Father McCurry, author of the book “Maximilian Kolbe: Martyr of Charity,” said that Kolbe chose to keep the beard upon his return from six years of missionary work in Japan.

Aug. 14 is the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a saint best known for his heroic martyrdom at Auschwitz in 1941, when he volunteered to be executed in place of another prisoner.. Like many ...

CNA Staff, Aug 14, 2024 / 16:06 pm. Aug. 14 is the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a saint best known for his heroic martyrdom at Auschwitz in 1941, when he volunteered to be executed in place ...

St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, patron saint of journalists, prisoners, and drug addicts, was a Polish priest who was murdered in Auschwitz after volunteering to die in the place of another.

The last words of St. Maximilian Kolbe, extending his arm to the lethal injection, were: “Ave Maria.” But let’s take a step back, and try to understand where that friar had come from.