Readings, Meditations, and Petitions:
Day One: Maximilian's Call to Holiness
Reading: Raymond Kolbe was born of poor parents in Poland on January 7, 1894. Raymond came to love the
Blessed Virgin quite early in life. This devotion did not prevent him from getting into trouble. His
lively nature tried the patience of his mother. Once she remarked in exasperation, "Raymond, what
is going to become of you?" After this incident there was a noticeable change in his behavior.
His mother became worried. Upon questioning him, she found Raymond at first reluctant to tell her his
"secret." Finally he told her how much her reproach had troubled him. He had prayed to Mary,
and asked her the same question, "Mother of God, what will become of me?" She took
compassion on the miserable boy and appeared to him holding in her hands two crowns, one white, the
other red. She asked Raymond which one he would choose; the white signified purity, the red martyrdom.
"I choose both" he answered.
Meditation: Every genuine conversion experience be it that of a mischievous child or that of a
hardened adult involves the individual's humble recognition of his own weaknesses and capacity for
sin. May Maximilian's humility be ours in our pursuit of Christian holiness through ongoing
conversion.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "greater love than this no man has that a
man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe whose
life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petition:
Closing Prayer
Day Two: Maximilian Discerns God's Will
Reading: When Raymond Kolbe was a seminary student at Lwow, Poland, he bowed his face to the floor
during Mass one day and promised the most holy Virgin that he would fight for her. It was a surprising
thing to do, especially since he had already chosen to be a Franciscan priest. Not knowing how he was
to fulfill his promise he began to picture to himself a struggle with material weapons. The more he
thought about it the more he felt attracted to a military career, fighting for the freedom of his
homeland under the banner of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Finally, he decided he had made a mistake: he
would give up the idea of studying for the priesthood. He was on his way to inform the Minister
Provincial of his decision when he was called to the parlor. His mother had just arrived for a visit.
What Maria Kolbe told her son we do not know, but shortly afterward Raymond was invested in the
Conventual Franciscan habit and took the name Maximilian Maria.
On September 5, 1911, he made his first vows. The following year, another crisis arose, and again
Maximilian Kolbe's destiny hung in the balance. His superiors had decided to send him to Rome for
philosophical and theological studies, but Friar Maximilian requested that his name be stricken from
the list. That night he reconsidered. Had he not placed his own will in the way of God's will as
expressed by his superiors? Was it not better to obey? The following morning he told his Provincial
that he was prepared to go to Rome.
Meditation: Discernment of the direction that God wishes our lives to take requires an absolute
truthfulness with oneself and God. May Maximilian's inner honesty be ours as we strive continually to
do God's will
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "greater love than this no man has that a
man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe whose
life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petition:
Closing Prayer
Day Three: Maximilian's Consecration to Mary
Reading: It was in Rome that Friar Maximilian learned the true meaning of his call to fight for
Mary. Exposed to the rabid anti-Christian forces that burgeoned in Europe he saw the need for a new
era of evangelization that would bring all peoples back to God. Suddenly during prayer one morning,
Friar Maximilian was enlightened to understand the critical importance of the role God had given Mary
in this work. Meditating on the Miraculous Medal conversion story of Alphonse Ratisbonne, a young
nineteenth-century Jewish agnostic, Friar Maximilian was illumined to perceive Mary's role as the Holy
Spirit's indispensable partner and instrument in the evangelizing work of conversion and growth in
holiness. He saw that this work was a spiritual war with Satan, and that Mary needed consecrated souls
to serve as her knights in this battle. Maximilian lost little time putting this inspiration into
action.
On October 16, 1917, he and six fellow Franciscans established the Militia of the Immaculata (MI)
movement. Its goal was as simple and vast as the Church's mission: the interior transformation of all
souls in Christ through the Immaculata. To achieve this goal, Friar Maximilian proposed a practical
spirituality of "Total Consecration to Mary." He and all "MIs" would make a free
and total offering of themselves to Our Lady, so that they might become instruments in her work for
Christ.
Meditation: True consecration to Mary is a Marian way of living a life of close union with Christ
through the Holy Spirit. May we find in Maximilian's spirituality of Marian consecration a powerful
means for living Christ's Gospel and spreading it to others
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "greater love than this no man has that a
man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe whose
life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petition:
Closing Prayer
Day Four: Maximilian's Faith
Reading: After his ordination, Father Maximilian returned to Poland in July 1919,
worn by tuberculosis. Despite his poor health, he was assigned to the Franciscan friary at Cracow
where the climate is fatal to tuberculars as a university professor. Not only was his body exhausted
but at times his soul was harrowed by ridicule from some of his own Franciscan confreres. He had hoped
on returning to interest all the friars at Cracow in his work. A good number of priests, brothers and
student friars did respond to his call, but others shrugged their shoulders. They listened to him,
then laughed among themselves, calling him a bore and a dreamer. One friar even found a nickname which
delighted the detractors for awhile: "Marmalade." The young priest walked very slowly, like
animated marmalade, to avoid any abrupt movement that could provoke hemorrhage. Maximilian bore this
mockery with patience and mildness. Faith, alone, allowed him to find in God and the Immaculata the
affirmation and support that some of his confreres initially denied him.
Meditation: When all seems lost and one is stripped of everything, there remains one vital source of
spiritual energy: faith. May Maximilian's faith be ours, especially when adversity robs us of the
affirmation and support we crave.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "greater love than this no man has that a
man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe whose
life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petition:
Closing Prayer
Day Five: Maximilian's Hope
Reading: Through Father Maximilian's efforts, the influence of the MI movement began to spread
through Poland in the 1920s. As distances became too great for his one unaided human voice to reach,
Maximilian realized that only the printed word would suffice. With a complete lack of capital, but
full trust in providence, he began publishing the Knight of the Immaculata (Rycerz Niepokalanej) a
sixteen-page magazine. Once when bankruptcy seemed imminent, he threw himself at the feet of the
Immaculata and begged for help. As he was about to leave the church, he found an envelope on the altar
with these words on it, "For thee, O Immaculate Mother." Inside was the exact sum to pay the
debt.
In 1927 when quarters for his print shop became too small, he entered into negotiations to purchase
a large tract of land for a whole "City of the Immaculata" (Niepokalanow), where he and the
friars would expand their apostolate. However, he again lacked capital. He explained to the landowner,
Prince Drucki-Lubecki, that he could not afford the price. Abruptly the Prince decided to make a free
gift of it to Maximilian and the friars. By 1939 Niepokalanow had become the largest Franciscan
friary in the world with over 700 friars and students. The circulation of their magazine exceeded
750,000 copies per month.
Meditation: When the customary human solutions to the complexities that beset our lives prove
ineffective, we are placed in a situation of total dependence upon God. May Maximilian's unflagging
hope and complete trust in God's providence be ours throughout the course of our life.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "greater love than this no man has that a
man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe whose
life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petition:
Closing Prayer
Day Six: Maximilian's Sanctification of Labor
Reading: Father Maximilian's zeal for the inner conversion and sanctification of
all people was not confined by national boundaries. With appropriate ecclesiastical permission, he and
four other friars sailed to the Orient in 1930. They established themselves in Japan, where they hoped
to publish the Knight of the Immaculata in Japanese. As a condition to publish the magazine,
Father Maximilian was obliged to teach philosophy in the diocesan seminary. In exchange, the bishop
would allow diocesan priests to help in the translating of articles into the Japanese language.
Remarkably, Father Maximilian was able to publish the first issue of Seibo no Kishi within one
month of his arrival. Father Maximilian soon founded a second City of the Immaculata, Mugenzai no Sono.
Throughout his apostolic labors in Japan, Father Maximilian suffered constantly from high fevers,
violent headaches, and abscesses, due to overwork and an inadequate diet. He concealed these problems
so well, however, that for some time only his most intimate companions had any awareness of the
seriousness of his condition.
Meditation: Work can serve to enhance our dignity as God's people, when we work diligently to nourish
our families and build up God's kingdom. May Maximilian's zealous commitment to each task at hand
stimulate our own religious zeal for the daily work that God has entrusted to us.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "greater love than this no man has that a
man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe whose
life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petition:
Closing Prayer
Day Seven: Maximilian's Obedience
Reading: Scarcely two months after his arrival in Japan and the first publication
of a Japanese version of the Knight of the Immaculata, Father Maximilian was summoned by his superiors
to defend this enterprise at the Province Chapter in Lwow, Poland. Obedient as always, he left Japan
for this meeting, but his heart was heavy because there was no one capable of maintaining the gigantic
work in his absence. Father Maximilian had no doubts that only through full obedience would his own
labors for the Immaculata's cause be fruitful. At the chapter, the very future of the Japanese
Niepokalanow was put to question. The expenses were heavy, and the capitular friars discussed the
prudence of undertaking such a foolish venture. Father Maximilian followed his usual tactics. Having
explained all his arguments and spoken from the abundance of his heart, he remained silent, waited,
closed his eyes, with his hands under his capuche he held his rosary and very slowly while his
superiors discussed the business he summoned his council, reciting innumerable Hail Marys. He won on
all scores and returned to Japan with full permission to continue the Immaculata's work there.
Meditation: Submission to legitimate authority frees us from the tyranny of our own willfulness,
stubbornness or selfishness. May Maximilian's obedience to authority in the Church move our
consciences along the lines of a more generous obedience to Christ's chosen representatives.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "greater love than this no man has that a
man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe whose
life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petition:
Closing Prayer
Day Eight: Maximilian and the Eucharist
Reading: Under Father Maximilian's spiritual leadership, the friars of Niepokalanow
and Mugenzai no Sono had incredible success in their press apostolate. Their secret for success was a
community life of prayer centered on the Eucharist. In the mid-1930s, when the friars of Niepokalanow
were about to inaugurate their first newspaper, the Maly Dziennik (Little Journal), they had
formidable opponents in the secular press of Poland. For nine days, the friars prayed day and night
before the Blessed Sacrament. The newspaper venture met with a tremendous success. Years later, Father
Maximilian initiated a program of daytime adoration of the Eucharist at Niepokalanow. This began on
December 8, 1939, the day on which Father Maximilian and the friars were released from a three-month
imprisonment by their Nazi captors. He immediately introduced adoration of the Eucharist in order to
increase his "active forces of prayer." Every half hour, day after day, a fresh group of
four friars took its place before our Lord in the tabernacle. This became the friars' primary
apostolate.
Meditation: For every Christian, prayer is not a luxury but a necessity. Maximilian knew that prayer
before the Eucharist is the ultimate source for fruitful Christian living. May our own reverence for
the Eucharist reflect this same conviction.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "greater love than this no man has that a
man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe whose
life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petitions:
Closing Prayer
Day Nine: Maximilian's Love
Reading: On February 17, 1941, Father Maximilian was arrested by the Gestapo for the second time.
Subjected to extreme cruelty throughout his captivity, Father Maximilian prepared himself and his
fellow prisoners for the ultimate moment: "They will not kill our souls . . . they will not be
able to deprive us of the dignity of a Catholic. We will not give up."
Love was to impel Father Maximilian to become a "martyr of charity" in the notorious
Auschwitz concentration camp. After the escape of a prisoner, ten inmates were condemned to death by
starvation. Sergeant Francis Gajowniczek cried out, "What will happen to my poor family?" At
that moment, Father Maximilian slipped out of line, and boldly asked the commandant if he could take
the place of Sergeant Gajowniczek. The astounded officer consented. Amidst the horror of the death
bunker, love triumphed. Daily prayers, rosaries and hymns were heard as Father Maximilian ministered
to his nine fellow victims. Finally after two weeks, on August 14, 1941, the Nazis hastened
Maximilian's death by the injection of carbolic acid.
Meditation: True charity always places the needs of others ahead of our own because true charity sees
Christ himself mirrored in the face of others. May Maximilian's total love for God and neighbor always
through the Immaculata characterize our own approach to Christ in others.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "greater love than this no man has that a
man lay down his life for his friends," through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe whose
life illustrated such love, we beseech you to grant us our petition:
Closing Prayer
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