St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894–1941), a Polish Franciscan priest devoted to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, stepped out of line at Auschwitz and offered to die in place of a man with a wife and children. He spent his last two weeks in a starvation bunker leading the condemned men in prayer and hymns, and Pope St. John Paul II canonized him as a martyr, calling him “the patron of our difficult century.” Below are prayers to St. Maximilian Kolbe for families, for those struggling with addiction, for prisoners and for the gift of self-giving love, Scripture and his story.
A prayer to St. Maximilian Kolbe
Written for this page:
St. Maximilian Kolbe, faithful son of the Immaculate Mother,
you gave your life so that a father could return to his family.
Pray for me, that I may love as Jesus loved,
give myself generously to others
and entrust everything to Mary.
Obtain for me the grace I ask: (name your intention). Amen.
A prayer for families
St. Maximilian, you died so that Franciszek Gajowniczek could go home to his wife and sons.
Watch over our family.
Protect fathers and mothers, keep children safe,
and bring home all who are separated from those they love. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page.
A prayer for those struggling with addiction
St. Maximilian is often invoked by people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, because he was killed by a lethal injection.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for (name), who is struggling with addiction.
Ask Jesus to break every chain,
to give him (her) the courage to seek help and the strength to persevere,
and to surround him (her) with people who love and support recovery. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page. See the Catholic prayer for deliverance.
A prayer for prisoners
St. Maximilian, you knew prison, hunger and despair,
and you brought hope even into the bunker of death.
Pray for all who are in prison, rightly or wrongly,
for their families and for those who guard them.
Give them hope, dignity and the light of Christ. Amen.
This prayer was written for this page.
Consecration to the Immaculata
St. Maximilian founded the Militia Immaculatae (Knights of the Immaculata) to bring the whole world to Christ through Mary. Its members consecrate themselves entirely to the Immaculate Virgin, asking her to use them as instruments for the conversion of souls, and pray daily the short invocation from the Miraculous Medal: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” See the Miraculous Medal novena.
Scripture: greater love than this
Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
The life of St. Maximilian Kolbe
Raymund Kolbe was born on January 8, 1894, in Zduńska Wola, in Poland, then part of the Russian Empire. As a boy he had a vision of the Virgin Mary offering him two crowns, one white for purity and one red for martyrdom, and he said he accepted both. He joined the Conventual Franciscans in 1910, taking the name Maximilian, studied in Rome, where he earned doctorates in philosophy and theology, and in 1917 founded the Militia Immaculatae.
Back in Poland he began a magazine, The Knight of the Immaculata, and in 1927 founded Niepokalanów, the “City of the Immaculate,” near Warsaw, which grew into one of the largest friaries in the world, with its own printing presses and radio station. In the 1930s he went as a missionary to Japan and founded a friary at Nagasaki.
After the German invasion of Poland, Niepokalanów sheltered refugees, including many Jews. Father Maximilian was arrested in February 1941 and sent to Auschwitz as prisoner 16670. In July 1941, after a prisoner escaped, the commandant chose ten men to die by starvation. One of them, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out for his wife and children. Father Maximilian stepped forward and asked to take his place. In the starvation bunker he led the men in prayer and hymns. After two weeks he was one of the last still alive, and on August 14, 1941, he was killed with an injection of carbolic acid. His body was cremated the next day, the feast of the Assumption.
Pope St. Paul VI beatified him in 1971, and Pope St. John Paul II canonized him as a martyr on October 10, 1982, in the presence of Franciszek Gajowniczek.
Feast day and patronage
- Feast day: August 14. A novena can run from August 5 to 13.
- Patron of: families, prisoners, people struggling with addiction, journalists, amateur radio operators and the pro-life movement.
- Symbols: the Franciscan habit or the striped uniform of Auschwitz with the number 16670, and two crowns, white and red.
Frequently asked questions
When is St. Maximilian Kolbe’s feast day?
August 14, the day he died at Auschwitz in 1941.
What is St. Maximilian Kolbe the patron saint of?
Families, prisoners, those struggling with addiction, journalists and amateur radio operators.
Who was the man St. Maximilian Kolbe saved?
Franciszek Gajowniczek, a Polish sergeant. He survived Auschwitz, returned to his wife, and lived until 1995, telling the story of the priest who died for him.
Why is St. Maximilian Kolbe a martyr?
He offered his life out of love in a camp built on hatred of faith and of human dignity. Pope St. John Paul II canonized him as a martyr of charity.
More prayers
- Our Lady of Częstochowa
- Catholic prayer for addiction and sobriety
- Miraculous Medal novena
- Immaculate Conception
- St. Teresa of Calcutta prayer
- Catholic prayer for strength
- Prayers to popular saints
- Saint feast days
Texts and sources
- Scripture: John 15:13, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayers were written for this page.