Biography
Raymond Kolbe was born in Poland. As a child, he had a vision of the Virgin Mary holding two crowns: one white for purity, one red for martyrdom. He accepted both. Joining the Conventual Franciscans, he founded the Militia Immaculatae (Army of the Immaculate One) to evangelize through modern media, building a massive monastery and printing press in Niepokalanów, and later a mission in Japan. During WWII, he provided shelter to refugees, including 2,000 Jews, hiding them from the Nazis. Arrested and sent to Auschwitz, he volunteered to take the place of Franciszek Gajowniczek, a man condemned to the starvation bunker. After surviving two weeks of starvation while leading the others in prayer, he was killed with a lethal injection.
Miracles & Signs
- ✦Healing of Angela Testoni from intestinal tuberculosis (Beatification)
- ✦Healing of Francis Ranier from arterial sclerosis (Canonization)
Wisdom & Quotes
“No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it.”
“The most deadly poison of our times is indifference.”
“Let us remember that love lives through sacrifice and is nourished by giving.”