St Maximilian Kolbe’s life was a seamless thread of love for Jesus and Mary, work and self-sacrifice - The Catholic Leader

St Maximilian Kolbe’s life was a seamless thread of love for Jesus and Mary, work and self-sacrifice - The Catholic Leader

ON August 14, 1941, the eve of the solemnity of the Assumption, in Block 11 of the Auschwitz concentration camp, a man who had the number 16670 sewn onto his prison uniform was killed by an injection of carbolic acid.  His name was Fr Maximilian Kolbe. He was a Conventual Franciscan friar and would later […] The post St Maximilian Kolbe’s life was a seamless thread of love for Jesus and Mary, work and self-sacrifice appeared first on The Catholi…

The Amazing Story of Saint Maximilian Kolbe's Only Surviving First-Class Relic—His Beard

Saint Maximilian Kolbe is most recognizable based on his prominent beard.Saint Maximilian Kolbe / Public DomainIn those days, it was customary for missionaries to keep long beards, and due to his work with the Militia Immaculata, he had earned a prominent spot on Nazi watch lists. However, during the invasion of Poland in 1939, Kolbe shaved his beard off in hopes of not drawing attention to himself.This decision would turn out to be a miraculous…