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| Apostle of Consecration to Mary |
Saint Maximilian Kolbe lived between 1894 till 1941. He was born in Poland, his family were devout Christians. When he was a young boy, he had a vision of Our Lady. She showed him two crowns, one white representing virginity, the other red for martyrdom. She asked him which he would accept, he replied that he would accept both. He joined the Franciscans and while studying for the priesthood in Rome, he founded a group of friars called the Militia of the Immaculata. The group started in 1917 and was to crusade for the consecration to the Immaculate Heart and oppose Freemasonry. From the group came the Knights of the Immaculate magazine and a radio show. He also founded a monastery of 800 friars, which was at the time, the largest in the world. In 1930 he founded another monastery in Nagasaki, Japan. In 1936 he returned to Poland. During World War II, Saint Maximillian Kolbe housed 3000 over Polish refugees in his monastery. He was, however, imprisoned because of his work and in 1941 was sent to Auschwitz. Saint Maximillian offered to replace the position of a father, condemned to death by starvation. This was accepted and he and a group of 9 other men were kept in a cell without food or water. He led the men in prayer to Our Lady. After 2 weeks only Saint Maximillian remained alive. He was then given a dose of lethal injection on 14th of August 1941. His remains were cremated the next day on the 15th of August, the feast day of the Assumption of Our Lady.
