Light Force Ministries

Maximilian Kolbe

Faith Offers No Guarantees

Holding my breath, I pushed against the revolving door and plunged into a vast space, holy with silence—St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The majesty, the beauty, and the stillness of it filled me with awe. Later, at the Advent Carol Service, I would see another side of it. It would cease for a time to be a place for the heart’s silent communion with the sacred and become, instead, a place of community worship, vibrating like a giant musical instrument to the praises of God.

On that first morning, though, it was still. A few sightseers like me wandered around, lost in the vastness. It seemed as if a thousand ordinary conversations might be swallowed up in that space, leaving the quiet essentially undisturbed.

Almost on tiptoe, I crossed to examine a metal plaque set into the floor near one of the piers. The English are in some ways a peremptory folk. Their memorial plaques do not begin tentatively, "In memory of…" Instead, they command. I had noticed that earlier in Westminster Abbey, that other great treasury of British national memory. "Remember Winston Churchill. Remember…Remember…"

No plaque I had yet seen struck me with the force of this one in the floor of St. Paul’s. It said, "Remember Men and Women of St. Paul’s Watch, Who by the Grace of God Saved This Cathedral in War, 1939-1945."

As I read the words, tears sprang to my eyes. I remembered the miracle I had seen in the schoolbooks of my childhood—the great church standing, seemingly inviolate, during the Blitz of World War II, as the City of London went up in flames around it. Now I knew, at least in part, how the miracle had been wrought. The knowledge seemed to make it more miraculous, not less.

The heroes of St. Paul’s Watch were ordinary people, like the rest of us. They saw it as their piece of God’s work to preserve their cathedral—not because it was God’s house, for they were surely wise enough to know that God is not confined to any building—but because it symbolized the human striving for God, the human tribute to God. In a world gone mad with hate and horror, St. Paul’s asserted, as it still does, that God is.

And so, night after night, these people risked the maelstrom, putting out small fires before they could become an inferno that would engulf the whole building and send it crashing into ruins. And as they worked, hell raged around them.

They had no guarantees. They could not know that they would succeed, or even that they would survive. And that is what places the members of St. Paul’s Watch in the great tradition of God’s servants, down through time. All have been willing to follow the prompting of God without guarantees.

Abraham was willing to follow his new deity even though he was torn from his home and kinsmen and led into the desert. When he chose to believe and to follow God he had to make the leap without any guarantees, except the guarantee of faith.

Albert Schweitzer left a burgeoning career as a theologian and musician in Europe to study medicine and minister to sick Africans. Many thought his humanitarianism misguided. But he took the risk, asking no guarantees; and the move set the seal on his greatness.

In the same way, the heroes of St. Paul’s Watch took their stand, not knowing whether they would live to see the dawn; and the cathedral was saved.

For countless other servants of God, the outcome was not so obviously happy. Many perished, not knowing their lives had made a difference. For some, even the final assurance of faith was denied. Jesus himself, on the cross, was moved to cry out, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" Despair is shared by all who share human nature, and it would be strange indeed if those dying in pain and torment, or living

rejected and vilified for God’s sake, did not sometimes succumb to it.

There are moments when the glory is obscured, and life seems sacrificed in vain. So it must have seemed to Janos Korczak, the Jewish educator and writer, who chose to die in a gas chamber with the children from his orphanage, rather than send them to their fate alone. So it must have seemed to Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish priest who permitted himself to be starved to death so another Auschwitz prisoner might live. What history shows us, in the main, is

Truth forever on the scaffold,

Wrong forever on the throne.

That is why, in the eyes of the world, God’s servants so often seem to be fools.

And yet, in our highest moments they inspirit us, these fools of God. It is as if we have known all along that in the long run the "fools" are wiser than the world, and that all that matters is to answer the Lord’s call as Isaiah did: "Here am I; send me."

So it was with the members of St. Paul’s Watch. Asking no guarantees, they said "yes" to God. Their imprint is on the cathedral as much as that of its great builder, Sir Christopher Wren. Here, in the holy stillness, if you seek their monument, look around you.

About the Author

JOAN CAMPION is a historian and memoirist whose works include "In The Lion's Mouth: Gisi Fleischmann and the Jewish Fight for Survival." Most recently she has published "Jerusalem Journal: Adventures In A Desert Landscape." She is fond of cats and of all kinds of music, especially opera. More information can be found at http://authortree.com/joancampion

why don't Muslims look into the life of St Maximilian Kolbe?

You may find his life very enlightening.
Just Google him
I am drawing up an analogy of what the saint did during his life to the situation facing Muslims at the present moment.
The saint stood up to the most fanatic regime at that time, The nazis. He criticised it and was not afraid to Criticise it.
and was prepared to die if so be. He was also a very educated man holding two doctorates and yet was avery mild man.
Brain it took a lot of guts to stand up to the nazi knowing their favourite form of punishment.
Brain muslims are always telling non-muslims to read the quran, so it is rightly for us to point out non-muslim items to them.
So i gather no Muslim have the courage to read about him.
You don't get the analogy do you?
one man's prophet is another man's anti-prophet.
you don't understand what intercession means. It means we ask the saint to pray for us and not to Him.

maybe they will maybe they wont

who knows?

EDIT he was a priest who was in the nazi concentration camps who gave his life to help jews

a jew was going to be killed by lethal injection and he stood up and said i will die in his place

that takes balls man

and i guess its anethma to learn about any thing else than islam to these guys

Catholic Coins: St. Maximilian Kolbe Silver plated coin from Lumen Mundi is manufactured in Italy. The coin is about one inch in diameter and has a prayer on the reverse side....

Hero of Auschwitz: St. Maximilian Kolbe, OFM Conv. (Marytown Press) - Booklet We are still working on filling in the product descriptions. If you need more information please call or email us....

Prayer to St. Maximilian Kolbe Holy Card (800-303) Bonella crystal-clear laminated card with English prayer in full color. Overall size 2 1/2 x 4 1/2....

Maximilian Kolbe Docu-drama profiles the life of the Franciscan Father. Includes actual accout of Father Kolbe's last days as Auschwitz as told by Francis Gajowniczek, the man whose place he took. Includes scenes from Pope John Paul's visit to Auschwitz and the canonization of St. Maximilian Kolbe....

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Saint-Maximilian-Kolbe St. Maximilian Kolbe is famous as the saint of Auschwitz who volunteered to die of starvation and thirst in place of another prisoner. But his heroic death in 1941 in the worst of the Nazi concentration camps was only the culmination of an amazing life-for St. Maximilian was fired by the supernatural ideal of conquering for Christ through Mary all souls in the entire world-to the end of time! Full...

Maximilian-Kolbe Elaine Stone A story of the ordinary becoming the extraordinary, ... a story of faith in God's love, strength, and purpose. -A. E. P. Wall, journalist and former president International Federation of Catholic Journalists Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish friar who founded the Militia of the Immaculate and two monasteries and who wrote and published periodicals and newspapers, became a political prisoner ...

Year of the Priest Special 10 DVD SET $150.00 Year of the Priest Special: 10 DVDs on these Super Saint Priests Each DVD 30 Minutes - hosted by Bob and Penny Lord Saint John Vianney - Patron Saint of Parish Priests Saint Padre Pio - Perfect Confessor Saint Maxmilian Kolbe - Martyr of Auschwitz Saint Anthony of Padua - Finder of the Lost Saint John of the Cross - Reformer Saint Francis de Sales - Apostle of Geneva Saint Vincent de Paul - Friend...

Life for Life ( Zycie za zycie ) ( Leben für Leben - Maximilian Kolbe ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ] ...

Forget Not Love: The Passion of Maximilian Kolbe $8.00 The famous French author's unique writing style captivates the reader with the heroic story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a modern apostle of Catholic evangelization, Marian spirituality, and a martyr of charity. With the encouragement of Pope John Paul II, Frossard chronicles the dramatic life of this Polish Franciscan who volunteered to die in place of a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz....

Maximilian Kolbe $8.48 Based on first-hand information. Here is the first English biography for middle graders on Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish Franciscan who, at Auschwitz, offered himself in exchange for the life of a man with two children. The biography covers Kolbe's early life, his work as a journalist, and his founding of Niepokalanow, the world's largest friary. Kolbe's act of love and faith teaches young readers important lessons that Christianity means more than just going to church, that the Holocaust actually happened, and that saints can be as real and modern as the person standing next to you in line. For first-hand research, the author traveled to Poland to visit where Kolbe lived and to interview people who actually knew him, including his cousin, his secretary, and one of his students. In addition, the foreword is by Ted Wojtkowski, a fellow camp prisoner and now a well-known Polish American who was standing close to Kolbe when he made his offer of self-sacrifice. Kolbe! 's story is ideal for children of Polish descent, parochial schools, parish libraries, classes in cultural diversity, and classes on World War II or the Holocaust. And, while written simply enough for children, this book will move all readers showing just how much the human spirit can achieve.

Maximilian Kolbe: Saint of Auschwitz $9.5 Elaine Murray Stone explores the life of Maximilian Kolbe, who gave his life at Auschwitz

Saint Maximilian Kolbe $8.48 Saint Maximilian Kolbe : Mary's Knight (Encounter the Saints Series, 10) by Patricia E. Jablonski Published in 2001 by Pauline Books & Media

Forget Not Love: The Passion of Maximilian Kolbe $12.76 The famous French author''s unique writing style captivates the reader with the heroic story of St...

Saint Maximilian Kolbe: Mary''s Knight $8.5 The gripping story of the courageous franciscan priest who worked tirelessly to spread the message of god''''s love and gave up his life to save a stranger in a world war ii concentration camp.

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Forget Not Love $12.98 The famous French author's unique writing style captivates the reader with the heroic story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a modern apostle of Catholic evangelization, Marian spirituality, and a martyr of charity. With the encouragement of Pope John Paul II, Frossard chronicles the dramatic life of this Polish Franciscan who volunteered to die in place of a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz.