Called by Pope John Paul II "the saint for this difficult century," St. Maximilian Kolbe was devoted to bringing the Catholic faith to the world through his press apostolate, and was martyred amidst the horror of the Holocaust when he gave his life in place of another's.

St. Maximilian was born Raymond Kolbe on January 8, 1894 to devoutly Catholic parents of the poor working class in Poland. Though he was a wild young boy, he told his mother that he had seen the Blessed Mother handing him two crowns. One was white, symbolizing purity, and the other was red, symbolizing martyrdom. When she asked him which one he would have, he asked for both.

Though he had a natural passion for the sciences, Raymond was drawn to religious life when he saw the Masons and other groups protesting against the Church and the Holy Father. He entered the Conventual Franciscan Order on September 4, 1910. After his studies in Rome, he was ordained a priest in 1918.

Fr. Kolbe had a natural affinity to be a soldier for the Church. As more people spoke out against the Church at that time, Fr. Kolbe felt he had to do something to counter their demonstrations. On October 16, 1917, he founded the Militia of the Immaculata, where priests, and eventually lay persons, consecrated themselves to the Immaculate Mary so that she might use them to lead others to the Church. The Militia wore the Miraculous Medal and prayed every day for their spiritual work. The group was given the status of a Primary Union by Pope Pius XI in 1926.

Fr. Kolbe established Niepokaloanow, the "City of Immaculata," to be an evangelization center near Warsaw in 1927. He also planned to start a printing house, and prayed to the Blessed Mother for the funds for the project. One day while he prayed before her statue, he found an envelope with the exact amount he needed.

By 1938, the city he established grew from 18 friars to over 650. The printing press produced a daily newspaper with a circulation of 230,000 and periodicals with circulation of over one million. All this and a radio station were established to spread and unite Catholics in the faith and to teach the world about the Catholic Church. Fr. Kolbe also established a mission in Japan called Mugenzai No Sono just outside of Nagasaki in 1930 and in India.

As the Nazi regime began to spread across Europe with the start of World War II, Fr. Kolbe's printing press came under scrutiny by the Germans. In 1939, Fr. Kolbe was arrested and released, and then arrested again in February of 1941. He was transported to the concentration camp at Auschwitz on May 28, 1941.

Fr. Kolbe would insist that other prisoners were treated for sickness before him, and he often shared his meager food rations with others. He offered words of encouragement and secretly heard confessions and offered Mass for his fellow prisoners.

When a man on his block escaped, the guards chose 10 others to die in retribution to discourage other runaways. When Polish Sergeant Francis Gajowniczek begged to be spared because he had a family, Fr. Kolbe stepped forward and offered himself in place of the sergeant.

Fr. Kolbe was sent with the other prisoners to the starvation chamber, were he was to remain until death. Father Kolbe courageously led the Rosary, and sang hymns to the Immaculata. After two weeks, the cell had to be cleared for more prisoners. Fr. Kolbe was the only prisoner still conscious. On August 14, 1941, Fr. Kolbe was martyred by injection of a lethal dose of carbolic acid.

Fr. Kolbe was beatified by Pope Paul VI on October 17, 1971 and was canonized St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe on October 10, 1982 by Pope John Paul II.

Patronage includes drug addiction, drug addicts, families, imprisoned people, journalists, political prisoners, prisoners and pro-life movements.