Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants

Psalm 116:15

Saint  Maximilian  Maria  Kolbe  (born Rajmund  Kolbe)  went  down  in  history as  a  martyr who  laid  down  his  life  for another man in the German Nazi concentration  and  extermination  camp Auschwitz. That event was preceded by the Franciscan’s years of ministry, full of immense faith in Divine Providence. Militia Immaculatae, an organisation that propagated the Marian devotions, became his opus magnum. At Niepokalanów he established a Franciscan monastery and a modern publishing centre. He did not limit his evangelisation activity to Poland, as he created a Japanese  Niepokalanów  –  Mugenzai  no Sono (The Garden of the Immaculata) – in Nagasaki. He was sanctified as a confessor of the faith and a martyr. Not even repression by the communist authorities in Poland could hinder the continuation of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s work.