Fr. Jeremiah J. Smith - The Knight of the Immaculate: Father Maximilian Kolbe

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Text originally published in 1952 under the same title.

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THE KNIGHT OF THE IMMACULATE:

FATHER MAXIMILIAN KOLBE

BY

FR. JEREMIAH J. SMITH, O.F.M. CONV.

Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 13:15

Contents

Modern times are dominated by Satan and will be more so in the future. The conflict with Hell cannot be engaged by men, even the most clever. The Immaculata alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan.St. Maximilian Kolbe

The author of this book declares in everything herein contained his filial submission to the decrees of Pope Urban VIII and to the norms of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, of which he is a devoted subject. He does not allege or exact any other faith than human, based upon the authority of the individual witness summoned.

ANOTHER name can be inscribed on the list of great Apostles of Our Lady. Side by side with such illustrious devotees of the Blessed Mother as St. Bernard, Duns Scotus, St. Louis Grignion De Montfort and Ven. William Chaminade stands also St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Friar Minor Conventual. His distinct contribution to the spread of Marys glory is characterized in a title which he gave to one of his publications: The Knight of the Immaculata . In this title is marvelously epitomized his lifes work, as well as his ideal.

In his actual accomplishments, he spread the glory of Mary Immaculate with a chivalry worthy of the most ardent of medieval knights. He had one fixed idea: to show all men in all places how to love the Immaculata without limit. To realize this ideal, no sacrifice was too difficult: hard work, sleepless nights, misunderstanding, persecution, and even death itself.

In one of his writings, St. Maximilian has left us a biographical note in which he says: I was still a young boy when I promised myself to take the field for the Blessed Virgin, without knowing then how I would do this or what arms I would use. This took place when he was thirteen or fourteen years old. When he died in 1941 on the vigil of the Assumption in a concentration camp at OswiecimAuschwitzhe could look back over his life with satisfaction and realize that he had fulfilled this promise as faithfully as possible. His death itself was martyrdom, not in the usual sense of the word, but a martyrdom of charity. Following the example of Christ, he gave his life for his neighbor: Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ( John 15:13).

In his lifetime of forty-seven years, St. Maximilian Kolbe founded two cities which he dedicated to the Lady of his love, the Immaculata. Following his contagious example, hundreds of young men dedicated their lives to Marys Divine Son in poverty, chastity and obedience. He spread the glory of the Immaculata not only among souls consecrated to God, but also in the hearts of millions of the laity by establishing his Militia of Mary Immaculate. He wrote about her in his numerous newspapers and reviews. He preached about her in Europe and Asia. Above all, he ardently gave only what he himself felt. He was the Knight of the Immaculata.

Here is his story, the story of a meek and insignificant figure amid the giants of our generation, the story of a chronic victim of tuberculosis, the story of a pair of empty hands holding limitless ambitions, of a short lifetime marked by incredible deeds and climaxed with an heroic death in the foulest of all Nazi concentration camps.

SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE

JANUARY 8, 1894, was the birthday of Raymond Kolbe, the future Franciscan who would be known to the world as St. Maximilian Kolbe. There were four other boys in the Kolbe family, two of whom died at an early age. The other two were Francis, older than Raymond, and Joseph, the youngest in the family, who as Father Alphonse became the constant companion and co-worker of Father Maximilian.

At the time of Raymonds birth, the family was living at Zdunska Wola, a small village near Lodz, Poland. Shortly after this Julius Kolbe, the father, a weaver by trade, moved with his family to Pabianice in search of better living conditions. However, the weaving business prospered no better there, so the Kolbes opened a delicatessen store, which for the most part was run by Mrs. Kolbe and her boys.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Kolbe were solidly religious people. In fact, Mrs. Kolbe, born Maria Dombrowska, as a young girl several years before her marriage had intended to become a nun. As it was, after their sons were well on their own, both mother and father made a pilgrimage to the famous Polish shrine at Czestochowa and there by mutual agreement made a vow of chastity at the foot of the Immaculatas statue. It was, however, only after the First World War that Mrs. Kolbe could see her way clear to become part of a religious congregation of sisters. Until her death in March, 1946, she could still be seen begging for her community along the streets and in the offices and workshops of Krakow. Mr. Kolbe went to live with the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor Conventual, probably becoming a secular oblate. But he left for the First World War, and it seems that he was mistakenly executed as a traitor in 1917 or 1918.

RAYMONDS boyhood days were not much different from those of any normal Polish youth. He was a lively boy, quick-witted and just a trifle headstrong. But his mother at one time pointed out that, of all her sons, Raymond was the most obedient, humble and submissive to her and his father. When Mr. Kolbe went off to work, she said, it was Raymond who became her little handyman, helping with the cooking, the cleaning and the many chores of the house. This son of hers, she related, distinguished himself from his two brothers even in the way he accepted punishment for some minor offense. Of his own accord he would bring the whip and bend over the chair unhesitatingly; then, after he had been chastised, he would thank his parents and would return the whip to its place.

Evidently the lad often tried the patience of his mother with his boyish pranks. On one occasion, he so grated on her nerves that she shouted in a fit of excitement: I do not know what will become of you!