St. Maximilian Kolbe
St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest and martyr whose feast is celebrated by the Church on August 14. I got to know more about St. Kolbe when we read the Marian consecration book “33 days to Morning Glory”. Let’s look at some ways we can celebrate this great Marian saint’s feast day.
Know your Saint:
Share some interesting facts about St. Maximilian Kolbe with kids or watch the story of St. Kolbe together.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr
- Born in Poland 1894
- Became a Franciscan priest
- Had great devotion to the Virgin Mary; Founded the Militia of Mary Immaculate
- Did mission work in Japan
- In Poland used media to spread the Gospel message
- Arrested by German secret police; taken to Auschwitz
- In concentration camp, he was prisoner #16670, the number tattooed on his arm
- Another prisoner disappeared; Ten men sentenced to death as punishment
- Father Kolbe stepped in to take the place of one of those condemned -a stranger- who was a family man
- Father Kolbe was stripped and starved, then put to death by lethal injection on August 14th,1941
- Canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982
- Feast Day (Memorial) is August 14
Prayer:
Learn the Spiritual Communion prayer as a family. As much as we all may want to receive Jesus every day, we may not be able to attend Mass every day. St. Maximilian Kolbe used to say the Spiritual Communion every half an hour. We also can pray this prayer of spiritual communion whenever we desire Him. Our hearts will be united with Jesus and will be filled with His love.
St. Maximilian Kolbe Craft:
When Kolbe was young, he had a vision of Mother Mary carrying two crowns, a red and a white crown. She offered them to him and asked which one he wanted. He chose both. The white crown stands for purity of heart and the red for martyrdom. We made both the white and red crowns in two ways. One was a wearable one.
Food:
Kolbe was from Poland so feel free to try any Polish Cuisine. For the feast of St, John Paul II we had tried Polish pancakes which were quite easy.
Another option is to make a red velvet cake with white frosting symbolizing the red and white crown. Even a simple vanilla/white cake with some red fruits on top would be a good way of feasting on this feast day.
Hope all of us can make use of these ideas and celebrate this feast of a great saint and martyr. Do share with us any other way we can celebrate this feast below in the comments section.
August is dedicated to The Immaculate Heart of Virgin Mary. If you have not yet found time to celebrate it with your young ones do visit our page to learn how we celebrated it.
Thanks to contributions from Rosmin Francis Stanny.
