08/14/2026
I’ve been counting down the days to St.
Maximilian Kolbe’s feast day. He’s one of those heroes who shows that the life of a Christian is anything but boring: when you say yes to the Cross, you say yes to adventure that’s so much bigger than what you dream. You become most yourself when you realize that your life is not about you, and most yourself when you lay that life down.
The mixed media symbols I include in this painting tell Kolbe’s humble and heroic narrative:
-a white crown of purity and a red crown of martyrdom
-a Franciscan belt with three knots of poverty, chastity, and obedience
-a Rosary as a weapon for conversion to Jesus through the triumphant Immaculate Heart of Mary
-barbed wire and a prisoner’s uniform that speak of Kolbe’s martyrdom in Auschwitz. In July 1941, a prisoner escaped the notorious death camp, prompting the N***s to select ten men for condemnation to starvation and dehydration in the death bunker. Fr. Kolbe was not one of the selected. One of the chosen men broke down and pleaded for his life, crying “my poor wife and my poor children..” Kolbe stepped out of the ranks and presented himself, calmly saying, “I want to die in his place.” The commander spat back, “who are you?” Kolbe replied simply, “I am a Catholic priest.” He witnessed the greatest love Christ himself witnessed: “No one has a greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
In the starvation bunker, Kolbe spent his final days ministering to his fellow prisoners, singing Marian hymns with them, and leading them in serene prayer. After Kolbe endured two weeks without food or water, the N***s executed him with an injection of carbolic acid. Kolbe’s martyrdom took place on the eve of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, Martyr for charity, patron of our difficult century, pray for us.
