he pronouncing the word Raus! Get out!…, I order Gajowniczek to return to his row. In this way, Fr. Maximiliano Mar\u00eda Kolbe took the place of the condemned\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00abIt seems incredible that Commander Frisch has deleted the sergeant from the list, and has accepted Fr. Kolbe’s offer, and rather has not sentenced the two to the death bunker. With a monster like that, anything was possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ten condemned to hunger and thirst go down to the cellar of death from which only corpses come directly to the crematorium.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Bruno Borgowiec, a Pole in charge of removing the corpses, gave his testimony: \u201cAfter having ordered the poor prisoners to strip completely, they were pushed into a cell. In other neighboring cells there were already another twenty of previous processes. Closing the door, the guards sarcastically said: \u00abThere they will dry like shells.\u00bb From that day on, the unfortunates had neither food nor drink.\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

From the cells where the unfortunate were kept, daily prayers recited aloud, the rosary and religious songs were heard, to which the prisoners from the other cells joined. When the guards were away I would go down to the basement to talk and console my comrades. Fervent prayers and songs to the Virgin spread throughout the basement<\/span><\/p>\n

The martyrdom that the poor condemned to such an atrocious death must have suffered is witnessed by the fact that the buckets were always empty and dry. From which it must be concluded that the unfortunates, because of thirst, drank their own urine<\/span><\/p>\n

Two weeks passed like this, meanwhile the prisoners died one after another. At the end of the third week, only four remained, Fr. Kolbe among them.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seemed to the authorities that things were taking too long. The cell was needed for other victims. \u00abFor this, one day, on August 14, they took the director of the sick ward, the criminal Boch, who gave each one an intravenous injection of carbolic acid. Father Kolbe, with prayer on his lips, himself offered his arm to the executioner<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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